ap psych master knowt

Statistics:

mean: average

mode: most occurring

median: middle number
range: largest number minus smallest number
variance: measure of how far a set of numbers are spread out from their average

standard deviation: the square root of the variance, indicating the average distance of each score from the mean.

positive skew: most values at the lower end

negative skew: most values are on the higher end; some exceptionally small values

correlation coefficient: a numerical value that indicates the degree and direction of the relationship between two variables (+1.00 to -1.00)

control variable: factors that are kept constant throughout the experiment to ensure that only the independent variable is affecting the dependent variable. They are used to eliminate the influence of other potential factors.

Independent Variable: This is the factor that the researcher manipulates or changes to see if it has an effect on the dependent variable. It's the "cause" in an experiment.

Dependent Variable: This is the variable that is being measured or observed. It's the "effect" or outcome that the researcher is interested in.

Confounding Variable: This is an extraneous factor that can influence both the independent and dependent variables, potentially distorting the relationship between them. Confounding variables can make it difficult to determine if the independent variable is truly the cause of the observed changes in the dependent variable.

Unit 1: Biological Bases of Behavior

Q: What is the role of heredity in behavior?
A: Genetic makeup influences traits like intelligence, personality, and mental health.

Q: What is the role of environment in behavior?
A: Life experiences and surroundings shape development and behavior (e.g., language learning in a bilingual home).

Q: What are evolutionary explanations for behavior?
A: Behaviors like fear of the dark or social bonding helped survival and reproduction.

Q: What does the central nervous system include?
A: Brain and spinal cord.

Q: What are the two parts of the autonomic nervous system?
A: Sympathetic (activates fight-or-flight) and parasympathetic (calms body down).

Q: Voluntary vs. Involuntary Actions Examples?
A: Voluntary: typing, kicking a ball. Involuntary: blinking, digesting.

Q: Function of neurons and glial cells?
A: Neurons send signals; glial cells support and protect neurons.

Q: What is the all-or-nothing principle?
A: Neurons fire completely or not at all.

Q: What does multiple sclerosis affect?
A: Slows or blocks neural communication.

Q: Neurotransmitter Functions?

• Serotonin: mood, sleep

• Dopamine: movement, reward

• GABA: calming

• Norepinephrine: alertness

• Endorphins: pain relief

Q: Hormone Functions?

• Adrenaline: fight-or-flight

• Leptin: full

• Ghrelin: hunger

• Melatonin: sleep

• Oxytocin: bonding

Q: What is a reuptake inhibitor?
A: A drug that prevents reabsorption of neurotransmitters.

Q: Psychoactive drug types?

• Caffeine: stimulant

• Alcohol: depressant

• Marijuana: hallucinogen

• Heroin: opioid

Q: Tolerance vs. Addiction?
A: Tolerance: need more drug for same effect.
Addiction: compulsive use despite harm.

Q: Brain stem function?
A: Controls heart rate and breathing.

Q: Reticular activating system damage leads to?
A: Difficulty with wakefulness and attention.

Q: Cerebellum function?
A: Balance and motor coordination.

Q: Brain Structure Functions?

• Thalamus: sensory relay

• Hypothalamus: body regulation

• Pituitary gland: hormone control

• Hippocampus: memory

• Amygdala: emotion

• Corpus callosum: connects hemispheres

Q: Brain Lobe Functions?

• Occipital: vision

• Temporal: hearing/language

• Parietal: touch/spatial

• Frontal: thinking, movement

Q: Broca’s vs. Wernicke’s Area?
A: Broca’s: speech production
Wernicke’s: language comprehension
Damage = aphasia

Q: Brain plasticity?
A: Ability to reorganize after damage.

Q: Brain research methods?

• EEG, fMRI: scans

• Lesioning: surgical

• Phineas Gage: case study

Unit 2: Cognition

Q: What is bottom-up processing?
A: Perception based only on sensory input.

Q: What is top-down processing?
A: Perception shaped by experience and expectations.

Q: What is a schema?
A: A mental framework that helps organize and interpret information.

Q: What are Gestalt principles?
A: Rules like proximity, similarity, closure, and figure-ground that explain how we group visual elements.

Q: What is the cocktail party effect?
A: Ability to focus on one conversation while filtering out others, yet still notice your name.

Q: What is change blindness?
A: Failing to notice changes in a visual scene.

Q: Binocular vs. Monocular depth cues?
A: Binocular: retinal disparity, convergence. Monocular: size, texture, linear perspective.

