Download Commonly Missed AP Psych

Commonly Missed AP Psych. Terms
Accommodation – adjusting schemas for new information
Acetylcholine – A neurotransmitter associated with voluntary movement, sleep and wakefulness
Acquisition – refers to the first stages of learning when a response is established. In classical
conditioning, acquisition refers to the period of time when the stimulus comes to evoke the
conditioned response.
Assimilation – adapting new experiences into existing schemas
Attribution – An idea or belief about the etiology of a certain behavior; negative attributions
usually are characterized by the following:
Characteristic
Definition
Global
We think of the problem as universal
Internal
We blame the cause of something on ourselves
Stable
We believe that the problem will not end (now or ever)
Authoritarian – a style of parenting in which the parent exerts militial control over their
children
Authoritative – a style of parenting in which there is a democracy between parent and child
Avoidance learning – an acquisition of desirable behavior occurs in order to avoid punishment
Binocular cues – depth cues requiring the use of two eyes (ex. Convergence or retinal disparity)
Bottom-up processing – analysis that begins with the sense receptors and works up to the brain
Brain – One of the two components of the central nervous system, the brain is the center of
thought and emotion. It is responsible for the coordination and control of bodily activities, and
the interpretation of information from the senses (sight, hearing, smell, etc.).
Part
Function(s)
Amygdala
involved in memory, emotion, and fear.
Brain Stem
responsible for basic vital life functions such as breathing,
heartbeat, and blood pressure
Cerebellum
responsible for the coordination of movement and balance
Cerebrum
initiation and coordination of all voluntary movement
Frontal Lobe
associated with reasoning, planning, parts of speech,
movement, emotions, and problem solving
Hippocampus
This part of the brain is important for learning and memory
and for converting short term memory to more permanent
memory, and for recalling spatial relationships in the world
about us
Hypothalamus
involved in functions including homeostasis, emotion,
thirst, hunger, circadian rhythms, and control of the
autonomic nervous system. In addition, it controls the
pituitary
Limbic System
often referred to as the "emotional brain", is found buried
within the cerebrum. This system contains the thalamus,
hypothalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus
Medulla
responsible for maintaining vital body functions, such as
breathing and heart rate
Occipital Lobe
associated with visual processing
Parietal Lobe
associated with movement, orientation, recognition,
perception of stimuli
Pons
balances left and right movements
Temporal Lobe
associated with perception and recognition of auditory
stimuli, memory, and speech
Thalamus
situated in the forebrain; the structure has sensory and
motor functions. Almost all sensory information enters this
structure where neurons send that information to the
overlying cortex.
Broca’s area – in the frontal lobe of the brain, it allows us to form words and produce speech
Bystander Effect – someone is less likely to intervene in an emergency situation when other
people are present and able to help than when he or she is alone; we assume that someone else
will take care of it
Cannon-Bard Theory – the theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers
(1) physiological responses and (2) the subjective experience of emotion
CAT scan – (Computerized Axial Tomography) Pictures of structures within the body created
by a computer that takes the data from multiple X-ray images and turns them in pictures on a
screen. The CAT scan can reveal some soft tissue and other structures that cannot even be seen
in conventional X-rays.
Classical Conditioning - The behavioral technique of pairing a naturally occurring stimulus and
response chain with a different stimulus in order to produce a response which is not naturally
occurring.
