AP Psych Exam -- All Terms

Behavioral perspective

focus on observable behaviors, people/animals control through conditioning/reinforcement (learning)

psychodynamic perspective

emphasizes role of unconscious mind/early childhood experiences (ACES)

Humanistic perspective

emphasizes capacity for choice/depth, motivation to fulfill their potential, focus on person future not past

Cognitive perspective

Mental process, memory, perception, problem solving, etc. how we interpert, percieve, remember events

Biological perspective

explanation of behavior on individuals physicals/biological process

Evolutionary perspective

hindsight, study how evolution explain psychological process, nature selection = survival

Sociocultural perspective

Society/culture shape behavior and cognition, custom beliefs, value, language shape identity/reality

Confirmation bias

search for info that confirms preconception

Survey

questionaries to ask large number of people questions, large amount of data gained, distorted results bc of poorly phrased questions

Naturalistic observation

observations of people/animals in natural environment, provides descriptive data about behavior, losses experimental control

Meta-Analysis

Combines results of many same individual research and put together in experiments, increases stat power, can have bias, generalizability based on data available

Independent variable

Manipulated/controlled/changed by researcher

Dependent variable

variable meassured/outcome

Operational definition

How you define/meassure something

Cofounding variable

Could explain results, something else affecting findings

Random sample

each memeber of population has same chance of selected into sample

Representative sample

Sample that has characteristics similar to those in population

Random assignment

Ensures all members have equal chance of being in control or experiment group

Control Group

No treatment/effect

Mode

most frequently occuring number in set

Hindsight Bias

tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen or predicted it

Norms

unwritten rules and expectations that dictate how individuals should behave within a social group or society

Correlation

used to see if there’s a relationship w/ 2 variables, doesn’t involve manipulation/cause and effect, uses scatter plot

Positive correlation

Increases and decrease together

Negative correlation

One variable increases and other decreases

Falsifiable

Hypothesis/theory that can be empirically tested and potentially proven false through observation or experimentation.

Replication

Process of repeating a research study to verify its confidence in its results

Convenience sampling

Participants selected based on their availability/readiness to participate in a study, not random or systematic, relies on the access to subject

Sampling bias

some members of intended population have lower sampling probability than others or systematic difference between samples taken at different times, can lead to misleading results.

Generalizability

Extent to which research findings can be applied to broader populations

Experimenter bias

influence of a researcher's expectations on the outcome of an experiment, affect study design

Social desireability bias

Tendency of individuals to answer questions in a way that portrays them favorably rather than providing their true thoughts or behaviors

Qualitative

Tested research in form of number

Quanitative

tested research w/ numerical data or data turned into numbers

Peer Review

Experts in field evaluate/critique research studies, articles, or manuscripts before published, ensures work meets high academic standards and helps to eliminate bias/errors

Directionality problem

difficulty in determining the causal direction between two correlated variables

Third variable problem

situation where an observed relationship between two variables may be due to the influence of a third, uncontrolled variable

Self-report bias

where individuals may not accurately describe their thoughts, feelings, or behaviors due to desire to present themselves favorably

Institutional 5 ethical things

Respect dignity/welfare of subjects, informed consent (subject must volunteer), must be protected from harm, must be informed of any risk, and must be debrief

Percentile rank

percentage of individuals in a group who scored at or below a specific score

Normal curve

bell-shaped, most scores clustering around the mean and fewer at the extremes

skewed curves

can indicate patterns in behavior or performance

Regression towards the mean

statistical phenomenon where extreme values on a variable tend to be followed by values that are closer to the average

Scatter plot

shows if there’s a correlation

Correlation coefficient

Number rang from 1+ to -1, closer to 1 = stronger relationship

Effect size

quantitative measure, indicates the magnitude of the relationship or difference between two variables in a study

Statistical significance

the degree a research outcome cannot reasonably be attributed to the operation of chance or random factors.

Heredity

extant that traits are passed down

Central nervous system

The “Control center",” consists of brain/spinal cord

Peripheral nervous system

links CNS to outside stimuli

Autonomic/automatic system

controls involuntary function (breathing, heart rate)

Sympathetic nervous system

Prepares to face fight, flight, freeze

Parasympathetic nervous system

Conserves energy, calms you during/after stressors

Somatic nervous system

Controls voluntary movement of muscles, carries sensory info to CNS

Dendrite

branch, recieves info from cells

Cell body

Cell life support center, has nucleus, determines if neuron passes message

Axon

Passage messages away from neurons and its axon

Myelin Sheath

Protective coating on axon

Axon terminal

Where message exits, jump synapse, goes onto next neuron

Synapse

Space between axon terminals/dendrites

Soma

Space around neuron

Reuptake

NTS in synapse are reabsorbed into sending neuron, stops neurotransmitter action

Agonists

mimic activity of neurotransmitter in body

Antagonists

Block activity of neurotransmitters

Stimulants

drugs that increase activity in CNS, is caffine/cocaine/nicotine/etc

Depressents

Reduce behavioral and mental activities, is alcohol

Opiates

Drug that relieve pain, results in euphoria/relaxation, includes morphine and opium

Hallucinations

Significantly alter perception/mood, is marijuana LSD, ecstasy,bath salts

Reward center

pleasure, addictive effects on drugs depend on producing increases of dopamine or synapses

Cerebral cortex

Body’s ultimate control/info processing center

Brain stem

has medulla, pons, and reticular formation

Frontal lobe

controls reasoning, decision-making, voluntary movement, social behavior, memory, and executive functions.

Parietal lobe

Somato sensory cortex receives info from the skin surface by touch, and the motor cortex controls movement

Temporal lobe

processing auditory information, forming memories, understanding language, and regulating emotions

Occipital lobe

Vision

Hypothalamus

Rewards/pleassure center (hungerm temp, drives)

Thalamus

brain sensory/motor switchboard, above brainstem

Corpus callosum

connects left/right hemisphere, connected fibers so two sides can communicate

Prefrontal cortex

Executive functions, judgement, planning, decisions

Somatosensory cortex

Receives info from skin surface by touch

Split Brain

corpus callosum severed, objetcts presented in right visual field can be named, left can’t

Left brain

speaking, calculating, sign language, etc

Right brain

engaged when completing perceptual/visual-spatia task

Broca area

impaired speaking (frontal)

Wernicke’s Area

impaired understanding (temporal)

Aphasia

Impairment of language , caused by left hemisphere damage

brain plasticity

Ability for brain to create new networks and connections

EEG

functional scan, records neural activity using electrodes, studies brain waves, used for studies of brain while sleeping/dreaming to see abnormalities

fMRI

Functional, measures changes in blood flow and oxygenation levels in the brain to identify areas of neural activityC

Conciousness

Person awareness of everything happening, can occur or be induced

5 states of conciousness

wakefulness, sleep, preconscious, nonconscious, unconscious

2 levels of cognitive processing related to consciousness

Explicit, implicit

Explicit cognitive processes

Mental activates we are consciously aware of

Implicit cognitive processes

mental activities not consciously aware of

Circadian rhythems

takes 24 hours to complete cycle, sleep-wake cycle

Sleep-wake cycle

Body alternates between NREM and REM

REM

rapid eye-movement and paralysis of muscles not essential for survival, most dreaming occurs

NREM

Dreamless sleep divided into 3 stages

Stages of sleep

Drift off to sleep, deeper than stage 1, breathing/pulse slow/muscle relax, deep sleep

Benefits of sleep

avoid adverse effect, memory consolidation, low stress level