A comprehensive review of terminology for AP Psychology. Definitions are for triggering other information. (Pulled from other lists.)
Terms : Hide Images
| 5874562089 | absolute threshold | intensity level at which one can detect a stimulus 50% of the time | 0 | |
| 5874562090 | accommodation | the process of modifying a schema to account for new information; the process of the eyes lens changing shape in order to focus on distant or near objects | 1 | |
| 5874562091 | acetylcholine (ACh) | a neurotransmitter involved in learning, memory and muscle movement | 2 | |
| 5874562095 | action potential | the electrical process by which information is transmitted the length of an axon | 3 | |
| 5874562097 | adrenal gland | source of the hormone norepinephrine which affects arousal | 4 | |
| 5874562102 | alcohol | the most frequently used and abused CNS depressant in most cultures; its use affects mood, judgment, cognition | 5 | |
| 5874562103 | all-or-nothing | description of the action of neurons when firing | 6 | |
| 5874562104 | alpha waves | seen when an individual is in a relaxed, unfocused, yet still awake state | 7 | |
| 5874562105 | amygdala | limbic system component associated with emotion, particularly fear and anger | 8 | |
| 5874562107 | anorexia (nervosa) | an eating disorder in which one starves oneself even though significantly underweight | 9 | |
| 5874562109 | anterograde amnesia | loss of memory for events that occur after the onset of the amnesia; eg, see in a boxer who suffers a severe blow to the head and loses memory for events after the blow | 10 | |
| 5874562110 | retrograde amnesia | loss of memory for events that occurred before the onset of amnesia; eg a soldier's forgetting events immediately before a shell burst nearby, injuring him | 11 | |
| 5874562112 | anvil | the middle of the three ossicles | 12 | |
| 5874562113 | aphasia | impairment of language usually caused by damage to the left hemisphere | 13 | |
| 5874562116 | assimilation | interpreting new experiences in terms of existing schema | 14 | |
| 5874562117 | association areas | areas of the cerebral cortex which have no specific motor or sensory repsonsibilities, but rather are involved in thinking, memory and judgment | 15 | |
| 5874562118 | associative learning | learning in which an organism learns that certain events occur together, such as my cat knowing that she will be fed when I get home from work | 16 | |
| 5874562123 | auditory canal | the area that sound waves pass through to reach the eardrum | 17 | |
| 5874562125 | autonomic nervous system | division of the nervous system that control the glands and organs; its divisions arouse or calm | 18 | |
| 5874562127 | availability heuristic | this cognitive shortcut features the idea that events which are vividly in memory seem to be more common | 19 | |
| 5874562128 | axon | extension of the neuron which carries, via an action potential, information that will be sent on to other neurons, muscles or glands | 20 | |
| 5874562130 | basic research | scientific investigations intended to expand the knowledge base | 21 | |
| 5874562131 | applied research | scientific investigations intended to solve practical problems | 22 | |
| 5874562132 | behavioral | perspective on psychology that sees psychology as an objective science without reference to mental states | 23 | |
| 5874562135 | binocular cues | retinal disparity and convergence which enable people to determine depth using both eyes | 24 | |
| 5874562137 | bipolar cells | eye neurons that receive information from the retinal cells and distribute information to the ganglion cells | 25 | |
| 5874562138 | bipolar disorder | mood disorder in one experiences both manic and depressed episodes | 26 | |
| 5874562140 | bottom-up processing | analysis that begins with sensory receptors and works its way up to the brain's integration of sensory information | 27 | |
| 5874562141 | hemispheres | we have two, right and left, and some brain functions seem to centered in one or the other | 28 | |
| 5874562142 | brainstem | oldest part of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells upon entering the skull; controls fundamental survival processes like heartrate and breathing | 29 | |
| 5874562143 | bulimia | eating disorder characterized by excessive eating followed by purging | 30 | |
| 5874562144 | bystander effect | the tendency to not offer help when needed if others are present who do not offer help | 31 | |
| 5874562146 | case study | scientific investigation in which a single subject is studied in great detail | 32 | |
| 5874562147 | CAT scan | a method of creating static images of the brain through computerized axial tomography | 33 | |
| 5874562150 | Central Nervous System | consists of the brain and the spinal cord | 34 | |
