AP Psychology Vocab (Units 1-3)

- Unit 1 -

History and Approaches

psychology

the study of behavior and mental processes

empiricism

Francis Bacon’s theory that all of our knowledge comes from past experiences

structuralism

the act of using self-reflection to study behavior; very hard to interpret/inconsistent

functionalism

the study of how behavior and thinking work (function); we can’t function without these

humanistic psych

focused on only positives and potential; fixing bad behaviors by emphasizing positive ones

nature-nuture issue

biggest debate in psych; whether biology or upbringing affects our behavior more

3 levels of analysis

various ways of observation in psych; biological, cognitive, and sociocultural

biopsychosocial approach

a combination of biological, psychological, and social-cultural factors to determine solutions/study psychologies

clinical psychology

branch of psychology concerned with assessment and treatment of mental illness and psychological problems

psychiatry

branch of medicine concerned with study, diagnosis, and treatment of mental illness

hindsight bias

a common tendency for people to perceive past events as more predictable than they actually were

theory

a scientific statement explaining certain phenomena, in order to organize our observations

operational definition

a carefully worded statement of the exact procedures (operations) used in a research study

replication

repeating the essence/goal of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations to see if the basic findings can be reproduced

case study

in depth analyses of individuals or groups

survey

asking people questions

population

the total number of individuals/groups in a specific area/category

false consensus effect

a tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors

naturalistic observation

recording the natural behavior of an individual(s) without trying to manipulate the situation

correlation

two or more variables that have naturally occurring relationships; a technique to describe these relationships

illusory correlation

the perception of a relationship, where no relationship actually exists

double-blind procedure

when patients and experimenters remain unaware of who had real treatments and who had placebos

placebo effect

beneficial effect produced by a placebo (inert/useless) which can’t be attributed to the drug, so must be patients belief in treatment

experimental group

group of patients exposed to the independent variable

control group

group that lacks any treatment/manipulation of the independent variable

statistical significance

whether or not the difference between groups (experimental and control) can be attributed to chance or if the difference is the result of the manipulation

Wilhelm Wundt

established first psych lab in 1879 in Germany

Titchener

created theory of structuralism with wundt

William James

created theory of functionalism

John Watson and BF Skinner

created theory of behaviorism (rewards/punishments shape behavior)

Sigmund Freud

developed field of psychoanalysis, wanted to open the unconscious mind and address repressed, uncomfortable thoughts

Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow

developed humanistic psychology- focused on only positives and potential

the wording effect

the way you word a question and how it can (mostly negatively) affect the results of a survey

random sampling

each person having an equal chance of inclusion into sample, making for an unbiased sample; used in SURVEYS

random assignment

assigning participants to experimental and control groups randomly to take bias out of the experiment: used in EXPERIMENTS

G. Stanley Hall

established the first formal U.S. psychology laboratory

Ivan Pavlov

known for classical conditioning; Pavlov’s salivating dogs

Dorothea Dix

led the way to humane treatment of those with psychological disorders

Behavioral Genetics

the study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior

Cognitive Psychology

the study of mental processes, such as occur when we perceive, learn, remember, think, communicate, and solve problems

Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic

set of theories and therapeutic techniques that deal in part with the unconscious mind, and which together form a method of treatment for mental disorders

Sociocultural Psychology

psychology that looks at the contributions of society to individual development

Evolutionary Psychology

the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection

Cognitive Neuroscience

the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language)

Introspection

the process of looking inward in an attempt to directly observe one’s own psychological processes

Behaviorism

the view that psychology

(1) should be an objective science that

(2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes

Most psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2)

Testing Effect

enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information

SQ3R

a study method incorporating five steps: Survey, Question, Read, Retrieve, Review

Psychometrics

the scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits

Developmental Psychology

a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span

Counseling Psychology

a branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater well-being

Sampling Bias

a flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample

Framing Effect

the process of defining the context or issues surrounding a question, problem, or event in a way that serves to influence how the context or issues are perceived and evaluated

