AP Psychology Exam Notes

Unit Zero - Research Design

  • Correlation: Identifies relationships between two variables.
  • Experiments: Manipulates variables to determine cause and effect.
  • Naturalistic Observation: Observes people in their natural settings.
  • Case Study: Studies one person (usually) in great detail.
  • Meta-Analysis: Combines multiple studies to increase sample size and examine effect sizes.

Basic Vocabulary

  • Hypothesis: A tentative explanation that must be falsifiable (able to be supported or rejected).
  • Operational Definition: A clear, precise, and quantifiable definition of variables, allowing replication and reliable data collection.
  • Qualitative Data: Descriptive data (e.g., eye color).
  • Quantitative Data: Numerical data ideal and necessary for statistics.
  • Population: Everyone the research could apply to.
  • Sample: The people (or person) specifically chosen for the study.

Research Designs

Correlation

  • Advantages: Useful when experiments are unethical.
  • Disadvantages: Correlation does not equal causation.
    • Directionality Problem: Which direction does the correlation go? (e.g., does depression cause low self-esteem, or does low self-esteem cause depression?). A third variable could also be responsible.
    • Third Variable Problem: A different variable is responsible for the relationship (e.g., ice cream sales and murder rates might both be influenced by heat).
    • Positive Correlation: Variables increase and decrease together.
    • Negative Correlation: As one variable increases, the other decreases.
    • The stronger the number, the stronger the relationship, regardless of the positive or negative sign. Correlation cannot be less than -1 or greater than 1.
    • Stronger relationships = tighter clusters on a graph.

Experiments

  • Advantages: Establish cause and effect.
  • Disadvantages: Can be unethical or too artificial.
    • Independent Variable: Purposefully altered by the researcher to look for an effect.
      • Experimental Group: Receives the treatment (part of the IV); can have multiple experimental groups.
      • Control Group: Placebo, baseline (part of the IV); can only have one control group.
    • Dependent Variable: Measured variable dependent on the independent variable.
    • Placebo Effect: Any observed effect on behavior caused by the placebo (shows effectiveness of experimental treatment), usually fixed with blinded studies.
    • Double-Blind: Experiment where neither the participant nor the experimenter knows the condition people are assigned to (drug studies).
    • Single-Blind: Only the participant is blind, used if the experimenter can’t be blind (e.g., gender, age).
    • Confound: Error/flaw in the study accidentally introduced (can be called a confounding variable).
    • Random Assignment: Assigns participants to either control or experimental group at random, increasing the chance of equal representation among groups and allowing you to say cause/effect. Spreads "lefties" across both groups.

Other Study Types

  • Naturalistic Observation:
    • Advantages: Real-world validity.
    • Disadvantages: No cause and effect.
  • Case Study:
    • Advantages: Collect lots of info.
    • Disadvantages: No cause/effect.

Statistics

Descriptive Statistics

  • Show the shape of the data.
    • Measures of Central Tendency:
      • Mean: Average (use in normal distribution).
      • Median: Middle number (use in skewed distribution).
      • Mode: Occurs most often.
        • Bimodal: Has two modes, usually indicating good and bad scores.
    • Skews: Created by outliers.
      • Negative Skew: Mean is to the left (negative side), mode to the right.
      • Positive Skew: Mean is to the right.
    • Measures of Variation:
      • Range: Distance between the smallest and biggest number.
      • Standard Deviation: Average amount the scores are spread from the mean (bigger number = more spread).

Inferential Statistics

  • Establishes significance (meaningfulness).
    • Statistical Significance: Results not due to chance, experimental manipulation caused the difference in means.
      • p < .05 = statistically significant, smaller = better.
    • Effect Size: Data has practical significance – bigger = better.

Ethical Guidelines (IRB Approval Needed for People)

  • Confidentiality: Names kept secret.
  • Informed Consent: Must agree to be part of study.
  • Informed Assent Minors AND their parents must agree.
  • Debriefing: Must be told the true purpose of the study (done after for deception).
  • Deception: Must be warranted.
  • No Harm: Mental/physical.

