AP Psychology Theories, Phenomenons, Laws and Bias

anything useful for EBQ

Drive-Reduction theory

A psychological need that creates an aroused state that motivates someone to satisfy it and restore balance or homeostasis. (you’re thirsty, so you drink water until you aren’t anymore)

Incentive theory

behavior is driven by a reward or avoidance of punishment (studying for this exam for college credit!!)

optimal arousal theory

individuals are motivated to maintain an optimal level of arousal or stimulation. (bored this summer, and got way too excited when I was going to raleigh)

Piaget's theory of cognitive development

children progress through distinct stages of intellectual growth as they develop their ability to think, understand, and reason. Sensorimotor stage →Preoperational stage →Concrete operational stage →Formal operational stage. 

Social-Learning Theory/ Reciprocal determinism

Bandura’s theory that behavior is learned through observation and imitation of others, (someone may learn how to dress by observing how others dress)

Signal-Detection Theory

Our awareness of stimulus depends on intensity of stimulus and our psychological state. Explains how individuals make decisions about the presence or absence of a signal in the presence of background noise or uncertainty (detecting an emergency vehicle's siren in the background noise of a busy city street)

Gender Schema Theory

Children learn from culture what it means to be fe/male and adjust behaviors accordingly

Young-Helmholz Trichoromatic Theory

Retina has 3 color receptors(red green blue) which can produce any color

Opponent Process Theory (in color vision)

explains why we see afterimages and is controlled by the activity of two opponent systems

Frequency Theory

brain perceives pitch based on the rate at which nerve impulses are fired in response to sound waves

Place Theory

human beings perceive pitch with hair cells and nerve fibers of the cochlea detecting

Gate-control Theory

the spinal chord can allow or block pain signals to the brain (like being pinched, then a second later feel fine)

Just-World Phenomenon

The world is fair. you get what you get. KARMA

James-Lange theory

physical changes in the body happen before the experience of the associated emotion.(your heart beating wildly would lead you to realize that you are afraid)

Cannon-Bard theory

emotional responses occur simultaneously with physiological reactions. suggests that emotions and bodily responses are independent but happen at the same time. (hearing a canon shoot might prompt both the feeling of fear- an emotional response and a racing heartbeat-a physical reaction)

Attribution theory

how we explain "why" something happened (Failing an exam and blaming your teacher for not preparing you)

Singer-Schater Two-factor theory

emotions are a result of both physiological arousal and cognitive interpretation of that arousal. claims that (when your heart started racing and your palms began to sweat, you needed to know why you felt that way)

Cognitive-Dissonance theory

mental discomfort arising from holding conflicting beliefs or attitudes, motivating them to reduce the discomfort by changing their thoughts and actions

Scapegoat theory

Blaming a group for something that wasn’t their fault (ppl blaming Latinos for taking jobs from Americans) TRUMP IS GETTING RID OF GOATS

Social-Exchange theory

people evaluate their relationships by weighing the benefits against the costs (your bestie starts ditching you, you may think abt ending friendship)

Weber’s Law

the larger the original stimulus, the larger the just noticeable difference needs to be for it to be detected

Bystander Effect

individuals are less likely to help or intervene in an emergency situation when other bystanders are present

Hindsight bias

“I knew it all along” “no you didn't bi-”

Confirmation bias

holding onto a belief and looking only at evidence that supports it

Experimenter bias

researchers unconsciously influence their experiment's results based on their expectations or preferences

Trait Theory

study, define, and track one’s traits over their life time, they don’t care about the why, just what they are

self-serving bias

a readiness to perceive oneself favorably, saying all accomplishments are them and taking little responsibility for failures (blaming on external factors)

Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory

learning occurs through social interaction and collaboration w/ smarter people. (getting a tutor)

Activation-synthesis theory

suggests that dreams are a result of the brain's attempt to interpret random neural activity occurring during sleep at REM

Consolidation theory

idea that sleep plays a crucial role in the process of converting short-term memories into long-term memories by strengthening neural connections. dreams is result

Self-Actualization Theory

process of realizing and fulfilling one's potential and capabilities

Theory of Mind

ability to understand and attribute mental states like beliefs, desires, intentions, and emotions to other people (ex. you see someone look through purse, and assume they’re looking for smth)

