Must Know Terms for AP Psych Midterm
(including, but NOT exclusively…)
absolute threshold
action vs. resting potential
afferent vs. efferent Neurons
addiction
afterimage
aggression
agonist vs. antagonist chemicals
Albert Bandura: major view on learning and Bobo Doll experiment
all-or-nothing law (all-or-none) of neural firing
altruism
American Psychological Association (APA)
archival research
Asch's conformity study (line segments) and effect
assumed-similarity bias
attitude (ABC model)
attribution theory (dispositional v. situational)
aversive conditioning (good or bad?)
behavior modification
behavioral psychology
BF Skinner
binocular disparity
biofeedback
biopsychology
blind spot
brain: what part do we share with animals? How do we differ?
brain scans: types and functions
Broca's area
bystander intervention: factors that influence it
case study
catharsis
central route & peripheral route processing
cerebral dominance
circadian rhythms
classical conditioning (& can you distinguish it from operant conditioning)
coercive persuasion
cognitive dissonance (Leon Festinger)
cognitive map
cognitive psychology
cohort-sequential study
color blindness: kinds
compliance techniques
confirmation bias
confounding variables
consciousness (functions)
control vs. experimental group
correlation coefficient
correlational research
creativity
cross-sectional study
CS-CR-UCS-UCR
deindividuation
dendrite(purpose of)
Updated 2015
descriptive vs. inferential statistics
developmental psychology
Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (purpose and limits)
difference threshold
diffusion of responsibility (Darley & Latane)
discrimination (in learning theory and race relations)
dominant responses (aided by social facilitation)
double-blind study
dream theories
effects of marijuana
empirical approach
endocrine organs and hormones secreted by them
endorphins
ethnocentrism
evolutionary psychology
expectancy bias (aka mental set)
expectancy-value theory
experiment: be able to design one
ex post facto research
feature (signal) detector cells: Hubel & Wisel's research on visual processing
feature analysis
figure - ground - phenomenon
foot-in-the-door phenomenon
fovea
frequency distribution
Freudian dream analysis: two levels of interpretation (manifest & latent)
frustration-aggression hypothesis
fundamental attribution error
Gate Control Theory of Pain
genetic explanations for behavior
genotype
Gestalt theory
Gestalt laws of perception (similarity, proximity, common fate, etc)
glial cells
group cohesiveness
group polarization
groupthink
gustatory sense: detects only sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami
habituation
halo effect
hearing process
histogram
homeostasis
hue: (British term for color)
humanistic psychology
hypothalamus
hypothesis
imaging techniques: PET, CAT, MRI, FMRI
independent/dependent variables
industrial (organizational) psychology
in-group and out-group bias
inner ear - vestibular sense
insight learning
instinct
Updated 2015
instrumental - operant conditioning
introspection
Ivan Pavlov
John Garcia's ideas on the limits of conditioning
John Watson & baby Albert
just noticeable difference (JND)
just-world phenomenon
Kelman’s conflict-resolution approach
kinesthetic sense
latent learning
lateralization (hemispheric specialities)
learning-based inference
learning curve
limbic system: structures and function
linear perspective
localization of sound (how is it done? Why are two ears needed?)
lobes of brain (location & function)
long-term potentiation
longitudinal study
love (types of & components)
major neurotransmitters
Martin Seligman's "learned helplessness"
measures of central tendency: mean, median, mode
measures of variability: range and standard deviation
mental rotation
mere exposure effect
metacognition
method of loci
mindlessness
mnemonic device
modeling
monocular vs. binocular depth cues
motion parallax
myelin sheath: where and purpose?
nature vs. nurture controversy
need-complementarity hypothesis
negative reinforcement & punishment
nervous system: major parts
neuron: structure & function
neural pathways
neuroscience
neurotransmitters: major kinds
nonconscious mind
norms
observational learning
observational research (natural & laboratory)
occipital lobe
one eye problem - what you couldn't do well if you had only one eye
operational definitions
opponent-process theory of visual processing
optic nerve
pancreas
paradoxical sleep: why is REM called this?
Paul Maclean’s Triune Model of the brain
perception
Updated 2015
perceptual constancy (size,color,shape)
perceptual set
perspectives in psychology (major ones)
persuasion
phenotype
Phineas Gage
photoreceptors
phrenology
physical v. psychological dependence
pitch
pituitary gland
placebo effect
plasticity
poison parasite
positive reinforcement & punishment
power of the situation
prejudice (in-group v. out-group)
Premack principle
primary vs. secondary reinforcers
priming
prosocial behavior: what is it and give an example
psychoactive drugs & effects
psychodynamic psychology
punishment: why it may not be effective and might backfire
random selection
reasoning (barriers to)
recall
reciprocity-of-liking effect
regeneration
REM sleep
representativeness bias
response bias
reticular formation: related to sleep, arousal, attention
retinal disparity (a.k.a. binocular disparity)
reuptake
reward theory of attraction (Aronson)
Robber’s Cave study (Sherif)
rods and cones (structures & differences)
samples (representative v. random)
scapegoating
scatterplot: most often used to plot correlations
schedules of reinforcement (5 kinds - which are most effective?)
schema
scientific method
selective attention
self-fulfilling prophecy
self-serving bias
semantic memory
sensation
sensory overload & deprivation
serial position effect
set point
seven sins of memory (Dan Schachter)
shaping
skin senses
Updated 2015
signal detection theory
significant outcome
situationism
sleep disorders: major kinds
social context
social facilitation
social identity
social loafing
social reality
sociocultural psychology
somatosensory cortex: location and used for what sense?
split-brain research (Roger Sperry & Michael Gazzaniga)
surveys
stages of learning (acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, etc.)
stages of sleep
standard deviation
Stanley Milgram's experiment on obedience
statistics (descriptive & inferential)
stereotype
stimulus discrimination
stimulus generalization
subconscious process
syllogism
synapse
systematic desensitization: a.k.a. a kind of counterconditioning
testable hypothesis
thalamus (& what sense doesn't get routed through here?)
theory
Thorndike's Law of Effect
thyroid gland
tip-of-the-tongue effect
token economy
tolerance
top-down processing
trait psychology
transduction
two kinds of deafness: Conductive and nerve
vestibular sense
vicarious learning
visual cliff
visual illusions
vision process
Weber's law
Wilhelm Wundt (structualism)
William James (functionalism)
working memory (Alan Baddeley)
Zimbardo's prison experiment
Zooming in with the mind
Updated 2015