Study Guide – AP Psychology
History and Approaches
Definition of Psychology
Structuralism (Wundt, Titchener)
Functionalism (William James)
Research Methodology
Scientific method/attitude & critical thinking
Hindsight bias
Overconfidence
Theory & hypotheses
Operational definition
Descriptive Methods
Case study
Surveys
Naturalistic Observation
False consensus effect
Population
Random sample
Representative sample
Correlation
Correlation coefficient
Scatterplots
Relationship v. causation
Illusory correlation
Experiment
Placebo effect
Experimenter bias
Double blind
Random selection & assignment
Control group & treatment group
IV & DV
Descriptive statistics
Measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode)
Measures of Variation (Range & standard deviation)
Inferential Statistics
Statistical significance & significance level
Factor Analysis
Normal curve v. skewed distribution (positive & negative)
Percentiles
Type I, II error
Ethical issues
Informed consent, debriefing, coercion, etc.
Neuroscience
Organization and functions of the nervous system
Peripheral NS
Somatic
Autonomic
Sympathetic v. parasympathetic
Function & structure of neurons
Trace an electrical impulse
Sensory v. Motor neuron v. association areas
Threshold
Action potential
All or none
Refractory period
Motor v. sensory
Reuptake
Depolarization/repolarization
Axon and dendrites
Myelin sheath
Synapse (transmission of impulse)
Excitatory and inhibitory ions
Name and function of major neurotransmitters (serotonin, acetylcholine, norepinephrine,
dopamine, GABA, endorphins)
How neurons communicate
Agonist v. antagonist
reflex
Neuroimaging techniques (PET, MRI, EKG, etc.)
Brain structure, function & organization
Frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal lobes
Brainstem
Medulla
Reticular formation
Thalamus
Pons
Cerebellum
Limbic system (amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus)
Corpus callosum
Plasticity
Right & left hemispheres
Cerebral cortex
Sensory & motor cortex
Broca’s & Wernicke’s areas
Aphasia
Frontal cortex
Split brain patients
Sperry’s experiments
Endocrine system
Hormones & glands
Nature/Nurture
Genes, chromosomes, DNA
Evolutionary Psychology (natural selection)
Gender roles & gender identity
Gender differences
Identical v. Fraternal twins
Twin studies
Heritability
Temperament
Interaction of nature & nurture
Effect of environment on brain
Cultural norms
Social Learning Theory
Biological predispositions
Genie
Development
Prenatal Development & teratogens
Common reflexes
Maturation
Timing v. sequence
How much does an infant know?
Cognitive development & Piaget
Assimilation & accommodation
Schemas
Sensorimotor stage
Object permanence
Preoperational stage
Conservation
Egocentrism
Concrete & Formal Operations
Criticisms of Piaget
Stage Theory v. Continuity
Stability v. Change
Attachment theory
Bowlby, Ainsworth
Secure v. insecure attachment
Stranger anxiety
Harlow’s monkey study
Critical period
Imprinting
Self concept
Parenting styles
Authoritative, authoritarian, permissive
Physical development in Adolescence
Moral Development (Kohlberg’s stages)
Social Development (Eriksen’s stages as they relate to age)
Aging issues
Crystallized v. fluid intelligence
“use it or lose it”
Dementia & Alzheimer’s
Cross sectional v. longitudinal studies
Sensation & Perception
Definition of sensation & perception
Bottom up v. top down processing
Threshold
Absolute threshold
Signal detection theory
Just noticeable difference
Weber’s Law
Sensory adaptation
Selective attention
Vision
Trace light impulse to brain
Structure & function of eye
Pupil, iris, lens (accommodation), retina (rods, cones, fovea), optic nerve,
blind spot, occipital lobe
Transduction
Opponent process theory
Afterimage effect
