Myer's Psychology for AP Vocabulary
Foundations and Research Methods of Psychology
Psychology is formally defined as the science of behavior and mental processes. The discipline is built upon several historical and contemporary perspectives. Empiricism is the view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should, therefore, rely on observation and experimentation. An early school of thought, structuralism, used introspection to explore the elemental structure of the human mind. This was followed by functionalism, which focused on how our mental and behavioral processes function and how they enable us to adapt, survive, and flourish. Behaviorism emerged as the view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes; while most modern research psychologists agree that it should be an objective science, they generally disagree that mental processes should be ignored. Other perspectives include humanistic psychology, which emphasized the growth potential of healthy people and an individual's potential for fostering personal growth, and cognitive neuroscience, the interdisciplinary study of brain activity linked with cognition, including perception, thinking, memory, and language. Biological psychology studies the links between biological and psychological processes, while evolutionary psychology examines the roots of behavior and mental processes using principles of natural selection.
In the realm of research, basic research refers to pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base, whereas applied research aims to solve practical problems. Descriptive and predictive fields include psychometrics, the scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits. The nature-nurture issue remains a longstanding controversy over the relative contributions of genes and experience to the development of psychological traits and behaviors, with current science seeing these arising from the interaction of both. The biopsychosocial approach provides an integrated framework incorporating biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis. To organize observations and predict behaviors, a theory is used, which is an explanation using an integrated set of principles. From a theory, a hypothesis—a testable prediction—is often derived.
Research methodologies include the case study, an observation technique where one person is studied in depth to reveal universal principles, and naturalistic observation, which involves recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without manipulation. A survey is used to ascertain self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, typically by questioning a representative, random sample. An experiment is a method where an investigator manipulates one or more independent variables to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process, known as the dependent variable. To minimize preexisting differences between participants, random assignment is used. In a double-blind procedure, both the research participants and the staff are ignorant about who has received the treatment or a placebo. The placebo effect occurs when results are caused by expectations alone. To ensure a study can be verified, researchers use an operational definition, a statement of the procedures used to define research variables, which allows for replication by other researchers. Ethical guidelines require informed consent, where participants are told enough to choose whether to participate, and debriefing, a post-experimental explanation of the study's purpose and any deceptions.
Statistical analysis is vital for interpreting data. The mode is the most frequently occurring score, the mean is the arithmetic average, and the median is the middle score in a distribution. Variations are measured by the range, the difference between the highest and lowest scores, or by standard deviation, a measure of how much scores vary around the mean. A normal curve is a symmetrical, bell-shaped distribution where most scores fall near the mean; specifically, fall within one standard deviation. A scatterplot is a graphed cluster of dots representing the values of two variables, where the slope suggests the direction and the amount of scatter suggests the strength of the correlation. The correlation coefficient is a statistical index of the relationship between two things, ranging from to . Regression toward the mean describes the tendency for extreme or unusual scores to fall back toward their average. Statistical significance is a statement of how likely it is that a result occurred by chance.
Biological Bases of Behavior
The nervous system is the body's speedy electrochemical communication network. Its basic building block is the neuron, or nerve cell. A neuron consists of a cell body and branching extensions called dendrites that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body. The axon is the extension of a neuron through which messages pass to other neurons, muscles, or glands. Many axons are encased in a myelin sheath, a layer of fatty tissue that enables greater transmission speed. An action potential is a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon, triggered once a certain threshold of stimulation is met. The junction between neurons is the synapse, where chemical messengers called neurotransmitters cross the synaptic gap and bind to receptor sites. Reuptake is the process where the sending neuron reabsorbs excess neurotransmitters. Endorphins are natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters linked to pain control and pleasure. Glial cells support, nourish, and protect neurons, while neurogenesis refers to the formation of new neurons.
The central nervous system (CNS) consists of the brain and spinal cord, while the peripheral nervous system (PNS) connects the CNS to the rest of the body via nerves. The somatic nervous system controls skeletal muscles, whereas the autonomic nervous system controls glands and internal organs. The autonomic system is divided into the sympathetic nervous system, which arouses and mobilizes energy in stressful situations, and the parasympathetic nervous system, which calms the body and conserves energy. Sensory neurons carry incoming information from receptors to the brain, motor neurons carry outgoing information to muscles and glands, and interneurons intervene between sensory inputs and motor outputs. Reflexes are simple, automatic responses to stimuli. The endocrine system serves as a "slow" chemical communication system, secreting hormones into the bloodstream. The adrenal glands secrete epinephrine and norepinephrine to arouse the body during stress. The pituitary gland, the most influential endocrine gland, is controlled by the hypothalamus and regulates growth and other glands.