Additional Vocabulary

  • Surveys: Usually turned into correlation studies, subject to self-report bias.
    • Social Desirability: People lie to look good.
    • Wording Effects: How you frame the question can impact your answers.
  • Random Sample (Selection): Method for choosing participants for your study, everyone has a chance to take part and increases generalizability.
  • Representative Sample: Sample mimics the general population (ethnic, gender, age).
  • Convenience Sample: Select participants on availability, less representative and less generalizability.
  • Sampling Bias: Sample isn’t representative, due to convenience sampling.
  • Cultural Norms: Behaviors of a particular group can influence research results.
  • Experimenter Bias / Participant Bias: Experimenter/participant expectations influence the outcome.
  • Cognitive Bias: Bias in thinking/judgment.
    • Confirmation Bias: Find info that supports our preexisting beliefs.
    • Hindsight Bias: “I knew it all along.”
    • Overconfidence: Overestimate our knowledge/abilities.
    • Hawthorne Effect: People change behavior when watched.
  • Research needs peer review and adequate sample sizes.

Biological Basis Pillar

  • NT = neurotransmitter, AP = action potential, NS = nervous system

Heredity vs Environment

  • Evolutionary Psychology: Study how natural selection influences behavior.
  • Heredity (Nature): How genes influence your behavior.
  • Environment (Nurture): How outside situations influence your behavior (school).
  • Nature vs. Nurture: The answer is both.
    • Twin / Adoption Studies:
      • Genetics: Identical twins will have a higher percentage of also developing a disease.
      • Environment: Identical twins raised in different environments show differences.

Nervous System

  • Central NS: Brain and spinal cord.
  • Peripheral NS: Rest of the NS relays to Central NS.
    • Somatic NS: Voluntary movement, has sensory and motor neurons.
    • Autonomic NS: Involuntary organs (heart, lungs, etc.) contains the:
      • Sympathetic NS: Fight/flight (generally activates - exception digestion).
      • Parasympathetic NS: Rest/digest (generally inhibits - exception digestion).

Neuron and Neural Firing

  • Neuron: Basic cell of the NS
    • Dendrites: Receive incoming NTs.
    • Axon: AP travels down this.
    • Myelin Sheath: Speeds up AP down axon, protects axon.
    • Synapse: Gap b/w neurons.
  • Sensory Neurons: Receive sense signals from the environment and send signals to the brain.
  • Motor Neurons: Send signals to move from the brain.
  • Interneurons: Cells in spinal cord/brain responsible for reflex arc.
    • Reflex Arc: Important stimuli skip the brain and route through the spinal cord for immediate reactions(hand on a hot flame).
  • Glia: Support cells that give nutrients and clean up around neurons.
  • Neurons Fire w/ an Action Potential: Ions move across membrane sends an electrical charge down the axon.
    • Resting Potential: Neuron maintains a -70mv charge when not doing anything.
    • Depolarization: Charge of neuron briefly switches from negative to positive, triggering the AP.
    • Threshold of Depolarization: Stimulus strength must reach this point to start the AP.
    • All or Nothing Principle: Stimulus must trigger the AP past its threshold but does not increase the intensity or speed of the response (flush the toilet).
    • Refractory Period: Neuron must rest and reset before it can send another AP (toilet resets).

Neurotransmitters (NT)

  • Chemicals released in synaptic gap, received by neurons. Classified as excitatory (increase APs in other neurons) or inhibitory (decrease APs).
    • GABA: Major inhibitory NT.
    • Glutamate: Major excitatory NT (glutes excite you!).
    • Dopamine: Reward (short term) and fine movement - in the hypothalamus is associated with addiction.
    • Serotonin: Moods (long-term), emotion, sleep - in the amygdala too little is associated with depression.
    • Acetylcholine (ACh): Memory and movement - in the hippocampus is associated with Alzheimer’s
    • Norepinephrine: Sympathetic NS - too little is associated with depression.
    • Endorphins: Decrease pain.
    • Substance P: Pain regulation (abnormality increases pain and inflammation).

