AP Psych Ultimate Review

AP Psychology Cheat Sheet 

Unit 0: Psychology History & Approaches

Key People

• Wilhelm Wundt – first psychology lab; introspection

• Edward Titchener – structuralism

• William James – functionalism

• Mary Whiton Calkins – memory research; first female APA president

• Margaret Floy Washburn – first woman to earn psychology PhD

• Sigmund Freud – psychoanalytic theory; unconscious mind

• Ivan Pavlov – classical conditioning

• John B. Watson – behaviorism

• B.F. Skinner – operant conditioning

• Carl Rogers – humanistic psychology; unconditional positive regard

• Abraham Maslow – hierarchy of needs

• Jean Piaget – cognitive development

• Charles Darwin – natural selection influences behavior

• Noam Chomsky – language development

Psychological Approaches

• Biological

• Behavioral

• Cognitive

• Humanistic

• Psychodynamic

• Evolutionary

• Sociocultural

Research Terms

• Hypothesis – testable prediction

• Theory – explains behaviors/events

• Independent Variable – manipulated variable

• Dependent Variable – measured outcome

• Control Group – comparison group

• Experimental Group – receives treatment

• Random Assignment – equal chance into groups

• Double-Blind Procedure – participants/researchers unaware

• Placebo Effect – expectations influence results

• Confounding Variable – unwanted influence

• Operational Definition – exact procedure definition

Research Methods

• Case Study

• Survey

• Naturalistic Observation

• Correlational Study

• Experiment

Statistics

• Mean

• Median

• Mode

• Range

• Standard Deviation

• Positive Correlation

• Negative Correlation

• Correlation ≠ causation

Unit 1: Biological Bases of Behavior

Neuron Parts

• Dendrites – receive messages

• Soma/Cell Body – processes information

• Axon – sends messages

• Myelin Sheath – speeds impulses

• Terminal Buttons – release neurotransmitters

• Synapse – gap between neurons

Nervous System

Central Nervous System

• Brain + spinal cord

Peripheral Nervous System

• Somatic nervous system

• Autonomic nervous system

  • Sympathetic – arousal/fight-or-flight

  • Parasympathetic – calming/rest-and-digest

Endocrine System

• Pituitary gland – master gland

• Adrenal glands – adrenaline

• Thyroid – metabolism

• Pancreas – insulin

Neurotransmitters

Brain Structures

• Medulla – heartbeat/breathing

• Pons – sleep

• Cerebellum – balance/coordination

• Thalamus – sensory relay station

• Hypothalamus – hunger, thirst, body temp

• Amygdala – fear/aggression

• Hippocampus – memory formation

• Pituitary gland – hormones

Cerebral Cortex Lobes

• Frontal – decision-making, speech, personality

• Parietal – touch/body position

• Occipital – vision

• Temporal – hearing/language

Split Brain & Hemispheres

• Corpus callosum connects hemispheres

• Left hemisphere: language/math

• Right hemisphere: creativity/spatial skills

Key Researchers

• Roger Sperry – split brain research

• Paul Broca – speech production area

• Carl Wernicke – language comprehension area

• Phineas Gage – frontal lobe damage/personality change

Unit 2: Sensation & Perception

Sensation vs. Perception

• Sensation = detecting stimuli

• Perception = interpreting stimuli

Key Terms

• Absolute Threshold

• Difference Threshold (JND)

• Weber’s Law

• Signal Detection Theory

• Sensory Adaptation

• Selective Attention

• Inattentional Blindness

Vision

• Cornea

• Pupil

• Iris

• Lens

• Retina

• Rods – black/white/peripheral vision

• Cones – color/detail

• Fovea – sharp vision

• Blind Spot

Color Theories

• Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory

• Opponent-Process Theory

Hearing

• Frequency = pitch

• Amplitude = loudness

• Cochlea

• Auditory nerve

Gestalt Principles

• Figure-ground

• Closure

• Proximity

• Similarity

• Continuity

Depth Cues

Binocular

• Retinal disparity

• Convergence

Monocular

• Relative size

• Interposition

• Linear perspective

Unit 3: Learning

Classical Conditioning

Key People

• Ivan Pavlov

• John Watson (Little Albert)

Terms

• Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

• Unconditioned Response (UR)

• Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

• Conditioned Response (CR)

• Acquisition

• Extinction

• Spontaneous Recovery

• Generalization

• Discrimination

Operant Conditioning

Key People

• B.F. Skinner

• Edward Thorndike (Law of Effect)

