AP Psychology Exam Review
Famous People to Know
Charles Darwin:
- Developed the theory of evolution.
- Proposed the concept of "survival of the fittest" as a mechanism for natural selection in his work "On the Origin of Species".
John Watson:
- Founder of behaviorism.
- Introduced the concept of generalization in behavioral responses.
- Applied classical conditioning techniques to advertising strategies.
- Known for the "Little Albert" experiment, where he conditioned a child to fear small white animals, demonstrating the principles of classical conditioning and generalization.
Alfred Adler:
- Neo-Freudian psychologist.
- Argued that social tensions in childhood, rather than sexual tensions, shape personality development.
- Emphasized the importance of self-esteem and striving for the ideal self.
Carl Jung:
- A disciple of Freud who extended his theories.
- Introduced the concepts of the collective unconscious and archetypes inherited from ancestors (e.g., the young warrior, wise man, loving mother).
- Coined the terms introversion and extraversion.
Albert Ellis:
- Developed Rational Emotive Therapy.
- Focused on changing clients’ irrational thought patterns to reduce maladaptive behaviors and emotions.
- Example: Challenging thoughts like "if I fail the AP exam my life will be over".
Albert Maslow:
- Humanistic psychologist known for the hierarchy of needs.
- Proposed that individuals must satisfy lower-level needs before achieving higher-order needs, culminating in self-actualization.
- Levels from bottom to top: physiological needs, safety, belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization.
Carl Rogers:
- Humanistic psychologist who emphasized unconditional positive regard.
- Believed in the natural human capacity for self-actualization and high self-esteem unless inhibited by societal pressures.
- Developed client-centered therapy, focusing on reflecting clients' thoughts for greater self-awareness.
B.F. Skinner:
- Pioneer of operant conditioning, using techniques to manipulate consequences of behavior to observe effects.
- Developed the Skinner box for controlled experiments.
- Advocated for a behaviorist approach to psychology, dismissing the importance of the unconscious.
Ivan Pavlov:
- Known as the father of classical conditioning.
- Discovered that an unconditional stimulus (UCS) elicits an unconditional response (UCR), and through associations, a neutral stimulus can become a conditioned stimulus (CS) that elicits a conditioned response (CR).
Noam Chomsky:
- Proposed that humans possess an innate ability for language acquisition, suggesting the existence of a universal grammar.
- Held that while words and concepts are learned, the brain is hardwired for language processing.
Jean Piaget:
- Developed the four-stage theory of cognitive development:
- Sensorimotor (0-2 years): understanding through sensory experiences and motor actions; development of object permanence by approximately 9 months.
- Preoperational (2-6 years): characterized by egocentrism and a focus on fantasy; children struggle with logical operations.
- Concrete Operational (6-12 years): children develop logical thinking about concrete objects, understand reversibility and conservation of mass.
- Formal Operational (12 years and beyond): development of abstract reasoning and mature moral reasoning.
- Key processes are assimilation (integrating new information) and accommodation (adjusting existing schemas to fit new information).
Erik Erikson:
- Proposed a psychosocial development theory comprising eight stages, each associated with a specific psychological crisis.
- Example: The challenge of identity vs. role confusion occurs in adolescence.
Lawrence Kohlberg:
- Developed a theory of moral development consisting of three levels:
- Pre-conventional: morality judged by consequences (punishment and reward).
- Conventional: morality based on societal norms.
- Post-conventional: morality based on universal ethical principles.
- Each level has two stages, making a total of six stages.
Carol Gilligan:
- Criticized Kohlberg's work as male-centered and argued that it overlooked differences in moral reasoning among genders.
- Advocated for a relational and care-based approach to ethics, particularly in women’s moral reasoning.
Benjamin Whorf:
- Proposed the linguistic relativity hypothesis, suggesting that language shapes thought processes and perception.
Robert Sternberg:
- Known for the triarchic theory of intelligence comprising:
- Analytical (problem-solving) intelligence.
- Practical intelligence (common sense).
- Creative intelligence (ability to deal with novel situations).
Howard Gardner:
- Developed the theory of multiple intelligences, identifying various types of intelligences (e.g., linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic).
Albert Bandura:
- Key proponent of observational learning.
- Demonstrated through experiments (e.g., BoBo doll study) that children mimic the behavior of adult models, leading to the social learning theory.
E.L. Thorndike:
- Formulated the law of effect stating that behaviors followed by favorable outcomes are more likely to recur.
Alfred Binet:
- Developed the first general IQ tests.
Lewis Terman:
- Revised Binet’s I.Q. tests and established norms for American children, enhancing the assessment of intelligence.