Hormones

  • If not in the nervous system, it’s a hormone.
    • Oxytocin: Love, bonding, childbirth, lactation.
    • Adrenaline: Fight/flight.
    • Leptin: Makes you full (stops hunger).
    • Ghrelin: Makes you hungry (turns you into a gremlin).
    • Melatonin: Sleep.
  • Agonist: Drug that mimics a NT.
  • Antagonist: Drug that blocks a NT.
  • Reuptake: Unused NTs are taken back up into the sending neuron. (antidepressants cause reuptake inhibition (block reuptake) – treatment for depression.
  • Psychoactive Drugs:
    • Depressants: Decrease NS activity (alcohol).
    • Stimulants: Increase NS activity (caffeine & cocaine).
    • Hallucinogens: Hallucinations and altered perceptions (Marijuana).
    • Opioids: Relieve pain (endorphin agonists) (heroin).
    • Tolerance: Needing more of a drug to achieve the same effects.
    • Addiction: Must have it to avoid withdrawal symptoms.
    • Withdrawal: Symptoms associated with sudden stoppage.

The Brain

  • Cerebellum: Movement, balance, coordination, procedural memory (walking a tightrope balancing a bell).
  • Brainstem / Medulla: Vital organs (HR, BP, breathing).
  • Reticular Activating System: Alertness, arousal, sleep, eye movement.
  • Cerebral Cortex: Outer portion of the brain, higher-order thought processes, includes the limbic system, lobes, corpus callosum.

Limbic System

  • Amygdala: Emotions, fear.
  • Hippocampus: Episodic and semantic memory (if you saw a hippo on campus you’d remember it!).
  • Hypothalamus: Reward/pleasure center, eating behaviors, link to endocrine system, homeostasis.
  • Thalamus: Relay center for all but smell.
  • Pituitary Gland: Talks w/ endocrine sys and hypothalamus– release hormones.

Lobes

  • Occipital Lobe: Vision.

  • Frontal Lobe: Decision making, planning, judgment, movement, personality, language, executive function, includes the:

    • Prefrontal Cortex: Front of frontal lobe, executive function.
    • Motor Cortex: Back of frontal lobe - map of our motor receptors– controls skeletal movement.

  • Parietal Lobe: Sensations and touch, controls association areas, includes:

    • Somatosensory Cortex: Map of our touch receptors.

  • Temporal Lobe: Hearing and face recognition, language

  • Association Areas: Receive input from multiple areas/lobes to integrate info.

  • Left Hemisphere Only: Damage to these results in aphasia (damaged speech).

    • Broca’s Area: Inability to produce speech (Broca– Broken speech).
    • Wernicke’s Area: Can’t comprehend speech (Wernicke’s what?).

  • Corpus Callosum: Bundle of nerves that connects the 2 hemispheres, sometimes severed in patients with severe seizures, leads to “split-brain patients.”

  • Split-Brain Experiments:

    • Image shown to R eye processed in L hemi - patient can say what they saw; image shown to L eye processed in R hemi, can’t say what was seen.

  • Brain Plasticity: brain changes via damage and through experience.

  • Endocrine System: sends hormones throughout the body.

    • Pituitary Gland: Controlled by the hypothalamus and releases growth hormones.

Brain Research

  • EEG: Shows broad brain activity (not specific electrical output).
  • fMRI: Shows brain activity in specific regions, measures oxygen.
  • Lesion: Destruction of brain tissue.

Diseases & Disorders to Know

  • Multiple Sclerosis: Destruction of myelin sheath, disrupts APs, causes impaired mobility, paralysis, pain.
  • Myasthenia Gravis: Acetylcholine blocked, disrupts APs, causes poor motor control and paralysis.
  • Blindsight: Caused by lesions to the primary visual cortex, ppl can “see” i.e catch a ball etc despite being blind-evidence for association areas.
  • Prosopagnosia: Face blindness, damage to the occipital and/or temporal lobe.
  • Broca’s Aphasia: Damage to Broca’s area - stuttered speech
  • Wernicke’s Aphasia: Damage to Wernicke’s – jumbled speech
  • Phantom Limb Pain: Pain from a limb that no longer is there (amputated) caused by brain plasticity.
  • Epilepsy: Seizures from too much / little Glutamate/GABA.
  • Alzheimer’s: Destruction of acetylcholine in the hippocampus, memory loss.

