Ap Psychology Exam

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psychology

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study of behavior and the mind

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behavior

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natural process subject to natural laws, refers to the observable actions of a person or an animal

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mind

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sensations, memories, motives, emotions, thoughts, and other subjective phenomena particular to an individual or animal that are not readily observed

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dualism

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division of the world and all things in it into two parts: body and spirit

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Rene Descartes

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believed that the physical world is not under divine influence but rather follows a set of observable laws or rules

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pineal gland

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located deep within the brain at the top of the brain stem

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John Locke

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extended Descarte's application of natural laws to all things, believing that even the mind is under the control of such laws

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empiricism

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acquisition of truth through observations and experiences

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"Essay Concerning Human Understanding"

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Locke proposed that humans are born knowing nothing

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tabula rasa

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All knowledge that we have must be learned; nothing is innate

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Thomas Hobbes

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Believed that the idea of a soul or spirit, or even of a mind, is meaningless

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Charles Darwin

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Proposed the theory of natural selection

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"Origin of Species"

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Book about natural selection

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natural selection

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All creatures have evolved into their present state over long periods of time

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Evolutionary theory

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Set the stage for psychology by establishing behavior as important and observable, and therefore, subject to scientific scrutiny

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Wilhelm Wundt

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Credited as the founder of the science of psychology

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Edward Titchener

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Was a student in Wundt's laboratory and was one of the first to bring the science of psychology to the United States

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Structuralism

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Concerned with the structure of the mind and its parts

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William James

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An American psychologist who opposed the structuralist approach

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Functionalism

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Concerned with how the mind fulfills its purpose

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Biological psychology

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Field of psychology that seeks to understand the interactions between anatomy and physiology and behavior

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Behaviorism

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Study of observable behavior

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Classical conditioning

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Identified by Ivan Pavlov and was one of the behaviorists' most important early findings

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John Watson

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Applied classical conditioning to humans in the famed Little Albert experiment

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B.F. Skinner

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Behaviorist who described operant conditioning

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operant conditioning

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a subject learns that a behavioral response will have an environmental outcome

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behavior modification

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a set of techniques in which psychological problems are considered to be the product of learned habits, which can be unlearned by the application of behavioral methods

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Cognitive psychology

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An approach rooted in the idea that to understand people's behavior, we must first understand how they construe their environment- in other words, how they think

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Humanistic approach

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Rooted in the philosophical tradition of studying the roles of consciousness, free will, and awareness of the human condition

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Abraham Maslow

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Proposed the idea of self-actualization

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self-actualization

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the need for individuals to reach their full potential in a creative way

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Carl Rogers

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Stressed the role of the positive interaction (unconditional love) between the mother and the child as critical for self-actualization

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Sigmund Freud

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Developed a theory of human behavior known as psychoanalytic theory

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psychoanalytic theory

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Stresses the importance of early life in the development of personality

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consciousness

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mental state of awareness to which we have ready access

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unconscious

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mental processes to which we do not normally have access

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psychodynamic

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Theories developed by recent psychologists based on psychoanalysis

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experiment

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an investigation seeking to understand relations of cause and effect

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independent variable

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manipulated variable

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dependent variable

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Variable of what is measured

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experimental group

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group receiving or reacting to the independent variable

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control group

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group that does not receive the independent variable

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population

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specific group being studied

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sample

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Part of the population that may be drawn to represent the population

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group matching

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tries to insure that the characteristics of the experimental and control groups are similar

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single blind design

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subjects do not know whether they are in the control or experimental group

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double blind design

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neither the subjects nor the researcher know who is in the two groups

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correlational research

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Involves assessing the degree of association between two or more attributes or characteristics of interest that occur naturally

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clinical research

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Often takes the form of case studies

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descriptive statistics

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summarize data

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inferential statistics

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Allow researchers to test hypotheses about data and to determine how confident they can be in their inferences about the data

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central tendency

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Characterize the typical value in a set of data

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mean

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arithmetic average of a set of numbers

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mode

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most frequently occurring value in the data set

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median

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number that falls exactly in the middle of a distribution of numbers

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variability

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refers to how much the numbers in the set differ from each other

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standard deviation

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Measures a function of the average dispersion of numbers around the mean and is a commonly used measure of variability

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percentile

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Expresses the standing of one score relative to all other scores in a set of data

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correlation coefficient

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statistic that shows how the attributes we are studying relate to one another

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Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient

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a descriptive statistic that describes the linear relationship between two attributes

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representative

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the sample reflects the characteristics of the population as a whole

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null hypothesis

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states that a treatment had no effect in an experiment

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alternative hypothesis

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states that the treatment did have an effect

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Type I error

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a difference exists when in fact this difference does not exist

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Type II error

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there is no difference when in fact there is a difference

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p-value

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probability of making a Type I error

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Stanley Milgram

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Conducted obedience experiments in which he convinced participants that they were administering painful electric shocks to other participants, when, in fact, no shocks were given

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informed consent

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agree to participate in the study after they've been told what their participation entails

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applied psychology

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psychology put directly into practice

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basic psychology

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psychology that is grounded in research

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EEG

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Measures subtle changes in brain electrical activity through electrodes placed on the head

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CAT scans

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Generate cross-sectional images of the brain through an X-ray like technique

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MRI

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Generates more highly detailed pictures of the brain