David Weschler:
- Created the Weschler Intelligence Scale, specifically designed for adult intelligence testing.
Charles Spearman:
- Introduced the concept of general intelligence, referred to as "g", suggesting a common core underlying various cognitive abilities.
H. Rorschach:
- Developed the Rorschach inkblot test, a projective assessment tool used to explore personality aspects through responses to ambiguous inkblots.
Philip Zimbardo:
- Conducted the Stanford Prison Experiment, highlighting the impact of social roles on behavior.
- Observed that individuals would adopt behaviors aligned with their assigned roles, leading to ethical concerns over the study.
David Rosenhan:
- Conducted an experiment assessing psychiatric diagnosis where participants feigned symptoms to gain admission and subsequently observed the impact of labeling on treatment quality.
S. Asch:
- Conducted research on conformity, examining how individuals might conform to group opinions even in contradiction to their own beliefs.
Stanley Milgram:
- Studied obedience to authority through experiments in which subjects were instructed to administer shocks to a participant (confederate) displaying distress, showcasing the effects of authority and personal conscience.
Harry Harlow:
- Investigated attachment theories through experiments with infant Rhesus monkeys, exploring the role of social isolation and comfort.
Sigmund Freud:
- Developed psychoanalytic theory focusing on the unconscious mind and psychosexual stages; posited that innate drives for sex and aggression are primary motivators of human behavior.Karen Horney:
- Critiqued Freud's theories and emphasized social and cultural factors in personality development.
- Advocated for the understanding of current fears and relationships as critical in shaping personality.
Martin Seligman:
- Introduced the concept of learned helplessness, describing a behavioral response when individuals perceive that their actions do not influence outcomes.
Hermann Ebbinghaus:
- Conducted pioneering studies on memory and forgetting, formulating learning curves that describe how information retention decreases over time.
Ernst Weber:
- Investigated the concept of just noticeable difference (JND), laying the groundwork for Weber’s Law, which states that the JND is a constant proportion of the original stimulus intensity.
Robert Zajonc:
- Introduced the mere exposure effect, which posits that repeated exposure to a stimulus can increase one's preference for it.
Famous Theories to Know
Social-Learning Theory:
- Proposes that individuals learn social behaviors through observation, imitation, and reinforcement (reward or punishment).
Gender-Schema Theory:
- Suggests that children learn cultural definitions of gender norms and adjust their behaviors accordingly.
Signal Detection Theory:
- Predicts how and when individuals detect faint stimuli amidst background noise based on factors like motivation and expectation.
Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory:
- Indicates that the retina contains three types of color receptors sensitive to red, green, and blue light, which work together to perceive all colors.
Opponent-Process Theory:
- Proposes that color perception operates through opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) to achieve color vision.
Frequency Theory:
- Suggests that the frequency of nerve impulses in the auditory nerve corresponds to the frequency of a tone, allowing us to perceive its pitch.
Place Theory:
- Links the perceived pitch of sound to the specific location of stimulation on the cochlea’s membrane.
Gate-Control Theory:
- Posits that the spinal cord houses a neurological "gate" that can either allow or block pain signals from reaching the brain.
Drive-Reduction Theory:
- States that physiological needs create an aroused state (drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the needs.
James-Lange Theory:
- Asserts that emotions areexperienced through awareness of physiological reactions to emotional stimuli (e.g., feeling afraid after the body reacts).
Cannon-Bard Theory:
- Claims that emotional responses are simultaneous with physiological reactions to stimuli, rather than sequential.
Two-Factor Theory:
- Proposed by Schachter, states that emotion arises from physical arousal and the cognitive interpretation of that arousal (labeling the feeling).
Attribution Theory:
- Explains how we determine the causes behind behaviors, often attributing them to either the situation or the individual's disposition.
Cognitive-Dissonance Theory:
- Describes the discomfort felt when holding conflicting thoughts, leading individuals to change one thought to reduce discomfort.
Scapegoat Theory:
- Suggests that prejudice can serve as a means to release anger by blaming an out-group.
Social Exchange Theory:
- Proposes that social behavior is an exchange process aimed at maximizing benefits and minimizing costs.
Experimental Terms
Hypothesis:
- A prediction about the outcome of an experiment based on a theoretical framework.
Population:
- All cases in a study from which a sample is drawn. For example, a study on teen driving would target all teens.
Sample:
- A subset of the population selected for study. Ideally, all samples should represent the population accurately.Random Sample:
- A group that is selected such that every member has an equal chance of being chosen from the population.
Random Assignment:
- Method used to assign participants to experimental groups, ensuring each individual has an equal chance of being assigned to either the control or experimental group.
