AP Psychology Cram Sheet
People in Psychology
Wundt: "Father of Psychology", known for introspection.
Wertheimer: Gestalt Psychology.
Titchener: Structuralism.
James: Functionalism.
Watson: Behaviorism; famous for the "Little Albert Study".
Freud: Psychoanalytic theory; dream analysis; free association; structure of personality; stages of development; defense mechanisms.
Milgram: Studied obedience and related ethical considerations.
Broca: Identified the left frontal lobe area associated with expressive language.
Wernicke: Identified the left frontal lobe area associated with receptive language.
Pavlov: Classical conditioning with dogs.
Thorndike: Instrumental learning with cats; law of effect.
Skinner: Operant conditioning with rats and pigeons; Behaviorist.
Tolman: Latent learning; cognitive maps.
Bandura: Observational learning: Bobo Dolls, Social-Cognitive Theory.
Ebbinghaus: Studies on forgetting: Decay Model.
Chomsky: Native Theorist, proposed the inherent existence of cognitive structures.
Whorf: Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis.
Washoe, Sara, and Koko: Apes involved in language studies.
Jung: Collective unconscious; archetypes; Psychoanalytic.
Horney: Basic childhood anxiety; Psychoanalytic.
Erickson: Life crisis; psycho-social development; Psychoanalytic.
Adler: Inferiority Complex; Psychoanalytic.
Piaget: Stages of Cognitive Development; Cognitive theorist.
Rogers: Client-centered therapy; unconditional positive regard; transactional Analysis.
Ellis: Rational Emotive Therapy; Cognitive Theorist.
Maslow: Hierarchy of Needs; Humanistic.
Binet: Developed I.Q. testing.
Eysenck: Biological model of Personality; Trait-type hierarchy.
Harlow: Monkey Studies on Attachment.
Lorenz: "Survival of the Fittest Theory" and imprinting.
Phineas Gage: Experienced damage to the limbic system due to a railroad spike, affecting emotions and motivational control center.
Beck: Cognitive therapy for treating depression.
Murray: Need to achieve; TAT (Thematic Apperception Test).
Allport: Trait Approach-cardinal, central, secondary.
Cattell: Crystallized & Fluid Intelligence.
Kelley: Personal Construct Theory.
Mishel: Social-learning theory.
Gilligan: Examined moral differences between boys and girls based on social rules and on ethic of caring and responsibility.
Perspectives in Psychology
General Behaviorism: Focuses on learning, environment, and nurture.
Biological: Emphasizes physiology, genetics, and nature.
Cognitive: Studies mental processes.
Psychoanalytic: Focuses on unconscious conflicts.
Humanistic: Emphasizes free will, self-direction, and the basic goodness of people.
Gestalt: Emphasizes the organization process in behavior and focuses on the problem of perception.
Personality - Various Perspectives
Psychoanalytic: People are driven by instincts, largely sexual.
Behaviorist: Behavior is personality; determined by history of reinforcement.
Humanistic: People are inherently good, society ruins them, and people strive to satisfy a hierarchy of motives toward self-actualization.
Cognitive: People are rational and want to predict and control their world; personal constructs help in this process.
Biological: Biological factors such as body type or genetics influence personality.
Abnormal Psychology - Various Perspectives
Psychoanalytic: Disorders emerge from initial psychological conflicts that are unconscious, often arising from childhood trauma.
Biomedical: Disorders are traceable to physical abnormalities, biochemistry, or structural defects.
Cognitive: Disorders result from unusual ways of thinking or inappropriate belief systems.
Behavioral: Disorders result from faulty contingencies of reinforcement.
Cultural: Variables such as social class, gender, and rural-urban contexts contribute to the development of psychological disorders.
Humanistic/Existential Model: Disorders result from failure to fulfill one's potential.
Therapy/Treatment Approaches
Psychoanalysis:
Aims to alleviate unconscious conflicts.
Techniques include: Free association, Dream analysis, Transference, Symptom substitution.
Behavior Therapy:
Applies learning principles.
Techniques include: Systematic desensitization (In vivo desensitization, Counter-conditioning), Flooding (real event), Implosive therapy (imagine the event), Aversion therapy.
Cognitive-Behavior Therapy:
Addresses thoughts and behavior.
Techniques include: Cognitive therapy (restructuring of person's invalid perceptions of self, future, and the world), Modeling and role play, Rational-emotive therapy (forces a more realistic look in the evaluating circumstances).
Humanistic:
Focuses on getting the person to accept responsibility for their improvement.
Includes Rogers' client-centered therapy with unconditioned positive regard.
Biomedical Treatment:
Includes medical procedures and medication to alleviate symptoms of psychological disorders.
Techniques include: Psychosurgery (ablation - surgical destruction of involved brain tissue), Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for major depression, Psychopharmacological treatment.
Neuroleptics (antipsychotics) e.g., Thorine, Haldol, Clozaril.
Antidepressants e.g., Tricyclic compounds, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (Prozac).
Lithium Carbonate (treat bipolar disorder).
Anxiolytics (anti-anxiety) such as Valium or other benzodiazepines.
The Experiment - Key Concepts
In experiments, two variables are studied for cause and effect.
Independent variable: Manipulated by the experimenter.
Dependent variable: Assumed to be affected by the IV; measured.
Confounding variable: Other variables that may influence results.
Experimental group: Exposed to manipulation of the independent variable.
Control group: An unaffected comparison group.
Subject bias: A subject's behavior changes due to believed expectations of the experiment.
