Ap Psychology Note Cards

Front 1

Ablation

Back 1

When brain tissue is damaged during surgery

Front 2

Absolute Threshold

Back 2

The intensity level required to detect a stimulus 50% of the time

Front 3

Accommodation

Back 3

The process by which thought is modified in order to account for new information or the eye lens changes shape to modify focus on something near or far

Front 4

Acetylcholine (ACh)

Back 4

Neurotransmitter responsible for learning, memory, and muscle movement

Front 5

Achievement Test

Back 5

A test that assesses what someone learned

Front 6

Acquisition

Back 6

A process in classical conditioning by which the association of a neutral and natural stimulus is created

Front 7

Action Potential

Back 7

Process by which information is transmitted the length of an axon

Front 8

Activation Synthesis

Back 8

Theory that dreams are the result of the cerebral cortex interpreting and organizing random brain activity, originating in the lower brain structures, such as the pons

Front 9

Adrenal Gland

Back 9

Source of the hormone norepinephrine, which affects arousal

Front 10

Affective Disorders

Back 10

Psychological disturbances of mood

Front 11

After Image

Back 11

An image that remains after a stimulus is removed, generally with reversed colors

Front 12

Agonists

Back 12

Drugs that mimic the activity of neurotransmitters

Front 13

All or Nothing

Back 13

Description of the action of neurons when firing

Front 14

Alpha Waves

Back 14

Seen when an individual is relaxed, unfocused, yet awake

Front 15

Amygdala

Back 15

limbic system component associated with emotions, such as fear and anger

Front 16

Anal Stage

Back 16

Freud's psychosexual period where a child learns to contol his/hers bodily excretions

Front 17

Anorexia

Back 17

an eating disorder in which someone significantly underweight starves themselves

Front 18

Antagonist

Back 18

drug which blocks activity or neurotransmitters

Front 19

Anterograde Amnesia

Back 19

loss of memory for events that occur after the onset of amnesia

Front 20

Retrograde Amnesia

Back 20

less of memory of events that occurred prior to the onset of amnesia

Front 21

Antisocial Personality Disorder

Back 21

Psychological disorder in which one works with lack of conscience

Front 22

Anvil

Back 22

The middle of three ossicles (in the ear)

Front 23

Aphasia

Back 23

When language is impaired, usually after damage to left hemisphere

Front 24

Artificial Intelligence

Back 24

A subdiscipline of computer science working to simulate human thought

Front 25

Assimilation

Back 25

Interpreting new experiences within the context of existing schema

Front 26

Association Areas

Back 26

Areas of the cerebral cortex which have no specific responsibilities besides memory, thinking, and judgement

Front 27

Associative Learning

Back 27

Learning in which an one learns that certain events occur together

Front 28

Attribution Theory

Back 28

A way of explain behavior by disposition of one's situation

Front 29

Auditory Canal

Back 29

The are that sounds waves pass on the way to the ear drum

Front 30

Authoritarian

Back 30

Style of parenting in which the parent creates strict rules for the child

Front 31

Autonomic Nervous System

Back 31

Division of nervous system that controls the glands and organs; can arouse or calm

Front 32

Availability Heuristic

Back 32

The idea that events that are common tend to be more vivid in memory

Front 33

Axon

Back 33

Extension of the neuron that sends information to other neurons, muscles, or glands

Front 34

Babbling

Back 34

Stage of language development, around the 4 month mark, where an infant utters nonsensical sounds

Front 35

Basic Research

Back 35

Scientific investigations intended to expand the knowledge bade

Front 36

Applied Research

Back 36

Scientific investigations intended to solve practical problems

Front 37

Behavioral

Back 37

Perspective on psychology that sees psychology as an objective science

Front 38

Belief Perseverance

Back 38

Situation in which someone continues to believe in something even after being disproved

Front 39

Binocular Cues

Back 39

Retinal disparity and convergence which enable people to determine depth with both eyes

Front 40

Biological

Back 40

Perspective that links biology and behavior

Front 41

Bipolar Cells

Back 41

Eye neurons that receive info from the retinal cells and distribute info to the ganglion cells

