AP Psychology Midterm Review
Sequence of Chapters
Prologue: Psychology's History and Approaches
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Recognize how philosophical perspectives shaped the development of psychological thought.
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Identify the major historical figures in psychology.
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Describe and compare different theoretical approaches in explaining behavior:
Structuralism functionalism and behaviorism in the early years
Gestalt, psychoanalytic/psychodynamic, and humanism emerging later
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Describe and compare different theoretical approaches in explaining behavior:
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Evolutionary, biological, and cognitive as more contemporary approaches
Distinguish the different domains of psychology:
Biological, clinical, cognitive, counseling, developmental, educational, experimental, human factors, industrial-organizational, personality, psychometric, and social
Chapter One: Thinking Critically with Psychological Science
•Differentiate types of research (e.g., experiments, correlational studies, survey research, naturalistic observations, and case studies) with regard to purpose, strengths, and weaknesses.
•Identify independent, dependent, confounding, and control variables in experimental designs.
•Apply basic descriptive statistical concepts, including interpreting and constructing graphs and calculating simple descriptive statistics (e.g., measures of central tendency, standard deviation).
•Identify how ethical issues inform and constrain research practices.
Chapter Two: The Biology of Mind
•Identify basic processes and systems in the biological bases of behavior, including parts of the neuron and the process of transmission of a signal between neurons. Discuss the influence of drugs on neurotransmitters (e.g., re-uptake mechanisms). Discuss the effect of the endocrine system on behavior.
•Describe the nervous system and its subdivisions and functions:
— Central and peripheral nervous systems;
— Major brain regions, lobes, and cortical areas;
— brain lateralization and hemispheric specialization.
•Recount historic and contemporary research strategies and technologies that support research (e.g., case studies, split-brain research, imaging techniques).

AP Psychology Midterm Review
•Discuss psychology’s abiding interest in how heredity, environment, and evolution work together to shape behavior.
Chapter Four: Nature, Nurture, & Human Diversity
•Discuss the interaction of nature and nurture (including cultural variations) in the determination of behavior. Explain heritability and how it relates to individuals and groups. Describe how evolutionary psychologists use natural selection to explain behavior tendencies. Discuss the key criticisms of evolutionary psychology.
Chapter Three: States of Consciousness
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Understanding consciousness and what it encompasses is critical to an appreciation of what is meant by a given state of consciousness. The study of variations in consciousness includes an examination of the sleep cycle, dreams, hypnosis, and the effects of psychoactive drugs.
Chapter Six: Sensation & Perception
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Everything that organisms know about the world is first encountered when stimuli in the environment activate sensory organs, initiating awareness of the external world. Perception involves the interpretation of the sensory inputs as a cognitive process.
Chapter Five: Developing Through the Life Span
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Developmental psychology deals with the behavior of organisms from conception to death and examines the processes that contribute to behavioral change throughout the life span. The major areas of emphasis in the course are prenatal development, motor development, socialization, cognitive development, adolescence, and adulthood.
Chapter Seven: Learning
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This section of the course introduces students to differences between learned and unlearned behavior. The primary focus is exploration of different kinds of learning, including classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning. The biological bases of behavior illustrate predispositions for learning.

AP Psychology Midterm Review
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Independent Variable (what is tested) v. Dependent Variable (what is measured)
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Experimental Group (group that is tested) v. Control Group (compared to the experimental, receives the placebo in a drug experiment.
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Left brain (language and logic) v. Right brain (creative and spatial).
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Corpus Callosum (divides the brain) v. Cerebral Cortex (covers the brain)
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Sympathetic Nervous System (“fight or flight”) v. Parasympathetic (calming – parachute)
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Neurotransmitters (in the nervous system) v. Hormones (in the endocrine system)
 Broca’s Area (makes words) v. Wernicke’s Area (comprehends words)
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Identical Twins (same fertilized egg) v. Fraternal Twins (two separate eggs)
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Assimilation (all four-legged animals are “doggies”) v. Accommodation (“doggies” are different than “kitties”)
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Sensation (bottom-up processing) v. Perception (top-down processing)
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Rods (night vision) v. Cones (color vision)
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Classical conditioning (involuntary) v. operant conditioning (voluntary)
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Validity (test measures what it should) v. Reliability (same scores on a retest)
Sample Questions that will be found on the Midterm Exam:
1) What is hindsight bias?
2) What is the only method of study that allows one to determine a cause and effect relationship?
3) What experimental method did Piaget use to develop his stage theory of cognitive development?
4) What measure of central tendency is a report of the most common score?
5) Give an example of two things that are likely to be negatively correlated.
6) What neurotransmitter is found at the neuromuscular junction? (Hint – it is also involved in memory)
7) Inhibitory neurotransmitters cause the inside of the axon to become more or less positive?
8) What type of brain scan measures electrical waves in the brain?
9) What is the function of myelin sheath?
10) Where in the brain do all sensory messages (except smell) go to be sorted?
11) What is a schema?
12) What lobe of the cortex contains the visual cortex?
13) What lobe of the cortex contains the sensory cortex?
14) The hippocampus, amygdala, and the hypothalamus are all part of what (more specific than the “brain”).

AP Psychology Midterm Review
15) What type of twins come from a single egg?
16) What do we call a developing human after about 9 weeks of development?
17) Who developed the stage theory for cognitive development?
18) What psychosocial crisis are adolescents facing (according to Erikson)?
19) According to Erikson, what psychosocial crisis are infants (0-1) facing?
20) According to Ainsworth, responsive parents are more likely to have children who are __________ attached.
21) During which stage of cognitive development do children exhibit and understanding of the principles of conservation and inclusion?
22) Charley’s mom lets him do whatever he wants. What type of parenting style is this?
23) Harlow studied the effect of warm, soft contact on attachment. What did he find?
24) What is the difference between sensation and perception?
25) What is the difference threshold?
26) Describe three monocular depth cues.
27) Where do you find the basilar membrane?
28) What is the blind spot?
29) What is gate-control theory?
30) What is signal detection theory?
31) What is a lesion?
32) What is the difference between punishment and reinforcement?
33) What scientist first studied operant conditioning?
34) In classical conditioning, how do you extinguish a behavior?
35) Little Albert eventually became afraid of rabbits in addition to rats. What is this called?
36) Give an example of discrimination in classical conditioning.
In the Little Albert experiment, what was the CS?
***To prepare for AP Psychology Midterm Exam do the following: review all vocabulary terms (flash cards) from the covered chapters, review notes from each chapter, check HW Blog for online access to Midterm review materials, and answer above review questions. ***