Researcher bias: Expectations influence what is recorded.
Double-blind technique: Controls for bias by keeping placement of subject secret.
Placebo: Inactive substance unknowingly given in place of drug.
Theories in Psychology
Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development:
Sensorimotor: Schema assimilation and accommodation; Object permanence.
Preoperational: Egocentrism; Animism; Artificialism.
Concrete Operational: Reversibility; Conservation problems.
Formal Operational: Personal fable.
Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Judgment:
Preconventional: Good and bad, right and wrong.
Conventional: Social rules.
Postconventional: Universal principles.
Erickson's Psychosocial Development:
Infancy: Trust vs. mistrust.
Childhood: Autonomy vs. shame and doubt; Initiative vs. guilt; Industry vs. inferiority.
Adolescence: Identity vs. role confusion.
Adulthood: Intimacy vs. isolation; Generativity vs. stagnation; Ego integrity vs. despair.
Kubler-Ross' Stages of Death:
Denial
Anger
Bargaining
Depression
Acceptance
Weber's law: just noticeable difference
Young-Helmholtz Color Theory (trichromatic theory): color determined by the relative activity in red, blue, or green sensitive cones
Opponent-Process Color Theory: Color information is organized into 3 antagonistic pairs
Place Theory: Relates perceived pitch to region
Frequency Theory: Related pitch to the frequency of sound waves and frequency of neuron firing
Facial Feedback hypothesis: sensations from the face provide cues to the brain that help us determine what emotion we are feeling (Ekman)
Statistical Significance: chance accounts for results less then 5% of the time
Template-Matching Theory: stored copies
Prototype-Matching Theory: recognition involves comparison
Feature-Analysis Theory: patterns are represented and recognized by distinctive features
Restorative Theory: We sleep in order to replenish
Adaptive Nonresponding Theory: sleep and inactivity have survived value
Activation-Synthesis hypothesis: dreams are products of spontaneous neural activity
Thorndike's Law of effect: reward and punishment encourages and discourages responding
Premack principle: states that any high-probability behavior can be used as a reward for any lower-probability behavior
Continuity vs. Discontinuity: theories of development, nature vs. nurture
Serial position phenomenon: sequence influences recall
Primacy effect: enhanced memory for items presented earlier
Recency effect: enhanced memory for items presented last
Decay theory: forgetting caused by learning similar materials proactive-initially retroactive-previously
Linguistic relativity hypothesis: person's language determines and limits a persons experiences
Hull's drive-reduction model: motivation arises out of need
Cognitive consistency theory: cognitive inconsistencies create tension and thus motivate the organism
Festinger's Cognitive dissonance theory: reconcile cognitive discrepancies
Arousal Theories: we all have optimal levels of stimulation that we try to maintain
Yerkes-Dodson law: arousal will increase performances up to a point, then further increases will impair performance; inverted U function
Incentive theory: behavior is pulled rather then pushed
James-Lange theory: emotion is caused by bodily changes
Cannon-Bard's Thalamic theory: emotional expression caused by simultaneous changing bodily event thoughts and feelings
Schachter's Cognitive-Physiological Theory: bodily changes, current stimuli, events, and memories combine to determine behavior
Attribution theory: explains how people make inferences about the causes of behavior; personal or situational; self-serving bias
Deindividuation: loss of self-restraint that occurs out of anonymity
Contact theory: proposes that equal-status contact between antagonistic groups should lower tension and bring harmony
Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS): emergency reaction to stressful situations Alarm reaction, resistance and exhaustion
Lazaru's Cognitive-Psychological Model: emphasizes the process of appraisal (primary and secondary) as the primary determinant of stress
Twin Studies: allows a researcher to test influence of heredity v. environment
Personal Construct Theory: unique system of reality
Deinstitutionalization: occurred because of changes in political policy and development of new drug therapies
Ainsworth's Strange Situation: looked at attachment in young children to their parents
Social Psychology Studies
Zimbardo's Prison Study: Explored the effect of roles.
Hawthorne Effect: People change their behavior when they think they are being observed.
Darley and Latane's Bystander effect: Diffusion of responsibility (Kitty Genovese Case Study).
Asche Conformity Study: Lines of different lengths; 75% conformed at least once.
Milgram's Obedience Study: Shocking the confederate; 65% delivered full range.
Festinger: cognitive dissonance
Social Pressure
Conformity: Occurs when individuals adopt the attitudes or behavior of others because of real or imagined pressure.
Social Norms: Shared standards of behavior.
Reciprocity norm: People tend to treat others as they have been treated.
Compliance: To get along with a request made of you from a person who does not have authority over you, techniques include:
Foot in the door technique: If a small request is made first, a larger request will be easier to fill later.
Door in the face technique: Making a larger request first, then making a smaller one which will seem more reasonable.
Low balling: Getting agreement first, then adding specifics later.
Obedience: Compliance with someone who has authority.
Altruism
Self concern for others.
Bystander intervention: Will individuals intervene in a harmful situation to another?
Bystander effect: People are less likely to help when several people witness an emergency due to diffusion of responsibility, thinking that someone else can be responsible.
Social facilitation: Tendency to do better on well-learned tasks when another person is present.
Social loafing: Reduction in effort by individuals when they work in groups compared to by themselves.
Risky shift: Groups often arrive at riskier decisions than do individuals.
Deindividuation: Loss of identity as a result of being part of a group.
Groupthink: Members of a cohesive group emphasize agreement at the expense of critical thinking.