Subject:
- The individual participating in the experiment, selected from the random sample.
Operational Definition:
- A clear statement outlining the procedures used to define and measure experimental variables.
Independent Variable:
- The variable that is manipulated or changed in the experiment to observe its effect on the dependent variable.
Dependent Variable:
- The behavior or response measured in an experiment that may change due to manipulations of the independent variable.
Results:
- Outcomes of the experiment measured quantitatively, comparing changes in the dependent variable before and after introduction of the independent variable.
Discussion:
- Analyzing results to determine if the hypothesis was supported and discussing potential methodological improvements.
Control of Possible Confounding Variables:
- Steps taken to ensure samples are as similar as possible and that environmental conditions are consistent across groups.
Confounding Variables:
- Uncontrolled external variables that may affect the results of the experiment by influencing the experimental and control groups differently.
Double-Blind Technique:
- Research design in which neither the participant nor the experimenter knows who belongs to the control or experimental group to prevent biases.Confusing Pairs:
- Independent Variable vs. Dependent Variable: What is manipulated vs. what is measured.
- Experimental Group vs. Control Group: The group exposed to the independent variable vs. the group not exposed.
- Left Brain vs. Right Brain: Language and logic vs. creative and spatial functions.
- Corpus Callosum vs. Cerebral Cortex: Structure dividing the brain vs. the outer layer responsible for processing.
- Sympathetic Nervous System vs. Parasympathetic Nervous System: Arousal (fight-or-flight) vs. calming functions.
- Neurotransmitters vs. Hormones: Brain signaling molecules vs. those released by the endocrine system.
- Afferent Neurons vs. Efferent Neurons: Sensory vs. motor signaling pathways.
- Assimilation vs. Accommodation: Integrating new information vs. modifying existing cognitive schemas.
- Concrete Operations vs. Formal Operations: Logical thinking vs. abstract reasoning.
- Sensation vs. Perception: Bottom-up vs. top-down processing.
- Rods vs. Cones: Night vision vs. color vision.
- Classical Conditioning vs. Operant Conditioning: Involuntary learning vs. voluntary behavioral modification.
- Primacy Effect vs. Recency Effect: Recall of first vs. last items.
- Proactive Interference vs. Retroactive Interference: Loss of new memory due to old information vs. loss of old memory due to new information.
- Implicit Memory vs. Explicit Memory: Skills vs. facts.
- Recall Memory vs. Recognition Memory: No cues vs. some hints in retrieval.
- Algorithms vs. Heuristics: Structured problem-solving vs. rules of thumb.
- Representative Heuristics vs. Availability Heuristics: Stereotypes vs. immediate examples in memory.
- Phonemes vs. Morphemes: Basic sound units vs. basic meaning units.
- Fluid Intelligence vs. Crystallized Intelligence: Problem-solving capacity vs. accumulated knowledge.
- Validity vs. Reliability: Accuracy of a test vs. consistency in test results.
- Achievement Test vs. Aptitude Test: Assessment of learning vs. potential capability.
- Intrinsic Motivation vs. Extrinsic Motivation: Personal satisfaction vs. external rewards or punishments.
- Internal Locus of Control vs. External Locus of Control: Perception of one's ability to control the environment vs. viewing oneself as controlled by external factors.
Random Important Stuff
Lithium:
- Used in the treatment of bipolar disorder.SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors):
- Used to treat anxiety and depression.Personality Types:
- Type A: Characterized by high-stress levels.
- Type B: Characterized by low-stress levels.
Brain - Mnemonics!
Corpus Callosum:
- A corpse lying across the brain, connecting the two hemispheres.Cerebral Cortex:
- A cereal court where the judge decides the best cereal, reflecting decision-making processes.Occipital Lobe:
- Visualize an octopus with many eyes denoting vision functions.Temporal Lobe:
- Match with the image of tempera paint around the ears, representing auditory processing.Broca’s Area:
- Similar sounding to "boca" which is mouth in Spanish, controlling speech production.Wernicke’s Area:
- Referred to as the comprehension spot for language understanding.Frontal Lobe:
- Picture a student leader focusing on planning and decision-making processes.Parietal Lobe:
- Imagine a loving parent tenderly touching the child's forehead, indicating sensory processing.Hypothalamus:
- Visualize a junkie with a needle, metaphorically linking to the regulation of drives such as hunger and thirst.Hippocampus:
- Use "Hippos never forget" to relate to memory retention in the brain.
