AP Psychology
Barron’s
Vocabulary
Review
Mr. Biggs
Exam 1
Ex post facto study
Experimental research is impossible and
there are independent variables that
cannot be manipulated.
Exam 1
Z scores
A measure of the distance of a score from
the mean in units of standard deviation.
Exam 1
Skewed distribution
An unsymmetrical distribution possibly
caused by outliers.
Exam 1
Confounding variables
Differences between the experimental
and control condition affecting the
dependent variable.
Exam 1
Outliers
Extreme scores that cause distributions
to be unsymmetrical or skewed.
Exam 1
Histograms
Graphing findings into a bar graph.
Exam 1
Negatively skewed distribution
An unsymmetrical distribution caused by
the mean being lower than the median.
Exam 1
Democritus
A philosopher who theorized about the
relationship between thought and
behavior.
Exam 1
Order effect
Occurs when subjects perform better on
a second test because they already took a
similar one.
Exam 1
Eclecticism
Belief that most psychologists draw from
multiple perspectives.
Exam 1
P value
Percentage possibility that results
occurred by chance.
Exam 1
Counterbalancing
Having half of the subjects do something
while the others do something else, then
switch.
Exam 1
Trephination
Stone Age humans carving holes through
the skull to release evil spirits.
Exam 1
Operationalize
The explanation of how a researcher will
measure a variable.
Exam 2
Babinski reflex
When a baby’s foot is stroked, he or she
will spread their toes.
Exam 2
Myelinated
Motor control develops as neurons in our
brain connect with one another.
Exam 2
Generativity versus stagnation
Erikson’s stage where we try to ensure our
lives are going the way we want them to
go.
Exam 2
Moro reflex
A startled baby flings arms, retracts them
and makes themselves as small as
possible.
Exam 2
Industry versus inferiority
Erikson’s stage regarding the beginning of
our formal education where work is
evaluated.
Exam 2
Autonomy versus shame and doubt
Erikson’s stage where toddlers attempt to
control themselves and others.
Exam 2
Trust versus mistrust
Erikson’s stage where new babies learn to
trust their caregivers.
Exam 2
Intimacy versus isolation
Erikson’s stage where we discover the
difference between a platonic and
romantic relationship.
Exam 2
Ambivalent attachments
Infants that resist being comforted by
their parents.
Exam 2
Newborn senses
Humans are born with their sensory
apparatus, but some senses differ from
adults.
Exam 3
Deoxyribonucleic acid
The genetic material that makes up
chromosomes. (DNA)
Exam 3
Chromosomal abnormality
When chromosomes occasionally combine
(or fail to) in an unusual way.
Exam 3
Broca’s area
Area of the brain located in the frontal
lobe and motor cortex that controls the
muscles involved in producing speech.
Exam 3
Turner’s syndrome
Babies born with only a single X
chromosome in the spot usually occupied
by the 23rd pair. (webbed neck)
Exam 3
Afferent neurons
Take information from the senses to the
brain. (Sensory neurons)
Exam 3
Wernicke’s area
Area of the brain located in the temporal
lobe and sensory cortex that interprets
written and spoken speech.
Exam 3
Fissures
Another name for the wrinkles of the
cerebral cortex.
Exam 3
Interneurons
Take information from the spinal cord and
sends them elsewhere in the brain.
Exam 3
Computerized axial tomography
An X-ray scan that can show only the
structure of the brain, not the functions or
activity.
Exam 3
Soma
Another name for the cell body that
contains the nucleus and other parts of the
cell.
Exam 3
Klinefelter’s syndrome
Babies born with an extra X chromosome,
resulting in an XXY pattern. (extreme
introversion)
Exam 3
Neuroanatomy
Refers to the study of the parts and
function of neurons.
Exam 3
Pons
Connects the hindbrain to the forebrain
and is involved in the control of facial
expressions.
Exam 3
Terminal buttons
Another name for the synaptic knobs that
are the branched ends of the axon that
contain neurotransmitters.
Exam 4
Energy senses
Gathering energy in the form of light,
sound waves, and pressure (Not chemical
or movement).
Exam 4
Optic chiasm
The spot where the optic nerves cross
each other.
Exam 4
Incus
Anvil.
Exam 4
Malleus
Hammer.
Exam 4
Papillae
Bumps on one’s tongue where the taste
buds are located.
Exam 4
Stapes
Stirrup.
Exam 4
Lateral geniculate nucleus
The optic nerve sends impulses to a
specific region in the thalamus, then
routes them to the visual cortex.
Exam 4
Tympanic membrane
Eardrum.
Exam 4
Backmasking
Supposed hidden messages musicians
recorded backward in their music.
Exam 4
Organ of corti
Neurons activated by movement of the
hair cells on the lower membrane of the
cochlea.
Exam 5
Garcia effect
Vomiting after drinking eggnog and later
feeling nauseous at the sight of eggnog.
