The Ultimate Psychology Vocabulary Set

These are arranged in unit order; save for a few terms. All the best of luck to you on your AP test!

Structuralism

Uses introspection (act of looking inward to examine mental experience) to determine the underlying structures of the mind

Functionalism

Analyzes the purpose of behavior — more interested in how the brain functions as a whole, rather than the individual parts (structuralism)

Evolutionary

Focuses on genes and inherited traits, evolution of mind and behavior

Humanistic

Focuses on reaching self-actualization; people have free will (think about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs!)

Biological

Uses biological explanations for thought and behavior

Cognitive

Focuses on perceptions and how those affect thoughts

Behavioral

Focuses on learning; behavior changes based on whether or not it is reinforced (think of conditioning)

Psychoanalytic/psychodynamic

Focuses on unconscious desires and past influences (remember Freud - id, ego, superego)

Sociocultural

The environment influences your behavior; social standing, culture, religion, etc.

Biopsychosocial

Factors — biology/genes, unconscious desires/past influences, environment

Experiment

Researcher controls variables to establish cause and effect

Independent variable

Manipulated by the researcher

Experimental group

Receives the treatment (part of IV)

Control group

Does not receive anything OR receives a placebo (part of IV)

Placebo

A treatment that appears real, but has zero effect

Placebo effect

Showing behaviors associated with the experimental group, even though they received the placebo

Single-blind experiment

Participants do not know which group they have been assigned to (experimental/control)

Double-blind experiment

Neither the participants nor the experimenter knows which group participants have been assigned to

Dependent variable

What is measured as a result of the IV (the effect)

Confounding variable

An external factor that can influence the outcome

Operational definition

Clear, precise, typically quantifiable definition of variables (allows replication)

Random assignment

Participants are randomly assigned to groups — minimizes bias, increases chance of equal representation

Random sample

Randomly chooses participants from a population — minimizes bias

Reliability

Consistency of findings across multiple experiments

Naturalistic observation

Observes people in their own setting; no cause and effect

Correlation

Identify relationship between two variables; no cause and effect

Inferential statisticsE

Establishes significance (significant results = NOT due to chance)

Ethical guidelines (APA)

Confidentiality, informed consent, debriefing, deception must be warranted

Neuron

Basic cell of the nervous system

Dendrites

Receives information from the neurons

Cell body

Contains the nucleus, connects to the dendrites (brings information into neuron) and axons (sends information to other neurons)

Axon

Signals travel through this to be received by other neurons

Myelin sheath

Speeds up the signal down the axon

Terminals

Release neurotransmitters — sends signal onto next neuron

Synapse

Gap between neurons, releases neurotransmitters

Action potential

Movement of sodium and potassium ions across a membrane sends an electrical charge down the axon

All or none law

Signal transmission between neurons does not depend on the strength of the stimuli, but whether or not it meets the threshold

Refractory period

Neuron must rest and reset before it can send another signal

Central nervous system

Made up of brain and spinal cord, processes everything

Peripheral nervous system

A system of nerves throughout the body, communicates between the CNS and body parts

Somatic nervous system

Connects the CNS with the muscles and the skin, controls voluntary movements and processes sense

Autonomic nervous system

Regulates involuntary processes

Neurotransmitters

Released chemical substances that carry messages from one neuron to another

GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)

Major inhibitory neurotransmitter (blocks specific signals, used for calming)

Glutamate

Major excitatory neurotransmitter (regulates mood, helps shape learning and memory)

Dopamine

Gives a sense of pleasure; reward and movement

Serotonin

Regulates mood; higher levels makes you happier and calmer, lower levels are associated with depression

Acetylcholine

An excitatory neurotransmitter; plays a crucial role in learning and memory

Epinephrine/adrenaline

A hormone that activates the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight response)

Norepinephrine

Controls alertness, wakefulness, mood, attention

Sympathetic nervous system

Helps the body respond to high stress situations

Parasympathetic nervous system

Helps the body relax after stressful situations

Oxytocin

A hormone that is associated with love and trust

Agonist

Drug that mimics a neurotransmitter

Antagonist

Drug that blocks a neurotransmitter

Reuptake

Unused neurotransmitters are taken back up into the sending neuron

SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors)

Block reuptake —treatment for depression

Hindbrain

Oldest part of the brain; uses sensory feedback to adjust internal processes (medulla, pons, cerebellum)

Cerebellum

Controls muscle movements and balance

Medulla

Controls automatic functions

Pons

Regulates functions like hearing, facial sensations, taste, sleep

Midbrain

Controls pons; contains basic hearing and vision functions

Reticular formation

Nerve network in the brainstem; helps with arousal and attention

Forebrain

Largest and uppermost part of the brain; controls many things including higher thought (thalamus, hypothalamus, amygdala, hippocampus)

Limbic system

Regulates basic emotions and drives

Amygdala

Major processing center for emotions

Hippocampus

Holds short-term memories, and transfers them to long-term memory storage

Thalamus

Relays sensory and motor signals; regulates consciousness

Hypothalamus

Regulates the autonomic nervous system (homeostasis)

Broca’s area

Part of the brain that produces speech

Wernicke’s area

Part of the brain that comprehends speech

Cerebral cortex

Controls memory, thinking, learning, reasoning, problem solving, emotions, consciousness, sensory functions

Occipital lobe

Processes visual stimuli

Frontal lobe

Controls decision making, planning, judgement, movement, personality

Parietal lobe

Receives and processes sensory input

Temporal lobe

Processes auditory stimuli, encodes memory, face recognition

Somatosensory cortex

Map of sensory receptors (parietal lobe)

Motor cortex

Map of motor receptors (frontal lobe)

Corpus callopsum

Nerves that connects the 2 brain hemispheres, moves information from one side of the brain to the other

Endocrine system

Sends hormones throughout the body

Pituitary gland

Controlled by hypothalamus; produces and releases hormones

Adrenal gland

Related to sympathetic nervous system; produces hormones related to metabolism, immune system, blood pressure, and stress response

Absolute threshold

The smallest amount of a stimulus needed to detect the signal 50% of the time

Difference threshold

Minimum required difference between two stimuli for a person to notice change 50% of the time

Weber’s law

Two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum proportion

Sensory adaptation

Diminished sensitivity as a result of constant stimulation

Perceptual set

Predisposition to perceive some aspects of a stimulus and ignore others; or to perceive it in a certain way based on previous experience

Inattentional blindness

Failure to notice something because focus is on another task

Cocktail party effect

Being able to focus auditory attention on one particular stimulus while filtering out other stimuli

Cornea

Protects the eye

Pupil/iris

Controls amount of light entering eye

Lens

Focuses light on retina

Fovea

Area of best vision (cones are located here)

Rods

Processes black, white, dim light

Cones

Processes colors and bright light

Bipolar cells

Connects rods, cones, ganglion cells

Ganglion cells

Receive visual information from photoreceptors via the bipolar cells, passes information to brain (opponent-processing occurs here)

Blind spot

Where the optic nerve leaves the eye

Feature detectors

Specialized cells that see motion, shapes, lines, etc.

Trichromatic

Three cones for receiving color (red, blue, green; color blindness means they are missing a cone type)