Yerkes-Dodson Law

there’s a relationship between arousal and performance. There the arousal, higher the performance (ex. you crave cake, then after eating a lot you don't crave anymore)

social desirability bias

tendency for individuals to respond in a way that they believe is viewed favorably by others, even if it misrepresents their own thoughts (ex. ppl said they’d vote for Kamala Harris even tho they didn’t”

sampling bias

when a research sample does not accurately represent the population from which it is drawn, leading to skewed nongeneralizable results.

spotlight affect

tendency to overestimate how much others notice, or judge our appearance and behavior in social situations. Leads to increased self consciousness and social anxiety

instinctive drift

tendency of some trained animals to revert back to instinctual behaviors (a dog with the nature to bark at visitors thinking they are intruders might have been taught to sit quietly when a guest enters)

halo effect

cognitive bias where a positive or negative impression of a trait or characteristic influences the perception of other unrelated traits (seeing a random fine guy on the street and assuming their smart)

just-word fallacy

cognitive bias that people get what they deserve and the world is fair. But in reality there's always external factors too

cultural bias

tendency to make assumptions about the behavior of another culture based on their their own cultural norms- leads to misinterpretation and misunderstanding

sunk-cost fallacy

phenomenon when a person is reluctant to abandon a strategy/course of action because they have invested heavily in it, even when it is clear that abandonment would be better (me in science Olympiad until I almost got a medal)

altruism

belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others.(Giving lunch money to a friend with no expectation of or want for repayment) BEING NICE TO BE NICE

proofreaders illusion

tendency to overlook errors in one's own writing due to familiarity with the content (rereading essay and not notice grammar errors)

cocktail party effect

individual can focus on a single conversation in a noisy environment, such as a party, while ignoring other conversations or sounds

stroop effect

a phenomenon demonstrating the interference of conflicting information in a task (green)

apparent movement

when we perceive motion, even if nothing is actually moving (multiplying image creates running effect)

phi-phenomenon

occurs when lights blink on and off in sequence, creating the illusion of movement

Accomodation

when we change a Schema to incorporate new info (child learning that some birds like penguins cant fly, and needing to adjust their understanding of “birds”)

Assimilation

when we fit new info into existing schemas (A child sees a new breed of dog they've never seen before and immediately points to it and says, "Dog!")

mental set

a tendency to approach problems using a strategy that has worked in the past, potentially limiting creativity.

schema

a cognitive framework that helps organize and interpret information.

repetition priming

occurs when exposed to specific stimulus increases the likelihood of responding with related concepts or stimuli.

semantic priming

exposure to a word or concept facilitates the retrieval of related words or concepts, enhancing recognition and recall. (looking at word monkey makes you think or bananas, curious George, etc)

framing

the way information is presented, which can influence decision-making and judgments. (buying hand sanitizer that resists 99.99% germs, not mentioning 0.01%)

gambler’s fallacy

the belief that past random events affect the probability of future outcomes in gambling situations

episodic buffer

a component of working memory that integrates information from different sources, linking new experiences with long-term memory. (sitting in Ms.Stitts classroom first day of school)

testing effect

the phenomenon where retrieving information from memory enhances long-term retention of that information

serial position effect

tendency to recall items from a list depending on their position, typically characterized by better recall for items at the beginning (primacy effect) and end (recency effect) of the list.

forgetting curve

information is forgotten over time, with rapid initial loss followed by a slower rate of forgetting.

spacing effect

information is better retained when study sessions are spaced out over time rather than crammed into a single sessions

Law of Effect

states behaviors followed by positive outcomes are likely to be repeated, while those followed by negative outcomes are less likely to recur.

Tip of the tongue phenomenon

a situation where a person is unable to retrieve a word or fact but feels that retrieval is approaching

Misinformation effect

the phenomenon where post-event information alters a person's memory of the original event

Context-Dependent memory

type of memory retrieval where the recall of information is improved when in the same context or environment as when the information was originally learned

Flynn effect

the observed rise in IQ scores over time across generations.

McGurk Effect

an error in perception that occurs when we misperceive sounds because the audio and visual parts of the speech are mismatched.

self-fulfilling prophecy

an expectation that causes you to act in ways that make that expectation come true.