Sleep

  • Consciousness: Awareness of cognitive processes (asleep or awake?).
  • Circadian Rhythms: 24ish hour biological clock of Body temp & sleep
    • Disrupting it makes your internal clock get out of sync (jet lag and shift work do this).
  • Beta Waves: Awake (you betta be awake for the exam!).
  • Alpha Waves: High amp., drowsy.
  • NREM (non-REM) Stages:
    • NREM 1: Light sleep, has hypnagogic sensations (falling feeling).
    • NREM 2: Bursts of sleep spindles.
    • NREM 3 Delta Waves: Deep sleep.
  • Rapid Eye Movement (REM): Dreaming, cognitive processing.
  • Entire cycle takes 90 minutes, REM occurs inb/w each cycle.
  • REM lasts longer throughout the night, deep sleep decreases
  • REM is “paradoxical” bc your HR and brain is active – but your body is relaxed
  • REM Rebound: After sleep disruptions and/or lack of REM sleep you’ll have more / more intense REM sleep.

Dream Theories

  • Activation Synthesis: Brain produces random bursts of energy– stimulating lodged memories in limbic sys & brain stem. Dreams start random then develop meaning. Its Neural theory
  • Consolidation Dream Theory: Brain is combining and processing memories for storage.

Why is Sleep Necessary?

  • Consolidation: Storage of memories.
  • Restoration: Helps regenerate the immune system and restore energy.

Sleep Disorders

  • Insomnia: Inability to fall/stay asleep (due to stress/anxiety).
  • Somnambulism (Sleep Walking): Happens during stage 3 - NOT during REM.
  • Narcolepsy: Fall into REM out of nowhere– treated w/ stimulants.
  • Sleep Apnea: Stop breathing while asleep (due to obesity usually).
  • REM Behavior Disorder: Malfunction of mechanism that paralyze you during REM.

Sensation

Intro Vocab

  • Sensation: Receive stimulus energy from environment.
  • Transduction: Convert that info into APs.
  • Perception: Brain interprets the info.
  • Absolute Threshold: Detection of signal 50% of time (is it there).
  • Just Noticeable Difference: Can tell the difference b/w a stronger and weaker stimulus or two similar things (coke vs pepsi, did it get stronger?).
  • Weber’s Law: Two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum proportion (the stronger thing, the more you have to add to tell the difference).
  • Synesthesia: “Disorder” where your senses blend (see sounds, etc).
  • Sensory Adaptation: Diminished sensitivity as a result of constant stimulation (ex. nose blindness)– sensory receptors respond less (get tired).

Visual System

  • Lens: Focuses light on the retina.
  • Retina: Contains photoreceptors (rods/cones/ ganglion cells).
  • Fovea: Area of best vision (cones here).
  • Rods: Black/white, dark adaptation; way more rods than cones; located along sides of retina.
  • Cones: Color, bright light (red, green, blue) (only in the fovea).
  • Ganglion Cells: Create optic nerve (opponent-process theory happens here)
  • Blind Spot: Occurs where the optic nerve leaves the eye.

Visual System Vocab

  • Accommodation: Lens changes curvature to focus images on the retina.
  • Nearsightedness: Better vision near
  • Farsightedness: Better vision far

Theories of Color Vision

  • Trichromatic: Three cones for receiving color:

    • Blue – short waves
    • Green – medium waves
    • Red – long waves

  • Opponent Process: Complementary colors are processed in ganglion cells-explains why we see an after image.

    • Red/green
    • Blue/yellow
    • Black/white

Color Deficiency

  • Damage to, or missing - cones or ganglion cells
  • Red/green is most common
  • Dichromatism– missing 1 cone
  • Monochromatism– only have rods

Auditory System

  • Properties of Sound:
    • Wavelength: Distance bw peaks - pitch
      • Long waves = low pitch
      • Narrow waves = high pitch
    • Amplitude: Height of wave – loudness
      • Short waves = soft
      • Tall waves = loud

Theories of Hearing (All Occur in the Cochlea)

  • Place Theory: Location where hair cells bend determines sound (high pitches).
  • Frequency Theory: Rate at which action potentials are sent determines sound (low pitches).
  • Volley Theory: Groups of neurons fire APs out of sync.

Other Hearing Stuff

  • Sound Localization: Which ear gets the waves first tells location of sound.
  • Conduction Deafness: Damage to bones of ear and eardrum cause hearing loss.
  • Sensorineural: Damage to cochlea, hairs in cochlea, or nerve - usually due to old age and loud noise.