Cocktail party effect – the ability to focus one‘s listening attention on a single talker among
other conversations and background noise
Cognitive Dissonance Theory – the theory that we act to reduce discomfort we feel when two
of our thoughts are inconsistent
Collective unconscious – Carl Jung‘s concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces
from our species‘ history
Color vision theory – Young-Helmholtz & trichromatic theory—states that the retina has 3
types of color receptors; each is especially sensitive (the colors being red, green, and blue)
Confirmation bias – a tendency to search for information that confirms one‘s preconceptions
Conflict – refers to anytime you have opposing or incompatible actions, objectives, or ideas
Type
Definition
Approach-approach We choose between two things we want
Approach-avoidance We choose between one thing we want, and another we do
not; choosing the former usually results in some sort of
punishment
Avoidance-avoidance We choose between two unappealing things
Correlation – the amount which two variables vary together; does not prove causation
Cross-sectional study – a study in which people of different ages are compared
Declarative/Explicit memory – the part of long-term memory where factual information is
stored, such as mathematical formulas, vocabulary, and life events
Defense mechanism – psychological forces which prevent undesirable or inappropriate impulses
from entering consciousness; central to Freud‘s psychoanalysis
Deindividuation – the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that
foster arousal and anonymity
Dependent Variable – The variable in an experiment that is measured; the outcome of an
experiment
Dichotic listening task – used to test selective attention; the person puts on headphones which
play two separate tracks and are told to report what they hear
Diffusion of responsibility – reduced sense of personal responsibility and individual
accountability experienced in certain circumstances by member
Discrimination – in behavioral theory, the learned ability to differentiate between two similar
objects or situations
Disorders – any condition that impairs functioning, as in emotionally, physically, or mentally
Dopamine – a neurotransmitter that influences movement, learning, attention, and emotion;
excess dopamine receptor activity is linked to schizophrenia, while starved of dopamine, the
brain develops Parkinson‘s Disease
EEG – (electroencephalography) A recording of the electrical activity of the brain by means of
electrodes placed on the surface of the head
Experiment – scientific method used for testing a hypothesis
Explicit memory – memory of facts and experiences one can know and consciously declare
Extinction - The reduction and eventual disappearance of a learned or conditioned response after
it is no longer paired with the unconditioned stimulus-response chain.
Foot-in-the-door phenomenon – the tendency for people to comply with some large request
after first agreeing to a small request
Functional fixedness – an impediment to problem solving where people tend to think of thins in
terms of their usual functions
Fundamental Attribution Error – the tendency for observers, when analyzing another‘s
behavior, to underestimate the impact of personal disposition
GABA – inhibitory neurotransmitter; undersupply linked to seizures, tremors, and insomnia
Generalization – the tendency to associate stimuli, and therefore respond similarly to, due to
their closeness on some variable such as such, shape, color, or meaning
Habituation – decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation
Hindsight bias – (also called the I-Knew-It-All-Along Phenomenon) the belief that one would
have predicted the outcome after hearing it
Imprinting – attachment to the first moving object that a new organism sees
Independent Variable – The variable in an experiment that is manipulated or compared
James-Lange Theory – the theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our
physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli
Kinesthesis – understanding where your body is in space
Latent content – the hidden or interpretive meaning of a person‘s dreams
Learned helplessness – a condition that occurs after a period of negative consequences where
the person begins to believe they have no control
Linguistic relativity hypothesis – Whorf‘s hypothesis that language determines the way we
think
Longitudinal study – research conducted over a long period of time in which the same subjects
are test and retested
Manifest content – the ―plot‖ or storyline of a person‘s dreams
Maturation – gradual unfolding of development over time
Mean – the statistical average
Median – the middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above and half below this
number
Misinformation effect – incorporating misleading information into one‘s memory of an event
Mode – the most frequently occurring score
Monocular cues – depth cues which require only one eye to perceive (ex. Linear perspective or
overlay)
Mood congruent memory – the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one‘s
current good or bad mood
Morpheme – in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a
word (such as a prefix)
MRI – (magnetic resonance imaging) A diagnostic technique in which radio waves generated in
a strong magnetic field are used to provide information about the hydrogen atoms in different
tissues within the body; a computer uses this information to produce images of the tissues in
many different planes.
Negative correlation – a correlation where one two variables tend to move in the opposite
direction
Negative reinforcement – to remove or withhold something of value in order to increase a
certain response or behavior
Neuron- a nerve cell
Part
Function(s)
Axon Terminal
At the end of a neuron, contains many vesicles
Axon
extension of a neuron that conducts an action potential
Dendrite
Receives neurotransmitters from other neurons
Myelin Sheath
Layer of fat around the soma which aids in transmission
speed
Neurotransmitter
The body‘s chemical messengers
Soma
Cell body of a neuron
Synapse
The space between two neurons which neurotransmitters
cross to reach the next neuron
Vesicle
Holds the different types of neurotransmitters
Non-declarative memory/Implicit memory- A subsystem within long term memory which
consists of skills we acquire through repetition and practice (e.g., dance, playing the piano,
driving a car) Also known as procedural memory.