Brain structures are often categorized by age and function. The brainstem is the oldest part of the brain, responsible for automatic survival functions, and includes the medulla, which controls heartbeat and breathing, and the reticular formation, which controls arousal. The thalamus sits on top of the brainstem and acts as the sensory switchboard. The cerebellum, or "little brain," coordinates movement output and balance. The limbic system, associated with emotions and drives, includes the amygdala (linked to emotion), the hippocampus (processing explicit memories), and the hypothalamus (directing maintenance activities like eating and body temperature). The cerebral cortex is the body’s ultimate control and information-processing center, divided into lobes: the frontal lobes (speaking, muscle movements, plans, and judgments), parietal lobes (sensory input for touch and body position), occipital lobes (visual information), and temporal lobes (auditory information). The motor cortex controls voluntary movements, and the sensory cortex processes body touch and sensations. Association areas are involved in higher mental functions like learning and thinking. Aphasia is an impairment of language, often from damage to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or Wernicke's area (impairing understanding). The brain's plasticity allows it to reorganize after damage. In cases of a split brain, the corpus callosum is cut, isolating the two hemispheres.
Techniques to study the brain include the electroencephalogram (EEG), which records electrical activity; the CT (computed tomography) scan, which uses X-rays; the PET (positron emission tomography) scan, which detects radioactive glucose; and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), which uses magnetic fields to show brain anatomy, while fMRI shows brain function by revealing blood flow.
Sensation and Perception
Sensation is the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies. Perception is the process of organizing and interpreting that information. Bottom-up processing begins with sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration, while top-down processing is guided by higher-level mental processes and experience. Transduction is the conversion of stimulus energy into neural impulses. The absolute threshold is the minimum stimulation needed to detect a stimulus of the time, while the difference threshold (or just noticeable difference) is the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection of the time. Weber's law states that two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage rather than a constant amount to be perceived as different. Signal detection theory predicts how and when we detect faint stimuli amid noise, assuming there is no single absolute threshold. Sensory adaptation is the diminished sensitivity resulting from constant stimulation, while a perceptual set is a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another.
In vision, the hue is determined by the wavelength of light, and intensity (brightness) is determined by the amplitude. Light enters the eye through the pupil, regulated by the iris, and is focused by the lens onto the retina. The retina contains receptor cells: rods (detecting black, white, and gray; used for peripheral and twilight vision) and cones (detecting fine detail and color; concentrated in the fovea). The optic nerve carries impulses to the brain, and the blind spot is where this nerve leaves the eye. Feature detectors respond to specific features like shape and angle. Parallel processing allows the brain to process many aspects of a scene simultaneously. Color vision is explained by the Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory, where the retina contains three color receptors (red, green, blue), and the opponent-process theory, where opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision.
In hearing (audition), pitch depends on frequency. The middle ear contains three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, stirrup), and the inner ear contains the cochlea, which is fluid-filled and contains receptors. Place theory links pitch with the place where the cochlea’s membrane is stimulated, while frequency theory suggests the rate of nerve impulses matches the frequency of a tone. Conduction hearing loss is caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound, while sensorineural hearing loss involves damage to the cochlea or auditory nerve. Sensory interaction is the principle that one sense may influence another, such as smell affecting taste.
Perceptual organization involves gestalt, the tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes. This includes figure-ground organization (separating objects from surroundings) and grouping. Depth perception allows us to see objects in three dimensions. Binocular cues include retinal disparity (comparing images from two eyes) and convergence, while monocular cues include interposition and linear perspective. The phi phenomenon is an illusion of movement from blinking lights. Perceptual constancy allows us to perceive objects as unchanging despite different angles or lighting.
States of Consciousness
Consciousness is our awareness of ourselves and our environment. This involves dual processing, where information is simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks. Selective attention focuses conscious awareness on a particular stimulus, such as the cocktail party effect. Inattentional blindness is the failure to see visible objects when attention is elsewhere, while change blindness is the failure to detect changes in a scene.
Sleep is a periodic, natural loss of consciousness. The circadian rhythm is our "biological clock" on a 24-hour cycle. Sleep stages include NREM sleep and REM sleep (rapid eye movement sleep), where vivid dreams occur. REM is also known as paradoxical sleep because muscles are relaxed while body systems are active. Alpha waves signal a relaxed, awake state, while delta waves are associated with deep sleep. Sleep disorders include insomnia (trouble falling/staying asleep), narcolepsy (uncontrollable sleep attacks), sleep apnea (temporary cessation of breathing), and night terrors (high arousal and appearance of being terrified in Stage 4 sleep). Dreams often contain manifest content (the remembered story line) and latent content (the underlying meaning, per Freud). Hypnosis is a social interaction where suggestions are made regarding perceptions and behaviors. Posthypnotic suggestions are used by clinicians to help control symptoms.
