AP psych exam vocab

Aaron beck’s view of depression

Cognitive theory of depression that says depression is maintained because the depressed patients are unaware of the negative automatic thoughts that they habitually formulate

Achievement test

Measures what has been acquired

Aptitude tests

Predicts future performance or ability

Acuity-vision

Acuteness of vision or perception; keenness

Rational emotive therapy

Albert ellis; changes irrational beliefs that cause undesirable, highly charged emotional reactions such as severe anxiety

Inferiority complex

The need to validate one’s self by oneself; the need for individual accomplishment

Altruism

Prosocial behaviors a person carries out without considering their own safety or interests

American psychological association

An organization that includes psychologists from all over the world

Apparent motion

A movement illusion in which one or more stationary lights going on and off in succession are perceived as a single moving light (phi phenomenon)

Babinsky response

A reflex produced by stroking the sole of the foot that manifests in dorsal flexion of the big toe

Adaptive behavior

Behavior that is learned in response to a set of stimuli in an environment

Benjamin whorf’s theory of linguistic relativism (linguistic determinism)

Differences in language create differences in thought

Binocular disparity

The placement between the horizontal positions of corresponding images in the two eyes; perceive depth and distance between objects

Blood brain barrier

Made up of glial cells and protect the brain from poisons and harmful substances that are not fat-soluble

Brainstorming

Generates new solutions to problems because everyone is just shouting out any though which reduces criticism

Broca’s aphasia

Language disorder that is caused by damage to the left frontal lobe

Chaining

Putting several learned behaviors together to make one complete routine

Clever hans experiment

Tendency to think that animals are smarter than they are

Contemporary colors

Colors (red/green, black/white, blue/yellow) that oppose one another on the retina to make us see color

Daniel goldman’s emotional intelligence

The knowledge and ability to manage our emotions, respond appropiately and make sound emotional decisions

absolute threshold

minimum stimulation needed to detect something 50% of the time

action potential

neural impulse charge traveling down the axon causing neurotransmitter to be released; speed by which neuron fires

resting potential

polarization of fluid in neuron which allows production of action potential

ainsworth strange situation

a study of child development that observed children’s attachment to their mother

albert bandura and the bobo doll experiment

believed that children learn aggressive responses from observing others

all or none principal

complete “flush” through neuron; it either works or it doesn’t work

amnesia

a failure of memory due to physical injury, disease, drug use, or psychological trauma

arousal

a motivational state of excitement and tension brought about by various stimuli that result in emotion

asch study

study that showed lines of differing lengths and asked participants to determine which one was the correct answer; showed that people conform in groups even if it is against their belief

attatchment

emotional tie with another person

attribution theory

the theory that we explain someone’s behavior by crediting either the situation or person’s disposition

aversive conditioning

associates an unpleasant state with an unwanted behavior

blind spot

point at which optic nerve leaves eye (no receptor cells)

bystander intervention

factors or forces that influence whether or not you are likely to come to one’s aid if you are an innocent bystander

cannon bard theory

theory that we feel emotion first and then or simultaneously we feel the physiological response

james lange theory

theory that emotion is experienced as a result of being aware of your physiological response

carl rogers person centered therapy

therapist should use genuiness, acceptance, empathy to show unconditional positive regard to the client; involves active listening

kohlberg

established stages of moral development but was critiqued on implying that males reasoned at higher levels than females

personality disorders

an enduring pattern of inflexible and maladaptive thinking, feeling, and acting that cause significant subjective distress and/or impairment in social or occupational functioning

chunking

associating things together to remember them easily

classical conditioning

a type of learning in which one learns to link 2 stimuli and expect events

cognitive dissonance

The distressing mental state caused by inconsistency between a person's two beliefs or a belief and an action.

color blindness

caused by lack of photoreceptors on their retina and most commonly causes issues distinguishing between colors

control group

The group in an experiment in which all variables are kept constant.