Key Psychological Concepts
Adaptation-Level Phenomenon:
- The tendency to evaluate experiences relative to prior standards.Belief Perseverance:
- Holding onto beliefs even when presented with contrary evidence.Belief Bias:
- Distorting logical reasoning to support existing beliefs.Confirmation Bias:
- The tendency to seek or interpret information that validates existing beliefs.Deindividuation:
- Loss of self-awareness and restraint in group settings.False Consensus Effect:
- Overestimating the degree to which others share our beliefs.Feel Good-Do Good Phenomenon:
- Increased likelihood of helping others when feeling good ourselves.Frustration-Aggression Principle:
- Suggests that frustration can lead to aggressive behavior.Group Polarization:
- The intensification of group opinions as a result of group discussions.Groupthink:
- A scenario where the pursuit of consensus in a group overrides rational decision-making.Hindsight Bias:
- The inclination to see past events as predictable after they have occurred.Illusory Correlation:
- Perceived relationships between variables when none exists, often due to existing schemas.In-Group Bias:
- Favoring one's group over an out-group.Just-World Phenomenon:
- The belief that people generally get what they deserve in life.Mere Exposure Effect:
- Increased liking due to repeated exposure to a stimulus.Misinformation Effect:
- The alteration of memories by incorporating inaccurate information.Overconfidence:
- The tendency to be more confident in one's beliefs or knowledge than warranted.Overjustification Effect:
- When external incentives decrease intrinsic motivation for an activity.Relative Deprivation:
- The perception of being worse off than others.Representativeness and Availability Heuristics:
- Decision-making shortcuts based on stereotypes vs. vivid examples in memory.Self-Serving Bias:
- The tendency to attribute personal successes to internal factors while blaming failures on external factors.Serial Position Effect:
- The tendency to remember the first and last items in a list better than those in the middle.Social Facilitation:
- Increased performance on tasks that are well-practiced in front of groups.Social Loafing:
- The phenomenon where individuals exert less effort when working in groups than when working alone.Social Trap:
- Situations in which conflicts arise from pursuing self-interest leads to mutually harmful outcomes.Prospective Memory:
- Memory for planned actions to be performed in the future.Method of Loci:
- A mnemonic technique where one visualizes locations linked to items one needs to remember.
Neurotransmitters and Functions
Acetylcholine (Ach):
- Function: Excitatory neurotransmitter related to muscle movement, arousal, attention, and memory.
- Associated Disorders: Alzheimer’s Disease (memory loss).Dopamine (DA):
- Function: Inhibitory neurotransmitter controlling movement and posture.
- Associated Disorders: Parkinson’s Disease, Schizophrenia.Gama-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA):
- Function: Inhibitory neurotransmitter regulating anxiety.
- Associated Disorders: Anxiety disorders, Huntington’s Disease.Glutamate (Glu):
- Function: Major excitatory neurotransmitter involved in learning and memory.
- Associated Disorders: Memory loss, Alzheimer’s Disease.Norepinephrine:
- Function: Plays a role in psychological arousal, mood regulation, and sleep.
- Associated Disorders: Bipolar Mood Disorder.Serotonin (5-HT):
- Function: Regulates sleep, mood, appetite, and pain.
- Associated Disorders: Depression.Endorphins:
- Function: Natural painkillers produced by the body.
- Associated with addiction.
Major Glands of the Endocrine System
Adrenal Cortex:
- Hormones Secreted: Steroids.
- Description: Regulates metabolism of salts and carbohydrates.Adrenal Medulla:
- Hormones Secreted: Adrenaline and Noradrenaline.
- Description: Prepares the body for fight or flight.Gonads:
- Hormones Secreted: Estrogen, Progesterone, Testosterone.
- Description: Affects reproductive development and sexual behavior.Hypothalamus:
- Hormones Secreted: Neurosecretions.
- Description: Controls the pituitary gland and various bodily functions.Pancreas:
- Hormones Secreted: Insulin, Glucagon.
- Description: Regulates glucose metabolism.Pituitary Gland:
- Hormones Secreted: Thyrotropin, Oxytocin, Corticotrophin.
- Description: Known as the master gland, regulates growth and other glands.Thyroid Gland:
- Hormones Secreted: Thyroxin, Calcitonin.
- Description: Regulates metabolism.
Developmental Psychology
Focuses on biological and psychological changes throughout the lifespan.
Key theorists include:
- Jean Piaget:
- Cognitive Development Stages:
- Sensorimotor (0-2 years): Understanding through sensory and motor interactions, including object permanence and stranger anxiety.
- Preoperational (2-6 years): Marked by egocentrism, fantasy thinking, and lack of logical reasoning about abstract concepts.
- Concrete Operational (6-12 years): Development of logical thinking about tangible objects and concepts of reversibility and conservation.
