AP Psychology Review Notes

Behavioral Psychology

Focuses on how we learn observable responses.

Biological Psychology

Examines how the body and brain enable emotions, memories, and sensory experiences; also, how genes and environment influence individual differences.

Cognitive Psychology

Studies how we encode, process, store, and retrieve information.

Evolutionary Psychology

Investigates how the natural selection of traits promotes gene survival.

Humanistic Psychology

Focuses on how we achieve personal growth and self-fulfillment.

Psychodynamic Psychology

Explores how behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts.

Social-cultural Psychology

Studies how behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures.

Biopsychosocial Psychology

Integrates the influence of the brain and nervous system on mental processes and behavior; considered the best approach.

Clinical Psychologists

Diagnose and treat mental disorders.

Cognitive Psychologists

Study mental processes such as perception, memory, and problem-solving.

Developmental Psychologists

Examine psychological growth and change throughout the lifespan.

Social Psychologists

Investigate how individuals influence and are influenced by others in social contexts.

Industrial-Organizational Psychologists

Apply psychological principles to workplace environments to enhance productivity and employee well-being.

Personality Psychologists

Investigate our persistent traits.

Human Factors Psychologists

Focus on the interaction of people, machines, and physical environments.

Counseling Psychologists

Help people cope with challenges and increase their personal and social functioning.

Community Psychologists

Work to create social and physical environments that are healthy for all.

Experimental Psychologists

Conduct experiments to discover information about the workings of behavior and mental processes.

Quantitative and Psychometric Psychologists

Discover the numbers/math behind psychological principles.

Sports Psychologists

Work with athletes.

Health Psychologists

Study and promote the relationship between psychological factors and physical health, focusing on how behaviors, stress, and lifestyle choices impact overall well-being.

Rehabilitation Psychologists

Help people who have lost functioning, often after a traumatic event.

Educational Psychologists

Study the processes of learning and development in educational settings, focusing on how students learn and how to improve educational outcomes.

School Psychologists

Provide assessment and intervention to individual students, usually work for just one school or district.

Neuropsychologists

Study, diagnose, and treat neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and autism spectrum disorder.

The Scientific Method

A systematic process used in psychology to formulate hypotheses, conduct experiments, collect data, and draw conclusions, ensuring that research findings are reliable and valid.

Theory

Explains behavior or events by offering ideas to organize observations.

Hypothesis

A testable prediction used in science.

Operational Definitions

Precise, defined explanations of procedures and concepts used in an experiment that allow other scientists to replicate the research (do it again).

Experimental Method

Involves manipulating one or more independent variables to observe the effect on a dependent variable, allowing researchers to establish cause-and-effect relationships.

Correlational Method

Examines the relationship between two or more variables to determine if they are associated but does not imply causation.

Descriptive Method

Describes behaviors, often using case studies and surveys to gather in-depth information but lacks the ability to establish cause-and-effect relationships.

Correlation Coefficient

A number from -1 to 1 that describes how closely related two phenomena are. A correlation coefficient close to 1 implies a close positive relationship, while a correlation coefficient close to -1 implies a close negative relationship.

Experimental Group

Receives the treatment in an experiment.

Control Group

Does not receive the treatment in an experiment.

Random Assignment

Participants in the experiment will be randomly assigned to the experimental group or the control group to account for other factors influencing results!

Placebo Effect

If someone thinks they are doing something that will help them, they will likely be helped anyway even if the thing actually does nothing (e.g., a sugar pill vs. a real pill).

Single-Blind Study

Participants don’t know if they’re receiving the placebo or not, but the researchers do.

Double-Blind Study

Neither the researchers nor the participants know who is receiving the placebo and who is receiving the experimental treatment.

Standard Deviation

Represents how dispersed the data is from the mean. High SD = data is very spread out, Low SD = data is very close together.

Null Hypothesis

Hypothesis that says that the independent variable of an experiment does not affect the dependent variable.

Alternate Hypothesis

Hypothesis that says that the independent variable of an experiment does affect the dependent variable.

p-value

Likelihood of observing the experimental results under the null hypothesis; p-value < 0.05 is generally considered statistically significant.

Cell Body (Soma)

Integrates and processes information coming from dendrites, initiates the action potential.

Dendrites

Receive messages from other cells.

Axon

Passes messages via the action potential from the cell body to the terminal bulbs.

Myelin Sheath

Covers the axon, speeds up neural impulses.

Terminal Bulbs

At the end of the axon, form junctions with other cells.

Synapse

Gap between two neurons, neurotransmitters pass from terminal bulbs to dendrites.