Inferential Statistics

numerical data that allow one to generalize—to infer from sample data the probability of something being true of a population

Regression Towards the Mean

the tendency for extreme or unusual scores or events to fall back (regress) toward the average

Confounding Variable

a factor other than the factor being studied that might influence a study’s results

Validity

the extent to which a test or experiment measures or predicts what it is supposed to

Positive Psychology

the scientific study of human flourishing, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive

Educational Psychology

the study of how psychological processes affect and can enhance teaching and learning

Personality Psychology

an I/O psychology subfield that helps with job seeking, and with employee recruitment, selection, placement, training, appraisal, and development

Social Psychology

the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another.

Industrial-Organizational Psychology

the application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in workplaces

Human Factors Psychology

a field of psychology allied with I/O psychology that explores how people and machines interact and how machines and physical environments can be made safe and easy to use

Community Psychology

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

- Unit 2 -

Biological Bases of Behavior

dendrites

branching extensions at the cell body, receives messages from other neurons

axon

long single extension of a neuron; the tail

schwann cells

a type of glial cell that maintains and regenerates neuron axons

axon terminal

branched endings of an axon that transmit messages to other neurons

cell body

Life support and “heart”; center of the neuron

nucleus

contains neurons DNA and instructions for cell

myelin sheath

insulates and speeds up messages through neurons

node of ranvier

where action potential is generated along the axon and positive ions are exchanged- uninsulated by the myelin sheath

action potential

a charge that races down the axon, generated by the movement of positively charged atoms (sodium and potassium) in and out of the axon

threshold

the “point of no return” for the firing of a neuron

synapse

the tiny gaps between sending and receiving neurons, also called synaptic gaps and clefts

neurotransmitters

chemicals which allow the transmission of signals from one neuron to the next across synapses

Ach

a major neurotransmitter that deals with the contraction and movement of muscles

endorphins

hormones your body releases that help relieve pain, reduce stress, and improve your sense of well-being; can be released during exercise

nervous system

a communication network that takes in information from the world and the body’s tissues, makes decisions, and sends back information and orders to the body’s tissues

CNS (central nervous system)

formed by the brain and spinal cord, is the body’s decision maker and enables thinking, feeling, and acting

PNS (peripheral nervous system)

made up of nerves, responsible for gathering information and transmitting CNS decisions to the rest of the body

nerves

‘electrical cables’ formed by bundles of axons; links the CNS with the body’s sensory receptors, muscles, and glands

sensory neurons

they carry information from the body’s tissues and organs to the central nervous system; deals with sight, smell, taste, etc.

motor neurons

they carry instructions from the central nervous system to muscles and glands

interneurons (relay neurons)

in the spinal cord; they link the motor neurons with sensory neurons, they also make sense of what is happening in the body

somatic nervous system

enables voluntary control of skeletal muscles

autonomic nervous system

controls glands and our internal organ muscles; self regulating and operates on its own (without being overridden by CNS)

sympathetic nervous system

arouses/excites and expends energy (fight or flight)

parasympathetic nervous system

conserves energy and calms you down

reflex

our automatic responses to stimuli

neural network

clusters of the brain’s neurons that work together (closer together)- often to do actions related to each other- for faster, shorter connections

endocrine

the body’s “slow” chemical communication system that secretes hormones into the bloodstream

hormones

chemical messengers that travel through the bloodstream and affect bodily tissues; can influence interest in sex, food, and aggression

adrenal glands

located on top of the kidneys, produces adrenaline and nonadrenaline (epinephrine and nonepinephrine) which produces our fight/flight response; also produces cortisol

pituitary gland

the most influential gland in the endocrine system, controlled by the hypothalamus, and produces growth hormones and oxytocin; can also control the other glands with its secretions

lesion

experimentally destroys brain tissue to study animal behaviors after such destruction

EEG (electroencephalogram)

An amplified recording of the electrical waves sweeping across the brain’s surface, measured by electrodes placed on the scalp

PET (positron emission tomography)

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