Parallel processing
Feature detection
Color constancy
Hearing
Frequency, pitch, amplitude, sound waves
Trace sound wave to brain
Structure & function of ear
Outer, middle, inner ear
Transduction
Auditory canal, eardrum, bones, oval window, cochlea, basilar membrane,
fluid, hair cells, auditory nerve, temporal lobe
Conduction v. sensorineural hearing loss
Touch
Cause of pain & pain control
Gate control theory
Taste
Sensory interaction
Olfaction
Pathway to brain
Kinesthesis
Vestibular sense
Gestalt principles
Grouping (proximity, similarity, continuity, connectedness, closure)
Figure-ground
Depth Perception
Visual cliff
Binocular cues & retinal disparity
Monocular cues (relative size, interposition, relative clarity, relative height,
texture, linear perspective
Perceptual constancy
Muller-Lyer illusion
Sensory deprivation & restored Vision
Perceptual adaptation (vision goggles)
Perceptual set
Context effects
States of Consciousness
Circadian rhythms
Sleep cycles & stages
REM
Brain waves
Sleep disorders (insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnea, night terrors)
Manifest v. latent content
Theories of Hypnosis (Social phenomenon or divided consciousness)
Tolerance
Withdrawal
Dependence (psychological & physical)
Depressants
Stimulants
Learning
Associative learning
Stimulus-Response
Behaviorism
Classical conditioning
Pavlov
UCS, UCR, CS, CR
Acquisition
Extinction
Spontaneous recovery
Generalization/Discrimination
Watson & Little Albert
Immune system (can be conditioned to shut down)
Operant Conditioning
Thorndike – Law of Effect
Skinner & Behaviorism
Skinner box (operant chamber)
Difference between operant & classical conditioning
Shaping – successive approximations
Positive & negative reinforcement
Punishment
Primary v. secondary (conditioned reinforcers)
Continuous v. intermittent reinforcement (partial)
Schedules of reinforcement (fixed ratio, variable ratio, fixed interval, variable
interval)
Role of cognition
Latent learning
Overjustification effect
Intrinsic v. extrinsic motivation
Observational Learning
Social Learning Theory
Modeling
Mirror neurons
Bandura
Bobo doll experiment
TV & aggressive behavior
Memory
Sensory memory (iconic & echoic)
Short term memory
Long term memory
Working memory
Episodic memory
Flashbulb memories
Amnesia
Role of Hippocampus
Recency, primacy & serial position effect
Encoding
Automatic v. effortful processing
Flashbulb memories
Rehearsal
Visual v. acoustic v. semantic encoding
Mnemonic devices
Chunking
Storage
Long term potentiation
Implicit v. explicit memory
Retrieval
Recall v. recognition
Retrieval cues
Priming
Context effects
Mood-congruent memory
Forgetting
Encoding failure
Ebbinghaus forgetting curve
Storage decay
Proactive v. retroactive interference
Memory construction (eyewitness stuff)
False memories (misinformation effect & source amnesia)
Thinking & Language
Concept
Prototype
Algorithm
Heuristic
Availability heuristic
Representativeness heuristic
Confirmation bias
Fixation & Functional fixedness
Mental set
Overconfidence
Framing
Belief bias
Belief perseverance
Phonemes,morphemes, semantics & syntax
Language Acquisition
Skinner
Chomsky (LAD)
Linguistic determinism (Whorf)
Critical periods
Genie
Language stages & telegraphic speech
Intelligence
Defining & measuring intelligence
IQ
Non traditional approaches
Multiple intelligences (Gardner)
Practical intelligence (Sternberg)
Emotional intelligence
Creativity
g factor
savant
Aptitude & achievement tests
Binet
Terman
Mental age/Chronological age x 100 = IQ
WAIS/WISC-R
Flynn effect
Aptitude & achievement tests
Standardization
Normal curve (mean 100 & standard deviation 15)
Reliability
Validity & types of validity
Mental retardation & gifted (where on the normal curve?)
