ap psych mega review

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Psychology

Psychology

The scientific study of mental processes and behavior.

Wilhelm Wundt

Known as the father of psychology. Wundt created the first laboratory that was dedicated exclusively to psychology research. Wundt studied the senses, reaction time, attention spans, andemotions. Eventually one of his students, Edward Tichener would create structuralism

William James

Taught the first psychology course at Harvard University, wrote the first psychology textbook,and created the theoretical approach known as functionalism. Also helped more women get into psychology, for example Mary Whiton Calkins.

G. Stanley Hall

Was one of Wundt’s students who became the first American to earn a PH.D. in psychology. He also opened the first psychology lab in the United States of America and became the first president of the American Psychological Association (APA)

Mary Whiton Calkins

Was admitted into William James graduate seminar, despite the objections of many. Harvard denied Calkins a degree and offered her one from Radcliffe College instead. Calkins denied the degree, due to the unequal treatment of women. She went on to make significant contributions in memory research and became the first woman president of the APA.

Margaret Floy Wahburn

She is the first woman to earn a psychology degree and became the second female president of the APA. She also made a variety of contributions to animal research

Charles Darwin

Proposed the idea of natural selection. He argued that our behaviors and bodies were shaped through natural selection. Supported the theoretical approach known as evolutionary psychology.

Dorothea Dix

Helped reshape the medical field by highlighting the unfair and inhumane treatment of mentally ill people. She sought to reform insane asylums.

Sigmund Freud

Created the psychoanalytic theory, which was later changed to the psychodynamic approach. He focused on studying the unconscious and believed that people’s personalities are shaped by unconscious motives.

Ivan Pavlov

He was most known for his experiment with dogs and their digestion. He found that dogs would salivate at something besides food, if the stimulus was continuously presented before the food. Originally known as reflex conditioning, but would later be known as classical conditioning

Jean Piaget

Was the first psychologist to conduct a systematic study of cognitive development. He would eventually create a stage theory of child cognitive development

Carl Rogers

Is one of the founders of humanistic psychology. Made significant contributions to the research and understanding of people’s personalities

B.F. Skinner

Expanded the theoretical approach of Behaviorism. He was known for operant conditioning which focuses on behaviors and consequences both positive and negative

John B. Watson

Known as the official founder of Behaviorism when he explained behaviorism in 1913 in a Psychological Review article. He believed that psychology should be scientific and observable

Structuralism

Observes the mind’s different structures of consciousness through individual parts. (Uses introspection)

Functionalism

Seeks to understand mental & behavioral processes, operates as evolved functions. (Not looking at them as individual structures)

Gestalt

Studies the whole consciousness that included the study of perception, sensation, learning,& problem-solving. (Focus is on organizational process, instead of content of behavior)

Psychoanalytic/psychodynamic

Behaviors and mental processes are influenced by the ego managing the conflict between the id and superego. Focuses on processes that are unconscious. (Uses free association)

Introspection

the process of looking inward to observe yourself think. (Structuralism)

Free association

when a word or image triggers another idea, word, or picture inside a person’s head and uncovers unconscious thoughts (Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic)

Early behaviorism

Behaviors are learned through experiences and are observable. Broken into two parts,reflex conditioning, later known as classical conditioning, and operant conditioning

Humanistic

Believes humans are naturally good and seek to reach their potential through free will. The goal is to reach self-actualization.

Sociocultural

Studies the impact of a person’s culture, nationality, gender, religion, social norms, and other cultural aspects on their behavior/ mental processes.

evolutionary approach

Studies how behaviors and mental processes of today exist due to natural selection

biological approach

Studies the different structures of the brain and nervous system. Seeks to understand the link between our biological and psychological processes

cognitive approach

Attitudes, memories, perceptions, and expectations, all influence behaviors and mental processes of individuals. Focuses on how individuals process and remember information

Biopsychosocial approach

Studies a person’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and their impact on a person’s health. Combines the sociocultural approach and the biological approach.

The different psychological domains that would be classified as basic research

Biological,developmental, cognitive, educational, personality, social, positive, and psychometric.

the different psychological domains that would be classified as applied research?

Industrial-organizational, counseling, and clinical

operational definiton

A description of something in terms of procedures, actions, or processes by which it could be observed and measured.

population

all of the individuals in the group being studied.

sample

a selected group of people from the population which will represent the entire population

Random sampling

when each individual in a population has an equal chance of participating

Stratified sampling

when the population is divided into different subcategories and a random sample is taken from each subcategory.

Experiments

Observations conducted under controlled conditions to study a relationship between an independent variable and dependent variable

Controlled experiments can show cause and effect

Bias in the experiment's methodology or researchers' theories could skew results. There is also the third variable problem

correlational studies

Studies that allow researchers to predict the relationship between two variables

Shows strength and direction of a relationship

Does not show cause and effect.There is also the third variable problem

survey research

Self-reported data from questions that often ask for an individual's opinions, thoughts, or information on what they have done

Cheap, collects lots of data, can study data that is hard to observe, relatively easy to execute

Participants might desire to look good in answers, wording of questions can create leading questions and skew data (wording effect)

naturalistic observations

Research that observes behaviors as they happen in a real world setting, no lab or staged study

Real world setting can get authentic data

Lack of proper context. If subjects find out about observation they may change their behaviors

case studies

Research that analyzes different perspectives of a topic or subject,often provides information in chronological order

