ap psych semester review

Section 1: Foundations of Psychological Science (Unit 0) 

1. Critical Thinking and Scientific Attitude:

   • Define the three components of the scientific attitude and explain how they support critical thinking in psychology. 

• Why is psychology considered a science, and how does the use of the scientific method distinguish it from pseudoscience?

2. Research Methods:

   • Match each research method (case study, naturalistic observation, correlation, meta-analysis, experiment) to an example you create and describe its primary use.

• Which of the following is the strongest correlation? Why? What might that look like on a scatterplot?

+.38

+.79

-.01

-.82

• Why is a random sample critical in experimental design, and how does it differ from random assignment?

3. Experimental Design and Ethics:

   • Design an experiment to test whether music improves memory. Identify the independent variable, dependent variable, experimental group, control group, and how you would ensure random assignment.

Describe these ethical considerations:

4. Statistical Reasoning:

   • Describe what a percentile rank represents. For instance, what does it mean if a student’s score is in the 85th percentile?

Explain what this bell curve is. What are the percentages you need to know and why are they important?

Why does standard deviation matter?

• Explain what it means for a result to be statistically significant, and why this is important in psychological research.

Psychology is the study of ___________________________________________________. As a science, it requires the attitudes of _________________, skepticism, and ________________.

• Psychodynamic / Freudian psychoanalytic (Sigmund Freud), Behavioral, Biological, Cognitive (including Gestalt), Sociocultural, Evolutionary, Humanistic 

Mnemonic: Trace your hand below [or draw hand to fit the space], label it with the psychological perspectives, and give a brief description of what each perspective focuses on:

      Weights of cats:

• 13 lbs What is the mean?  _______

• 11 lbs What is the median? _______

• 12 lbs What is the mode?  _______

• 8 lbs What is the range? _______

• 9 lbs

Sometimes we don’t manipulate variables (like in an experiment) and instead look at the relationship between occurrences. This is a correlation. And... 

Section 2: Biological Bases of Behavior (Unit 2)

When a neuron reaches a threshold of e________________, it “fires.” The brief electrical charge that travels down the length of the axon is called an a______________  p_________________. A neuron either fires completely or it does not fire; this is known as the ________ - or - _________ principle. 

Re_________________ is when a neuron reabsorbs neurotransmitters (e.g. serotonin) from the s_____________ g________, the junction between the sending and the receiving neuron.

Cells that support, nourish, and protect neurons are called “glue” cells, or g________.

As you age, your body sloughs off neurons as it strengthens the pathways most often used. This is called p_____________. 

Another remarkable feat is one of creating new connections when damage has occurred. This is called neuropl_______________.

And while we are at it, neurogenesis is:

Label and be able to explain how this works:

Dendrites

Soma / cell body

Axon

Myelin sheath

Axon terminal / terminal     

                               buttons

Synaptic gap

How does reuptake work?

What is a threshold of excitation?

Define absolute and relative refractory periods:

1. Neurotransmission:

Ag_____________ are substances that bind to synaptic receptors and increase the effect of the neurotransmitter.

An______________ also bind to synaptic receptors but they decrease the effect of the neurotransmitter. 

2. Nervous and Endocrine Systems:

   • Compare the somatic and autonomic nervous systems, giving examples of actions controlled by each.

• Explain the difference between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, using a real-life example of stress and relaxation.

Match the following neuron to its description:

Motor neurons a. Carry incoming messages from sensory receptors to the CNS (efferent)

Sensory neurons b. Carry outgoing messages from the CNS to muscles and glands

            (afferent)

Interneurons c. Communicate within the CNS and process information between

                                                   incoming and outgoing messages

3. Brain Structures and Functions:

Go back and watch Michael Britt “Parts of the Brain” on The Psych Files, or review the brain book. It may be helpful to study the brain as sections, too. CRUCIAL to this is understanding not just what these parts do, or are responsible for, but what happens (observable behaviors) when they don’t work.

• Older brain structures: brainstem, thalamus, reticular formation, cerebellum, medulla oblongata, pons

• Limbic System: amygdala, hypothalamus, hippocampus

• Cerebral Cortex: frontal lobes, parietal lobes, occipital lobes, temporal lobes, motor cortex, somatosensory cortex, association areas

• A patient experiences memory loss after brain injury. Which brain structure is likely affected, and why?

