Ms Drew
AP Psychology
10. Fundamental
Attribution Error vs.
Actor-Observer Bias
Fundamental Attribution Error
Tendency to attribute the behavior
of others to dispositional or
internal causes
Sometimes behavior can be
explained by enduring personality
traits but not always.
Actor Observer Bias (or effect)
The likelihood to attribute others
behavior to dispositional or
internal causes while attributing
our own behavior to external or
situational causes. You are in the
situation!
Actor Observer Bias (or effect)
HAS A COMPARISON of you to
others or two people
 AKA … “I’m good; You’re Lucky!
Self-Serving Bias
Tendency to attribute your own
successes to personal factors and
your own failures to situational
ones.
People serve themselves by making
themselves look good.
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
This is how our feelings about
others can shape the behavior of
others.
Labeling students create selffulfilling prophecies
False Consensus Effect
 Tendency of people to overemphasize
the number of other people that agree
with them.
False Consensus Effect
 If Tanya dislikes rap music she is likely
to think most others also do.
 Martin who loves Star Wars may
overestimate the enthusiasm of others
for Star War
9. Population v. Sample
(usually on AP exam)
Population
Population: defined by the
objective of the research study.
ALL Possible Participants
Population
If the study intended to answer
the question of how voting
activity related to civic
involvement the population
would be all of those over the
age of 18.
Population
Each person in the population
should have an equal chance of
being selected to participate in the
study.
Sample:
Because it is not usually possible to
test or survey ALL members of a
population researchers seek a
smaller amount that is a
representative sample of the
population
Sample:
Sample members should have
random assignment to either
the control and experimental
groups.
Sample:
This can be achieved by using a
random number table.
Each participant in the study has
an equal chance of being placed in
either the experimental or control
group.
Population v. Sample
 Population: All the cases in a group,
from which samples may be drawn for a
study.
 Random Sample: A sample of
individuals that fairly represents a
population because each
8. Sleep Stages
Sleep Stages
The stages of sleep in order
occur 1 (sleep onset), 2, 3, 4, 3, 2,
REM, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, REM, 2, 3,
Beta
Alpha
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Stage 4
Stage 3
Stage 2
REM
Awake
Awake .. but resting
Theta waves
Sleep Spindles
Delta
Delta- night tremors, sleep
walking
Delta
Spindles
Dreams occur
7. Negative
Reinforcement v.
Punishment
(part of free response
often)
Negative Reinforcement v.
Punishment
Negative Reinforcement:
increases a behavior by
taking away something bad.
Negative Reinforcement v.
Punishment
Ex. Negative Reinforcement:
OCD patients wash their hands
because it decreases their level of
anxiety. Because the anxiety goes
away, they are more likely to wash
their hands again and again.
Negative Reinforcement v.
Punishment
 Punishment: seeks to decrease
the likelihood of a behavior by
either adding something bad
(positive punishment) or taking
away something good (negative
punishment).
6. Availability v.
Representative Heuristic
(’06 FRQ & has been a FRQ a
total of 3 times)
Availability Heuristic:
Judging how likely a certain event is
to happen, based on how easily
information regarding this topic is
available.
Availability Heuristic:
After seeing a horror film, they
believe they are in danger alone in a
dark house when the in reality they
are in the same danger as they were
before they watched the film.
Representative Heuristic:
A mental shortcut in which one
thinks of the best example of a
given category, which often leads to
stereotyping.
Representative Heuristic:
 Ex. When people think of librarians
they often think of middle age women
with glasses and hair in buns, because
that is what they believe represents the
majority of librarians, even if this is not
true.
5. Proactive v.
Retroactive Interference
Proactive Interference (Negative
Transfer)
Old learning interferes with
new learning.
Ex. Stroop Effect
P represents Present – the person
cannot do the task at hand
(because of old info)
Retroactive Interference:
 Old information is forgotten because
new info is in the way.
 If you are assigned a new locker this
year, you will likely forget their locker
combination from the previous year.
 New info interferes with old.
 “Retro” = old stuff - cant
remember the retro
4. Retrograde v.
Anterograde Amnesia
Retrograde Amnesia
Old memories are forgotten
while recent memories are
recalled.
