ap psych midterm review

contemporary psychology

the study of behavioral and mental processes

nature vs nurture

innate features vs learned features. it is one of psychs big issues that has no answer.

biological psychology

links between psychological and biological process; involved neurotransmitters and nervous system; how your body reacts to certain behaviors/events or what your body does to cause certain behaviors

behaviorism

our behavior is learned through conditioning

cognitive psychology

our behavior is based on our thoughts and the way that we process information

humanistic psychology

how our knowledge of self influences our motives/intentions in behavior

psychoanalytical/ psychodynamic psychology

freud’s theory of unconscious drives forming out behaviors

socio-cultural psychology

how our environment and our situations impact and teach our behaviors

evolutionary psychology

inherited traits developed by adaptations that form our behaviors

brainstem

located at the core of the brain and is responsible for survival functions

medulla

located at base of brain stem regulates heartbeat and breathing

thalamus

relays sensory information within the brain to be processed

cerebellum

located rear of brain stem and regulates balance and movement

amygdala

regulates fear, rage, and anger; part of the limbic system

hypothalamus

regulates homestasis and is a part of the limbic system

cerebral cortex

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

hippocampus

associated with memories of how to do things; located in the temporal lobe

pons

regulates relaxation

reticular formation

nerve network that regulates arousal

corpus callosum

communicated between the brains two hemispheres

frontal lobe

located in the front of the brain and controls judgement and reason

parietal lobes

sensory input for touch and body position and located at the top center of the brain

occipital lobe

recieves visual information and is located in the back of the brain

motor cortex

controls voluntary movements

sosomatory cortex

regulates and processes body touch and movement sensations

limbic system

a neural system located in the back of the brain that is associated with emotion and drive

split brain

a procedure that severs the two hemispheres of the brain by cutting the corpus callosum and it showed that the left side of the brain involved verbal language while teh right side involved emotion and stuff like that

neurotransmitter

a chemical messenger that travels through the synaptic gap

reuptake

the reabsorption of a neurotransmitter into the neuron that it came from

central nervous system

consists of the brain and the spinal cord

peripheral nervous system

a system of neurons that connects the CNS to the body

EEG

records the waves of electrical activity in the brain (neural impulses)

cat scan

x rays of different angles to show a slice of the brain to show blood flow

pet scan

shows activity in the brain with glucose consumption

MRI

magnetic scans of soft tissue

weber’s study on perception

things must be different but a constant proportion in order to be perceived as different

sensation

what occurs when a stimulus activates a receptor

perception

organizing of sensory information into meaningful experience

selective attention

focusing on one thing at a time

absolute threshold

minimum stimulation needed to detect something 50 % of the time

gesalt

the whole of the picture is smaller than the sum of its parts

esp

perception can occur apart from sensory input

\`ebbinghaus

you rapidly forget majority of the information but what you do remember will generally stay

broca

broca’s area controlling speech muscle movements

short term memory

activated memory that briefly holds a few items

long term memory

relatively limitless storehouse of memories

chunking

associating things together to remember them easily

mnemonics

memory aids that organize information and link new info to old info

flashbulb memory

vivid memories of significant events

mood congruency

tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with your mood

prototype

something you think of to represent a whole category

algorithm

a formula guaranteed for success

heuristics

simple thinking to solve problems efficiently; short cut

mental set

tendency to approach a problem in a way that has worked in the past

frued and personality

believed in the id, ego, and superego; the conscious and unconscious with repressed memories and fixations on childhood psychosexual stages

rogers

believed that given the right conditions one will develop to their full potential; self concept

oral stage

birth to 1; pleasure is achieved through oral stimulation

anal stage

2-3; rules and regulations (potty training)

phallic stage

3-7; become aware of differences between male and female

latency stage

7-11; generally uneventful, not too much emotions and sexuality

genital stage

11-adult; become able to maturely deal with opposite sex; balance love and work

genetic psychology

how genes influence our behavior

informed consent

the person being experimented is aware of what they’re getting into

protection from harm

the participant in the experiment will not be harmed

confidentiality

there is an element of confidentiality in order for the experiment to be considered ethical

debriefing

after the experiment, the participant is made aware of the conclusion

scientific attitude

objectivity, open-mindedness skepticism, humility

case studies

study of one or more individuals in great depth over a long period of time

experiments

focus on the possible effects of a single factor or two

natural observation

watching and recording of organisms in their natural environment

survey

report behavior or opinion

clairvoyance

ability to perceive remote events

precognition

ability to perceive future events

metacognition/ psychokinesis

ability to control movement of inanimate objects

pavlov

discovered classical conditioning

watson

believed humans can be classically conditioned

BF skinner

leading figure in operant conditioning

thorndike

believed in the law of effect

law of effect

having a behavior with a preferable consequence (effect) will lead you to repeat the behavior

bandura

did the bobo doll experiment and believed that children model adults behavior

classical conditioning

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

operant conditioning

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

pavlov’s study

conditioned a dog to salivate at the sound of a bell

watson and little albert

conditioned a baby to be scared of a rat

reinforcement schedule

a pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced

continuous reinforcement

reinforcing a behavior with a desired response every time the behavior occurs

partial/ interment reinforcement

reinforcing a behavior only part of the time

fixed ratio schedule

a behavior is reinforced after a specific number of times

variable ratio schedule

a behavior is reinforced after an unpredicted number of times

fixed-interval schedule

a behavior is reinforced after a specific time interval

variable interval schedule

a behavior is reinforced after an unpredicted duration of time

abraham maslow

founded a hierarchy of needs where humans are motivated to fulfill their needs in that order

incentives

a positive/negative stimulus that motivates a behavior

yerkes-dodson law

moderate arousal leads to optimal performance

set point

weight at which your body tends to stay at

James-Lange theory

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

cannon-bard theory

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

piaget

believed in stages of cognitive development

vygotsky

believed that children’s models are based on their peers and adults and believed that children developed gradually

harlow

studied social dependency demonstrated the importance of love and care for healthy childhood development through the monkey experiment