Front 42

Blind Spot

Back 42

Point in the retinal where the optic nerve leaves the retina

Front 43

bottom-up processing

Back 43

analysis that begins with sensory receptors and works its way up to the brain's integration of sensory information

Front 44

hemispheres

Back 44

hemispheres we have two, right and left, and some brain functions seem to centered in one or the other

Front 45

brainstem

Back 45

oldest part of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells upon entering the skull; controls fundamental survival processes like heartrate and breathing

Front 46

bulimia

Back 46

eating disorder characterized by excessive eating followed by purging

Front 47

bystander effect

Back 47

the tendency to not offer help when needed if others are present who do not offer help

Front 48

Cannon-Baird

Back 48

theory of emotion that says that a stimulus causes simultaneously psyiological arousal and the subjective experience of an emotion

Front 49

case study

Back 49

scientific investigation in which a single subject is studied in great detail

Front 50

CAT scan

Back 50

a method of creating static images of the brain through computerized axial tomography

Front 51

catatonic

Back 51

a form of schizophrenia in which the patient has muscle immobility and does not move

Front 52

catharsis

Back 52

release of aggressive energy through activity or fantasy

Front 53

Central Nervous System

Back 53

consists of the brain and the spinal cord

Front 54

cerebellum

Back 54

brain structure that controls well-learned motor activities like riding a bike

Front 55

cerebral cortex

Back 55

the fabric of interconnecting cells that blankets the brain hemispheres; the brain's center for information processing and control

Front 56

chaining

Back 56

using operant conditioning to teach a complex response by linking together less complex skills

Front 57

chunking

Back 57

organizing units of information into manageable units such as memorizing a phone number as three groups of information

Front 58

circadian rhythm

Back 58

the daily biological rhythms that occur in a 24-hour period

Front 59

classical conditioning

Back 59

method of learning in which a neutral stimulus can be used to elicit a response that is usually a natural response to a stimulus

Front 60

client-centered therapy

Back 60

developed by Carl Rogers, this humanistic therapy includes unconditional positive regard

Front 61

clinical

Back 61

this type of psychologist studies, assesses and treats those with psychological disorders

Front 62

cochlea

Back 62

this coiled structure in the inner ear is fluid-filled and in it the energy from sound waves stimulate hair cells

Front 63

cognitive dissonance theory

Back 63

this says that we will suffer discomfort and act to change the situation when our thoughts and actions seem to be inconsistent

Front 64

cognitive

Back 64

perspective on psychology that stresses the importance of mental activities associated with thinking, remembering, etc

Front 65

cognitive therapy

Back 65

treatment for psychological disorders that centers on changing self-defeating thinking

Front 66

collective unconscious

Back 66

Jung's theory that we all share an inherited memory that contains our culture's most basic elements

Front 67

color blindness

Back 67

a variety of disorders marked by inability to distinguish some or all colors

Front 68

collectivist

Back 68

this adjective describes cultures in which the individual is less important than the group

Front 69

concrete operations

Back 69

Piaget's stage in which children learn such concepts as conservation and mathematical transformations; about 7 -11 years of age

Front 70

concurrent validity

Back 70

the extent to which two measures of the same trait or ability agree

Front 71

conditioned response

Back 71

in classical conditioning, the response elicited by the conditioned stimulus

Front 72

conditioning

Back 72

generally, learning in which certain experiences make certain behaviors more or less likely; there are two forms of this

Front 73

conduction

Back 73

one type of hearing impairment caused by mechanical problems in the ear structures

Front 74

cones

Back 74

neurons in the retina that are responsible for color vision

Front 75

confirmation bias

Back 75

a tendency to search for information that supports one's preconceptions

Front 76

conformity

Back 76

adjusting behavior to meet a group's standard

Front 77

confounding variable

Back 77

extraneous factor that interferes with the action of the independent variable on the dependent variable

Front 78

consciousness

Back 78

one's awareness of one's environment and oneself.