(Learned Taste Aversion)
Exam 5
Yerkes-Dodson law
Individuals have different needs for
excitement and are motivated by activities
that will help achieve that level.
Exam 5
Love needs
Desire to be accepted and belong.
Exam 5
Alarm reaction
GAS theory regarding how an organism
readies itself to meet a challenge by
activating its sympathetic nervous system.
Exam 5
Readjustment rating scale
Measures stress using life-changing units;
scoring high likely leads to stress-related
diseases.
Exam 5
General adaptation syndrome
Seyle’s description of the general
response animals have to stressful events.
Exam 6
Delayed conditioning
Presenting a CS first and then introducing
the UCS while the CS is still evident.
(order and timing)
Exam 6
Protected sleep
Belief that our ego protects us from
material in the unconscious mind by
presenting repressed desires in the form of
symbols.
Exam 6
Salient
Stimuli that are easily noticeable.
Exam 6
Activation-synthesis theory
Theory proposing that dreams are the
brain’s interpretation of what is happening
physiologically during REM sleep.
Exam 6
Paradoxical sleep
Stage of sleep characterized by REM
sleep where our brain waves appear as
active as when we are awake.
Exam 6
Codeine
Powerful painkiller similar in chemical
structure to opium usually prescribed for
pain relief.
Exam 6
Equipotentiality
The idea that any animal can be taught
any response.
Exam 6
Psilocybin
A naturally occurring hallucinogen found
in over one hundred species of
mushrooms.
Exam 6
Methadone
Powerful painkiller similar in chemical
structure to opium used for the treatment
of narcotic withdrawl.
Exam 6
Somnambulism
Sleepwalking.
Exam 6
Blind sight
Ability of blind people to describe the
path of a moving object or grasp objects
they say they cannot see.
Exam 6
Omission training
The withdraw of a desirable stimulus.
(negative punishment)
Exam 6
Monism
The belief that everything (thought and
matter) are aspects of the same substance.
Exam 6
Peyote
A small cactus that causes hallucinations
when ingested.
Exam 6
Instinctive drift
The tendency for animals to forgo
rewards to pursue their typical patterns of
behavior.
Exam 6
Second order conditioning
Once a CS elicits a CR, it is possible to
use that CS as a UCS in order to
condition a response to a new stimulus.
Exam 6
Dualism
The belief that humans consist of two
materials: thought (nonmaterial aspects)
and matter (substance).
Exam 6
Agonists
Drugs that mimic neurotransmitters.
Exam 6
Role theory
Idea that hypnosis is not an alternate state
of consciousness because some people are
more easily hypnotized than others.
Exam 6
Anxiolytic
Depressant also known as a tranquilizer.
Exam 7
Divergent thinking
Thinking that searches for multiple
possible answers to a question.
Exam 7
Levels of processing model
Two types of processing: shallow (encode
by repetition) deep. (encode context and
reasons)
Exam 7
Recency effect
Our ability to recall the items at the end of
a list.
Exam 7
Anterograde amnesia
Type of memory failure where people
cannot encode new memories due to
damage to the hippocampus.
Exam 7
Rigidity
Impediment to problem solving where one
has the tendency to fall into established
thought patterns. (mental set)
Exam 7
Three-box model
Information-processing example that
includes: sensory memory, short-term
memory, and long-term memory.
Exam 7
Linguistic relativity hypothesis
Theory stating that the language we use
might control, and in some ways limit, our
thinking.
Exam 7
Recovered memory
Type of memory that may be constructed
or false recollections of events.
Exam 8
Cognitive triad
Beck’s theory that depression results from
negative ideas about ourselves, our world
and our future.
Exam 8
Preventative efforts
Treatment of psychological problems
proactively (eg – counseling following a
traumatic event).
Exam 8
Neologisms
Disorganized schizophrenics that make up
their own words.
Exam 8
Clang associations
Disorganized schizophrenics that string
together a series of nonsense words that
rhyme.
Exam 8
Paraphilias
Person who has a sexual attraction to an
object, person or activity.
Exam 8
Thorazine
Drug treatment for schizophrenics that
blocks dopamine receptor sites.
Exam 8
Somatoform disorders
Disorder occurring when a person
manifests a psychological problem
through a physiological symptom.
Exam 8
Flat affect
Disorganized schizophrenics who
consistently have no emotional response at
all.
Exam 8
Benzodiazepines
A main type of antianxiety drug that
includes Xanax and Valium.
Exam 8
Galen
A Roman who believed psychological
illnesses were influenced by biological
factors and could be treated.
Exam 8
Extinguished
The thought of a former anxiety arousing
stimulus without any current anxiety.
Exam 8
Trephination
A treatment where holes are drilled in a
living person’s skull to let harmful spirits
escape.