Other Senses

  • Vestibular: Sense of balance (semicircular canals in the inner ear).
  • Kinesthetic: Sense of body position & movement wo looking.
  • Pain: Gate-control theory: we have a “gate” to control how much pain is experienced. Pain is both mental and physical.
  • Hot: Activation of warm and cold receptors.
  • Taste (Gustation): 6 taste receptors: bitter, salty, sweet, sour, umami (savory), oleogustus (fatty/oily)
    • Tongue, mouth, and brain process taste.
    • Density of taste receptors makes ppl supertasters, medium tasters, or non-tasters.
    • Sensory interaction creates taste - wo smell taste isn’t as strong or is absent.
    • Smell (Olfaction): Only sense that does NOT route through the thalamus
      • Pheromones produce chemical signals w/in a species for attraction

Perception

  • Top-Down Processing: Whole idea (prior expectations) smaller parts (painting w/ faces).
  • Bottom-Up Processing: Smaller Parts (sensory info) whole idea (dog of bunch of dots).
  • Schemas: Preexisting mental concept of how something should look (like a restaurant)
  • Perceptual Set: Tendency to see something as part of a group - speeds up signal processing.

Gestalt Psychology

  • Whole is greater than the sum of its parts

  • Gestalt Principles:

    • Figure/ground: organize information into figures objects (figures) that stand apart from surrounds (back ground).
    • Closure: mentally fill in gaps.
    • Proximity: group things together that appear near each other.
    • Similarity: group things together based off of looks.

  • Constancies: Recognize that objects do not physically change despite changes in sensory input (size, shape, brightness).

  • Apparent Movement: Objects can appear moving when they aren’t (flip books, blinking lights).

  • Selective Attention: Focus on one thing and block out other things- can result in:

    • Inattentional Blindness: Failure to notice something added b/c you’re so focused on another task (gorilla video).
    • Change Blindness: Fail to notice a change in the scene (curtain changes color).
    • Cocktail Party Effect: Notice your name across the room when its spoken, when you weren’t previously paying attention.

Binocular Depth Cues (How Both Eyes Make up A 3D Image)

  • Retinal Disparity: Image is cast slightly different on each retina, location of image helps us determine depth.
  • Convergence: Eyes strain more (looking inward) as objects draw nearer.

Monocular Depth Cues (How We Form a 3D Image from a 2D Image)

  • Interposition: Overlapping images appear closer.
  • Relative Size: 2 objects that are usually similar in size, the smaller one is further away.
  • Linear Perspective: Parallel lines converge with distance (think railroad tracks).
  • Relative Clarity: Hazy objects appear further away.
  • Texture Gradient: Coarser objects = closer

Thinking & Problem Solving

  • Concepts: Mental categories used to group objects, events, characteristics.

  • Prototypes: All instances of a concept are compared to an ideal example.

  • Algorithms: Step-by-step strategies that guarantee a solution (formula).

  • Heuristics: Shortcut strategy

    • Representative Heuristic: Make judgment based on your experience (like a stereotype) assume someone must be a librarian b/c they’re quiet.
    • Availability Heuristic: Make a judgement based on the first thing that pops in your head assuming planes are dangerous b/c crash in the news.

  • Metacognition: Thinking about (reflecting upon) the way you think.

  • Mental Set: Keep using one strategy to solve a problem– cannot think outside the box.

  • Functional Fixedness: Can only see one (common) use for an item– cannot think outside of the box.

  • Sunk Cost Fallacy: Continue something bc you’re already invested (might as well finish it now…)– when stopping would be more beneficial

  • Gambler’s Fallacy: Believe something is more likely to happen bc its “due” – the dice have no memory.

  • Divergent Thinking: Ability to think about many different things at once (Creative)– hindered by func. fixedness.

  • Convergent Thinking: Limits creativity– one answer

  • Executive Functioning: Generating, organizing, planning, carrying out goal-directed behvs

Memory

Encoding: Getting Info into Memory

  • Automatic Encoding: Requires no effort (what did you have for breakfast?).

  • Effortful Encoding: Requires work (school).

