AP Psychocolgy Last minute FRQ Terms

Acetylcholine

Acetylcholine

A neurotransmitter enabling learning, memory, and muscle contraction

Arousal theory

Motivation theory maintaining optimal alertness and activation

Availability heuristic

Estimating likelihood based on memory availability

Belief perseverance

Clinging to initial beliefs despite discrediting

Big Five Personality Traits

Openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism

Extraversion

Personality trait of sociability, assertiveness

Circadian rhythm

24-hour biological clock regulating bodily rhythms

Cognitive dissonance

Mental tension from conflicting beliefs

Context dependent memory

Better recall in the same context learned

Correlation

Measure of how two factors vary together

Deindividuation

Loss of self-awareness in group settings

Difference threshold

Minimum difference between stimuli for detection

Distributed practice

Spacing study sessions for better retention

Divergent thinking

Generating new problem solutions

Dopamine

Neurotransmitter linked to movement, attention, pleasure

Drive-reduction theory

Physiological needs create motivation

Encoding failure

Inability to recall due to insufficient encoding

Episodic memory

Recollection of specific events and experiences

Ethics in research

Informed consent, protection, confidentiality, debriefing

Experiment

Manipulating factors to observe effects

Correlational research

Identifying associations between factors

Explicit memory

Consciously recallable facts and experiences

External locus of control

Perception of external forces determining fate

Extrinsic motivation

Behavior driven by rewards or punishment avoidance

GAS exhaustion phase

Energy depletion in stress adaptation

Gender roles

Behavioral norms based on gender

Gestalt principle of proximity

Grouping nearby figures together

Implicit memory

Unconsciously remembered memories

Incentive theory

Behavior driven by desirable stimuli

Intrinsic motivation

Behavior driven by internal satisfaction

Normative social influence

Influence for social approval

Operational definition

Statement defining research variables

Overjustification effect

External rewards diminishing intrinsic motivation

Positive reinforcement

Strengthening behavior with positive stimuli

Postconventional moral reasoning

Moral reasoning based on principles

Prefrontal cortex

Brain region for thinking, planning, language

Proactive interference

Old information hindering new retrieval

Procedural memory

Implicit memory for motor skills

Prospective memory

Remembering future tasks

Random assignment

Assigning participants by chance in experiments

Random selection

Ensuring sample representativeness

Retinal disparity

Depth perception cue from eyes' difference

Retroactive interference

New information blocking old retrieval

Selective attention

Focusing on specific stimuli

Self-efficacy

Belief in task competence

Self-fulfilling prophecy

Expectation influencing behavior

Serotonin

Mood and appetite neurotransmitter

Social facilitation

Performance improvement in presence of others

State-dependent memory

Easier recall in same mental state

Statistical significance

Likelihood of result occurring by chance

Sympathetic nervous system

Arousal division of autonomic nervous system

Yerkes-Dodson Law

Performance-arousal relationship principle

Cognitive restructuring

Challenging negative beliefs for positive ones

Kinesthetic sense

Body part location sense

Basilar membrane

Cochlea structure holding auditory receptors

Somatosensory cortex

Processes touch and movement sensations

Motor neurons

Carry brain signals to muscles and glands

Heuristic

Quick thinking strategy for problem-solving

Secondary reinforcer

Reinforcer paired with primary reinforcer

Algorithm

Logical problem-solving rule

Social loafing

Reduced effort in group tasks

Habituation

Decreased response to repeated stimuli

Alarm stage of GAS

Initial stress recognition and response

Authoritarian parenting

Rigid, strict, less warm parenting style

Identity vs

Erikson's stage of self-discovery

Unconditional positive regard

Total acceptance attitude

Elaborative rehearsal

Linking new info to existing knowledge

Central route persuasion

Persuasion through logic and evidence

Source amnesia

Misattributing experienced events

Fluid intelligence

Speedy abstract reasoning ability

Agoraphobia

Fear of open, crowded places

Ethnocentrism

Belief in one's group superiority

Rods

Retinal receptors for black, white, gray vision