Exam 8
Hypochondriasis
Type of somatoform disorder where
people seek medical attention for physical
ailments with no apparent causes.
Exam 8
In vivo desensitization
The confrontation of actual items on the
anxiety hierarchy.
Exam 8
Tricyclic antidepressants
A common type of drug used to treat
unipolar depression that was largely
replaced by SSRIs.
Exam 8
Waxy flexibility
Catatonic schizophrenics that allow their
body to be moved then hold the new pose.
Exam 8
Psychogenic amnesia
People who cannot remember things and
have no physiological basis for the
disruption of their memories.
Exam 8
Labels, influence of,
Rosenhan study where healthy people
posed as schizophrenics in a hospital and
were never discovered.
Exam 8
Voyeur
Person who is sexually aroused by
watching others engage in sexual
behavior.
Exam 8
Monoamine oxidase inhibitors
A classic antidepressant that prevents the
breakdown of monoamines.
Exam 8
Lithium
A light metal (salt) used to treat the manic
phase of bipolar disorder.
Exam 8
Tardive dyskinesia
A side effect of antipsychotic drugs
characterized by muscle tremors and
stiffness.
Exam 8
Insane
A legal term, not a medical term,
describing people with psychological
disorders.
Exam 8
Masochist
Person who is aroused by having pain
inflicted on themselves.
Exam 8
Sadist
Person who is aroused by having pain
inflicted on someone else.
Exam 8
Miltown
A commercial name for an antianxiety
barbiturate.
Exam 9
Concurrent validity
A measure of how much of a
characteristic a person has now.
Exam 9
Split-half reliability
Randomly dividing a test into two
different sections and then correlating
people’s performances on the two halves.
Exam 9
Power tests
A measure used to gauge the difficulty
level of problems an individual can solve.
Exam 9
WPPSI
A measure of intelligence given to
children as young as 4.
Exam 9
Construct validity
An existing independent measure
containing perfect validity that is
compared against current performance.
Exam 9
Test-retest reliability
Comparison of the correlation of a
person’s score on one test to the score on
a subsequent test.
Exam 9
With-in group differences
Comparison of the differences within a
testing group to the differences between
testing groups.
Exam 9
Equivalent form reliability
A variety of tests that have been tested to
ensure equivalent reliability.
Exam 10
Persona
Jung’s collective unconscious archetype
that represents people’s creation of a
public image.
Exam 10
Shadow
Jung’s collective unconscious archetype
that represents the evil side of personality.
Exam 10
Reality principle
The ego’s negotiation between the desires
of the id and the limitations of the
environment.
Exam 10
Third force
Humanistic psychology’s focus on free
will and an individual’s ability to choose
their own destiny.
Exam 10
Somatotype theory
Early biological theory of personality
involving three body types found to be
not reliable or valid.
Exam 10
Anal expulsive personality
Freudian term describing a messy and
disorganized person.
Exam 10
Pleasure principal
The id’s desire for immediate
gratification.
Exam 10
Thanatos
Freudian term for death instincts seen in
aggression.
Exam 10
Adult genital stage
Psychosexual stage after puberty where
Freud theorized people stay for the rest of
their lives.
Exam 10
Penis envy
Freudian term describing a girl’s desire
for a penis.
Exam 10
Womb envy
Horney’s term describing men’s jealousy
of women’s reproductive capabilities.
Exam 10
Eclecticism
Psychologists who accept ideas from
many different perspectives on
psychological disorders.
Exam 10
LaPiere
Researcher who conducted a study that
demonstrated that the relationship between
our attitudes and behaviors are imperfect.
Exam 10
Castration anxiety
Freudian term describing a boy’s fear that
if they misbehave they will be castrated.
Exam 10
Triadic reciprocity model
Bandura’s term describing personality
through traits, environment, and behavior
(reciprocal determinism).
Exam 10
Door-in-the-face strategy
A phenomenon where person refuses a
large request then will agree to a followup request that seems more reasonable.
Exam 10
Person-unstable attribution
Attribution to a person the things
observed on a rare occasion.
Exam 10
Collective unconscious
Jung’s term describing certain similarities
between all cultures.
Exam 10
Nomothetic approach
Trait theorists that believe that the same
basic set of traits can be used to describe
all personalities.
Exam 10
Eros
Freudian term most often evidenced as a
desire for sex (life instincts).
Exam 10
Barnum effect
Natural curiosity of people that
contributes to their willingness to see
themselves in vague, stock descriptions of
personality.
Exam 10
Libido
Freudian term for energy that directs life
instincts relating to sexuality.
Exam 10
Person attribution
Attribution to a person the things
observed (dispositional).
Exam 10
Idiographic
Trait theorists that assert that it is
impossible to use the same set of terms to
classify all people’s personalities.
Exam 10
Person-stable attribution
Attribution to a person the things
observed over an extended period of time.