Front 79

consummate love

Back 79

includes passion, intimacy and committment

Front 80

control group

Back 80

subjects in an experiment who do not receive application of the independent variable but are measured nonetheless for the dependent variable

Front 81

convergent thinking

Back 81

a type of critical thinking in which one evaluates existing possible solutions to a problem to choose the best one

Front 82

cornea

Back 82

the transparent outer covering of the eye

Front 83

corpus callosum

Back 83

the fibers that connect the right and left hemispheres, enabling them to communicate

Front 84

correlation

Back 84

the degree of relationship between two variables

Front 85

correlation coefficient

Back 85

a positive one near 1.0 indicates two variable are positively related; a negative number indicates a negative relationship; zero indicates no relationship

Front 86

cross-sectional

Back 86

type of study that measures a variable across several age groups at the same time

Front 87

debriefing

Back 87

giving participants in a research study a complete explanation of the study after the study is completed

Front 88

defense mechanisms

Back 88

Freud's processes by which individuals express uncomfortable emotions in disguised ways

Front 89

deindividuation

Back 89

when an individual seems to lose himself or herself in the group's identity

Front 90

deinstitutionalization

Back 90

moving people with psychological or developmental disabilities from highly structured institutions to home- or community-based settings

Front 91

delta waves

Back 91

largest brain waves, associated with deep, dreamless sleep

Front 92

delusion

Back 92

irrational, highly improbable belief

Front 93

dendrite

Back 93

a branch off the cell body of a neuron that receives new information from other neurons

Front 94

denial

Back 94

a defense mechanism in which unpleasant thought or desires are ignored or excluded from consciousness

Front 95

dependent variable

Back 95

the variable that the experimenter measures at the end of the experiment

Front 96

depressant

Back 96

any agent that reduces the activity of the CNS

Front 97

depth perception

Back 97

an ability that we exercise by using both monocular and binocular cues

Front 98

difference threshold

Back 98

also called the jnd; smallest distinction between two stimuli that can consistently be detected

Front 99

diffusion of responsibility

Back 99

reduction in sense of responsibility often felt by individuals in a group; may be responsible for the bystander effect

Front 100

discrimination

Back 100

treating members of different races, religions, ethnic groups differently; usually associated with prejudice

Front 101

displacement

Back 101

defense mechanism in which unwanted feelings are directed towards a different object

Front 102

dispositional

Back 102

attribution assuming that another's behavior is due to personality factors, not situational ones

Front 103

dissociative identity disorder

Back 103

also called multiple personality disorder

Front 104

dissociative fugue disorder

Back 104

in which one travels away from home and is unable to remember details of his past, including often his identity

Front 105

divergent thinking

Back 105

a type of creative thinking in which one generates new solutions to problems

Front 106

dopamine

Back 106

a neurotransmitter that is associated with Parkinson's disease (too little of it) and schizophrenia (too much of it)

Front 107

double blind

Back 107

this term describes an experiment in which neither the subjects nor the experimenter knows whether a subject is a member of the experimental group or the control group

Front 108

dreams

Back 108

occur most often during REM sleep; may be caused by activation-synthesis, or may be a way of cementing memories

Front 109

drive reduction theory

Back 109

that claims that behavior is driven by a desire to lessen drives resulting from needs that disrupt homeostasis

Front 110

DSM

Back 110

initials of the American Psychiatric Association's book that lists diagnostic criteria for many psychological disorders

Front 111

dyslexia

Back 111

a learning disability that results in difficulty reading and writing

Front 112

eardrum

Back 112

also called the tympanic membrane

Front 113

echoic

Back 113

term that describes memory of sounds

Front 114

EEG

Back 114

initials of a method of representation of brain waves

Front 115

ego

Back 115

the Latin for "I"; in Freud's theories, the mediator between the demands of the id and the superego

Front 116

egocentrism

Back 116

in a toddler, the belief that others perceive the world in the same way that he or she does

Front 117

Electra complex

Back 117

counterpart to the Oedipus complex for females

Front 118

electroconvulsive therapy

Back 118

a treatment in which low level electric current is passed through the brain

Front 119

embryo

Back 119

early stage of human development, when cells have begun to differentiate

Front 120

emotion theories

Back 120

James-Lange, Cannon-Baird and Singer-Schachter are three

Front 121

encoding

Back 121

conversion of sensory information into a form that can be retained as a memory

Front 122

endocrine system

Back 122

the slow messenger system of the body; produces hormones that affect many bodily functions

