ap psych terms

sensory memory

stores stimuli that register on the senses, 2 types: ionic memory and echoic

short term memory

conscious processing of information; attention limits what info is processed; “working memory;” limited capacity: rule of 7

maintenance rehearsal

use of repetition to remember something

chunking

meaningful unit of information (year, phone #, etc..)

types of long term memory

declarative (explicit memory: semantic, episodic) and non-declarative (implicit memory: procedural, classical conditioning, priming)

procedural memory

memories of behavior and skills, ie riding a bike

episodic memory

personal experiences tied to places and time

semantic memory

based on meaning; general facts and definitions

retrieval

showing knowledge of something without being aware we knew it

priming

activation of a memory by a stimulus, ie smelling something familiar

conditioning

automatically retrieved memory, ie fire alarm

prospective

remembering to perform a planned action, ie taking trash out

flashbulb memories

highly accurate, vivid memory due to a surprising event, ie flash of light

classical conditioning

using a stimulus to remember, ie pavlov’s dogs

peg memory system

connecting one thing to another, ie rhymes or shapes

method of loci

connecting items to a location in your mind for recall, ie imagining you’re walking through grocery store while remembering information

massed practice

continuous practice with no breaks; works for short term memory but not so much long term

distributed practice

practice with breaks; recall allows for it to be input into long term memory

mood congruent memory

recalling memories based on your mood

tip-of-the-tongue

a type of retrieval failure when you remember something but cannot name it

decay

theory of forgetting that learned material leaves/disappears unless it is practiced and used; ie memorization

interference theory

forgetting something because other memories are interfering

proactive interference

old memories in the way of making new ones

retroactive interference

new memories interfere with old ones

why is forgetting memories important?

allows room for new memories

retrograde amnesia

inability to remember past memories

dissociative amnesia

forgetting details about yourself; a type of retrograde amnesia

anterograde amnesia

inability to form new memories

infantile amnesia

inability to remember events from the first few years of life

experiment

scientific test of a hypothesis

matching to sample (MTS)

a participant is handed a sample stimulus

alternation

participant follows a complex sequence of activities to receive a reward

ecological validity

how accurate the experiment performance is to real-world settings

manipulation

control over the independent variable

artificial lab setting

experiment done in a lab, not as close to real-world setting

random assignment

equal likelihood of a participant being in either the control or experimental group; sampling method

representative sampling

choosing participants from a specific group; sampling mathod

stratified

mini-reproduction of a population; sampling method

systemic

subjects are chosen systemically, ie every fifth person etc..; sampling method

random sample

random group of participants; sampling method

population

the group the researcher is interested in

experimentation

proves cause and effect

hypothesis

a testable proposition about the relationship between variables

null hypothesis

the opposite of the hypothesis; scientists often try to test the null hypothesis rather than the hypothesis as it is easier to test

independent variable

what is being manipulated in the experiment; affects the dependent variable

dependent variable

what will be effected by the independent variable

extraneous/confounding variable

uncontrolled external factors that could influence outcome of experiment

observation methods

correlational studies, naturalistic observation, case studies, surveys, longitudinal studies

correlational studies

shows how strong/weak the relation between two variables is; correlation does not equal causation

naturalistic observation

data collected by observing nature

case studies

examination of particular cases, often medical cases

surveys

participants answer questions

longitudinal studies

participants are studied over a long period of time

placebo effect

subjects think they’re getting real drugs but aren’t; thinking the drug is real, they end up thinking it is actually working

social desirability

subjects describe themselves differently to sound better, often affects the validity of the data

experimenter bias

researcher’s expectations/preferences influence outcome of experiment

Hawthorn effect

people tend to try harder when they know they are in an experiment

control measures

single-blind and double-blind

single-blind

subject is unaware of their assignment of which group (control/experimental) they are in

double-blind

subject and experimenter are unaware of the assignment of which group (control/experimental) people are in

reliability

degree to which evidence can be recreated

validity

degree to which it accurately assesses the topic being studied

statistics

mathematical methods to describe and draw conclusions

descriptive statistics

statistics in a graph

inferential statistics

infer what the data measn

continuum

arrange the data in numerical order

measures of variation

measure how much the data varies

standard deviation

computed measure of how they vary around the mean

p-value

the lower the p-value, the more likely an experiment is true

efferent neurons

info exits the brain

afferent neurons

info enters the brain

axon

extension of neurons that carry impulses away from the body

pre-synaptic neuron

part of neuron that releases the neurotranmitters

post-synaptic neurons

part of neuron that receives neurotransmitters

receptor site

part of cell membrane that receive neurotransmitters

terminal buttons

end of axons that release neurotransmitters

synaptic gap

gap between two neurons where nerve impulses are relayed

vesicles/sacs

fluid-filled sac to carry neurotransmitters

neurotransmitters

the body’s chemical messengers

action potential

change in electric potential along the axon

reuptake

neurotransmitters that have been released are reabsorbed by the presynaptic neuron

central nervous system (CNS)

brain and spinal cord

peripheral nervous system (PNS)

sensory and motor neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of the body

parts of the PNS

somatic nervous system, autonomic nervous system

somatic nervous system

part of PNS that controls the skeletal muscles

parts of the autonomic nervous system

sympathetic and parasympathetic

sympathetic autonomic nervous system

arousal and stress→fight or flight

parasympathetic autonomic nervous system

calms body→rest and digest

hormones

chemicals synthesized by the endocrine glands

parts of the endocrine system

pituitary gland, thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal glands, gonads

pituitary gland

“master gland’’ secretes many different hormones and includes the anterior lobe (releases hormones) and the posterior lobe (regulates water and salt balance); in the brain

thyroid

affects metabolism; in the throat

parathyroid

regulates calcium levels in the blood; near thyroid

adrenal glands

triggers “fight or flight” (adrenaline=epinephrine) includes the medulla (secretes adrenal hormones), the pancreas (insulin) and the adrenal cortex (regulates salt and carbohydrate metabolism); attached to the kidneys

gonads

sex glands, regulate development and maintain reproduction; includes the ovaries (female) and testis (male)

ways to study the brain

accidents, lesions, EEG, CAT, PET, MRI, fMRI

accidents

case studies that can teach us about the brain, ie Phineas Gage

lesions

removal/destruction of parts of the brain

EEG/electroencephalogram

detects brain waves, mainly used for sleep research

CAT/computerized axial tomography

3d brain xray, but doesn’t tell us the functions of parts of the brain, useful for finding tumors