AP Psych Exam

Tabula Rasa

Latin for blank slate, means that we are born with no knowledge and learn solely from experience.

Empiricism

The view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should therefore rely on observation and experimentation.

Structuralism

An early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the structural elements of the human mind.

Functionalism

A school of psychology that focused on how our mental and behavioral processes enable us to adapt, survive, and flourish.

Experimental Psychology

The study of behavior and thinking using the experimental method.

Behaviorism

The view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2).

Humanistic Psychology

The historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people and the individual's potential for personal growth.

Cognitive Neuroscience

The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with thinking including perception, thinking, memory, and language.

Psychology

The science of behavior and mental processes.

Nature-Nurture Issue

The longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors. Today's science sees traits and behaviors arising from the interaction of the two.

Natural Selection

The principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations.

Levels of Analysis

The differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon.

Biopsychosocial Approach

An integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis.

Biological Psychology

A branch of psychology that studies the links between biological (including neuroscience and behavior genetics) and psychological processes.

Evolutionary Psychology

The study of the roots of behavior and mental processes using the principles of natural selection.

Psychodynamic Psychology

A branch of psychology that studies how unconscious drives and conflicts influence behavior, and uses that information to treat people with psychological disorders.

Behavioral Psychology

The scientific study of observable behavior, and its explanation by principles of learning

Cognitive Psychology

The scientific study of all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

Social-Cultural Psychology

The study of how situations and cultures affect our behavior and thinking.

Psychometrics

The scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits.

Basic Research

One of the two main types of research, pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base.

Developmental Psychology

A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span.

Educational Psychology

The study of how psychological processes affect and can enhance teaching and learning.

Personality Psychology

The study of an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.

Social Psychology

The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another.

Applied Research

One of the two main types of research that aims to solve practical problems.

Industrial-Organizational (I/O) Psychology

The application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in workplaces.

Human Factors Psychology

study of how people and machines interact.

Positive Psychology

The scientific study of the strengths that enable individuals and communities to thrive. Believe that people want to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives, to cultivate what is best within themselves, and to enhance their experiences of love, work, and play.

Counseling Psychology

A branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater well-being.

Clinical Psychology

A branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders.

Psychiatry

A branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who often provide medical (for example, drug) treatments as well as psychological therapy.

Introspection

The examination of one's own conscious thoughts and feelings, which relies exclusively on observation of one's mental state; in a spiritual context it may refer to the examination of one's soul.

Mary Whiton Calkins

first female president of the APA (1905); a student of William James; denied the PhD she earned from Harvard because of her sex (later, posthumously, it was granted to her)

Charles Darwin

Evolution by "natural selection" (the weaker die out) wrote On the Origin of Species

Dorothea Dix

Rights activist on behalf of mentally ill patients - created first wave of US mental asylums

Sigmund Freud

Austrian physician whose work focused on the unconscious causes of behavior and personality formation; founded psychoanalysis.

Stanley Hall

American psychologist who established the first American research lab and American Psychological Association.

William James

Wrote the first psychology textbook

Ivan Pavlov

discovered classical conditioning; trained dogs to salivate at the ringing of a bell

Jean Piaget

Known for his theory of cognitive development in children

Carl Rogers

Humanistic; self-concept and unconditional positive regard drive personality

B. F. Skinner

behaviorism; pioneer in operant conditioning; behavior is based on an organism's reinforcement history; worked with pigeons

Margaret Floy Washburn

First female to be awarded a PhD in psychology; 2nd president of the APA (1921)

John B. Watson

behaviorism; emphasis on external behaviors of people and their reactions on a given situation; famous for Little Albert study in which baby was taught to fear a white rat

Wilhelm Wundt

German physiologist who founded psychology as a formal science; opened first psychology research laboratory in 1879

Hindsight Bias

The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it. (Also known as the I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon.)

Critical Thinking

Thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions.

Theory

An explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events.

Hypothesis

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory.

Operational Definition

A statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research variables, or how we make the variables measurable.

Replication

Repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances.

Case Study

An observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles.

Survey

A technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of the group.

Population

All the cases in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn.

Random Sample

A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion.

Naturalistic Observation

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

Correlation

A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other.

Correlation Coefficient

A statistical index of the relationship between two things (from -1 to +1).

3 Principles of Inferential Statistics

Representative samples are better than biased samples, less variables and more cases is also better.

Scatterplot

A graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables. The slope of the points suggests the direction of the relationship between the two variables. The amount of scatter suggests the strength of the correlation.

Illusory Correlation

The perception of a relationship where none exists.

Experiment

A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors (independent variables) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process (the dependent variable). By random assignment of participants, the investigator aims to control other relevant factors.

Random Assignment

Assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups.

Double-Blind Procedure

An experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant (blind) about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo. Commonly used in drug-evaluation studies.

Placebo Effect

Experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which the recipient assumes is an active agent.

Experimental Group

In an experiment, the group that is exposed to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable.

Control Group

In an experiment, the group that is not exposed to the treatment; contrasts with the experimental group and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment.

Independent Variable

The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied.

Confounding Variable

A factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect in an experiment.

Dependent Variable

The outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable.

Mode

The most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution.

Mean

The arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores.

Median

The middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half are below it.

Range

The difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution.

Standard Deviation

A computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score

Normal Curve

A symmetrical, bell-shape that describes the distribution of many types of data; most scores fall near the mean (68 percent fall within one standard deviation of it) and fewer and fewer near the extremes.

Statistical Significance

A statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance.

Culture

The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next.

Informed Consent

An ethical principle that research participants be told enough to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate.

Debriefing

The post-experimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants.

neuron

a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system

sensory neurons

neurons that carry incoming information from the sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord

motor neurons

neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands

interneurons

neurons within the brain and spinal cord that communicate internally and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs

dendrite

the busy, branchlike extensions of a neuron that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body

axon

the extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands

myelin sheath

a layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fibers of many neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the impulse hops from one node to the next

Action Potential

a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon

Excitatory neurotransmitters

turn on neurons

Inhibitory neurotransmitters

turn off neurons

Threshold

the level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse

Synapse

A junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron

Neurotransmitters

chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons; when released by the sending neuron, neurotransmitters travel across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing whether that neuron with generate a neural impulse

Reuptake

a neurotransmitter's reabsorption by the sending neuron

Endorphins

"morphine within" natural, opiate like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure

Acetylcholine

neurotransmitter that affects learning and memory

Agonist

something similar enough to a neurotransmitter that can bind to a receptor and produce a response.

Antagonist

something that binds to a receptor and blocks it, preventing a response.

nervous system

the body's speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems