AP Psychology BoE

just-world phenomenon

the tendency of people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get

EX: criminals deserve to die for their actions

altruism

unselfish regard for the welfare of others

EX: Germans fostering Jews during WWII

aggression

physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone; typically takes place when aggression doesn't have an immediate consequence; often occurs because of deindividuation

EX: a person who spreads a malicious rumor about you so people don't like you

frustration-aggression hypothesis

the principle that frustration- the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal- creates anger which can generate aggression

EX: phone freezes, aggresively tapping on phone to make it work, gets pissed and throws phone

bystander effect

the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present; diffusion or responsibility occurs; people today are more likely to help because they are more aware

EX: school fight

social loafing

the tendency for people to put less effort into a simple task when working with others on that task

EX: group projects when members know they will get same grade regardless of contributions

social exchange theory

the theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs

EX: do the benefits of donating blood outweigh the cons?

recriprocity norm

expectation that we should return help to not harm those who help us

EX: you copied my notes so i will copy next time

Conflict

a perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas

EX: war

Ingroup vs. Outgroup phenomenon

Ingroup is the people with whom we share a common group identity. Outgroup are those perceived as different or apart from our ingroup. bias towards ingroup

EX: every student thinks their school is better than all the other schools in their district

fundamental attribution error

blaming the victim in incidents; jumping to internal factors instead of external factors; overestimate the influence of personality and underestimate the power of situations

EX: I would say T is outgoing but that could be because I have only seen him in a teaching role that requires one to be outgoing and in actuality, he's pretty shy.

diffusion of responsibility

the tendency for individuals to feel diminished responsibility for their actions when they are surrounded by others who are acting the same way

EX: everyone else was cheating on the test too --\> less guilt

Deindividuation

the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity

EX: egg profile pic trolls on twitter attacking people because they're hiding behind the screen

Phillip Zimbardo

Stanford Prison Study: college students were randomly assigned to roles of prisoners or guards in a study that looked at who social situations influence behavior; showed influence roles can have on people; strive to follow social standards of role

EX: newlyweds feel like they are "playing house" at first until it becomes everyday life

Groupthink

people have desire to maintain a good relationship within a group; group reaches consensus it might not have reached because of strong leader at beginning
- EX: juries

social facilitation

better responses on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others; worse responses on tasks one is not good in when in a large group

EX: rubix cube kid beat his own record by a bunch when doing it in front of class

Soloman Asch Experiment

this experiment asked which line was identical to X. They found that the participant was confident in his answer until his peers chose a different answer which made the participant CONFORM to the group

Stanley Milgram

obedience to authority; had participants administer what they believed were dangerous electrical shocks to other participants

foot-in-the-door phenomenon

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

EX: curfew extension w/ the movies

Reciprocity

the obligation to return in kind what another has done for us

EX: i copy, you copy

Obedience

A form of compliance that occurs when people follow direct commands, usually from someone in a position of authority

EX: boss tells you to do something that you don't have to do and isn't your responsibility but you concede because they're your boss

Conformity

Adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide with a group's standards, please others, or to be liked, accepted, or to fit in

-public: change our behavior
-private: change our behavior and attitudes

EX: 1950s/60s \= cold war \= don't want to seem communist so conformed --\> suburbanization

social trap

a situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior

EX: everyone thinks just their fossil fuel consumption doesn't matter --\> all collectively negatively impacting the atmosphere

social-responsibility norm

an expectation that people will help those dependent upon them

EX: give money to a homeless person

Neurons

Individual cells in the nervous system that receive, integrate, and transmit information; basic links that allow communication within nervous system

Axon

the extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons, muscles, or glands; some are enclosed in a myelin sheath

Soma

cell body, contains the cell nucleus and much of the chemical machinery common to most cells

Dendrites

a neuron's bushy, branching extensions that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body

action potential

a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon; positive sodium ions rush in --\> depolarize axon section --\> another channel opens in domino effect

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; degeneration \= multi sclerosis

Reuptake

a neurotransmitter's reabsorption by the sending neuron, excess

Endorphins

"morphine within"--natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure.
Excess:
- less feeling of pain and less negative effects of stress
-"runners high"
- linked to psychosis, schizophrenia, manic depression

Deficit:
- Huntington's Disease
- personality change
- linked to anxiety disorders

endocrine system

the body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream; in charge of adrenaline effect

pituitary gland

master gland, based in hypothalamus, the pituitary releases hormones (GH and oxytocin) and controls other endocrine glands

Hormones

chemical messengers that are manufactured by the endocrine glands, travel through the bloodstream, and affect other tissues; lasts longer compared to neurotransmitters

Neurotransmitters

chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons and bind to receptor sites

Glutamate

A major excitatory neurotransmitter; involved in memory and learning; responsible for sending signals between nerve cells
Excess:
- associated w/ seizures, headaches, and migraines (MSG)

Deficit:
- associated w/ Alzheimer's and schizophrenia-like behavior

Dopamine

a neurotransmitter that regulates motor behavior, motivation, pleasure, and emotional arousal; brain's reward system; cocaine
Excess:
- associated w/ Schizophrenia