Heritability of intelligence
Genetic & environmental influences
IQ testing & bias
Rosenthal study on expectations & labeling
Motivation & Emotion
Instinct
Drives
Drive reduction theory
Incentives
Arousal Theory
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Hunger (physiology & psychology)
Glucose
Hypothalamus (lateral & ventromedial)
Basal metabolic rate
Set point
Eating disorders
Cultural, biological, psychological influences
Evolutionary perspective
Sexual Motivation
Testosterone & estrogen
Psychological, biological & socio-cultural influences
Masters & Johnson
Sexual Response Cycle
James Lange theory
Cannon-Bard
Schachter’s Two Factor
Relationship between cognition & emotion
Culture & emotion
Ekman – Universality of emotions
Evolutionary perspective on basic emotions
Nonverbal communication
Experience & emotion
Facial feedback
Catharsis
Adaptation-level phenomenon
Relative deprivation
Approach-Approach, Approach-Avoidance
Stress
Stressor
Selye – General Adaptation Syndrome
Biofeedback & other methods for controlling stress
Type A, Type B personality
Stress & immune system
Percieved control
Learned Helplessness
Explanatory style
Personality
Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic perspective
Freud
Unconscious
Id, ego, superego
Psychosexual stages
Fixation
Free association, latent dream content, hypnosis
Defense mechanisms
Projective testing (TAT, Rorschach, sentence completion)
Objective Testing (MMPI)
Criticisms of Psychoanalytic theory
Humanism
Self actualization
Unconditional positive regard
Self concept, self esteem
Trait perspective
Factor analysis
Big Five
Eyesenck
Personality inventory (empirically derived such as MMPI)
Person v. situation controversy
Mischel
Stability v. change
Social Cognitive
Reciprocal determinism
Perceived control
Explanatory style (optimistic, pessimistic)
Learned helplessness
Locus of control (internal v. external)
Spotlight effect
Self efficacy
Self serving bias
Psychological Disorders
Definition of disorder
DSM-IV
Medical model
Bio-psycho-social perspective
Labeling (value & dangers)
Rosenhan’s Study (Sane in Insane Places)
Anxiety Disorders (symptoms & explanations)
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Panic attacks
Phobias
PTSD
OCD
Dissociative Disorders
DID
Personality Disorders
Antisocial, Paranoid, Schizoid, Schizotypal, Borderline, Histrionic, Narcissistic,
Avoidant, Dependent
Somatoform Disorders
Mood Disorders (symptoms & explanations)
Depression
Bipolar
Schizophrenia (symptoms & explanations)
Hallucinations & delusions
Therapies
Psychoanalysis/psychodynamic therapy
Techniques used to tap unconscious
Resistance
Transference
Humanistic
Client-centered therapy
Active listening
Behavior Therapy
Classical conditioning techniques
Counterconditioning
Exposure therapy/Systematic desensitization
Aversive conditioning
Operant Conditioning techniques
Use of reinforcement/punishment
Token economy
Behavior modification
Cognitive-Behavior Therapy
Change thinking patterns (Beck)
Rational Emotive Therapies (Ellis)
Cognitive-behavior Therapy
Rational Emotive Therapy
Biomedical Therapies (psychopharmacology)
Psychopharmacology
Treatment of Depression, anxiety, Schizophrenia
ECT
Psychosurgery
Social Psychology
Attribution Theory
Fundamental attribution error
Actor/Observer
Social norms & roles
Foot-in-the-door phenomenon
Halo effect
Ethnocentrism
Cognitive dissonance (Festinger)
Conformity (Asch)
Obedience (Milgram)
Normative social influence
Social facilitation & social loafing
Deindividuation
Group polarization
Groupthink
Ingroup bias
Dehumanization
Scapegoat
Stereotype
Labeling
Just world phenomenon
Availability heuristic
Frustration-aggression hypothesis
Social traps
Mere exposure effect
Effects of physical attraction & similarity
Companiate v. passionate love
Altuism (does it exist)
Bystander effect
Helping behavior (important factors)
Kitty Genovese
Diffusion of responsibility
Evaluation apprehension
Darley & Latane studies (smoke in room, epileptic attack)