correlation coefficients

A statistic that indicates the degree of relationship between two variables

cerebral cortex

the cells covering the outside of the brain that are associated with complex thinking

motor cortex

controls voluntary movements

auditory cortex

area of the temporal lobes that receives and processes auditory information.

visual cortex

region of the occipital lobes in which visual information is processed

association cortex

parts of the cerebral cortex in which many high-level brain processes occur.

cross cultural studies

Studies in which researchers try to figure out whether a certain behavior, belief, practice, etc. transcends cultural boundaries or differs from culture to culture.

cross sectional studies

studies that the participants do not share common variables (ex age) but share other relevant details

crystalized intelligence

accumulated knowledge and verbal skills that tend to increase with age; abilities such as reasoning and verbal skills

david mcClelland/ achievement motivation

a desire for significant accomplishment for maserty of things, people, or ideas for attaining a high standard

defense mechanism

the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

deindividuation

the loss of self awareness and self restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anominity; people lose sense of accountability/responsibility

Deinstitutionalization

when mental hospitals had to open their doors and let all kinds of folks with mental disorders go

dendrite

receive information or signals from other neurons and conduct impulses

determinism

the belief that human behavior can be boiled down to one or two major factors that determine you

developmental psychology

concerned with changes that occur to humans as we grow throughout the life span

difference threshold

minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time

discrimination (in learning)

being able to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and stimulus that does not signal US

displacement

defense mechanism where you redirect your behavior towards the less threatening target

dissociative disorders

disorders in which one loses part of their identity/memory

social facilitation

improved performance on simple or well learned tasks in the presence of others

down syndrome

concerned with changes that occur to humans as we grow throughout the life span

dream analysis

(freud) believed that dreams represent unconscious wishes, desires, and interest of the unconscious mind

ebbinghaus

developed the forgetting curve; you rapidly forget majority of the information but what you do remember will generally stay

echoic memory

momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words are still received

eidetic/ photographic memory

capture what you see; momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli

ECT (electroconvlusive) therapy

shocks to the brain that treat devere depression

elizabeth loftus

researched eyewitness memory and determined that it is unreliable

endocrine system

body’s “slow” chemical communication system; set of glands that secrete hormones into the blood stream

pituitary gland

in charge of making sure that the other glands do their job, regulates growth and controlled by the hypothalamus

endorphins

the body’s natural pain killers that flood the brain when pain is detected

engram

tiny piece of memory stored in a specific place

flashbulb memories

vivid memories of significant events

equity theory of relationships

we like other people because of what they can do for us

erikson

believed that at each stage in life, one faces a ‘task’ in which they must decide what path to take

ethical guidelines

confidentiality, no lasting harm, debriefing, informed consent

false consensus effect

thinking more people agree with you than actually do

feature detector cells

specific neurons that help decode specific features of what you see

feature analysis

what the brain does when it’s scanning things to help you recognize things

feral children

kids who have grown up in the wild and been raised by animals

fetal alcohol syndrome

caused by a mother drinking while she is pregnant and results in a child who may have mental retardation, low birth weight, premature birth, brain malformations and learning disabilities

figure ground phenomenon

discriminating between an object and its background

foot in the door phenomenon

the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request

jean piaget

believed in stages of cognitive development

fovea

center of the retina where most of the cones are located

rods

help us detect light

cones

photoreceptory sensory neurons that help us detect colors and fine details

francis galton

believed in nature over nurture in personality and developed tests, developing eugenics

free association

in freud psychoanalysis treatment where patient has free flow of consciousness and says anything that comes to mind

frequency polygon

a graph in which one connects the dots

manifest level of dream

surface level of dream; what the dream is about

latent level of dream

hidden, symbolic level of the dream

frustration-aggression hypothesis

the principle that frustration creates anger, generating aggression

functional fixedness

inability to use an object for something other than its intended use

fundamental attribution error

the tendency for observers to underestimate the impact of the situation and overestimate the impact of personal disposition

galvanic skin response (GSR)

a physiological measure of the skins ability to conduct electricity; measured on polygraph test to detect lying