Reciprocity norm

an expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them

feel-good, do-good phenomenon

people's tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood

adaptation-level phenomenon

tendency to form judgments (of sounds, of lights, of income) relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience ( After getting a raise, you're initially excited, but quickly get used to the new income and start wanting more.)

Availability Heuristic

Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind, we presume such events are common. (even though <10% of sharks attack humans, many people will view them as danguerous.)

Representative Heuristic

Judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information (ppl thinking doofensmirtz was a pharmacist bc he wore a lab coat, even tho he clearly wasn’t)

Anchoring Bias

cognitive bias that causes us to rely too heavily on the first piece of information we are given about a topic. (person is trying to sell a LV bag to woman who says it too expensive, so he shows a MK bag which is less expensive but still is)

Actor-Observer Bias:

tendency to attribute one's own actions to external causes while attributing other people's behaviors to internal causes.(you fall asleep in class because you were busy last night. but if someone else does, you assume they’re lazy) SUGGESTS EVERYONE IS A HYPOCRITE

Fundamental Attribution Error

tendency for observers, when analyzing others' behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition. (person is late to school and perceived as unreliable, when they rlly had a late bus)

Groupthink

mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives. group leader telling everyone that they need to ban all women from joining them, and the members of this group accepting that decision without questioning it bc they believe they’re supposed to think that to be in group)

Deindividuation

enhancement of a group's prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group (when snape kills dumbledoor in front of other deatheaters, but didn't before when only they were alone)

Information Processing Theory/Model

describes how the human brain processes information, comparing it to a computer's functions-information is received, encoded, stored, and retrieved. (me using flashcards to remember these terms)

Opponent Process Theory for emotion

how emotions are experienced as opposing pairs, where one emotion is followed by its opposite (if someone experiences fear you cant feel the opposing emotion:relief)

Normative Social Influence

process of conforming to group norms or expectations to gain social acceptance and avoid disapproval (vaping to fit in)

Out-group bias

to be more critical of other groups, and to perceive everyone outside your group the same

In-group bias

viewing the members of our group more favorably

Lewis Motivational Conflict Theory

individuals experience conflicts when they must choose between two or more goals: approach-approach, avoidance-avoidance, and approach-avoidance. These conflicts create internal stress and motivate individuals to resolve them.

Broaden-and-build theory

Positive emotions don’t only help us feel good in the moment, it also increases health, thinking, actions and helps us make connections. It expands our ability to cope in bad situations.

Cognitive Appraisal theory

process of interpreting a situation which then influences our emotional and behavioral responses.

Self-determination theory

we feel motivated to satisfy our needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness

Sensation-seeking theory

suggests that our motivation can come from a desire for new or exciting experiences.

Facial-feedback hypothesis

tendency of facial muscle states to trigger corresponding feelings such as fear, anger, or happiness.

Behavioral-feedback effect

tendency of behavior to influence our own and others' thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Spillover effect

phenomenon where emotional state from one can influence or "spill over" into the interpretation and response to a subsequent, unrelated event (husband yelling at wife when he gets back home after bad work day)

Kruger effect

phenomenon where a person knows very little but has a high degree of confidence in their ability

False consensus effect

cognitive bias where individuals overestimate how much others agree with their own beliefs, behaviors, and opinions (warm water tastes good, so everyone must like it)

GAS (General adaptation syndrome)

Selye's concept of the body's adaptive response to stress in three phases- alarm reaction, resistance, and exhaustion. body does well with temporary stress, but prolonged stress is very harmful

Tend and befriend theory

reaction to stress - tend to your own needs and/or needs of others, seek connection & comfort

Positive psychology

seeks to ID factors that lead to well-being, resilience, positive emotion and psychological health

mere exposure effect

the more times someone is exposed to a stimulus, the more they will like it (hearing a song on the radio and thinking its meh at first, but then a week later you memorize the lyrics)

group polarization

Tendency for group discussion to strengthen the prevailing opinion (disliking someone, and hating them more when gossiping abt them w/other ppl)

social loafing

Reduced effort by individuals when working in a group compared to working alone. (You and you’re friends are making meatloaf, and you let them carry)