AP PSYCH: REVIEW AREAS

Naturalistic Observation

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

Survey

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

Case Study

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

Meta-Analysis

A statistical procedure for combining the results of many different research studies on the same topic to establish a greater consensus.

Longitudinal Study

Research that follows the same individuals over a long period of time to measure changes in a particular characteristic.

Cross-Sectional

A study in which people of different ages are compared with one another at the same point in time.

Standard Deviation

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

Statistical Significance

A statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance; a finding is usually significant if the probability of it occurring by chance is less than 5% ($p < 0.05$).

Correlational

A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus how well either factor predicts the other (does not imply causation).

Positive Correlation

A relationship where two variables increase or decrease together (e.g., the more you study, the higher your grade).

Negative Correlation

A relationship where one variable increases as the other decreases (e.g., the more you party, the lower your grade).

Evolutionary Perspective

A psychological approach that studies how natural selection of traits has promoted the survival of genes.

Sensory neurons

Neurons that carry incoming information from the sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord (CNS).

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.

All-or-nothing principle

A neuron's reaction is either to fire (with full strength) or not to fire at all.

Depolarization

A process during the action potential when a neuron becomes more positive (less negative), making it more likely to fire.

Refractory period

A brief period of inactivity after a neuron has fired, during which it cannot fire again.

Resting potential

The stable, negative charge of a neuron when it is inactive and waiting to fire.

Reuptake

The process by which a sending neuron reabsorbs excess neurotransmitters from the synapse.

Multiple sclerosis (MS)

A chronic, typically progressive disease involving damage to the myelin sheath, which impairs electrical impulse transmission.

Myasthenia gravis

An autoimmune disease causing chronic muscle weakness by blocking Acetylcholine receptors at the neuromuscular junction. Neurotransmitters

Dopamine

Neurotransmitter associated with pleasure, reward, movement, and learning. Excess is linked to Schizophrenia; deficit to Parkinson's disease.

Serotonin

Neurotransmitter affecting mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal. Deficit is linked to depression.

Norepinephrine (aka Noradrenaline)

Neurotransmitter involved in alertness and arousal (part of fight or flight response).

Glutamate

A major excitatory neurotransmitter, involved in memory. Excess can cause overstimulation (migraines/seizures).

GABA (Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid)

A major inhibitory neurotransmitter, linked to regulating anxiety.

Endorphins

"Morphine within"—natural, opiate-like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and pleasure.

Substance P

A neurotransmitter associated with the transmission of pain signals to the brain.

Acetylcholine (ACh)

Neurotransmitter that enables muscle action, learning, and memory. Deficit linked to Alzheimer's disease.

Hormones

Chemical messengers manufactured by the endocrine glands, traveling through the bloodstream.

Endocrine System

The body's slow chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream.

Adrenaline (Epinephrine)

Hormone secreted by the adrenal glands to increase heart rate, blood pressure, and blood sugar in times of stress (fight or flight).

Leptin

Hormone secreted by fat cells that signals the hypothalamus to reduce appetite and increase energy expenditure (satiety).

Ghrelin

Hormone secreted by the stomach that signals the hypothalamus to increase appetite (hunger).

Oxytocin

Hormone released by the pituitary gland that is associated with bonding, social trust, and lactation ("cuddle hormone").

Agonists

Drugs that mimic or increase the effect of a neurotransmitter by binding to its receptor site (e.g., an opiate).

Antagonists

Drugs that block or decrease the effect of a neurotransmitter by occupying its receptor site (e.g., a botox).

Reuptake inhibitor

A type of drug (like SSRIs) that blocks the reabsorption of a neurotransmitter back into the sending neuron, increasing its effect in the synapse.

Brain Stem

The oldest part and central core of the brain; responsible for automatic survival functions.

Medulla

The base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing.

Reticular Activating System (RAS) (aka Reticular Formation)

A nerve network that travels through the brainstem and thalamus, controlling arousal and attention.

Cerebellum

The "little brain" at the rear of the brainstem; functions include processing sensory input, coordinating movement output, balance, and nonverbal learning/memory.

Cerebral Cortex

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

Limbic System

Neural system associated with emotions (like fear and aggression) and drives (like food and sex); includes the amygdala, hypothalamus, and hippocampus.

Thalamus

The brain's sensory control center, located on top of the brainstem; it 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 several maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature, sexual behavior), and is linked to emotion and reward.EEG (Electroencephalogram)

CT Scan (Computed Tomography)

A series of X-ray photographs taken from different angles and combined by computer into a composite representation of a slice of the brain's structure.

MEG (Magnetoencephalography)

A brain imaging technique that measures magnetic fields produced by the brain's electrical currents, providing precise timing of brain activity.

PET scan (Positron Emission Tomography)

A visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task.

MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)

A technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images of soft tissue (shows brain anatomy/structure).

fMRI (Functional MRI)

A technique for revealing bloodflow and, therefore, brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans.

REM sleep (aka paradoxical sleep)

A recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur; muscles are relaxed but other body systems are active (brain waves resemble waking state).

NREM sleep (Non-REM sleep)

Encompasses all sleep stages except REM sleep.

Sleep cycle

The progression through the stages of sleep (NREM 1, 2, 3/4, then REM), which repeats about every 90 minutes.

Stage 1 hypnagogic

The transition stage from wakefulness to sleep; may experience fantastic images/hallucinations (hypnagogic sensations).

Stage 2

The stage characterized by sleep spindles (bursts of rapid, rhythmic brain-wave activity); about half of a person's sleep time.

Stage 3 and 4 (Slow-Wave Sleep/Delta Sleep)

Deep sleep stages characterized by slow, large Delta waves; responsible for deep rest and physical restoration; occurs mostly early in the night.

Information Processing Model (Consolidation theory)

The theory that dreams help us process the day's events and consolidate memories.

Physiological function (Dream Theory)

The theory that dreams provide the sleeping brain with periodic stimulation to preserve and expand neural pathways.

Activation-synthesis theory

The theory that dreams are the brain's attempt to make sense of random neural firings/bursts of activity in the brainstem.

Cognitive Development (Dream Theory)

The theory that dream content reflects the dreamer's cognitive development—their knowledge and understanding.

Absolute Threshold

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

Just Noticeable Difference (JND)

The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time (aka difference threshold).

Retina

The light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information.

Blind Spot

The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a spot where no receptor cells are located.

Lens

The transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape (accommodation) to help focus images on the retina.

Accommodation (Vision)

The process by which the eye's lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina.

Nearsightedness (Myopia)

A condition where faraway objects are focused in front of the retina, resulting in blurred distance vision.

Farsightedness (Hyperopia)

A condition where near objects are focused behind the retina, resulting in blurred near vision.

Pitch

The perception of a sound's frequency (how high or low the sound is).

Amplitude

The magnitude or height of a sound wave, which determines the sound's perceived loudness.

Place Theory

In hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated (best for high pitches).

Volley Theory

A theory of hearing that states groups of auditory neurons fire in rapid succession ("volley") to sense pitches above 1000 Hz.

Frequency Theory

In hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch (best for low pitches).

Conduction deafness

Hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea (e.g., ear drum or ossicles).

Sensorineural deafness

Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerves (aka nerve deafness; often treated with a cochlear implant).

Vestibular sense

The sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance, which is controlled by the semicircular canals in the inner ear.

Kinesthesis (Kinesthesia)

The sense of the position and movement of individual body parts, provided by receptors in muscles, tendons, and joints.

Selective attention

The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus (e.g., reading a book in a loud coffee shop).

Cocktail party effect

The ability to attend to only one voice among many, while filtering out other stimuli, yet still being aware of one's own name being spoken.

Inattentional blindness

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere (e.g., the gorilla suit video).

Change Blindness

Failing to notice changes in the environment, especially when attention is directed elsewhere.

Retinal disparity

A binocular cue for perceiving depth; by comparing images from the two eyeballs, the brain computes distance (the greater the disparity, the closer the object).

Convergence

A binocular cue where the inward turning of the eyes when viewing a near object provides depth information.

Monocular depth cues

Depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone.

Relative clarity (aka Aerial Perspective)

A monocular cue where hazy objects appear farther away than sharp, clear objects.

Relative size

A monocular cue where objects that are presumed to be the same size, the one that casts the smaller retinal image is perceived as farther away.

Texture gradient

A monocular cue where a gradual change from coarse, distinct texture to fine, indistinct texture signals increasing distance.

Linear perspective

A monocular cue where parallel lines appear to converge with distance.

Interposition

A monocular cue where an object that partially blocks another is perceived as closer.

Perceptual Constancies

The ability to perceive objects as unchanging (having consistent shape, size, lightness, and color) even as the retinal image changes.

Apparent movement

The perception of movement created by the rapid presentation of still images (e.g., a film/movie).

Representativeness heuristic

Judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes (can lead to ignoring relevant statistical information).

Availability heuristic

Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common.

Multi-store model (Atkinson-Shiffrin Model)

A model that proposes memory flows through three distinct stages

Long-Term Memory (LTM)

The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system; includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.

Levels of processing model (Craik and Lockhart)

A model suggesting that the depth of processing (shallow vs. deep) during encoding affects the memory's duration and strength.

Structural, phonemic, semantic (Levels of Processing)

The three progressively deeper levels of processing (shallowest to deepest

Testing effect

Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information (also called retrieval practice effect).