Psychoactive drugs alter perceptions and moods. Continued use leads to tolerance, requiring larger doses for the same effect, and withdrawal symptoms upon discontinuation. Dependence can be physical or psychological. Addiction is compulsive drug craving despite consequences. Categories of drugs include depressants (alcohol, barbiturates/tranquilizers, opiates like morphine/heroin), which reduce neural activity; stimulants (amphetamines, methamphetamine, caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, Ecstasy/MDMA), which speed up body functions; and hallucinogens (LSD, THC in marijuana), which distort perceptions and evoke sensory images.
Learning
Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior due to experience. Associative learning involves learning that certain events occur together. In classical conditioning, we learn to link stimuli and anticipate events. Acquisition is the initial stage when a neutral stimulus is linked with an unconditioned stimulus () to trigger a conditioned response (). The unconditioned stimulus naturally triggers the unconditioned response (). After association, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus (). Extinction is the diminishing of a when the no longer follows the . Spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of an extinguished response. Generalization is responding to stimuli similar to the , while discrimination is the learned ability to distinguish between them. Higher-order conditioning involves pairing a with a new neutral stimulus.
Operant conditioning is learning where behavior is strengthened by reinforcement or diminished by punishment. The Law of Effect states that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely. B.F. Skinner used an operant chamber (Skinner box) for research. Shaping uses reinforcers to guide behavior toward closer approximations of a goal. Positive reinforcement presents a stimulus to increase behavior; negative reinforcement removes an aversive stimulus to increase behavior. Primary reinforcers satisfy biological needs, while conditioned reinforcers (secondary) gain power through association with primary ones. Continuous reinforcement reinforces every response, while partial (intermittent) reinforcement reinforces only part of the time. Schedules include fixed-ratio, variable-ratio, fixed-interval, and variable-interval. Punishment decreases behavior. Latent learning occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive. Intrinsic motivation is the desire to perform for its own sake, while extrinsic motivation is for rewards/punishing.
Observational learning is learning by observing others, also known as modeling. Mirror neurons in the frontal lobe are believed to enable imitation and empathy. Prosocial behavior is positive and helpful, while antisocial behavior is the opposite.
Cognition, Memory, and Language
Memory is the persistence of learning through storage and retrieval. The process includes encoding (getting info in), storage (retention), and retrieval (getting info out). Information is often processed automatically (automatic processing), such as space and time, or requires effortful processing. Sensory memory includes the momentary iconic memory (visual) and echoic memory (auditory). Short-term memory (or working memory) holds a few items briefly. Long-term memory is relatively permanent and limitless. Strategies like chunking (organizing items into units), mnemonics (memory aids), and the spacing effect (distributed study) improve retention. Explicit memory (declarative) includes facts and experiences, while implicit memory (procedural) is independent of conscious recollection. Long-term potentiation () is the neural basis for learning. Flashbulb memories are clear memories of emotionally significant events.
Retrieval measures include recall (retrieval without cues), recognition (identification), and relearning. Cues can trigger memories, such as in priming () or context-dependent memory. Deja vu is the sense that an experience has happened before. Forgetting can occur due to proactive interference (old info blocks new) or retroactive interference (new info blocks old). Repression is a defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing memories. Misinformation effect involves incorporating misleading info into memories. Source amnesia is attributing an event to the wrong source.
Thinking involves cognition and mental activities. We use concepts (groupings) and prototypes (best examples) to organize info. Problem-solving methods include algorithms (logical rules that guarantee success), heuristics (simple strategies), and insight (sudden realization). Obstacles include confirmation bias (searching for supporting evidence) and fixation/functional fixedness (inability to see things from new perspectives). Mental sets are tendencies to approach problems in certain ways. Availability heuristics estimate likelihood based on memory availability, and representativeness heuristics judge items based on prototypes. Framing is the way an issue is posed.
Language consists of spoken, written, or signed words. Building blocks include phonemes (smallest sounds), morphemes (smallest meaning units), and grammar (system of rules including semantics and syntax). Language development stages include the babbling stage ( months), one-word stage ( to years), two-word stage ( years), and telegraphic speech. Whorf’s linguistic determinism hypothesis suggests language determines how we think.