Cerebrum

Largest part of the brain, only some animals have it, more advanced functions.

Cerebellum

“Little brain,” back of the brain, contains two hemispheres, influences thoughts, emotions, and social behavior, affects coordination.

Brainstem

Connects the cerebrum with the spinal cord, mostly basic, essential-for life functions, most animals have one.

Frontal Lobe

Executive functioning, emotional regulation.

Motor Cortex

Part of the frontal lobe, responsible for voluntary motor movements.

Prefrontal Cortex

Part of the frontal lobe, controls attention, inhibition, emotion, complex learning, theory of mind processing.

Broca’s Area

Part of the frontal lobe, responsible for speech/language production. Someone with an aphasia of Broca’s area would struggle to communicate.

Parietal Lobe

Integrating sensory information, self-perception/proprioception, awareness of body movements, awareness of location in space (kinesthetic sense).

Somatosensory Cortex

Part of the parietal lobe, involves touch, pain, temperature, position, pressure, and vibration.

Temporal Lobe

Processing sensory input, particularly auditory.

Amygdala

Part of the temporal lobe, emotional responses, decision making, memory.

Hippocampus

Part of the temporal lobe, memory storage.

Auditory Cortex

Part of the temporal lobe, processes auditory information.

Wernicke’s Area

Part of the temporal lobe, processes language. Someone with an aphasia of Wernicke’s area would struggle to understand language, even if they could communicate perfectly.

Occipital Lobe

Processing visual input.

Visual Cortex

Part of the occipital lobe, processing visual information.

Pons

Unconscious processes such as the sleep-wake cycle and breathing.

Midbrain

Relays sensory information.

Medulla

Controls processes essential to life such as heart rate and blood pressure.

Thalamus

Lies above brainstem, relays sensory information (NOT smell).

Hypothalamus

Lies right below thalamus, controls hunger/thirst, body temperature, mood, sleep.

Pineal Gland

Responds to light and dark and secretes melatonin, regulating the circadian rhythm.

Corpus Callosum

Connects two “halves” of the brain.

Limbic System

Parts of the brain that regulate emotions and behavior; includes thalamus, hypothalamus, and amygdala.

Endocrine System

Glands that make hormones and release them into the blood, generally resulting in slow changes over time (such as puberty).

Central Nervous System

Brain and spinal cord.

Peripheral Nervous System

Everything else, delivers messages from brain and spinal cord.

Autonomic Nervous System

Governs involuntary processes.

Sympathetic Nervous System

Part of the autonomic nervous system, induces “fight or flight” responses.

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Part of the autonomic nervous system, calms your body down after “fight or flight” moments.

Somatic Nervous System

Governs voluntary processes.

CT Scan (Computed Topography)

Uses x-ray beams passed through head, measures brain’s structure but not function.

MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)

Uses echo waves to discriminate between gray matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid; can show if there’s fracture or bleeding.

fMRI (Functional MRI)

A series of MRI images taken less than an MRI, can show the brain’s functions.

PET Scan (Positron Emission Topography)

Uses radioactive glucose to measure brain metabolism.

Circadian Rhythm

24-hour sleep cycle.

NREM 1 Sleep

Alpha waves, hypnogogic hallucinations.

NREM 2 Sleep

Theta waves, sleep spindles, K-complexes.

NREM 3 Sleep

Delta waves, slow breathing/heart rate.

REM (Rapid Eye Movement) Sleep

Temporary paralysis, irregular breathing, elevated heart rate, beta waves, called paradoxical sleep: brain “seems” awake, but you really are asleep, very important to get REM sleep.

Absolute Threshold

Threshold where a stimulus can be detected 50% of the time.

Difference Threshold

The smallest amount by which two stimuli can differ for someone to perceive them as different.

Weber’s Law

The difference threshold stays proportionally constant as the amount of stimulus gets smaller or larger.

Synesthesia

“Mixing” up of senses, e.g., seeing numbers as colors.

Transduction

Sensory receptors convert sensory input into electrical signals that can be read by neurons.

Perceptual Constancies

We tend to view familiar objects as having the same size/shape/color even if the distance/angle/lighting changes.

Nociceptors

Detect potentially harmful sensations, causing pain sensation.

Gate Control Theory

A painful sensation can be blocked by another nonpainful sensation because the painful messages are slower.

Phantom Limb

Many people who have lost a limb can “feel” their lost limb.

Cornea

Clear outer part of the eye’s focusing system located at the front of the eye.

Iris

Colored part of the eye that regulates the amount of light entering the eye.