the ultimate AP Psych exam study guide

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2024/2025 AP psych

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203 Terms

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Hypothesis

Tentative explanation - must be falsifiable (able to be supported or rejected). ends with period instead of question mark. Ex) People who get at least 8 hours of sleep per night will perform better on memory recall tasks than those who get less than 6 hours.

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Operational definition

clear, precise, quantifiable definition of your variables –allows replication and collection of reliable data. ex) rating on a 1–10 sleep quality scale each morning.

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Qualitative data

descriptive data (eye color), describes qualities or characteristics.

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Quantitative data

Numerical data - ideal and necessary for statistics

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population

everyone the research could apply to

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sample

the people (or person) specifically chosen for a study

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correlation

identify relationship between two variables. Advantage: useful when experiments are unethical. Disadvantage: CORRELATION DOES NOT EQUAL CAUSATION

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directionality problem

which direction does it go? (does depression cause low self esteem or does low self esteem cause depression?)

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3rd variable problem

diff. variable is responsible for the relationship (ice cream and murder)

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positive correlation

variables increase and decrease together

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Negative correlation

as one variable increases, the other decreases

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Correlations cannot be ____ or ____ than 1/-1

Greater or less than 1/-1 , the stronger the number, the stronger the relationship, regardless of the pos/neg sign. Stronger relationships = tighter clusters on graph

<p>Greater or less than 1/-1 , the stronger the number, the stronger the relationship, regardless of the pos/neg sign. Stronger relationships = tighter clusters on graph</p>
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experiments

purposefully manipulate variables to determine cause/effect. Advantage: only method that establishes cause/effect Disadvantage: can be unethical, too artificial

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independent variable

purposefully altered by researcher to look for effect

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experimental group

received the treatment (part of the IV); can have multiple exp groups

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control group

gets placebo or nothing, baseline (part of the IV), can only have 1

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dependent variable

measured variable (is DEPENDENT on the independent variable)

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placebo effect

any observed effect on a behavior that is “caused” by the placebo (shows effectiveness of exp. treatment) usually fixed w/ blinded studies

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double-blind

experiment where neither the participant or the experiment are aware of which condition people are assigned to (drug studies)

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single-blind

only participant blind- used if the experimenter can’t be blind (gender, age, etc)

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confounding variable

error/flaw in study that is accidentally introduced. ex ind: amount of time studying dep: test scores confound: prior knowledge

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random assignment

assigns participants to either control or experimental group at random - increases chance of equal representation among groups (spreads the lefties across both groups) - allows you to say cause /effect

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naturalistic observation

observe people in their natural settings. adv: real world validity disadv: no cause and effect

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case study

studies one person (usually) in great detail. adv: collect lots of info. disadv: no cause/effect

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meta-analysis

combines multiple studies to increase sample size and examine effect sizes

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descriptive statistics

show shape of the data (mean, median, mode)

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mean

average (use in NORMAL distribution)

<p>average (use in NORMAL distribution)</p>
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median

middle number (used in SKEWED distribution)

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mode

number that occurs most often

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bimodal

has two modes - usually indicates good bad scores

<p>has two modes - usually indicates good bad scores</p>
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skews

usually created by outliers

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neg skew

mean is to the left (neg side) WHALE TAIL POINTS TO THE NEGATIVES!!

<p>mean is to the left (neg side) WHALE TAIL POINTS TO THE NEGATIVES!! </p>
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pov skew

mean is to the right. WHALE TAIL POINTS TO THE POSITIVE NUMBERS!!

<p>mean is to the right. WHALE TAIL POINTS TO THE POSITIVE NUMBERS!!</p>
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how to find median

arrange your numbers in ascending order (from smallest to largest). Find middles number if u have odd set of numbers

  1. For example, in the list [3, 5, 7], the median is 5.

    • If you have an even number of values, the median is the average of the two middle numbers. For example, in the list [3, 5, 7, 9], the median is (5 + 7) / 2 = 6.

  • Odd Set: [2, 4, 6, 8, 10] → Median is 6 (the middle number).

  • Even Set: [1, 3, 5, 7] → Median is (3 + 5) / 2 = 4.

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range

distance b/w smallest number and biggest number

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standard deviation

avg. amount the scores are spread from the mean (bigger number = more spread) 68-95-97.7

<p>avg. amount the scores are spread from the mean (bigger number = more spread) 68-95-97.7</p>
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inferential statistics

establishes significance (meaningfulness) (stat significance, effect size)

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statistical significance

results not due to chance, exp. manipulation caused the difference in mean. p<0.5=stat significance, smaller=better , says effect exists or not

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p-value

says stat sig. needs to be less than 0.05

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effect size

data has practical significance - bigger = better. may have stat sig (p) but the size not might be great, d: A small effect size is around 0.2, medium is 0.5, and large is 0.8. r (correlation): range from -1 to 1, where 0 indicates no correlation.