Developmental Psychology
Developmental psychology studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the lifespan. Conception begins with a zygote (fertilized egg), which becomes an embryo ( weeks to months), and then a fetus ( weeks to birth). Teratogens are harmful agents like viruses or chemicals (e.g., Fetal Alcohol Syndrome). Maturation is the biological growth process. Piaget’s stages of cognitive development include the sensorimotor stage (birth to years; includes object permanence), preoperational stage ( to years; includes egocentrism), concrete operational stage ( to years; includes conservation), and formal operational stage ( years; abstract logic). Schemas are frameworks to organize info; we adjust them through assimilation (interpreting new info via existing schemas) and accommodation (adapting schemas).
Social development includes attachment, shown through seeking closeness to caregivers. Imprinting is attachment in animals during a critical period. Basic trust is the sense the world is predictable. Self-concept is the understanding of who one is. Adolescence is the transition from childhood to adulthood, starting with puberty (sexual maturation). Primary sex characteristics make reproduction possible, while secondary sex characteristics are non-reproductive (e.g., body hair). Erikson’s stages include identity formation in adolescence and intimacy in early adulthood. Adulthood involves the social clock (preferred timing for life events), and biological changes like menopause.
Personality, Motivation, and Emotion
Motivation is a need or desire that directs behavior. Drive-reduction theory suggests physiological needs create tension to be satisfied. Homeostasis is the tendency to maintain internal balance. Incentives are environmental stimuli that motivate. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs prioritizes physiological needs over safety and self-actualization (fulfilling one's potential). In hunger, the basal metabolic rate is the resting energy expenditure, and glucose levels regulate hunger. A set point is the body's "weight thermostat."
Emotion involves physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience. The James-Lange theory states emotion is the awareness of physiological responses. The Cannon-Bard theory states arousal and emotion happen simultaneously. The Schachter-Singer two-factor theory requires physical arousal and a cognitive label. The facial feedback effect occurs when facial expressions intensify emotions.
Personality is an individual's pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting. Freud’s psychoanalysis focuses on the unconscious. The personality structures are the id (pleasure principle), ego (reality principle), and superego (internalized ideals). Defense mechanisms like repression, regression, reaction formation, projection, rationalization, displacement, sublimation, and denial reduce anxiety by distorting reality. Psychosexual stages include oral, anal, phallic (Oedipus complex), latency, and genital. Jung’s collective unconscious refers to shared inherited memory traces. Projective tests like the Rorschach inkblot test and Thematic Apperception Test () assess the unconscious. Trait theories use personality inventories like the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (). Humanistic perspectives like Carl Rogers' emphasize unconditional positive regard. Social-cognitive perspective (Bandura) involves reciprocal determinism—the interaction of behavior, cognition, and environment.
Disorders and Therapy
Psychological disorders are deviant, distressful, and dysfunctional patterns of behavior. The medical model treats these as diseases. Anxiety disorders include Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder (intense dread and chest pain), Phobias (irrational fear), OCD (repetitive thoughts/actions), and PTSD. Somatoform disorders (e.g., Conversion Disorder, Hypochondriasis) take bodily forms without physical causes. Dissociative disorders involve a split in consciousness, including Dissociative Identity Disorder (). Mood disorders include Major Depressive Disorder and Bipolar Disorder (alternating between depression and mania). Schizophrenia is characterized by disorganized thinking, delusions (false beliefs), and hallucinations (false sensory experiences).
Therapy types include psychotherapy (psychological techniques) and biomedical therapy (medications/medical procedures). Client-centered therapy (Rogers) uses active listening and unconditional positive regard. Behavior therapy applies learning principles (e.g., counterconditioning, exposure therapies like systematic desensitization, or aversive conditioning). Cognitive therapy (Aaron Beck) reverses catastrophizing beliefs. Cognitive-behavioral therapy () integrates both. Biomedical treatments include psychopharmacology (using drugs like antipsychotics, antianxiety, or antidepressants), electroconvulsive therapy (), or psychosurgery (e.g., lobotomy).
Social Psychology
Social psychology studies how we think about and relate to others. Attribution theory explains behavior by situation or disposition; the fundamental attribution error occurs when we overestimate disposition and underestimate the situation. Attitudes can change via the central route of persuasion (focusing on arguments) or the peripheral route (incidental cues). The foot-in-the-door technique involves agreeing to small requests before larger ones. Cognitive dissonance theory suggests we act to reduce discomfort when thoughts are inconsistent. Conformity is adjusting behavior to a group standard.
Group behavior includes social facilitation (stronger responses in presence of others), social loafing (less effort in a group), deindividuation (loss of self-awareness in groups), and group polarization (moving to extreme positions). Prejudice is an unjustifiable attitude involving stereotypes and discrimination. Altruism is unselfish regard for others. The bystander effect is the tendency to be less likely to help if others are present. Aggression is behavior intended to hurt. Frustration-aggression principle suggests frustration creates anger and grit strategies are used to decrease international tensions.