If someone has difficulty with language (which usually falls in the left hemisphere), this is called a_______________. 

4. Hemispheric Specialization:

   • Explain what split-brain research reveals about the functions of the left and right hemispheres. Include the concepts of contralateral control and hemispheric specialization.

5. Evolutionary Psychology:

   • Define natural selection and explain how evolutionary psychologists use it to understand behaviors like fear of snakes or preferences in mate selection.

Define heritability: 

• Provide one criticism of evolutionary psychology, and explain how cultural differences challenge universal claims.

Section 3: Sensation and Perception (Unit 3)

1. Basic Concepts:

   • Define bottom-up processing and top-down processing. Provide an example of each in how we interpret sensory information (e.g., hearing a song for the first time vs. recognizing a familiar melody).

• Describe the absolute threshold for hearing and how it differs from the difference threshold.

2. Vision and Hearing:

Label:

Pupil

Rods

Cornea

Fovea

Cones

Blind spot

Retina

Iris

Lens

Physical properties of light waves:

A______________ (or wave height) = determines intensity (brightness)

W______________ (or distance between waves) = determines hue (the perceived color)

What is the difference between the theories of color vision?

Feature detectors are cells located in the ________________________ and help us to see __________________________.

Parallel processing is the ability for us to ___________________________________________.

After a stroke damaged George’s visual cortex, he claimed not to be able to see, and yet he was still able to navigate walking around the room even with lots of obstacles. George has a unique condition known as b___________________.

Define Gestalt and explain the 3 groupings your book addresses:

Gestalt:______________________________________________________________________

• Closure: _______________________________________________________________

• Similarity:______________________________________________________________

• Proximity: ______________________________________________________________

Binocular vision is depth perception with two eyes; we use it to judge the distance of nearby objects using c_________________, whereby our eyes’ angles change to focus on the object. Another binocular cue is r__________________ d________________, which is when __________________________________________________________________________

Perceptual constancy is a top-down process that allows us to perceive objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal images change. Context matters! Know the specifics:

Color constancy

Shape constancy

Size constancy

How does perceptual adaptation work?

Know the parts of the ear and how hearing is processed.

Physical properties of sound waves:

A________________ (great = loud sounds; small = soft sounds)

W________________ (short = high frequency/high-pitched sounds; long = low 

Describe the two types of hearing loss:

The image to the right is showing the process of 

s____________  l_____________________.

It works by:

3. Other Senses:

   • Explain how the gate-control theory accounts for pain management. Provide a real-life example (e.g., rubbing an injured area).

The 4 basic touch sensations are w__________, c__________, p___________, and p_________.

Basic taste and smell combine to create our perception of f________________.

Olfaction refers to our system of smell. Draw a nose and explain how smell works, labeling the olfactory bulb.

Unlike other incoming sensory information, smell does NOT go through the th______________.

Explain the difference between:

Parapsychology is the study of paran___________ phenomena, such as ESP, psychokinesis, etc. The biggest issue with these claims is that _____________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

What type of brainwave activity would you typically see in the different stages?

(and what is REM rebound all about?)

Define circadian rhythm:

The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is part of the h_________________ that controls the circadian rhythm. When the light changes, the SCN causes the p____________ gland to adjust melatonin levels.

What are these sleep disorders?

Psychoactive Substances (= drugs)

Classifications:

Section 4: Learning (Unit 4)

“Learning is a relatively p_____________ change in an organism’s b____________ due to ex_________________.”

How is classical conditioning different from operant conditioning?

1. Classical Conditioning:

Imagine your favorite food is stuffed olive leaves. Whenever you get that snack, it makes you happy and you start to salivate as soon as it’s placed in front of you. Your olive leaves always come in the same dish - a green plate with a map of Turkey. Eventually, you start salivating and craving stuffed olive leaves whenever you see that plate on the table.

UCS:

UCR:

CS:

CR:

How did acquisition occur?

How might generalization occur?

How might extinction occur?