Norepinephrine – A neurotransmitter associated with eating and alertness. Too little has been
associated with depression and too much has been associated with schizophrenia.
Normal curve - A graphical interpretation of a population that is ‗bell shaped‘ as it has the
highest frequency in the middle and this frequency diminishes the farther you get from the center
on either end. The mean, median, and mode are all equal in a perfect normal curve.
Object permanence – the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived
Overjustification – the effect of promising a reward for doing what one already likes to do
PET scan – (Positron emission tomography scan) A procedure in which a small amount of
radioactive glucose (sugar) is injected into a vein, and a scanner is used to make detailed,
computerized pictures of areas inside the body where the glucose is used.
Phoneme – a spoken, written, or signed word and the way that we combine them to create
meaning
Phrenology – created by Franz Gall, Phrenology is the pseudoscience which attempts to predict
behavior based on bumps on individuals‘ heads
Placebo effect – The phenomenon in research where the subject‘s beliefs about the outcome can
significantly effect the outcome without any other intervention.
Positive correlation – A correlation where as one variable increases, the other also increases, or
as one decreases so does the other. Both variables move in the same direction.
Primacy effect - The tendency to develop an opinion of others based on our most recent
experiences with that person.
Proactive amnesia – characterized by an inability to form new memories
Proactive interference – interference in memory due to prior learning
Psychologist vs. Psychiatrist – Psychologists are certified by a psychology-related or
counseling degree, while psychiatrists are medical doctors who may prescribe their patients
medications
Random assignment – every member of the sample population has an equal chance of being
assigned to either the control group or an experimental group
Random selection – every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected for
the experiment
Recency effect – the tendency to remember the last bit of information due to the shorter time
available for forgetting
Reliability – A statistical measure of a tests consistency, or ability to result in similar scores if
given repeatedly
Retroactive amnesia – the inability to retrieve or recall information before the traumatic event.
An individual who has suffered a bump to his head and now cannot remember his telephone
number would be suffering from retroactive amnesia
Retroactive interference - Interference in memory created by later learning
Self-efficacy – One's belief in his or her own ability
Self-fulfilling prophecy – self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that, in being made, actually
causes itself to become true
Self-serving bias – a readiness to perceive oneself favorably
Serial position effect – refers to the tendency to recall information that is presented first and last
(like in a list) better than information presented in the middle
Serotonin – a neurotransmitter that affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal; undersupply linked
to depression
Spacing effect – the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long term results
than is achieved through massed study or practice
State-dependant memory – the theory that information learned in a particular state of mind
(e.g., depressed, happy, somber) is more easily recalled when in that same state of mind
Systematic desensitization – a type of counter conditioning that associates a pleasant relaxed
state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli that is commonly use to treat phobias
Temperament – a person‘s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity
Teratogens – harmful chemical agents that are pass through the placenta to fetus
Top-down processing – information processing starting with the brain as when we construct
perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations
Two Factor Theory – Schachter‘s theory that to experience emotion one must (1) be physically
aroused and (2) cognitively label the arousal
Validity – Statistical technique used to determine if a test is actually measuring what it is
intended to measure
Vestibular – your sense of balance and equilibrium in relationship to your entire body.
Visual cliff – a lab device used to test depth perception
Wernicke’s area – in the temporal lobe of the brain, it allows comprehension of speech
Yerkes-Dodson Law – demonstrates an empirical relationship between arousal and
performance; it dictates that performance increases with cognitive arousal, but only to a certain
point. When levels of arousal become too high, performance will decrease.
Compiled by Kelsey Buchmiller
Class of 2007