  • Levels (Depth) of Processing: The more emphasis on MEANING the deeper the processing, and the better remembered.

    • Structural Encoding (Shallow): Emphasis on physical structural.
    • Phonemic Encoding (Intermediate): Emphasis on what words sound like.
    • Semantic Encoding (Deep): Emphasis on meaning of the words.

  • Elaborative Rehearsal: Strategies to enhance encoding like below:

    • Imagery: Attaching images to information makes it easier to remember
    • Dual Encoding: Using multiple methods of processing to remember (photo + words).
    • Chunking: Break info into smaller units to aid in memory (like a phone #).
    • Mnemonics: Shortcuts to help us remember info easier.
      • Acronyms: Using letter to remember something (PEMDAS).
      • Method of Loci: Using locations to remember a list of items in order

  • Context Dependent Memory: Where you learn the info you best remember the info (scuba divers testing).

  • State Dependent Memory: The physical state you were in when learning is the way you should be when testing (study high, test high).

  • Mood Congruent Memory: Remember happy events when happy, sad when sad.

  • Forgetting Curve: Recall decreases rapidly at first, then reaches a plateau after which little more is forgotten

  • Distributed Practice (Spacing Effect): Review a little every night (resets forgetting curve).

  • Massed Practice: Cramming.

  • Testing Effect: Quizzing over material periodically.

Storage: Retaining Info Over Time

  • Multi-Store Model: Sensory memory, short-term memory, long-term memory model

Sensory Memory

  • Stores all incoming stimuli that you receive (first you have to a pay attention)
    • Iconic Memory: Visual memory, lasts 0.3 seconds.
    • Echoic Memory: Auditory memory, lasts 2-3 seconds.

Short-Term Memory

  • Info passes from sensory memory to STM– lasts 30 secs, and can remember 7 \pm 2 items.
    • Maintenance Rehearsal: Repeating the info–resets the clock

Long-Term Memory: Lasts a Lifetime

  • Explicit: Require conscious effort:

    • Episodic: Events
    • Semantic: Facts

  • Implicit: Automatic, no effort needed:

    • Classical Conditioning
    • Priming: Info that is seen earlier “”primes”” you to remember something later on
    • Procedural: Skills (muscle memory)

  • Working Memory Model: Splits STM into 2 – visual-spatial memory (from iconic mem) and phonological loop (from echoic mem). A central executive puts it together before passing it to LTM

Other odd types of memory

  • Prospective Memory: Remembering you need to do something (pick up milk).
  • Autobiographical Memory: Memory for your personal history– combo of episodic and semantic
    • Superior Autobiographical– rare condition– ppl have extra detailed memories

Memory Organization

  • Hierarchies: Memory is stored according to a clusters of related info.
  • Categorically: Stored in categories
  • Semantic Networks: Webs of semi-related info
    • Tip of the Tongue Phenomenon: Can’t remember the name of something bc you’re stuck elsewhere in your semantic network.
  • Schemas: Frameworks that organize info
    • Assimilation: Incorporate new info into existing schema. Cat is a dog b/c 4 legs.
    • Accommodation: Adjust existing schemas to incorporate new information. Cat and dogs = different.

Memory Storage

  • Acetylcholine neurons in the hippocampus for episodic and semantic.
  • Memories before age 3 are unreliable (infantile amnesia) hippocampus still forming.
  • Cerebellum for implicit/procedural memories.
  • Amygdala for emotional memories
  • Frontal lobe for encoding and retrieval.
  • Long-Term Potentiation: Neural basis of memory-connections are strengthened over time with repeated stimulation (more firing of neurons)
    • Memory consolidation– memories are strengthened and made more stable with time

Retrieval: Taking Info Out of Storage

  • Serial Position Effect: Tendency to remember the beginning (primacy effect) and the end (recency effect) of the list best.
    • Primacy happens bc. The info got moved to long-term memory
    • Recency bc. Its still in your short term.
  • Recall: Remember what you’ve been told w/o cues (essays).
  • Recognition: Remember what you’ve been told w/ cues (MCQ) (this one is better).
  • Repressed Memories: Unconsciously buried memories to defend the ego (psychodynamic approach).
  • Encoding Failure: Forget info bc you never encoded it (paid attention to it) in the first place (which is the real penny).
  • Proactive Interference: OLD info blocks new info
  • Retroactive Interference: NEW info blocks old info
  • Constructive Memory: The way we update memories w/ new memories, associations, feelings-memory is unreliable

