ap psychology exam review

absolute threshold

the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus

action potential

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

achievement test

a test designed to assess what a person has learned

active listening

empathetic listening in which the listener echoes, restates, and clarifies; a feature of roger’s client-centered therapy

adrenal glands

a pair of endocrine glands that sit just above the kidneys and secrete hormones (epinephrine and norepinephrine) that help arouse the body in times of stress

agoraphobia

fear or avoidance of situations, such as crowds or wide-open places, where one has felt loss of control and panic

alcohol use disorder

(popularly known as alcoholism) alcohol use marked by tolerance, withdrawal, and a drive to continue problematic use

all-or-none response

a neuron’s reaction of either firing (with a full strength response) or not firing

alpha waves

the relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state

altruism

unselfish regard for the welfare of others

amygdala (angry amy)

two lima-bean sized neural clusters in the limbic system linked to emotions like fear and aggression, found in the middle of the brain near the hippocampus

anorexia nervosa

an eating disorder in which a person (usually an adolescent female) maintains a starvation diet despite being significantly (15 percent or more) underweight

antagonist

a molecule that, by binding to the receptor site, inhibits or blocks a response

agonist

a molecule that, by binding to a receptor site, stimulates a response

anterograde amnesia

an inability to form new memories

antisocial personality disorder

a personality disorder in which a person (usually a man) exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even towards friends and family members; aggressive, ruthless, con artist

anxiety disorders

psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety, or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety

aphasia

impairment of language, usually caused by left-hemisphere damage either to broca’s area (impaired speaking) or to wernicke’s area (impaired understanding)

aptitude test

a test designed to predict a person’s future performance (aptitude: the capacity to learn)

assimilation

interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schema

association areas

areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functioning, but rather involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking

associative learning

learning that certain events occur together; the events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences (as in operant conditioning)

attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (adhd)

a psychological disorder marked by the appearance by age 7 of one or more of 3 key symptoms: extreme inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity

attitude

feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events

attribution theory

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

autism spectrum disorder (asd)

a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by significant deficiencies in communication and social interaction, and by rigidly fixated interests and repetitive behaviors

automatic processing

unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information such as word meanings

autonomic nervous system (ans)

the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart) its sympathetic division arouses, its parasympathetic division calms

availability heuristic

a type of cognitive bias that helps us make fast but sometimes incorrect assessments; involves relying on information that comes to mind quickly or is most available to us

aversive conditioning

a type of counterconditioning that associates an unpleasant state (such as nausea) with an unwanted behavior (such as drinking alcohol)

axon

the neuron extension that passes messages through its branches to other neurons or to muscles/glands

babbling stage

beginning at about 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language

barbituates

drugs that depress central nervous system activity , reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgement

basal metabolic rate

the body’s resting rate of energy expenditure

basic trust

according to erik erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers

behavior therapy

therapy that applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviors

behavioral approach

in personality theory, this perspective focuses on the effects of learning on our personality development

behavioral psychology

the scientific study of observable behavior and its explanation by principles of learning

behaviorism

the theory that all behaviors are determined entirely by external stimuli in the environment

belief perseverance

clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

binge eating disorder (bed)

significant binge eating episodes, followed by distress, disgust, or guilt, but without the compensatory purging or fasting that marks bulimia nervosa

binocular cues

depth cues such as retinal disparity that depend on the use of two eyes

biological psychology

the scientific study of the links between biological (genetic, neural, hormonal) psychological processes

biomedical therapy

prescribed medications or procedures that act directly on the person’s physiology

biopsychosocial approach

an integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and socio-cultural levels of analysis

bipolar disorder

a mood disorder in which a person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania (formerly called manic-depressive disorder)

blind spot

the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a ‘blind’ spot because no receptor cells are located there

bottom-up processing

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

brainstem

the oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull; responsible for automatic survival functions

broca’s area

controls language expression; an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech