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experiments that include people must be__ /EG

reviewed by an institutional review board

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confidentiality (ethical guideline)

names/info kept secret

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informed consent /EG

participants must agree to be part of study

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informed assent / EG

minors and their parents must agree

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debriefing / EG

must be told the true purpose of the study (done after it study needed deception)

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no harm /EG

no harm to participants mentally or physically

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surveys

usually turned into correlation bc subject to self report bias

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self report bias

errors when collecting survey data due to social desirability or wording effects

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social desirability effect

people lie to look good/ like a better person

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wording effects in questions

how you frame the question can impact your answer

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random sample/selection

method for choosing participants for your study - everyone has a chance to take part, increases generalizability

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difference between random sample and random assignment

sample = generalize , assignment = cause/effect groups

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representative sample

sample mimics the general pop (ethnic, gender, age)

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convenience sample

select participants on availability/most easiest way - less representative and less generalizability this way

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sampling bias

sample isn’t representative due to convenience sampling

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cultural norms in experiments

behaviors of a particular group can influence research results

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experimenter bias / participant bias

experimenter/participant expectations influences the outcome of study

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cognitive bias

bias in thinking/judgment (usually implicit)

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confirmation bias

find info that supports our preexisting beliefs

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hindsight bias

“i knew it all along!!” (no you didnt)

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overconfidence

overestimate our knowledge / abilities

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hawthorne effect

people change behavior when watched

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belief perseverance

people hold on to their beliefs even when faced with contradictory evidence

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research needs ____ and ___

peer review and adequate sample sizes

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evolutionary psych

study how natural selection influences behavior (think darwin)

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heredity (nature)

how genes influence your behavior

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environment (nurture)

how outside situations influence your behavior (ex school)

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twin/adoption studies

genetics (nature): identical twin (monozygotic) will have a higher percentage of also developing a disease
environment: identical twins raised in different environments show differences in nuture

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desirable subjects for twin studies

monozygotic (identical) twins cancels out most nature (genetic) factors and looks more at nurture.

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Central nervous system

Brain and Spinal cord

<p>Brain and Spinal cord</p>
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peripheral nervous system

rest of the nervous system and relays to central NS (includes somatic, autonomic - both branch out to more NS)

<p>rest of the nervous system and relays to central NS (includes somatic, autonomic - both branch out to more NS)</p>
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somatic nervous system

voluntary movement, has sensory and motor neurons

<p>voluntary movement, has <strong>sensory and motor neurons</strong></p>
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autonomic nervous system

involuntary organs ( controls heart, lungs, etc) - contains sympathetic and parasympathetic)

<p>involuntary organs ( controls heart, lungs, etc) - contains sympathetic and parasympathetic)</p>
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parasympathetic nervous system

rest/digest (generally inhibits - exception digestion which it activates), tries to calm

<p>rest/digest (generally inhibits - exception digestion which it activates), tries to calm</p>
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sympathetic nervous system

fight/flight (generally activates - except digestion which it slows)

<p>fight/flight (generally activates - except digestion which it slows)</p>
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neuron

basic cell of the nervous system

<p>basic cell of the nervous system</p>
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dendrites

receive incoming neurotransmitters

<p>receive incoming neurotransmitters</p>
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axon

action potential travels down this

<p>action potential travels down this</p>
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myelin sheath

speeds up action potential down axon, protect axon

<p>speeds up action potential down axon, protect axon</p>
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synapse

gap between neurons

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sensory neurons

receives sense signals from environment and send signals to the brain (ex. touch something hot, sensory neurons in your skin send a signal to your brain, telling you to pull your hand away quickly!)

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motor neurons

signals to move send signals from the brain to your body (ex. decide to wave hello to a friend, your motor neurons send signals to the muscles in your arm)

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interneurons

cells in the spinal cord/brain responsible for reflex art, help sensory neurons and motor neurons communicate within the brain and spinal cord. ex. helps when hand is on hot flame

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reflex arc

important stimuli skips the brain and routes through the spinal cord for immediate reactions (hand on a hot flame)

<p>important stimuli skips the brain and routes through the spinal cord for immediate reactions (hand on a hot flame)</p>
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GLIA

support cells that give nutrients and clean up around neurons

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action potential

what fires neurons, ions move across membrane sends and electrical charge down the axon

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resting potential

neuron maintains a -70mv charge when not doing anything

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depolarization

charge of neuron briefly switches from neg to pov - triggers action potential

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threshold of depolarization

stimulus strength must reach this point to start to action potential

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all or nothing principle

stimulus must trigger the action potential past its threshold, but does not increase the intensity or speed of the response (think about flushing a toilet)

<p>stimulus must trigger the action potential past its threshold, but does not increase the intensity or speed of the response (think about flushing a toilet)</p>
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refractory period

A neuron must rest and reset before it can send another action potential (toilet has to reset!)

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neruotransmitters

chemicals released in synaptic gap, received by neurons. classified as excitatory (increase Action potential in other neurons) or inhibitory (decrease action potential) (ex. GABA, dopamine, serotonin, etc)

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GABA /NT

major inhibitory neurotransmitter - reduces anxiety and promotes relaxtation (yo! gaba gaba the show calms you down!)

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Glutamate /NT

major excitatory NT (glutes excite you!) stimulates brain activity, learning, and memory. When you’re studying for a big test, glutamate is working hard to help you remember all those facts

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Dopamine /NT

reward (short term - reinforcing behaviors that lead to rewards) and fine movement ( Low levels are associated with movement disorders - Parkinson's disease), in hypothalamus, assoc. w/ addiction.

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serotonin /NT

moods regulation (long-term - low leads to anxiety/depression), regulates sleep wake cycles - in amygdala, too little assoc. with depression

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acetylcholine (ACh) /NT

Memory and movement - in hippocampus, assoc. w/ alzheimer’s (A’s match)

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Norepinephrine /NT

Sympathetic NS, fight or flight NT - too little assoc. w/ depression

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endorphins /NT

decrease pain, natural euphoria (runners high)

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substance P / NT

Pain regulation (abnormality increases pain and inflammation)