Front 123

endorphins

Back 123

neurotransmitters that give one a feeling of well-being, euphoria or eliminate pain

Front 124

episodic

Back 124

describes a type of memory that includes specific events that one has personally experienced

Front 125

evolutionary

Back 125

perspective that stresses the value of behavior in Darwinian terms

Front 126

experiment

Back 126

form of scientific investigation in which one variable is tested to determine its effect on another

Front 127

experimental

Back 127

group subjects in an experiment to whom the independent variable is administered

Front 128

explicit

Back 128

term that describes memories that can be consciously recalled

Front 129

external locus of control

Back 129

this term describes what you have if your behaviors are driven mainly by outside forces

Front 130

extinction

Back 130

in classical conditioning, the process of eliminating the previously acquired association of the conditioned stimulus and conditioned response

Front 131

extraversion

Back 131

one of the Big 5, a personality trait orients one's interests toward the outside world and other people, rather than inward

Front 132

extrinsic

Back 132

term that describes motivations that drive behavior in order to gain rewards from outside forces

Front 133

false consensus

Back 133

a belief that others share the same opinion about something, when actually most don't

Front 134

feature detection

Back 134

the ability of the brain to identify specific components of visual stimuli such as corners or edges

Front 135

fetal alcohol syndrome

Back 135

sometimes the result in a child of the mother's excessive drinking while pregnant, characterized by low birth weight, facial abnormalities, mental retardation

Front 136

fetus

Back 136

a stage in human development extending from about ten weeks after conception to birth

Front 137

figure-ground

Back 137

refers to our ability to distinguish foreground from background in visual images

Front 138

fixed interval

Back 138

describes the schedule of reinforcement wherein a worker receives a paycheck every Friday

Front 139

fixed ratio

Back 139

describes a schedule of reinforcement wherein a worker is paid for a certain sum for each product produced

Front 140

flashbulb

Back 140

term describes a vivid memory of a personally significant and emotionalevent

Front 141

fluid

Back 141

term describes a type of intelligence used to cope with novel situations and problems

Front 142

crystallized

Back 142

term describes a type of intelligence which applies cultural knowledge to solving problems

Front 143

foot-in-the-door

Back 143

term describes a phenomenon in which people who agree to a small request are more likely to later agree to a larger request

Front 144

formal operations

Back 144

One of Piaget's stages; includes the ability to use abstract thinking

Front 145

fovea

Back 145

the central focus area of the retina

Front 146

frequency

Back 146

theory of hearing which states that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the tone's frequency

Front 147

functional fixedness

Back 147

the tendency to think about things only in terms of their usual uses; can be a hindrance to creative thinking

Front 148

functionalism

Back 148

William James's school of thought that stressed the adaptive and survival value of behavior

Front 149

fundamental attribution error

Back 149

tendency to attribute others' behavior to their dispositions and our own behaviors to our situations

Front 150

ganglion cells

Back 150

their axons form the optic nerve

Front 151

general adaptation syndrome

Back 151

Seyle's concept that the body responds to stress with alarm, resistance and exhaustion

Front 152

generativity vs. stagnation

Back 152

Erikson's stage of social development in which middle-aged people begin to devote themselves more to fulfilling one's potential and doing public service

Front 153

gene

Back 153

made of DNA, it is the basic building block of heredity

Front 154

genital stage

Back 154

Freud's stage of psychosexual development when adult sexuality is prominent

Front 155

gestalt

Back 155

German word for "whole", it refers to our tendency to perceive incomplete figures as complete

Front 156

glial cell

Back 156

this acts as a support system for neurons

Front 157

grammar

Back 157

a system of rules in a language

Front 158

social norm

Back 158

a group's determination of socially acceptable behavior

Front 159

group polarization

Back 159

tendency of group members to move to an extreme position after discussing an issue as a group

Front 160

groupthink

Back 160

tendency for group members to think alike with certainty of correctness, biased perceptions of outgroup members, and generally defective decision-making processes