- Formal Operational (12+ years): Ability to think abstractly and reason about hypothetical situations, leading to mature moral reasoning.
- Erik Erikson:
- Psychosocial Development:
- Trust vs. Mistrust, Autonomy vs. Shame, Initiative vs. Guilt, Industry vs. Inferiority, Identity vs. Role Confusion, Intimacy vs. Isolation, Generativity vs. Stagnation, Integrity vs. Despair across life stages emphasizing social relationships and crises.Sigmund Freud:
- Psychosexual Development Stages:
- Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, and Genital stages associated with pleasure and fixation that influence personality.Lawrence Kohlberg:
- Moral Development Stages:
- Pre-conventional, Conventional, and Post-conventional ethics reflect moral reasoning evolution.
Psychoanalytical Thought
Freud's theory posits that personality stems from innate drives for sex and aggression per evolutionary basis.
Proposed that dysfunctions manifest due to unresolved conflicts from psychosexual stages or childhood.
Structure of the mind consists of:
- Id: The primal instinctive drive focused on pleasure.
- Ego: The reality-oriented component mediating desires of the id.
- Superego: The moral part of the mind that incorporates social norms.
Therapies
Psychoanalysis: A therapeutic approach designed to unveil repressed emotions leading to anxiety, employing techniques such as free association and dream interpretation.
Client-Centered Therapy: A humanistic approach that promotes open client-therapist collaboration, ensuring acceptance and reflection of clients' emotions.
Cognition Basics
- Cognitive psychology investigates mental processes of thinking, memory, and internal cognition.
- Information Processing:
- Describes how the brain encodes, stores, and retrieves information in a sequential manner, differentiating between sensory, short-term, and long-term memory functions.
- Memory loss can occur due to various factors, such as failure to encode, short-term loss, improper encoding, or flawed retrieval methods like the misinformation effect.
Information Organization
- Schemas: Interconnected webs of knowledge that help categorize and recall information.
- Heuristics: Cognitive shortcuts in decision-making processes based on vivid or prototype examples.
- Retrieval Cues: Triggers for memory activation leading to phenomena such as déjà vu or false memories.
Cognitive Therapy
- Aims to challenge and reformulate negative internal dialogues predominating individuals, particularly in conditions such as depression, through therapies like Rational-Emotive Therapy.
Behaviorism/Learning Basics
- Learning occurs via associations:
- Classical Conditioning: Associating a neutral stimulus with a natural stimulus to elicit a conditioned response.
- Operant Conditioning: Reinforcement of voluntary behaviors, either positively or negatively, to influence future actions.
- Social Learning: Learning acquired through observing and imitating others.
- Important Concepts:
- Reciprocal Determinism (Bandura): Interplay of personal traits, behaviors, and environment fostering new habits.
- Behaviorists challenge psychoanalytic methods for being too subjective and untestable.
Therapies in Behaviorism
- Systematic Desensitization: Gradual exposure to fear sources in a controlled manner until symptoms cease.
- Aversion Conditioning: Applying unpleasant stimuli to discourage undesired behaviors.
- Flooding: Intense exposure to feared stimuli to diminish fear responses.
- Token Economies: Using rewards for positive behavior reinforcement throughout therapeutic processes.
Humanism Basics
- Championed human goodness and self-actualization propelled by free will, contrasting with behaviorist and psychoanalytic models.
- Client-Centered Therapy: Student-led, nurturing approach to therapy focusing on client autonomy and self-development.
- Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Framework demonstrating progress toward self-actualization through a spectrum of fulfilling needs.
Neurobiology Basics
- Explores medical bases of behavior along with interactions between the nervous and endocrine systems.
- Neuron Structure:
- Comprises a cell body, axon (transmitting electrical impulses), and dendrites (receiving signals).
- Action potentials arise upon depolarization and subsequent neurotransmitter release.
Cerebral Cortex:
- Comprised of lobes (Frontal, Parietal, Occipital, Temporal) governing thoughts, movement, sensory processing, and language.Limbic System:
- Involved in emotion regulation and memory processing, including structures like the hypothalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus.
Drugs and Their Functions
SSRIs: Medications for depression that inhibit serotonin reabsorption, lifting mood.
Antipsychotics: Pharmaceuticals affecting dopamine levels, used for treating schizophrenia.
Mood Stabilizers: Such as lithium, help regulate mood for bipolar disorder.
Anxiolytics: Prescribed for anxiety management, commonly including medications like Valium and Xanax.
Stimulants: Such as Ritalin, engage brain function for conditions like ADHD.
Dopamine Precursors: L-Dopa to assist in dopamine production for individuals with Parkinson’s Disease.