Deficit:
- linked to depression and Parkinson's

Acetylcholine

A neurotransmitter that enables learning and memory and triggers muscle contraction

Excess:
- linked w/ social anxiety disorders

Deficit:
- linked w/ Alzheimer's

Norepinephrine

excitatory neurotransmitter that responds to stress, plays role in mood and ability to concentrate
Excess:
- associated with Bipolar disorder, ADHD, and eating disorders

Deficit:
- depression

GABA

brain's major inhibitory neurotransmitter, slows down neural activity (calms)
Excess:
- sleep and ED

Deficit:
- tremors, Huntington's

Serotonin

neurotransmitter that affects hunger, sleep, arousal, and mood (happiness)
Excess:
- sedation, linked with anxiety

Deficit:
- depression

Thalamus

senses station (-smell), located on top of the brainstem; directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla

Hypothalamus

a neural structure lying below the thalamus; directs hunger, thirst, body temperature; helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion and reward

reticular formation

a nerve network that travels through the brainstem and thalamus and plays an important role in controlling arousal

Medulla

the base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing; allows for vegetative state

spinal cord

CNS; Nerves that run up and down the length of the back and transmit most messages between the body and brain

Cerebellum

the "little brain" at the rear of the brainstem; functions include processing sensory input, balance, and nonverbal learning and memory

Hippocampus

a neural center located in the limbic system; helps process conscious memories for storage

Amygdala

two lima bean-sized neural clusters in the limbic system; linked to emotion (aggression and fear)

central nervous system

brain and spinal cord

peripheral nervous system

the sensory and motor neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of the body

Sensation

the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment

Perception

the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

bottom-up processing

analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information

top-down processing

information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations

EX: it is easier to read messy handwriting in a sentence rather than a single word because the sentence provides context

absolute threshold

the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time

just noticeable difference (difference threshold)

the smallest difference between two stimuli that is detectable 50 percent of the time

signal detection theory

a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise). Assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person's experience, expectations, motivation, and alertness.

EX: if you heard the rustling of leaves when alone at night, you would hear them very loud and clearly, while if you heard them in a crowded parking lot, it would be background noise to you

cocktail party effect

ability to attend to only one voice among many

-EX: when you're out a loud party but you can hear the person you are talking to

selective attention

the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

-EX: cocktail party effect

cerebral cortex

the intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells that covers the cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information-processing center

corpus callosum

the large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them

circadian rhythm

the biological clock; regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24-hour cycle

manifest content

according to Freud, the remembered story line of a dream

latent content

according to Freud, the underlying meaning of a dream

sleep apnea

a sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and repeated momentary awakenings

night terrors

a sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified

insomnia

recurring problems in falling or staying asleep

Narcolepsy

A sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks

delta waves

the large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep (stage 3)

sleep spindles

bursts of rapid brain activity that characterize stage 2 NREM sleep.

alpha waves

the relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state

REM sleep

a recurring stage of sleep characterized by rapid eye movements, a high level of brain activity, and the occurrence of vivid dreams

wish fulfillment theory

Theory that conflicts, events and desires of the past are represented in symbolic form in dreams.
-dreams are key to understanding our inner conflicts

information processing theory

dreams help us sort out the day's events and consolidate our memories

physiological function theory

regular brain stimulation from REM sleep may help develop and preserve neural pathways and NREM is vital to restoring physiological function

intermittent reinforcement

reinforcing a response only part of the time, greater resistance to extinction

EX: gambling

continuous reinforcement

reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs, quick to learn and lose

positive reinforcement

increasing behaviors by presenting positive reinforcers that strengthen the response.

negative reinforcement

Increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli using a negative reinforcer that, when removed after a response, strengthens it

EX: pushing snooze to silence an alarm, taking medication to get rid of a headache

operant conditioning

a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher

John B. Watson

Founder of behaviorism; Little Albert experiment

B.F. Skinner

operant conditioning, skinner box; behaviorism

classical conditioning

a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events
-ivan pavlov's dog experiment

Ivan Pavlov

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

Albert Bandura

researcher famous for work in observational or social learning including the famous Bobo doll experiment

Bobo doll experiment

nursery school students observed an adult play aggressively (yelling & hitting) with an inflatable clown (Bobo); when children were later allowed to play with the Bobo, those children who witnesses the Bobo doll performed the same aggressive actions and improvised new ways of playing aggressively

observational learning

learning by observing others

mirror neurons

Frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions or when observing another doing so

mnemonic devices

memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices

EX: rohan using table to remember his list, ROY G BIV

Chunking

organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically

serial positioning effect

our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list

shallow processing

encoding on a basic level based on the structure or appearance of words

EX: how i memorize in pharm

deep processing

encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words

flashbulb memory

a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event

EX: t w/ 9/11

sensory memory

the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system

working memory

a newer understanding of short-term memory that focuses on conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory

EX: linking info from textbook w/ my previously stored info

short-term memory

activated memory that holds a few items briefly before the information is stored or forgotten

EX: seven digits of a phone number while dialing

long-term memory

the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.