AP Psychology Exam Review - Comprehensive Vocabulary

Flashcards covering the fundamental 425 terms (per transcript title) required for the AP Psychology Exam, spanning Social Psychology, Research Methods, Neuropsychology, Learning, Memory, Development, and Personality.

Attribution Theory

tendency to give explanations for someone’s behavior, often by crediting situation or person’s disposition

Fundamental Attribution Theory

tendency to overestimate the impact of person’s disposition and underestimate impact of situation

Foot-in-the-Door Phennomenon

tendency to apply w/ larger requests after responding to a smaller request

Zimbardo

Stanford Prison Experiment/Lucifer Effect – Role Playing: People take on the role of what they feel are proper for the situation

Cognitive Dissonance

people change their behavior to avoid looking bad

Asch - conformity notes

tendency to go along with the views and actions of others, even if you know they are wrong

Milgram - obedience

people tend to obey authority figures; $60\%$ of participants thought they delivered the max possible level of shock

Social Facilitation

improved performance in presence of others; easy tasks get easier as hard tasks get harder

Social Loafing

in the presence of others, people tend to do less, partly because they believe others will do it

Deindividualization

loss of self-awareness and self-restraint

Group Polarization

if a group is like-minded, discussion strengthens prevailing options and attitudes

Groupthink

a mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides realistic appraisal of alternatives

Just-World Phenomenon

tendency of people to believe that the world is just and people get what they deserve and deserve what they get

Social Traps

situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interests, become caught in mutually destructive behavior

In-group

people with whom one shares a common identity with

Out-group

those perceived as different from themselves

Hindsight Bias

tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that we would have predicted it beforehand and may contribute to blaming the victim and forming prejudices against him/her

Prejudice

unjustifiable attitude towards a group and its members

Mere exposure effect

the mere exposure to a stimulus will increase the liking of it

Altruism

unselfish regard for the welfare to others

Bystander effect

tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present

Reciprocity Norms

the expectation that we should return help, not harm to those who have helped us

Biological Perspective

explore the links between brain and mind

Cognitive Perspective

study how we perceive, think and solve problems

Humanistic Perspective

study that says that humans are basically good and possess a free-will

Behavioral Perspective

study that says all behavior is observable and measurable

Psychoanalytic Perspective

study of the unconscious, includes childhood and aggression issues

Sociocultural Perspective

study of how cultural and political experiences affect our life

Evolutionary Perspective

study of the evolutionary of humans over time (from apes)

Developmental Perspective

study of our changing abilities from womb to tomb

Wilhelm Wundt

father of psychology

Introspection

looking inward at one’s own mental processes

Structuralism

analyze sensations, images, and feelings by how they effect humans

William James

theorized the brain and mind are constantly changing

Functionalism

underlying causes and practical consequences of certain behaviors and mental strategies – stream of consciousness

John Locke - Tabula Rasa theory

the mind begins as a blank slate and is written on by experiences

Sigmund Freud

founder of psychoanalysis

Psychoanalytic Theory

all behavior is meaningful and driven by unconscious forces

Applied Research

aims to solve practical problems

Basic Research

pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base

Hypothesis

is a testable prediction, often induced by a thy, to enable us to accept, reject, or revise the thy (educational guess)

IV

a factor, manipulated by the experimenter, and whose effect is studied

DV

a factor that may change in response to the IV

Theory

is an explanation that integrates principles, organizes, and predicts behavior or event

Operational definition

a clear statement of what one is looking for in an experiment

Validity

it measure what you want it to be measured

Reliability

it is replicable and is consistent

Sampling

process by which participants are selected

Population

the group being represented by a sample, or, the whole

Representative sample

take the results from a smaller group and apply that to a larger group of people

Random sample

everyone has an equal chance of being selected for the experiment because the participants are chosen at random

Control

group that does not take part in the critical part of the experimentation process, used as a comparison group

Experimenter bias

the experimenter, either unconsciously or consciously, affects the outcome of the experiment

Single-blind procedure

the subjects do not know to what group they belong

Double-blind procedure

neither the experimenter nor the subject knows to what group the subjects are in

Hawthorne effect

if you know you’re being studied, you will act differently than you normally/typically would

Placebo

something administered that has no real effect on the person other than what they think mentally

Positive correlation

as one goes up, the other goes up

Negative correlation

as one goes up, the other goes down

Survey

a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes, opinions, or behavior of people in a questionnaire, or similar way of ascertaining information

Naturalistic observation

observing and recording behavior in the wild/natural environment

Case study

get a full, detailed picture of one participant or a small group of participants

Mean

average of the scores – add them up and divide by total number of scores

Median

middle score – when all scores are put numerically in order, the middle score

Mode

the most frequently occurring score in the distribution

Range

the lowest score subtracted from the higher score

Standard Deviation

the average distance of scores around the mean

z-score

a type of standard score that tells us how many standard deviation units a given score is above or below the mean for that group

Myelin Sheath

a fatty covering around the axon of some neurons that speeds the neural impulse

Axon

wire-like structure ending in the terminal that extends from the cell body

Neurons

a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system

Sensory Neurons (afferent)

neurons that carry incoming information from the sense receptors (nose, ears, hands) to the central nervous system

Interneuron

central nervous system neurons that internally communicate and intervene between the sensory inputs and the motor outputs

Motor Neurons (efferent)

neurons that carry incoming information from the central nervous system to the muscles and glands

Neurotransmitters

chemical contained in terminal buttons that enable neurons to communicate; they fit into the receptor site of neurons like a key fits into a lock

Agonist

excite nervous systems by causing neurotransmitters to hit site multiple times

Antagonists

inhibits, by blocking neurotransmitters

CNS

the brain and spinal cord

PNS

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

Somatic NS

the division of the PNS that controls the body’s skeletal muscles

Autonomic NS

section of the PNS which controls the glands and muscles of the internal organs,

Sympathetic NS

arouses the body

Parasympathetic NS

calms the body

Pituitary gland

the endocrine system’s most influential gland, under the influence of the hypothalamus, this regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands

EEG

an amplified recording of waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain’s surface, these waves are measured by electrodes placed on the skull

PET scan

a visual display of brain activity that detects glucose while the brain performs a certain task

MRI

a technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce a computer generated image that distinguishes between the types of soft tissue in the brain

Medulla

connected to the base of the brain stem, controls our blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing

Reticular Formation

screens incoming info, and filters out irrelevant info, controls arousal and attention

Thalamus

the brain’s sensory switchboard

Pons

above the medulla, makes chemicals involved w/ sleep & facial expressions

Cerebellum

the little brain attached to the rear of the brain stem, controls coordination, fire muscles movements and balance

Limbic System

Hippocampus (memory) , Hypothalamus (constant functions), and Amygdala (fear)

Amygdala

part of the limbic system that is involved in emotions, aggression, and fear

Hypothalamus

controls the constant functions of body

Hippocampus

part of the limbic system involved in learning and memory

Temporal Lobe

at side of brain above ears involved in memory, perception, hearing

Occipital Lobe

lower back part of brain involved with processing visual info → vision

Parietal Lobe

top of brain, discriminates between textures and shapes

Frontal Lobe

located under forehead, involved with complex cognitive functions