| 5874562151 | cerebellum | brain structure that controls well-learned motor activities like riding a bike | 35 | |
| 5874562152 | cerebral cortex | the fabric of interconnecting cells that blankets the brain hemispheres; the brain's center for information processing and control | 36 | |
| 5874562155 | circadian rhythm | the daily biological rhythms that occur in a 24-hour period | 37 | |
| 5874562156 | classical conditioning | method of learning in which a neutral stimulus can be used to elicit a response that is usually a natural response to a stimulus | 38 | |
| 5874562158 | clinical | this type of psychologist studies, assesses and treats those with psychological disorders | 39 | |
| 5874562159 | cochlea | this coiled structure in the inner ear is fluid-filled and in it the energy from sound waves stimulate hair cells | 40 | |
| 5874562162 | cognitive therapy | treatment for psychological disorders that centers on changing self-defeating thinking | 41 | |
| 5874562164 | color blindness | a variety of disorders marked by inability to distinguish some or all colors | 42 | |
| 5874562168 | conditioned response | in classical conditioning, the response elicited by the conditioned stimulus | 43 | |
| 5874562169 | conditioning | generally, learning in which certain experiences make certain behaviors more or less likely; there are two forms of this | 44 | |
| 5874562171 | cones | neurons in the retina that are responsible for color vision | 45 | |
| 5874562175 | consciousness | one's awareness of one's environment and oneself. | 46 | |
| 5874562177 | control group | subjects in an experiment who do not receive application of the independent variable but are measured nonetheless for the dependent variable | 47 | |
| 5874562179 | cornea | the transparent outer covering of the eye | 48 | |
| 5874562181 | correlation | the degree of relationship between two variables | 49 | |
| 5874562182 | correlation coefficient | a positive one near 1.0 indicates two variable are positively related; a negative number indicates a negative relationship; zero indicates no relationship | 50 | |
| 5874562184 | debriefing | giving participants in a research study a complete explanation of the study after the study is completed | 51 | |
| 5874562190 | dendrite | a branch off the cell body of a neuron that receives new information from other neurons | 52 | |
| 5874562192 | dependent variable | the variable that the experimenter measures at the end of the experiment | 53 | |
| 5874562193 | depressant | any agent that reduces the activity of the CNS | 54 | |
| 5874562194 | depth perception | an ability that we exercise by using both monocular and binocular cues | 55 | |
| 5874562195 | difference threshold | also called the jnd; smallest distinction between two stimuli that can consistently be detected | 56 | |
| 5874562203 | dopamine | a neurotransmitter that is associated with Parkinson's disease (too little of it) and schizophrenia (too much of it) | 57 | |
| 5874562204 | double blind | this term describes an experiment in which neither the subjects nor the experimenter knows whether a subject is a member of the experimental group or the control group | 58 | |
| 5874562205 | dreams | occur most often during REM sleep; may be caused by activation-synthesis, or may be a way of cementing memories | 59 | |
| 5874562209 | eardrum | also called the tympanic membrane | 60 | |
| 5874562211 | EEG | initials of a method of representation of brain waves | 61 | |
| 5874562218 | encoding | conversion of sensory information into a form that can be retained as a memory | 62 | |
| 5874562219 | endocrine system | the slow messenger system of the body; produces hormones that affect many bodily functions | 63 | |
| 5874562220 | endorphins | neurotransmitters that give one a feeling of well-being, euphoria or eliminate pain | 64 | |
| 5874562223 | experiment | form of scientific investigation in which one variable is tested to determine its effect on another | 65 | |
| 5874562224 | experimental group | subjects in an experiment to whom the independent variable is administered | 66 | |
| 5874562231 | feature detection | the ability of the brain to identify specific components of visual stimuli such as corners or edges | 67 | |
| 5874562234 | figure-ground | refers to our ability to distinguish foreground from background in visual images | 68 | |
| 5874562242 | fovea | the central focus area of the retina | 69 | |
| 5874562243 | frequency | theory of hearing which states that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the tone's frequency | 70 | |
| 5874562245 | functionalism | William James's school of thought that stressed the adaptive and survival value of behaviors | 71 | |
| 5874562247 | ganglion cells | their axons form the optic nerve | 72 | |
| 5874562252 | gestalt | German word for "whole", it refers to our tendency to perceive incomplete figures as complete | 73 | |
