AP Psychology: Semester 2 Final Review

cognition

refers to all the mental activity when thinking or knowing; process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses

cognitive psychology

study of internal mental processes like perception, thinking, and memory

metacognition

thinking about thinking; planning our own thoughts & making decisions

concept

mental grouping of similar objects, items, and people

prototype

the mental image that incorporates all features of a category

convergent thinking

more logical thinking; limited, single-solution; facts → answers

divergent thinking

more creative thinking; used to generate ideas, often spontaneously

algorithm

step-by-step procedure that guarantees a solution

heuristic

“rule of thumb”; thinking strategy to make judgements more quickly

representativeness heuristic

comparing current situation with a prototype for making fast decisions

availability heuristic

basing decisions on prominent, vivid, or distinctive information

insight

sudden realisation of a solution

creativity

ability to produce novel ideas; usually grounded in expertise, imaginative thinking, and intrinsic motivation

confirmation bias

searching for information that supports preconceptions

fixation

the inability to see problems in new ways

mental set

predisposition to think or approach problems in a certain way

functional fixedness

tendency to view problems in a limiting way; “when you have a hammer, everything’s a nail”

belief perserverance

tendency to hold on to beliefs, even if disproved

overconfidence

tendency to overestimate our own knowledge

intuition

effortless, immediate automatic feeling

hindsight bias

believing past events are far more predictable than they really were

framing

how an issue is presented or “framed”

anchoring effect

favouring initial information over new information

language

spoken, written, or signed communication of meaning

phoneme

smallest meaningful unit of sound

morphemes

smallest pairing of meaning given to a set of sounds

grammar

set of rules (semantics/syntax) used to understand others and a language

semantics

rules used to derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences

syntax

rules to order words in sentences

babbling stage

stage starting about four months into a child’s life; often unrelated, nonsense sounds

receptive language

comprehending speech and language itself

productive language

the actual production of words and sentences

one-word stage

stage in a child’s life starting ~1-2 years in; gives ideas in one word

two-word stage

stage in a child’s life starting ~2 years in; mostly speaks in noun/verb pairings (telegraphic speech) and overgeneralises often

full sentences stage

stage in a child’s life starting ~6-10 years in; mastery of full sentences with proper stress patterns; has learned ~80% of all needed language, any additional learned is mostly complexity

linguistic determinism

idea that language influences how we think

skinner’s theory of language acquisition

learning language through operant conditioning; good language → rewards

inborn universal grammar

noam chomsky’s idea that humans have an innate ability to receive language and have a predisposition for grammar

intelligence

ability to learn from experiences, acquire knowledge, and solve problems

intelligence test

method for assessing one’s mental abilities for use in comparisons

binet-simon intelligence scale

one of the first intelligence tests; series of tests used to assess “mental age”

stanford-binet intelligence test

modified binet-simon test for use in the United States that tests more subjects to derive an IQ based on mental age

general intelligence (g)

general factor that underlies specific abilities; idea that intelligence is a general cognitive ability that can be assigned a number

factor analysis

statistical procedure that finds clusters in data to determine the dimensions of intelligence

fluid intelligence

ability to reason & think; declines with age

crystallised intelligence

accumulation of knowledge, facts, and skills; increases with age

gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences

eight distinct types of intelligence based on skills and abilities

savant syndrome

condition in which one is exceptional at one skill while struggling with other, “basic” tasks

sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence

views Gardner’s theory as “talents”; focused on three factors (analytical, creative, practical)

emotional intelligence

ability to perceive, understand, and control emotions

wechsler intelligence scale

intelligence test for adults & older adolescents; made up of different abilities to determine IQ

heritability

portion of variation in groups due to genetic changes; 50-75% of intelligence; determines the “upper limit” of intelligence

flynn effect

idea that due to restandardising, people are generally smarter now than people who got the same score many years ago despite receiving the same score

psychometricians

psychologists who focus on methods for acquiring & analysing data

standardisation

ability to derive meaningful scores through comparison through equal administration and uniform scoring

norms

same test, same conditions for standardisation

achievement test

assesses learning; measures a person’s skill in an area

aptitude test

meant to predict what someone is able to do/learn in the future

reliability

extent to which the results of a test are consistent

test-retest reliability

administering a test twice at different times and remaining consistent

split-half reliability

measures the extent to which all parts of the test contribute to the measured statistic

validity

extent to which a test measures/predicts what it is meant to

content validity

extent to which a test tests all that it is meant to

predictive validity

extent to which a test predicts what it is meant to

intellectual disability

limited mental ability (2 standard deviations lower than mean)

Down syndrome

condition of limited mental ability because of an additional chromosome 21

stereotype threat

self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype

zygote

stage of prenatal development from conception to 2 weeks; fertilised egg that undergoes a rapid period of cell division

embryo

stage of prenatal development from 2 weeks to 8 weeks; developing human that begins to establish organs’ forms and functions; heartbeat begins during this stage

fetus

stage of prenatal development from 9 weeks to birth; post-embryonic stage characterised by the presence of all major organs; organs develop enough by ~6mo for survival

placenta

temporary organ in the uterus to deliver nutrients to the baby from the mother; acts as a filter

teratogen

agent, like a chemical or a virus, that can reach the embryo through the placenta and cause non-heritable birth defects

fetal alcohol syndrome

physical and cognitive abnormaities due to a mother’s consumption of alcohol during pregnancy

habituation

decreasing responsiveness with repeated exposure to a stimulus

maturation

biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behaviour; natural and separate from environment

infantile amnesia

the inability to retrieve episodic memories that happened prior to ~3-4 yrs of age

cognition

all mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

schema

concept or framework that organises and interprets information; often built by maturing brains to make sense of the world around them

assimilation

interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas

accomodation

adjusting our current understanding and schemas to incorporate new information

sensorimotor stage

stage of piaget’s theory starting from birth to 2 yrs; understanding of the world based on sensory impressions and motor

object permanence

awareness, developed during piaget’s sensorimotor stage, that something exists when not perceived

preoperational stage

stage of piaget’s theory starting from 2 yrs to 6/7 yrs; child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the operations of concrete logic

conservation

principle that perceived mass, value, or number remain the same despite a change in form

egocentrism

preoperational difficulty in seeing other points of view; thinking about things only in terms of themselves; attributed to heightened self-consciousness in adolescents

theory of mind

peoples’ ideas about their own & others’ mental states; feelings, thoughts, perceptions, and predictable behaviours

concrete operational stage

stage of piaget’s theory starting from 6/7 yrs to 11 yrs; children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events

formal operational stage

stage of piaget’s theory from 12 years of age on; thinking logically about abstract concepts

autism

disorder that appears in childhood marked by deficient communication, social interaction, and understanding of others’ states of mind

stranger anxiety

fear of strangers that infants that starts at about ~8mo of age

attachment

emotional tie with another person, often shown in young children who seek closeness to their caregivers and are distressed by separation

critical period

optimal period shortly after birth when an organism’s exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produced proper development

imprinting

formation of attachments during a critical period early in life; does not happen to human children

secure attachment

a child’s understanding of mother’s presence where they play comfortably and explore

insecure attachment

a child’s distress after their mother leaves; child less likely to explore comfortably

temperament

a person’s characteristic emotional reactivity/intensity; the characteristics and aspects of personality that we are born with

basic trust

according to Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; idea formed during infancy given experiences with responsible caregivers

self-concept

understanding and evaluation of who we are

self-esteem

how we feel about who we are

authoritarianism parenting style

imposition of rules and expectation of obedience for children