Front 161

hallucination

Back 161

a false sensory perception that seems to be real but for which there is not an actual external stimulus

Front 162

hallucinogen

Back 162

a substance capable of producing a sensory effect in the absence of real external sensory stimuli

Front 163

heritability

Back 163

the extent to which differences in a group of a characteristic is due to genetics, not environment

Front 164

heuristic

Back 164

a useful, but unprovable, cognitive shortcut, such as a "rule of thumb"

Front 165

hierarchy of needs

Back 165

Maslow's theory of the most important motivations people have

Front 166

hindsight bias

Back 166

the tendency, after an event occurs, to overestimate the likelihood that an event could have been predicted

Front 167

hippocampus

Back 167

limbic system component associated with memory

Front 168

homeostasis

Back 168

the steady, stable state that is the body's regulatory processes try to maintain

Front 169

hormone

Back 169

chemical substance secreted by endocrine glands that affect body processes

Front 170

humanist

Back 170

perspective in psychology that stresses the goodness of people and their possibility of reaching their fullest potential

Front 171

hunger

Back 171

it is regulated by the lateral hypothalamus and the ventromedial hypothalamus

Front 172

hypnosis

Back 172

a social interaction in which one person suggests to another that certain events or emotions will occur

Front 173

hypochondriasis

Back 173

a disorder characterized by an unreasonable fear that one has a serious disease

Front 174

hypothalamus

Back 174

limbic system component that regulates hunger, body temperature and other functions

Front 175

hypothesis

Back 175

a prediction of how the an experiment will turn out

Front 176

iconic

Back 176

term that describes the memory of images

Front 177

id

Back 177

in Freud's conception, the repository of the basic urges toward sex and agression

Front 178

identity vs. role confusion

Back 178

Erikson's stage during which teenagers and young adults search for and become their true selves

Front 179

imprinting

Back 179

evidence of critical period in some animals; they follow the first moving thing they see after hatching

Front 180

in-group bias

Back 180

tendency to favor one's own group over other groups

Front 181

incentive

Back 181

an external stimulus that tends to encourage behavior

Front 182

independent

Back 182

type of variable manipulated by the experimenter

Front 183

individualist

Back 183

culture in which the individual is valued more highly than the group

Front 184

industry vs. inferiority

Back 184

Erikson's stage between 6 and 11 years, when the child learns to be productive

Front 185

inferiority complex

Back 185

Adler's conception of a basic feeling of inadequacy stemming from childhood experiences

Front 186

information processing

Back 186

humans accomplish this either in parallel (unconsciously) or in serial fashion (consciously)

Front 187

informed consent

Back 187

agreement to participate in psychology research, after being appraised of the dangers and benefits of the research

Front 188

initiative vs guilt

Back 188

Erikson's third stage in which the child finds independence in planning, playing and other activities

Front 189

insanity

Back 189

a legal term describing one's inability to be responsible for one's action due to the condition of the mind

Front 190

insight

Back 190

in psychoanalysis, the basic understanding one develops of the underlying sources of emotion or behavioral difficulty

Front 191

insomnia

Back 191

inability to fall asleep or remain asleep long enough for sufficient rest

Front 192

instinct

Back 192

a complex pattern of behavior that is fixed across a species

Front 193

integrity vs despair

Back 193

Erikson's final stage in which those near the end of life look back and evaluate their lives

Front 194

Intelligence

Back 194

the ability to learn from experience, to use information, to understand things

Front 195

IQ

Back 195

the average is 100; there are many definitions of this attribute, including multiple and crystallized

Front 196

internal locus of control

Back 196

people with this tned to respond to internal states and desires; they tend to see their successes as the result of their own efforts

Front 197

interneurons

Back 197

cells in the spinal cord through which reflexes travel without going to the brain

Front 198

interposition

Back 198

monocular visual cue in which two objects are in the same line of vision and one patially conceals the other, indicating that the first object concealed is further away

Front 199

intimacy vs isolation

Back 199

Erikson's stage in which individuals form deeply personal relationships, marry, begin families

Front 200

intrinsic

Back 200

term that describes motivations that derive from one's interest in the object of the motivation, rather than from rewards that one might gain