Can observe rare behaviors

Data can not be used to generalize population, participants may drop out, expensive, hawthorne effect

longiitudinal studies

Studies that follow one particular group over a long period of time

Shows changes over a longer period of time

Difficult to have participants stayin for the entire study, expensive, requires a lot of time

cross sectional studies

Compares different groups at the same time (example studying different ages at the same time)

Inexpensive and can be completed in a short amount of time

Only provides a snapshot of a group and does not show a complete picture

controlled experiment

the only type of study that shows cause and effect

independent variable

the cause, what is going to be manipulated in the experiment to see what effect it has on the DV.

third variable problem

when in an experiment there is a third variable that is impacting the participant and therefore possibly impacting the IV and DV. This would mean that a correlation found in an experiment would not mean that one variable caused the othe

quasi-experiments

used in situations where controlled experiments would be impossible to do, do not include random assignment of participants, while a controlled experiment does

reliability

refers to the repeatabilityof a test or study

validity

how well a test measures what it claims to measure.

hindsight bias

The tendency to think that one could have anticipated the outcome of an event or experiment after it already occurred

false consensus effect

This is when individuals overestimate how many others share their opinions or ideas

confirmation bias

Individuals focus on only specific information that is consistent with their viewpoint, and ignore conflicting information

hawthorne effect

When a participant alters their behavior because they know they are being observed

heredity

The passing on of different physical and mental traits from one generation to another

heritability

A mathematical measure to estimate how much variation there is in a population related to genes. It shows how much of a trait is genetics and how much is from the environment

epigenetics

the study of how the environment and a person’s behavior affect a person’s genes and how they work

Brain plasticity

changes that happen with the structure of the brain on acellular level, in response to what is happening in the environment

nervous system

uses neurons to send and deliver messages to localized areas of the body, it uses fast,short-lived messages.

endocrine system

uses glands to create hormones, these messages are slower moving and target larger broad areas of the body

pituitary gland

Located at the base of your brain. It connects the nervous system and endocrine system. Also helps regulate all other glands in the body, in response to the hypothalamus

Growth hormones, oxytocin, and vasopressin

pineal gland

Above the brainstem in the middle of the brain.Helps regulate sleep cycles

melatonin

thyroid and parathyroid gland

Located in the throat. Regulates the metabolism,growth, nervous system, Helps control calcium and phosphate levels in blood

Thyroid hormones,parathyroid hormones, and calcitonin

adrenal glands

Above your kidneys. Helps regulate salt, blood pressure,and oxygen intake Norepinephrine,epinephrine,glucocorticoids,and Mineralocorticoids(aldosterone)

Pancreas

By the stomach. Regulates sugar levels

Insulin and glucagon

Gonads

Ovaries or testes. Reproduction Testosterone,estrogen,progesterone

central nervous system

made up of the brain and spinal cord, it sends out orders to the body.

peripheral nervous system

consists of the different nerves that branch off from the brain and spine

glial cell

A cell that provides support to the nervous system, providing neurons with nutrients. They are the most abundant cell in the nervous system

action potential

This is when a neuron fires an electrical impulse down the axon

resting neuron

When there is more positive ions outside the membrane of the neuron, here the neuron is polarized and will not send a signal (-70mV)

depolarization

When the strong negative charge of the inside of the cell has enough positive ions enter so that the charge changes from around -70mV to at least -55mV. This will trigger the neuron to fire an action potential

repolarization

The process in which the neuron goes back to its resting potential, channels will open up letting more positive ions outside of the cell membrane

refractory period

A time when the neuron can not fire, the neuron is waiting for repolarization to occur.This prevents signals being sent in both directions down the axon

synapse

A small pocket of space between the axon terminal of one neuron and the dendrite of the next neuron, less than 1 millionth of an inch

Electrical synapses

used for messages that need to be sent quickly and immediately, one neuron is typically connected to another.

chemical synapse

use neurotransmitters to deliver messages across a synaptic gap, which takes more time than an electrical synapse

hyperpolarization

This is when the inside of a neuron becomes more negative which moves it farther away from its threshold or intensity needed for an action potential

Acetylcholine ACL AHC

enables muscle action, learning, and memory

dopamine

movement, learning, emotions, feelings and emotions

serotonin

hunger, sleep, arousal, and mood

endorphins

pain control

epinephrine

adrenaline, memories

norepinephrine

increases blood pressure, heart rate, and alertness

Glutamate

long term memory and learning

GABA

sleep and movement, slows down your nervous system

Broca’s Area

Responsible for controlling the muscles needed to speak

Wernike’s area

responsible for the ability to comprehend speech and create meaningful speech

medulla oblongata

controls breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure

pons

movement and sleep

cerebellum

smooth muscle movements, maintains equilibrium

brainstem

controls basic autonomic functions (breathing, heart rate, digestion, salivation)

reticular formation

a collection of nerve tunnel through the brainstem that are involved with alterness and arousal

cerebral cortex

a thin layer of gray matter that covers the entire brain

corpus callosum

a tract of nerve fibers that runs down the center of the brain and connects the left and right

frontal lobe

motor functions and higher level thinking

prefrontal cortex

planning, emotional expression and complex thought occurs

motor homumculus

a visual representation that shows how much brain area is devoted to the movement of each body part, showing how complex the movements are

parietal lobe

processing sensory stimuli

sensory homunculus

a visual representation that shows how much brain area is devoted to the sensations of each body part, showing how sensitive to stimuli they are

temporal lobe

processes auditory information and also is important in memory formation

angular gyrus

involved in reading and writing

thalamus

serves as a relay station for impulses from the body to areas of the cerebral cortex