How might spontaneous recovery occur?

2. Operant Conditioning:

   • Define positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative punishment. Write an example of each from school life.

After 3 years of no speeding tickets or any driving infractions, your insurance company lowers your insurance rates. 

Explain what is happening here in terms of operant conditioning:

Immediate/continuous reinforcement or partial reinforcement?

___________________ is better for changing behavior quickly, but it is less permanent in changing behaviors.

___________________ takes longer to get behaviors to change, but it leads to lasting change in behavior.

Explain/given an example of these schedules of reinforcement:

Which one of the above schedules is the hardest to extinguish? Why?

What is this picture about? Describe the study in detail. (review the terms modeling, violence-viewing effect, vicarious reinforcement, latent learning)

Explain why Rotter believes there are better health outcomes for those with an internal locus of control over those with an external locus of control:

M___________  n__________ are found in the frontal lobes and are thought to fire when we do certain behaviors or observe others doing certain behaviors.

Unit 5: Cognition

The 3 “R”’s of retaining memories “r” (get it?)

R______________________

R______________________

R______________________

What does this chart depict? Who is the researcher involved and what is so important about it?

R____________ is to multiple choice questions as R___________ is to fill-in-the-blank questions (with no word bank).

Fill in and describe the information-processing model for memory.

 E_______________             S______________            R______________

While driving home from school, Lydia was able to pay attention to her friend’s tale of woe, offer appropriate responses, while also navigating traffic. This is an example of p_______________ p______________, which is ____________________________________.

In order to learn the times table, you most likely had to use e_________________ processing, whereas knowing that you don’t usually go to school when it is dark outside you learned through a_________________ processing. 

The model below describes w__________________ memory. Fill in the blanks with examples of what is going on in each of these.

What are the three levels of processing (structural, phonemic, and semantic)? Which is most effective for long-term memory retention, and why?

Differentiate between explicit memory and implicit memory, giving one example of each.

Application Tasks:

1. Create a study schedule that incorporates the spacing effect and the testing effect. Explain how these strategies help improve memory.

2. You’re given a long list of random numbers to remember. Which techniques (e.g., chunking, mnemonics) would you use, and why?

Storing and Retrieving Memories

1. Compare and contrast semantic memory and episodic memory. Which is likely to be affected by damage to the hippocampus?

2. Explain how flashbulb memories are different from regular memories. Why are they often vivid but not always accurate?

3. Describe the serial position effect (including the primacy effect and recency effect) and how it could impact the recall of a grocery list.

Application Task:

1. Imagine you’re studying in the library for a big test. Use concepts like context-dependent memory, state-dependent memory, and mood congruent memory to describe strategies to maximize retrieval during the test.

Forgetting and Memory Errors

1. Joseph fell on his head and was rushed to Urgent Care. He struggled to remember anything that had happened after hitting his head, including how he had even gotten to Urgent Care. What kind of amnesia did Joseph have? 

anterograde amnesia OR retrograde amnesia

2. How do proactive interference and retroactive interference disrupt memory retrieval? Provide real-world examples of each.

3. Summarize how reconsolidation, misinformation effect, and imagination inflation can distort memories. Use Elizabeth Loftus’s research as part of your answer.

4. Why is source amnesia a common cause of false memories? Provide an example of when this might occur.

Application Task:

1. Describe how imagination inflation might lead someone to “remember” an event that never happened. Include the roles of reconsolidation and external suggestions.

Memory and the Brain

1. What roles do the frontal lobes and hippocampus play in memory processing? How might damage to each affect memory?

2. Explain how the cerebellum and basal ganglia are involved in implicit memories. Provide an example of an implicit memory.

Thinking and Problem-Solving:

• Define algorithm and heuristic. Provide examples of when each would be most useful in solving problems.

• Explain insight and describe a situation where it might occur.

• Compare the representativeness heuristic and availability heuristic, using examples to show how they influence decision-making.

• Define and give examples of confirmation bias, fixation, and mental set in problem-solving.

• How do intuition and overconfidence lead to flawed judgments?

Define belief perseverance and framing. Write an example showing how the way a question is framed affects decision-making.