Comprehensive AP Psychology Semester Review Notes

Heredity vs. Environment: Heredity is the genetic passing of characteristics; environment includes all external influences. Nature (biological/genetic) and Nurture (life experience/learning) interact to shape behavior.
Evolutionary Psychology: Studies mental adaptations. Natural Selection explains behaviors like stranger anxiety and phobias as survival mechanisms.
Twin Studies: Identical twins (single fertilized egg) share identical genetics and show similar personality/intelligence; Fraternal twins (separate eggs) are genetically like siblings.
Genetic Predisposition: Increased likelihood of disease based on variants or family history.

Nervous System: The body’s electrochemical network. * Central (CNS): Brain and spinal cord. * Peripheral (PNS): Divided into Somatic (voluntary) and Autonomic (involuntary). * Autonomic Branches: Sympathetic (Fight or Flight; increased heart rate) vs. Parasympathetic (Rest and Digest; slows heart rate).
The Neuron: Individual nerve cells. Glial cells support neurons. * Types: Sensory (to brain), Motor (to body), Interneurons (within CNS), Mirror Neurons (imitation/empathy). * Neural Firing: Action Potential follows an All or None Response once the Threshold is met. * States: Resting Potential is Polarized (positive outside, negative inside); firing involves Depolarization. * Refractory Period: Pause where sodium ions are pumped back out.
Neurotransmitters: Chemical messengers (e.g., Acetylcholine). Agonists strengthen effects (e.g., SSRIs for Serotonin); Antagonists inhibit them (e.g., LSD for Serotonin).

Brain Structures: * Medulla: Vitals (heartbeat, breathing). * Cerebellum: Balance, coordination, nonverbal learning. * Limbic System: Hippocampus (memory), Amygdala (fear/aggression), Hypothalamus (homeostasis/hunger). * Cerebral Cortex: Frontal Lobe (judgment; Broca’s Area for speech), Parietal Lobe (sensory input/touch), Occipital Lobe (visual), Temporal Lobe (hearing; Wernicke’s Area for language comprehension).
Hemispheres: Connected by the Corpus Callosum. The left specializes in language/logic; the right in perception/emotion.
Sleep Cycle: Regulated by Circadian Rhythm. * NREM 1-3: Transition from light to deep sleep (growth hormones in NREM 3). * REM: Paradoxical sleep with vivid dreams and body immobilization. * Disorders: Insomnia (falling/staying asleep), Narcolepsy (sudden sleep), Sleep Apnea (breathing cessation).

Thresholds: * Absolute Threshold: Minimum stimulus detected $50\%$ of the time. * Weber’s Law: Stimuli must differ by a constant percentage (Light $8\%$ , Weight $2\%$ , Tones $0.3\%$ ).
Vision: Light enters the Retina where Transduction occurs via Rods (twilight/peripheral) and Cones (color/detail in the Fovea).
Hearing: Frequency Theory matches impulse rate to tone frequency; Place Theory links pitch to cochlea location.
Perception: Bottom-Up (sensory details to whole) vs. Top-Down (experiences/expectations to interpretation). * Gestalt Principles: Proximity, Similarity, Continuity, and Closure. * Cues: Binocular (Retinal Disparity, Convergence) vs. Monocular (Relative Size, Interposition, Linear Perspective).

Concepts and Heuristics: Algorithms guarantee solutions; Heuristics are mental shortcuts. Availability Heuristic judges likelihood by memory vividness.
Memory Processes: Encoding (getting info in), Storage (keeping it), Retrieval (getting it out). * Multistore Model: Sensory Memory (\rightarrow) Short-term Memory (capacity $7 \pm 2$ items; duration $15-30$ seconds) (\rightarrow) Long-term Memory (unlimited). * Types: Explicit (Episodic/Semantic) vs. Implicit (Procedural/Muscle memory). * Forgetting: Proactive Interference (old info blocks new); Retroactive Interference (new info blocks old).
Intelligence: IQ formula: $\text{mental age} / \text{chronological age} \times 100$ . Gardner proposed $8$ Multiple Intelligences.

Piaget’s Cognitive Stages: Sensorimotor (Object permanence), Preoperational (Egocentrism, Animism), Concrete Operational (Conservation, Reversibility), Formal Operational (Abstract thinking).
Social Development: Harlow’s Monkey Study emphasized tactile comfort over nourishment. Ainsworth identified Secure and Insecure (Avoidant, Anxious, Disorganized) attachment styles.
Conditioning: * Classical: Learning via association (UCS (\rightarrow) UCR; becomes CS (\rightarrow) CR). * Operant: Learning via consequences. Reinforcement increases behavior; Punishment decreases it. * Schedules: Fixed-Ratio, Variable-Ratio, Fixed-Interval, Variable-Interval.

Attribution Theory: Explaining behavior via internal traits (Dispositional) or environment (Situational). Fundamental Attribution Error overestimates disposition in others.
Group Dynamics: Social Loafing (less effort in groups), Deindividuation (loss of self-awareness in crowds), Group Polarization (enhancement of prevailing views).
Personality Theories: * Psychodynamic: Focus on the unconscious and Defense Mechanisms (e.g., Repression, Projection, Rationalization). * Trait Theory (Big Five): Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism (OCEAN).

Motivation: Drive Reduction Theory (homeostasis), Arousal Theory (Yerkes-Dodson Law states performance peaks at moderate arousal).
Hunger: Ghrelin (empty stomach/increase) vs. Leptin (fat cells/decrease). Lateral Hypothalamus is the "on" switch; Ventromedial Hypothalamus is the "off" switch.
Emotion: Six universal emotions (Happiness, Sadness, Anger, Fear, Surprise, Disgust). Facial Feedback Hypothesis suggests expressions influence internal states.

Stress: General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) phases: Alarm, Resistance, Exhaustion.
Disorders: Classified via DSM-V. * Schizophrenia Spectrum: Positive symptoms (hallucinations, delusions) vs. negative (flat affect, catatonia). * Anxiety Disorders: GAD, Panic Disorder, Phobias, and Agoraphobia. * Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Obsessions (thoughts) vs. Compulsions (actions). * Personality Disorders: Cluster A (Odd), Cluster B (Emotional/Antisocial/Narcissistic), Cluster C (Anxious).
Treatment: CBT (combining thoughts and behavior), Person-Centered Therapy (active listening/unconditional positive regard), Biomedical (Lithium for Bipolar, Tardive Dyskinesia as a side effect of antipsychotics).

Methodology: Experiment (only way to show cause/effect), Correlation (relationship strength $r$ between $-1$ and $+1$ ), Case Study, Naturalistic Observation.
Bias: Hindsight Bias, Confirmation Bias, Social Desirability Bias.
Ethics: Informed Consent, Confidentiality, Debriefing, IRB approval.
Statistics: * Central Tendency: Mean, Median, Mode. * Significance: p-value of $p \le .05$ is acceptable for statistical significance.