Reinforcement/Punishment

Reinforcement Schedules

• Fixed Ratio

• Variable Ratio

• Fixed Interval

• Variable Interval

Social Learning

• Albert Bandura – observational learning

• Modeling

• Mirror neurons

Unit 4: Cognitive Psychology

Memory

Encoding Types

• Semantic

• Acoustic

• Visual

Storage

• Sensory memory

• Short-term memory

• Long-term memory

Retrieval

• Recall

• Recognition

• Relearning

Important Concepts

• Chunking

• Mnemonics

• Spacing effect

• Serial position effect

• Primacy effect

• Recency effect

• Flashbulb memory

• Long-term potentiation

Forgetting

• Proactive interference

• Retroactive interference

• Retrieval failure

• Misinformation effect

• Source amnesia

Key Researchers

• Hermann Ebbinghaus – forgetting curve

• George Miller – 7±2

• Elizabeth Loftus – false memories

Language

• Phoneme

• Morpheme

• Grammar

• Syntax

• Babbling stage

• Telegraphic speech

Intelligence

Key People

• Alfred Binet – IQ testing

• Lewis Terman – Stanford-Binet

• David Wechsler – WAIS/WISC

• Howard Gardner – multiple intelligences

• Robert Sternberg – triarchic theory

Concepts

• Fluid intelligence

• Crystallized intelligence

• IQ

• Reliability

• Validity

• Standardization

Unit 5: Developmental Psychology

Prenatal Development

• Zygote

• Embryo

• Fetus

• Teratogens

Piaget’s Cognitive Development

Attachment

• Harry Harlow – monkeys/contact comfort

• Mary Ainsworth – strange situation

• Secure attachment

• Avoidant attachment

• Ambivalent attachment

Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages

1. Trust vs mistrust

2. Autonomy vs shame

3. Initiative vs guilt

4. Industry vs inferiority

5. Identity vs role confusion

Kohlberg’s Moral Development

• Preconventional

• Conventional

• Postconventional

Unit 6: Motivation, Emotion & Personality

Motivation

• Instinct theory

• Drive-reduction theory

• Arousal theory

• Maslow’s hierarchy

Stress

• Hans Selye – General Adaptation Syndrome (alarm, resistance, exhaustion)

• Cannon – fight-or-flight

• Tend-and-befriend response

Emotion Theories

Personality Theories

Freud

• Id

• Ego

• Superego

• Defense mechanisms

Trait Theories

• Big Five (OCEAN)

  • Openness

  • Conscientiousness

  • Extraversion

  • Agreeableness

  • Neuroticism

Humanistic

• Carl Rogers

• Abraham Maslow

Social-Cognitive

• Albert Bandura

• Reciprocal determinism

• Self-efficacy

Unit 7: Clinical Psychology

Anxiety Disorders

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder

• Panic Disorder

• Phobias

• Social Anxiety Disorder

• OCD

• PTSD

Mood Disorders

• Major Depressive Disorder

• Bipolar Disorder

Schizophrenia Symptoms

Positive Symptoms

• hallucinations

• delusions

Negative Symptoms

• flat affect

• catatonia

• withdrawal

Personality Disorders

• Antisocial

• Borderline

• Narcissistic

Key Terms

• DSM-5

• Medical model

• Biopsychosocial approach

• Diathesis-stress model

Unit 8: Treatment of Disorders

Therapy Types

Psychoanalysis

• Freud

• free association

• dream analysis

Humanistic Therapy

• client-centered therapy

• unconditional positive regard

Cognitive Therapy

• Aaron Beck

• cognitive restructuring

Behavioral Therapy

• systematic desensitization

• exposure therapy

• token economy

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

• changes thoughts + behaviors

Biomedical Therapies

Medications

Other Treatments

• Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)

• Deep brain stimulation

Unit 9: Social Psychology

Social Influence

• Conformity

• Compliance

• Obedience

Key Researchers

• Solomon Asch – conformity

• Stanley Milgram – obedience

• Philip Zimbardo – Stanford prison experiment

Group Behavior

• Groupthink

• Social facilitation

• Social loafing

• Deindividuation

• Group polarization

• Bystander effect

• Diffusion of responsibility

Attitudes & Actions

• Cognitive dissonance (Festinger)

• Foot-in-the-door phenomenon

• Fundamental attribution error

• Self-serving bias

• Just-world phenomenon

Prejudice & Aggression

• Stereotype

• Prejudice

• Discrimination

• Frustration-aggression principle

MUST-KNOW VOCAB FOR MULTIPLE CHOICE

Frequently Tested Terms

• Neuroplasticity

• Circadian rhythm

• REM sleep

• Sleep apnea

• Hallucinations

• Parallel processing

• Prosocial behavior

• Reciprocity norm

• Learned helplessness

• Internal locus of control

• External locus of control

• Resilience

• Positive reinforcement

• Negative reinforcement

• Punishment

• Confirmation bias

• Availability heuristic

• Representative heuristic

• Overconfidence

• Framing

MUST-KNOW STUDIES

AP EXAM STRATEGIES

Multiple Choice

• Look for extreme wording (“always,” “never”)

• Eliminate obviously wrong answers first

• Identify what concept the question is actually testing

• Apply vocabulary directly

• Use process of elimination

FRQ Tips

Define

• Give clear textbook definition

Apply

• Connect directly to scenario

Explain

• State HOW/WHY the term connects

Avoid

• Vague wording

• Restating prompt only

• Using examples without explanation

QUICK MEMORY TRICKS

• SNS = Stress (sympathetic nervous system)

• Parasympathetic = Peaceful

• Broca = Broken speech

• Hippocampus = memory (“campus memories”)

• Amygdala = aggression/anxiety

• Acetylcholine = Alzheimer’s

• Dopamine = dopamine reward

• Variable ratio = gambling

• OCEAN = Big Five traits

HIGH-YIELD FRQ TERMS

These appear constantly:

• operant conditioning

• classical conditioning

• neurotransmitters

• conformity

• obedience

• cognitive dissonance

• reinforcement

• attachment

• memory retrieval

• hindsight bias

• prototype

• algorithm

• heuristic

• self-fulfilling prophecy

• circadian rhythm

• REM rebound

• stress

• learned helplessness

• locus of control

• split-brain research

• neurotransmission