APPSY

The 425 Terms You ‘Ought To Know For The AP Psychology Test On May 2nd 1 Attribution Theory – tendency to give explanations for someone’s beh, often by crediting situation or person’s disposition Fundamental Attribution Thy – tendency to overestimate the impact of person’s disposition and underestimate impact of situation Foot-in-the-Door Phem – tendency to apply w/ larger requests after responding to a smaller request Zimbardo – Stanford Prison Experiment/Lucifer Effect – Role Playing: People take on the role of what they feel are proper for the situation Cognitive Dissonance – people change their behavior to avoid looking bad, ie  person is against gay rights then becomes gay, he will change attitude to gay rights activist Asch – conformity – tendency to go along with the views and actions of others, even if you know they are wrong – line test Milgram – obedience – people tend to obey authority figures; 60% of participants thought they delivered the max possible level of shock Social Facilitation – improved performance in presence of others; easy tasks get easier as hard tasks get harder Social Loafing – in the presence of others, people tend to do less, partly because they believe others will do it Deindividualization – loss of self-awareness and self-restraint, typically in a sense of anomie (mob situation) Group Polarization – if a group is like-minded, discussion strengthens prevailing options and attitudes Groupthink – a mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decisionmaking group overrides realistic appraisal of alternatives Just-World Phenomenon – tendency of people to believe that the world is just and people get what they deserve and deserve what they get Social Traps – situation in which the confliction parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interests, become caught in mutually destructive beh. In-group – people with whom one shares a common identity with Out-group – those perceived as different from themselves Hindsight Bias – tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that we would have predicted it beforehand and may contribute to blaming the victim and forming prejudices against him/her Prejudice – unjustifiable attitude towards a group and its members Mere exposure effect – the mere exposure to a stimulus will increase the liking of it Altruism – unselfish regard for the welfare to others Bystander effect – tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present Reciprocity Norms – the expectation that we should return help, not harm to those who have helped us The 425 Terms You ‘Ought To Know For The AP Psychology Test On May 2nd 2 Biological – explore the links between brain and mind Cognitive – study how we perceive, thinks, and solve problems Humanistic – study that says that humans are basically good and possess a free-will Behavioral – study that says all beh is observable and measurable Psychoanalytic – study of the unconscious, includes childhood and aggression issues Sociocultural – study of how cultural and political experiences affect our life Evolutionary – study of the evolutionary of humans over time (from apes) Developmental – study of our changing abilities from womb to tomb Wilhelm Wundt – father of psychology Introspection – looking inward at one’s own mental processes Structuralism – analyze sensations, images, and feelings into their most basic elements William James – the brain and mind are constantly changing Functionalism – underlying causes and practical consequences of certain behaviors and mental strategies – “steam of consciousness” John Locke – Tabula Rosa – mind is a blank slate written on by experiences Sigmund Freud – founder of psychoanalysis Psychoanalytic Theory – all behavior is meaningful and driven by unconscious forces Applied Research – aims to solve practical problems Basic Research – pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base Hypothesis – is a testable prediction, often induced by a thy, to enable us to accept, reject, or revise the thy (educational guess) IV –a factor, manipulated by the experimenter, and whose effect is studies DV – a factor that may change in response to the IV Theory – is an explanation that integrates principles, organizes, and predicts beh or event Operational definition – a clear statement of what one is looking for in an experiment Validity – it measure what you want it to be measured Reliability – it is replicable and is consistent Sampling – process by which participants are selected Population – the amount of participants that can be selected for the sample Representative sample – take the results from a smaller group and apply that to a larger group of people Random sample – everyone has an equal chance of being selected for the experiment because the participants are chosen at random Control – group that does not take part in the critical part of the experimentation process, used as a comparison group Experimenter bias – the experimenter, either unconsciously or consciously, affects the outcome of the experiment Single-blind procedure – the subjects do not know to what group they belong The 425 Terms You ‘Ought To Know For The AP Psychology Test On May 2nd 3 Double-blind procedure – neither the experimenter nor the subject knows to what group the subjects are in Hawthorne effect – if you know you’re being studied, you will act differently than you normally/typically would Placebo – sugar pill – something administered that has no real affect on the person other than what they think mentally Positive correlation – as one goes up, the other goes up Negative correlation – as one goes up, the other goes down Survey – a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes, opinions, or beh of people in a questionnaire, or similar way of ascertaining information Naturalistic observation – observing and recording beh in the wild/natural environment Case study – get a full, detailed picture of one participant or a small group of participants Mean – average of the scores – add them up and divide by total number of scores Median – middle score – when all scores are put numerically in order, the middle score Mode – the most frequently occurring score in the distribution Range – the lowest score subtracted from the higher score Standard Deviation – the average distance of scores around the mean z-score – a type of standard score that tells us how many standard deviation units a given score is above or below the mean for that group Myelin Sheath – a fatty covering around the axon of some neurons that speeds the neural impulse Axon – wire-like structure ending in the terminal that extends from the cell body Neurons – a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system Sensory Neurons (afferent) – neurons that carry incoming information from the sense receptors (nose, ears, hands) to the central nervous system Interneuron – central nervous system neurons that internally communicate and intervene between the sensory inputs and the motor outputs Motor Neurons (efferent) – neurons that carry incoming information from the central nervous system to the muscles and glands Neurotransmitters – chemical contained in terminal buttons that enable neurons to communicate; they fit into the receptor site of neurons like a key fits into a lock Agonist – excite, by causing neurotransmitters to hit site multiple times Antagonists – inhibits, by blocking neurotransmitters CNS – the brain and spinal cord PNS – sensory and motor neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of the body Somatic NS – the division of the PNS that controls the body’s skeletal muscles Autonomic NS – the part of the PNS that controls the glands and muscles of the internal organs, like the heart Sympathetic NS – arouses the body Parasympathetic NS – calms the body The 425 Terms You ‘Ought To Know For The AP Psychology Test On May 2nd 4 Pituitary gland – the endocrine system’s most influential gland, under the influence of the hypothalamus, this regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands EEG – an amplified recording of waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain’s surface, these waves are measured by electrodes placed on the skull PET – a visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a certain task MRI – a technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce a computer generated image that distinguishes between the types of soft tissue in the brain Medulla – connected to the base of the brain stem, controls our blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing Reticular Formation – screens incoming info, and filters out irrelevant info, controls arousal and attention Thalamus – the brains sensory switchboard Pons – above the medulla, makes chemicals involved w/ sleep & facial expressions Cerebellum – the little brain attached to the rear of the brain stem, controls coordination, fire muscles movements and balance Limbic System – associated with emotions like aggression and fear and drives such as hunger and thirst and sex (Hippocampus, Hypothalamus, and Amygdala) Amygdala – part of the limbic system that is involved in emotions, aggression, and fear Hypothalamus – controls the metabolic functions of body temp, sex arousal, hunger, thirst, motivation/emotions, and the endocrine system  the 4 f’s Hippocampus – part of the limbic system involved in learning and memory Temporal Lobe – at side of brain above ears involved in memory, perception, hearing Occipital Lobe – lower back part of brain involved with processing visual info  vision Peripheral Lobe – top of brain, discriminates between textures and shapes Frontal Lobe – located under forehead, involved with complex cognitive functions William Penfield – studied the effects of stimulation on the motor cortex Phineas Gage – first lobotomy after a rod goes through his head; gives psych info on part of brain involved w/ emotions and reasoning