AP Psychology Terms- (Entire Year)

Socrates and Plato

Believed the mind was separate from the body; knowledge comes from within

Aristotle

Believed things are learned through the observation and did not believe the mind and body were separate

Descartes

Believed in the "spirit liquid" that flowed through the nerves in your brain

Francis Bacon

Created idea of empiricism; valued experimenting and observation

Wilhelm Wundt

Father of psychology

Intorspection

Looking inward at one's own mental processes

Edward Titchener

Student of Wundt; studied introspection and was a structuralist

Structuralism

Discovering the mind's structure; observing things via introspection

William James

Focuses on behavior becasue introspection is too subjective; functionalist; wrote the first psychology textbooks

Functionalism

Focuses on behavioral processes

Empiricism

Medical practice and advice based on observation and experience in ignorance of scientific findings

John Locke

Tubular rasa; mind is a blank slate written on by experiences

G. Stanley Hall

First President of the APA (American Psychology Association)

Mary Whiton Calkins

First woman president of the APA; denied PhD because she was a woman

Mary Floy Washburn

First woman to earn her PhD in psychology

Biological Approach

Explore the links between brain and mind

Psychology

The scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Cognitive

Study how we perceive, think, and solve problems

Humanistic

Study that believes humans are basically good and possess free will

Behavioral

Rooted in observation, conditioning, rewards, and punishment

Socio-cultural

Study of how cultural and political experiences affect our life

Evolutionary

Study of how humans have changed and adapted over time

Developmental

Study of our changing abilities from womb to tomb

Psychoanalytic

Study of the unconscious, includes childhood and aggression issues

Sigmund Freud

Founder of psychoanalysis

Gestalt

Views the sum as greater than parts; organizes perceptions into wholes

Basic Research

Pure science that aims to increase scientific knowledge

Applied Research

Scientific study that aims to solve practical problems

Theory

An explanation that integrates principles, organizes, and predicts behaviors or events

Hypothesis

A testable prediction (If-then statement)

Independent Variable

A factor, manipulated by the experimenter and whose effect is studied (x factor)

Dependent Variable

A factor that may change in response to the independent variable (y factor)

Operational Definition

A clear statement of what one is looking for in an experiment

Population

The amount of participants that can be selected for the sample

Representative Sample

Take the results from a smaller group and apply that to a larger group of people

Random Sampling

Everyone has an equal chance of being selected for the experiment because the participants are chosen at random

Random Assignment

Everyone has an equal chance of being selected for the different experimental groups

Single-blind Study

The subjects do not know what group they belong to

Double-blind Study

The subjects or the experimenter do not know to what group they belong

Hawthorne effect

If you know you're being studied, you will act differently

Placebo

Sugar pill; has no real effect on the person other than what they think mentally

Correlational Coefficient

A statistical measure of relationship

Positive Correlational

Indicates a direct relationship, meaning that two things increase or decrease together

Negative Correlational

Indicates an inverse relationship

Scatterplot

A graph where each point plots the value of two variables

Illusory Correlation

The perception of a relationship where none exists

Confounding Variable

Can potentially influence the results of the experiment

Hindsight Bias

The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have forseen it

Case Study

An observation technique in which ONE person is studied in depth

Naturalistic Observation

Observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate the situation

Standard Deviation

Standard measure of how scores deviate from one another

Normal Curve

A bell shaped curve that describes the distribution of data; scores fall near the mean (68% and 95% fall within standard deviation)

Debriefing

Fully explain the research afterward

False Consensus Effect

The tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors

Dendrite

Rootlike part of the neuron that receives the neurotransmitter

Cell Body / Soma

Sustains life of the cell

Axon

Sends neurotransmitters away to the terminal branches

Myelin Sheath

Fatty tissue that supports the axon

Synapse

Space between terminal buttons of one neuron and the dendrites of the next neuron

Neurotransmitters

Chemical messenger that enables neurons to communicate

Action Potential

Electric message firing in neuron

Polarized

Fluid inside the cell has a slightly negative voltage to the fluid outside

Resting Potential

The polarization of a neuron

Refractory Period

The period of rest during which a new nerve impulse cannot be activated

All or None Principle

Neuron either fires completely or does not fire at all

Acetylcholine

learning - lack of causes Alzheimer's

Dopamine

Motor Movement - lack of causes Parkinson's; too much causes schizophrenia

Serotonin

Mood control - lack of causes depression

Afferent Neurons

Sensory, taking information from the senses to brain

Efferent Neurons

Motor, taking information from the brain to body

Central Nervous System

Brain and Spinal Cord

Peripheral Nervous System

All nerves in the rest of the body, other than brain and spinal cord

Somatic Nervous System

Voluntary muscle movements

Autonomic Nervous System

Automatic body functions

Sympathetic Nervous System

Arouses the body (fight or flight response)

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Relaxes the body (resting and digestion)

Adrenal Gland

Releases norepinephrine (adrenaline); fight or flight response

Thyroid

Controls metabolism

Parathyroid

Controls Calcium

Simple Reflex

Spinal cord sends back automatic response before signal reaches brain

Phineas Gage

Brain injury of the frontal lobe changed his personality

EEG

Detects brain waves

CT Scan

x-ray cameras (structure, not function)

MRI

Magnetic fields to measure density and location of brain and material (structure, not function)

PET Scan

Measures how much of a certain chemical are in parts of the brain (function)

fMRI

Shows the brain functioning

Hindbrain

Cerebellum, medulla, reticular activating system, pons, thalamus

Forebrain

Limbic system, hippocampus, amygdala, hypothalamus

Medulla

Heartbeat and breathing

Pons

Deals primarily with sleep, respiration, swallowing, bladder control, and equilibrium

Cerebellum

Coordinates movement and balance

Reticular Formation

Nerve network that plays a role in controlling arousal

Thalamus

Receives sensory input for touch and body position

Hypothalamus

controls hunger, thirst, body temperature, and sexual motivations

Amygdala

Processes emotional reactions

Pituitary Gland

Regulates growth and controls other glands

Hippocampus

Forms long-term memories and maintains cognitive maps

Cerebral Cortex

Outer layer of the brain

Right Hemisphere

Emotional Brain

Left Hemisphere

Language