Retrograde Amnesia
Inability to remember events
that occurred before the
incidence of trauma or the onset
of the disease that caused the
amnesia
Retrograde Amnesia
Think of “ograde” as can’t
remember
In this case…. “cant remember the
retro (old)
Retrograde Amnesia
** A Gymnast that sustains a
serious head injury may not
remember the three, seven or all
years prior to fall.
Bourne Identity
Anterograde Amnesia
 Cannot lay down any new memories but old
memories are intact.
 Inability to remember ongoing events after
(antero) the incidence of trauma or the
onset of the disease that caused the amnesia
Anterograde Amnesia
Cannot lay down any new
memories but old memories are
intact.
Anterograde Amnesia
Inability to remember ongoing
events after (antero) the
incidence of trauma or the onset
of the disease that caused the
amnesia
Anterograde Amnesia
50
st
1
Dates
Antero: means after
“Can’t remember the Antero
(after)
3. Kohlberg v.
Piaget Stages
Kohlberg = Moral Development
 K.C. and the Conventional Society
K= Kohlberg
C= Conventional
Preconventional Morality (Pre- society)
Conventional Morality (Society
morality)
Post Conventional Morality (Post society
morality)
Kohlberg = Moral Development
 Preconventional
Avoid Punishment
Gain Reward
 Conventional
Approval Seeking (Good boy / Good Girl)
Law and Order Authority
 Post Conventional
Social Order
Universal Ethics
Piaget = Cognitive Development
 Sensorimotor
no object permanence
 Preoperational
egocentric & cannot conserve
Piaget = Cognitive Development
 Concrete Operational
Can conserve
 Formal Operational
Capable of abstract thought
2. DID v.
Schizophrenia (2007
Free Response)
Dissociative Identity Disorder
Type of Dissociative Disorder in
which part of one’s personality
separates from the rest of the
individual.
However, some part of the
individual is in touch with reality at
all times.
Dissociative Identity Disorder
Key symptom is amnesia.
Personalities can be of different
ages and genders. This disorder
is associated with traumatic
abuse.
Schizophrenia
Classified by a loss of touch with
reality.
Various types of schizophrenia with
different degrees of positive and
negative symptoms.
Schizophrenia
Positive symptoms include poor
reality testing, hallucinations, and
delusions.
Negative symptoms include loss of
affect or inappropriate affect.
1. IV v. DV
Hypothesis
A prediction about an
experiment or study
worded as
If … Then
IV v. DV.
The IV is the If
&
 the DV is the then
Independent Variable (IV)
In an experiment the factor that
is being studied and
manipulated.
 The “If” of the hypothesis
Examples:
Dependent Variable (DV)
In an experiment the factor that
may changes as a result of
manipulations of the IV.
“This is what you get”
The “Then” of the hypothesis
Bonus.
Hallucination v. Delusion
Obsession v. Compulsion
Hallucination v. Delusion
Hallucination: a false sensory
experience (sight, sound, feel,
etc.)
Delusion: a false belief
Obsession v. Compulsion
Obsession: the cognition or thought
that causes anxiety in an OCD patient
Compulsion: the action or behavior
that the OCD patient does to relieve
anxiety
0. Psychology is FUN!
All late work was due yesterday.
 I will now only accept redos – ie fixing your free
responses or anything else you have handed in, but
did not get the benchmark on after your first (or 2nd)
try.
 I will not accept redos after Monday – remember you
will not have class on Monday, so you will need to
find me. (you may put stuff in my mailbox if you
need to)
 Your exam will be held in room 26 (Health Room #2)
on Monday, May 6th. Study! Study! Study!!
Practice Free Response on
Thursday
 Study:
 1.Extrinsic motivation
 2. Punishment
 3. Proactive interference
 4.Endorphins
 5. Vestibular system
 6. Divergent thinking
 7. Introversion
How do I get you to study for
the AP Exam? Use the following
words:
 1. Positive reinforcement
 2. Negative reinforcement
 3. Central route persuasion
 4. Peripheral route persuasion
 5. Foot-in-the door phenomenon
 6. Superordinate goal
 7. Conformity
 8. Obedience