Development and Learning Pillar

  • Source Amnesia: Forget who told you, where you heard it.
  • Misinformation Effect: Distortion of memory by suggestion or misinformation (lost in the mall, Disneyland).
  • Framing: The way a question is framed impacts how info is recalled / perceived (how fast were the cars going when they smashed).
  • Imagination Inflation: ppl are more confident an event happened after imagining it (even though it didn’t happen).
  • Anterograde Amnesia: Amnesia moves forward (forget new info-50 first dates).
  • Retrograde Amnesia: Amnesia moves backwards (forget old info).

Intelligence & Achievement

Intelligence Theories Split:

  • Single form of intelligence (g factor): General intelligence (g) underlies all mental abilities (typical IQ tests of today). If you’re smart in one area you’re smart in other areas too
  • Multiple intelligences: intelligence has lots of types, not just math/language. Can be high/low in areas

First IQ Test

Used a formula and is where the traditional value of “IQ” comes from

  • Chronological Age: Actual age.
  • Mental Age: Tested age compared to other of that age.
  • 100 is average, SD = 15

Use for IQ Scores/Tests Today

  • Educational services
  • Diagnostic testing for learning disabilities
  • GT identification
  • Psychometrics: Field of psych & education for creating tests
  • Standardization: Test is given using consistent procedures and environments, and graded the same (SAT, AP exams)

Tests should be reliable

  • Same results over time (consistent)
    • Split-Half Reliability: Compare two halves of the test
    • Test-Retest Reliability: Use the same test on 2 different occasions

Tests should be valid

  • Test is accurate– measures what it is intended to
    • Construct Validity: Test measures what you want it to (an IQ test actually measures IQ)
    • Predictive Validity: Test is able to accurately predict a trait (high math scores predicts good engineer)

Standardized tests establish a normal distribution

  • Standard Dev used to compare scores.
  • Standard deviation measures how much the scores vary from the mean.
  • Percentages below NEVER change

Types of Tests:

  • Aptitude: Predicts your abilities to learn a new skill (ASVAB)
  • Achievement: Tests what you know (AP)

Historical Issues with Intelligence Testing

  • Nature vs Nurture Influence on IQ:

    • Genetics: MZ twins have similar IQ, adopted kids more similar to biological parents
    • Environment: Early neglect leads to lower IQ, good schooling to higher IQ

  • Personal and Sociocultural biases impact interpretation of results

  • Poverty and education inequalities neg. impact scores

  • Eugenics: study of how to “improve” the gene pool by discouraging (sterilizing or otherwise) individuals from reproducing

  • Culture Fair Tests: IQ tests have been used to refuse/limit access to jobs, military, education, and immigration

    • Need to focus on non-language skills & minimize cultural-specific questions

  • Stereotype Threat: Feel at risk of conforming to the neg stereotype about your group - influences your behaviors, cognitions

  • Stereotype Lift: Do better on a test when comparing self to other groups w/ neg stereotypes
    FL### YNN effect:IQ has steadily risen over the past 80 years probably due to education standards, health care

  • Fixed Mindset: Belief intelligence is fixed from birth – leads to less effort

  • Growth Mindset: Belief you can develop abilities through work and determination- leads to more effort

Development

“3 Thematic Issues” in Dev. Psych:

  • Nature/Nurture (genes or environment)

  • Continuous/Discontinuous (gradual dev over time or dev in stage)

  • Stability/Change (traits persist unchanging or traits change as we age)

  • Cross-Sectional Study: ppl of different ages at the same point in time

    • Adv: inexpensive & quick
    • Disadv: can be differences due to generational gap

  • Longitudinal Study: studies same ppl over time

    • Adv: eliminates groups (cohort) differences, lots of detail
    • Disadv: expensive, time-consuming, high dropout rates

Physical Development

  • Prenatal Development:
    • Teratogens: external agents that can cause abnormal prenatal development (alcohol, drugs, etc.)
    • Illness, mutations, hormones, and