bulimia nervosa

an eating disorder in which a person alternates binging (usually of high-calorie foods) with purging (by vomiting or laxative use) or fasting

bystander effect

the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present

cannon-bard theory

the theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers a physiological response and the subjective experience of emotion

case study

a descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles

catharsis

in psychology, the idea that releasing negative energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges

central nervous system (cns)

consisting of our brain and spinal cord; receives, processes, and responds to external stimuli and sensory information

central route persuasion

a method of convincing others to take an action based on facts and evidence of the merits of the outcome

cerebellum

the ‘little brain’ at the rear of the brainstem; functions include processing sensory input, coordinating movement output and balance, and enabling nonverbal memory and learning

cerebral cortex

the intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells covering the cerebral hemispheres; the body’s ultimate control and information-processing center

change blindness

failure to notice changes in one’s environment

chunking

a memory trick that involves taking individual elements of a large list and grouping them together into elements with related meaning

circadian rhythm

the biological clock that occurs on a 24-hour cycle which controls sleep and wakefulness

classical conditioning

a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate an event

client-centered therapy

a humanistic therapy developed by carl rogers in which the therapist uses techniques such as active listening within a genuine, accepting, empathetic environment to facilitate client’s growth (also known as person centered therapy)

clinical psychology

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

cocaine

a powerful addictive stimulant derived from the coca plant producing temporarily increased awareness and feelings of euphoria

cochlea

a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear that transforms sound vibrations into auditory signals

cochlear implant

a device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea

cognition

all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

cognitive dissonance theory

the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent (when we become aware of when our attitudes and actions clash we can reduce the resulting discomfort by changing our attitudes or actions)

cognitive map

a mental representation of the layout of one’s environment

cognitive therapy

a type of psychotherapy that helps individuals identify and change thought patterns that lead to harmful behaviors and feelings

cognitive-behavioral therapy (cbt)

a popular integrative therapy that combines cognitive therapy (changing self-defeating thinking) with behavior therapy (changing behavior)

collective unconscious

carl jung’s concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species history universal among all humans

community psyhology

a branch of psychology that studies how people interact with their social environments aand how social institutions affect individuals and groups

companionate love

the deep affectionate attachmentwe feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined

complementary and alternative medicine (cam)

unproven healthcare treatments not taught widely in medical school, not used in hospitals, and not usually reimbursed by insurance companies

concrete operational stage

in piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 6 or 7-11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events

conditioned response (cr)

in classical conditioning, a learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (cs)

conditioned stimulus (cs)

in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (us) comes to trigger a conditioned response (cr)

cones

retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions; detect fine detail and give us the ability to see color

confirmation bias

a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence

conformity

adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard

confounding variable

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

conservation

the principle (which piaget believed to be apart of concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects

content validity

the extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest

continuous reinforcement

reinforcing a desired behavior every time it occurs

control group

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

convergent thinking

narrows the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution

conversion disorder

a disorder in which a person experiences genuine physical symptoms for which no physiological basis can be found (also known as functional neurological symptom disorder)

corpus callosum

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

correlation

a measure of the extent to which two variables change together and thus of how well either variable predicts the other

correlation coefficient

a statistical index of the relationship between two variables (from -1.0 to +1.0)

positive and negative correlation

positive: value above 0 (ex: +0.23) which indicates that when one variable increases, the other increases as well; negative: value below 0 (ex: -0.23) which indicates that when one variable increases, the other decreases

counterconditioning

behavior therapy procedures that use classical conditioning to evoke new responses to stimuli that are triggering unwanted behaviors; include exposure therapy and aversive conditioning

critical period

an optimal period shortly after the birth of an organism when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces normal development

critical thinking

thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions; rather, it examines assumptions, assesses the source, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions

cross-sectional study

a study in which people of different ages are compared with one another

crystallized intelligence

our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age

ct (computed tomography) scan

a series of x-ray photographs taken from different angles and combined by computer into a composite representation of a slice of the bran’s structure (also known as a cat scan)