AP Psych Vocab

Wilhelm Wundt

“Father of Psychology” - founded the first Psychology lab and differentiated it from philosophy

Edward Titchener

Student of Wundt; coined structuralism

Structuralism

Studying mind by looking at what is made of - Structure

Introspection

Asking person to observe themselves perceive & think

Functionalism

studies what mind does - function

Evolutionary Approach

looking at things through evolution

Psychodynamic Approach

• traditional psychology - developed by Sigmund Freud (psychoanalytic Theory)

• Limit: isn’t scientific, attempts to study a hidden thing

Behavioralism Approach

• Study reflexes and behaviors

• created accidentally by Ivan Pavlov - rejection of psychodynamic

Classical Conditioning

• a new trigger for a reflex

• Limit: creativity &thoughts aren’t simple reflexes that can be trained

B.F. Skinner

developed Operant Conditioning

Operant Conditioning

• every behavior has a consequence - reward & punishment

• Limit: people are more complex than rewards & punishments

• Selfless acts and love don’t fit in the approach

Cognitive Approach

• focuses on thoughts - everthing about you is related to your thoughts

• Limit: Can’t observe thoughts - requires people to observe and reflect on their own thoughts.

Biological Approach

• The mind is what the body does

• Chemical and electrical signals are sent throughout the body

• Limit: to simple, doesn’t explain love or creativity

Humanistic Approach

• focuses on how people are unique & special

• attempts to look at people’s strength

• Limit: not based in science - can’t observe untapped potential

Sociocultural Approach

• how culture and society affects upbringing

• Limit: leads to stereotypes and overgeneralization

Cross Sectional Study

compares different groups, data from 1 point time

• doesn’t give history / full pic

Longitudinal Study

Follows 1 group over a long time

• Data can’t be generalized

Placebo Effect

believe in placebo to the point where reaction becomes real

Random Sample

every person has same chance of being picked

Representative Sample

picking people that represent the larger population

• data is more generalizable

Random Assignment

each participent has equal chance of being put in either placebo or experimental group

Confounding variables

other things that effect independent variable that isn’t independent variable

Participent/Subject Bias

Participants behave in a certain what to ensure research outcomes match the researcher or what they want.

Single-Blind Procedure

subjects aren’t aware if they are control or experimental group

Researcher Bias

researcher wants outcome to fit their hypothesis

Double-blind Procedure

Neither researcher or subject know if they are in control or experimental group

Hawthorne Effect

Subject acts different when they know they’re being observed

Descriptive Stats

organize/describe data

Inferential Stat

making predictions

Discrete Data

data that can be counted (# of people)

Nominal Scale

Data without order/structure (tall-short)

Ordinal Scale

count & order but not measure (strongly agree- Strongly disagree)

Continuous Data

Data that can be measures (shoes sizes)

Interval Scale

degrees of difference but not in between (1981-1982)

Ratio Scale

Process meaningful measurement with 0 value (weight, volume…)

Ethical Guideline

• Informed Consent (participants must agree to participate)

• Deception (If deception is used, it must not be done in a way that invalidates informed consent) 

• Deception debriefing (If deception was used, the researchers must explain the true purpose of the experiment after it has occurred)

• Protection from harm or discomfort

• Anonymity (information about the participant will be held a secret)

• Coercion (participants cannot be coerced to give consent to be in any study)

Types of parenting

Authoriarian - gives limits

Authoritative - limits with connections

Permissive - lots of connections, no limits

Neglectful - doesn’t care

Epigenetic

environmental pressures can change behaviors of genes - not structure

Polygenic

behavior is caused by many different genes

Diathesis

many disorders might have as genetic predisposition with environmental triggers

Maturationism

related to development- children follow same pattern growing up, but the timeline depends on their enviornment

Plasticity

the brain changes and arranges itself on a cellular level in response to what’s going on in environment

Endocrine System

used for communication within body

General Adaptive Syndrome

Alarm, Reaction, Exhaustion

Hypothalamus

• part of brain that sends messages to endocrine system

• fear, hunger, anger, sexual desire

• control pituitary gland

Pituitary gland

helps regulate other glands

Pineal Gland

involved in producing melatonin

Thyroid Gland

regulates metabolism

Adrenal Gland

produce adrenal to help w/ crisis

Pancreas

produces insulin

Overy

produces estrogen and progesterone

Testes

produces testosterone

Oxytoxin

Us vs them - connection & affection

Cortisol

stress hormone

Leptin

involved in turning off hunger

Ghrelin

turns on hunger

Nervous System

has Peripheral system & Central Nervous system

CNS

organize our movements; create thoughts; form emotions; produce behavior

PNS

bundle of nerves outside CNS; transmits info throughout body

Somatic System

sensory nerves (control voluntary movement)

Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)

involuntary axis (Breathing, heart rate)

Parasympathetic

to calm things down

Sympathetic

allows you to react with alertness to danger or stress

Glial cells

most abundent cells - protect & provide nutrients for nuerons

Dendrites

recieve chemicla info from adjacent nuerons

Soma

cell body - contains nucleus

Axon

long bundle of fibers that carries infor away from cell body

Nodes of Ranvier

gaps between myelin sheath; helps promote action potential

Axon Terminal

houses neurotransmitters

Synapse

spaces between axons terminal & adjacent dendrite

Neurotransmission

Neurons communicate with electrical signals from axons and chemical messages that are received by dendrites

Action Potential

The overall charge inside the neuron as the electrical message is fired

Agonist

Molecules that bind to receptor sites to stimulate a response

Antagonist

Molecules that bind to receptor sites to block a response

Hindbrain

located at the base of the brain, it controls basic life sustaining functions

Cerebellum

located behind the brain stem, controls fine motor skills and procedural memory

Brainstem

connected to the spinal cord, basic survival functions

Medulla

below the pons, part of the brain stem, controls survival functions

Pons

above the medulla, part of the brain stem, controls sleeping, waking, and dreams

Midbrain

above the hindbrain, deals with simple movement and sensory information

Reticular Formation

runs through the brain stem to the thalamus, control attentiveness

Basal Ganglia

in the midbrain and forebrain, controls smooth voluntary motor functions

Forebrain

processes information related to complex processes, controls voluntary functions

Thalamus

on top the brain stem, ends sensory information to the cerebral cortex

Limbic System

a set of structures that deal with emotions, memory, and stimulation

Hippocampus

surrounds the thalamus, a limbic system structure, deals with learning and explicit memories

Amygdala

at the bottom front end of the hippocampus, a limbic system structure, expresses emotions

Broca's Area

controls the ability to speak

Brain Lateralization

the tendency for certain functions to be more on one half of the brain

Wernicke's Area

the ability to comprehend language - listening and reading

Heritability

the ability of a trait to be passed down from one generation to the next

Transduction

process of converting outside stimuli into neural activity

Weber’s Law (difference threshold)

the smallest difference between 2 stimuli that is detectable 50% of the time

Absolute Threshold (Gustav Fechner

the lowest level of stimulation that a person can feel 50% of the time

Habitation

hearing it, but not paying attention (sensory receptors are still responding, but the brain isn’t sending signals)

Sensory Adaption

constant infor from receptors is ignored - become less responsive and don’t send signals

Cornea

Bends light waves so the image can be focused on the retina

Aqueous Humor

clear liquid that nourishes the eye

Iris

muscles that control size of pupil, depending on amount of light in environment

Lens

changes shape to bring objects into focus