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PET scans

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techniques that allow scientists to view the brain as it is working

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nervous system

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can be divided into two distinct sub-systems

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central nervous system

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comprising the brain and the spinal cord

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peripheral nervous system

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comprising all other nerves in the body

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afferents

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nerves sending information to the brain

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efferents

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nerves conveying information from the brain

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reflexes

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quick and involuntary responses to environmental stimuli

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somatic nervous system

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responsible for voluntary movement of large skeletal muscles

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autonomic nervous system

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controls the nonskeletal or smooth muscles, such as those of the heart and digestive tract

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sympathetic nervous system

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associated with processes that burn energy

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fight or flight reaction

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heightened state of physiological arousal

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parasympathetic nervous system

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responsible for conserving energy

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hippocampus

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involved in learning and memory formation

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anterograde amnesia

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prevents the formation of new memories

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limbic system

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area of the brain involved in learning, emotion, and memory

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hypothalamus

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controls the temperature and water balance of the body

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thalamus

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gateway for most of the sensory input to the brain

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neural projections

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paths of neurons that extend from one area of the brain to another

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cerebral cortex

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involved in higher cognitive functions, such as thinking, planning, language use, and fine motor control

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midbrain

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the location of the reticular activating system, a network of neurons responsible for consciousness, attention, sleeping, and wakefulness

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brain stem

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junction between the brain and the spinal cord

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hindbrain

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made up of the cerebellum, medulla oblongata, and the pons

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cerebellum

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controls muscle tone and balance

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medulla oblongata

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controls heart rate, swallowing, breathing, and digestion

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pons

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a way station, passing neural information from one brain area to another

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cerebral hemispheres

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two symmetrical-looking sides of the brain

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corpus callosum

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dense band of nerves that join the two hemispheres of the brain

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contralateral

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input from receptors on the left side of the body transmit information to the right cerebral hemisphere

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ipsilateral

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input from same side of body is transmitted to same side of brain

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Paul Broca

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observed that the left hemisphere of the brain is typically specialized for language processing

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aphasia

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loss of speaking ability due to brain damage to the left hemisphere

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Roger Sperry

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Demonstrated that the two hemispheres can operate independently of each other by performing split brain experiments, in which the corpus callosum is cut

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frontal lobe

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responsible for higher level thought and reasoning

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parietal lobe

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handles somatosensory information

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temporal lobe

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handles auditory input and is critical for processing speech and appreciating music

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occipital lobe

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processes visual input

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apraxia

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inability to organize movement

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agnosia

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difficulty in processing sensory input

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alexia

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inability to read

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nerves

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bundles of neurons

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neurons

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basic unit of the nervous system

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soma

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clearly defined, nucleated cell body

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dendrites

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receive input from other neurons through receptors on their surface

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axon hillock

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where the cell body joins with the axon

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axon

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long, tube-like structure that responds to input from the dendrites and soma

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myelin sheath

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serves as insulation for the electrical impulses carried down the axon and also speeds up the rate at which electrical information travels down the axon

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nodes of Ranvier

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small gaps between the myelin sheath that help speed up neural transmission

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terminal buttons

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knobs on the branched end of the axon

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neurotransmitters

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chemical messengers that are released by terminal buttons across the synapse, where they bind with receptors on subsequent dendrites

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action potential

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the neuron "fires", causing the permeability of the cell membrane to change, which permits electrically-charged ions to enter the cell

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enzymes

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break down neurotransmitters after they have been released and have conducted the impulse to the next cell or cells

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reuptake

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process by which neurotransmitters are absorbed back into the cell that released it

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acetylcholine

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neurotransmitter that affects memory function, as well as muscle contraction, particularly in the heart

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serotonin

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neurotransmitter which is related to arousal, sleep, pain sensitivity, and mood and hunger regulation

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dopamine

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neurotransmitter which is associated with movement, attention, and reward

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endocrine system

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provides another way by which various parts of our bodies relay information to one another

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pituitary gland

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known as the master gland and releases hormones, which in turn control hormonal release by many other glands

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adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)

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hormone released by the pituitary gland during stressful situations, which stimulates the adrenal glands

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adrenal glands

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secrete epinephrine and norepinephrine

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epinephrine

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adrenaline

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norepinephrine

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noradrenaline

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thyroid gland

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located at the front of the neck and produces thyroxine

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thyroxine

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hormone important for regulating cellular metabolism

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traits

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distinctive characteristics or behavior patterns that are determined by genetics

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dominant trait

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trait more likely to be expressed in offspring

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recessive trait

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trait less likely to be expressed in offspring

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genotype

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comprises all of the possible combinations of genes

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phenotype

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the observable result

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nature vs. nurture debate

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controversy concerned with the relative influences of genetics and environment

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Down's syndrome

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occurs when there is a break in the 21st chromosomal pair and generally causes some degree of mental retardation

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Huntington's Chorea

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genetic disorder that results in muscle impairment that does not typically occur until after age 40

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sensation

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relationship between physical stimulation and its psychological effects

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perception

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how we recognize, interpret, and organize our sensations

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absolute threshold

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the level of stimulation that is right on our perceptual borderline

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Signal Detection Theory (SDT)

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approach to measuring detection thresholds

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Hit

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the signal was present, and the participant reported sensing it

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Miss

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the signal was present, but the participant did not sense it