Q: What is perceptual constancy?
A: Recognizing objects as constant even when appearance changes (e.g., shape, color).

Q: What is a prototype?
A: The best example of a category.

Q: Assimilation vs. Accommodation?
A: Assimilation: fitting into existing schema. Accommodation: changing schema.

Q: Algorithm vs. Heuristic?
A: Algorithm: step-by-step method. Heuristic: shortcut that may be error-prone.

Q: Representativeness vs. Availability heuristic?
A: Representativeness: based on stereotypes. Availability: based on what’s most easily recalled.

Q: What is functional fixedness?
A: Inability to see new uses for familiar objects.

Q: What is confirmation bias?
A: Tendency to seek out information that supports existing beliefs.

Q: What is the misinformation effect?
A: Memory becomes less accurate due to misleading information.

Q: What is encoding?
A: Process of converting information for storage.

Q: Chunking and mnemonics help with?
A: Improving memory retention.

Q: What is the spacing effect?
A: Distributed practice leads to better long-term memory.

Q: What is the serial position effect?
A: Better recall for items at the beginning and end of a list.

Q: What is long-term potentiation?
A: Strengthening of synapses based on recent patterns of activity.

Q: What are the parts of working memory?
A: Central executive, phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad.

Q: Recognition vs. Recall?
A: Recognition: identifying info (multiple choice). Recall: retrieving info (essay).

Q: What is retrieval practice?
A: Actively recalling information improves memory.

Unit 3: Development and Learning

Q: What are the three major developmental themes?
A: Nature vs. nurture, continuity vs. stages, stability vs. change.

Q: Cross-sectional vs. longitudinal study?
A: Cross-sectional: different ages at one time. Longitudinal: same group over time.

Q: What are teratogens?
A: Harmful substances that affect fetal development.

Q: What is a critical period?
A: Time when development is most sensitive to certain stimuli.

Q: What is menarche? Spermarche?
A: Menarche: first menstruation. Spermarche: first sperm production.

Q: What is gender schema theory?
A: Children form gender concepts from culture and adjust behavior to fit.

Q: Piaget’s stages of cognitive development?
A: Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete Operational, Formal Operational.

Q: Vygotsky’s theory highlights what?
A: Social interaction and scaffolding in cognitive development.

Q: What is attachment theory?
A: Early relationships form patterns for future social behavior.

Q: Erikson’s stages include?
A: Trust vs. mistrust, identity vs. role confusion, etc.

Q: What is identity foreclosure?
A: Commitment to an identity without exploration.

Q: What is classical conditioning?
A: Learning via association (Pavlov).

Q: Operant conditioning?
A: Learning via consequences (Skinner).

Q: Positive vs. Negative Reinforcement?
A: Positive: adding a reward. Negative: removing something unpleasant.

Q: Fixed vs. Variable Reinforcement?
A: Fixed: predictable. Variable: unpredictable.

Q: Observational learning?
A: Learning by watching others (Bandura).

Unit 4: Social Psychology and Personality

Q: Dispositional vs. Situational Attribution?
A: Dispositional: due to personality. Situational: due to environment.

Q: What is the fundamental attribution error?
A: Overestimating personality, underestimating situation.

Q: Self-serving bias?
A: Taking credit for success, blaming failure on others.

Q: What is conformity?
A: Adjusting behavior to group standards.

Q: Milgram’s obedience study showed?
A: People obey authority even when actions conflict with morals.

Q: What is groupthink?
A: Desire for harmony overrides realistic thinking.

Q: Cognitive dissonance?
A: Discomfort from inconsistent thoughts/actions.

Q: What is altruism?
A: Helping others with no expectation of reward.

Q: Trait theory says what about personality?
A: Personality is stable and consistent across time.

Q: The Big Five traits?
A: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism.

Unit 5: Mental and Physical Health

Q: What is health psychology?
A: Study of how biological, psychological, and social factors affect health.

Q: Eustress vs. Distress?
A: Eustress: positive stress. Distress: negative stress.

Q: What is the General Adaptation Syndrome?
A: Alarm, resistance, exhaustion stages of stress response.

Q: What is problem-focused coping?
A: Tackling the problem directly.

Q: Emotion-focused coping?
A: Managing emotional response.

Q: What is positive psychology?
A: Study of strengths and what makes life meaningful.

Q: What are character strengths?
A: Traits like gratitude, resilience, and hope that promote well-being.