| 5874562253 | glial cell | this acts as a support system for neurons | 74 | |
| 5874562258 | hallucination | a false sensory perception that seems to be real but for which there is not an actual external stimulus | 75 | |
| 5874562259 | hallucinogen | a substance capable of producing a sensory effect in the absence of real external sensory stimuli | 76 | |
| 5874562260 | heritability | the extent to which differences in a group of a characteristic is due to genetics, not environment | 77 | |
| 5874562261 | heuristic | a useful, but unprovable, cognitive shortcut, such as a "rule of thumb" | 78 | |
| 5874562262 | hierarchy of needs | Maslow's theory of the most important motivations people have | 79 | |
| 5874562263 | hindsight bias | the tendency, after an event occurs, to overestimate the likelihood that an event could have been predicted | 80 | |
| 5874562264 | hippocampus | limbic system component associated with memory | 81 | |
| 5874562265 | homeostasis | the steady, stable state that is the body's regulatory processes try to maintain | 82 | |
| 5874562266 | hormone | chemical substance secreted by endocrine glands that affect body processes | 83 | |
| 5874562269 | hypnosis | a social interaction in which one person suggests to another that certain events or emotions will occur | 84 | |
| 5874562271 | hypothalamus | limbic system component that regulates hunger, body temperature and other functions | 85 | |
| 5874562272 | hypothesis | a prediction of how the an experiment will turn out | 86 | |
| 5874562279 | independent | type of variable manipulated by the experimenter | 87 | |
| 5874562280 | individualist | culture in which the individual is valued more highly than the group | 88 | |
| 5874562281 | industry vs. inferiority | Erikson's stage between 6 and 11 years, when the child learns to be productive | 89 | |
| 5874562282 | inferiority complex | Adler's conception of a basic feeling of inadequacy stemming from childhood experiences | 90 | |
| 5874562283 | information processing | humans accomplish this either in parallel (unconsciously) or in serial fashion (consciously) | 91 | |
| 5874562284 | informed consent | agreement to participate in psychology research, after being appraised of the dangers and benefits of the research | 92 | |
| 5874562288 | insomnia | inability to fall asleep or remain asleep long enough for sufficient rest | 93 | |
| 5874562295 | interposition | monocular visual cue in which two objects are in the same line of vision and one patially conceals the other, indicating that the first object concealed is further away | 94 | |
| 5874562301 | just noticeable difference | the threshold at which one can distinguish two stimuli that are of different intensities, but otherwise identical | 95 | |
| 5874562302 | kinethesis | sense of balance and of one's physical position | 96 | |
| 5874562303 | latent | Freud's stage of psychosexual development occuring from about age 6 to puberty during which little happens in psychosexual terms | 97 | |
| 5874562305 | latent learning | a change in behavior due to experience acquired without conscious effort, s, for example, a student using a quote in an exam essay that the student had never tried to memorize, though eh had encountered it in studying | 98 | |
| 5874562308 | lens | a curved, transparent element of the vision system that provides focus | 99 | |
| 5874562309 | lesion | any destruction or damage to brain tissue | 100 | |
| 5874562312 | long term | refers to memory that is stored effectively in the brain and may be accessed over an extended period of time | 101 | |
| 5874562313 | long term potentiation | a possible source of the formation of memories; improvement in a neuron's ability to transmit caused by repeated stimulations | 102 | |
| 5874562318 | marijuana | a drug, often smoked, whose effects include euphoria, impairment of judgment and concentration and occasionally hallucinations; rarely reported as addictive | 103 | |
| 5874562319 | mean | numerical average of a set of numbers | 104 | |
| 5874562320 | median | the middle one of a set of numbers | 105 | |
| 5874562321 | medulla | part of the brain nearest the spinal cord which controls breathing, heart rate and blood pressure | 106 | |
| 5874562322 | memory | functions associated with this include encoding, storage and retrieval | 107 | |
| 5874562327 | mnemonic device | method of improving memory by associating new information with previously learned information | 108 | |
| 5874562328 | mode | the most commonly occurring term in a batch of data | 109 | |
| 5874562329 | modeling | the process of observing and imitating a behavior | 110 | |
| 5874562330 | monocular | terms that means "one eyed", used to indicate the sort of of enviromental cues to depth perception tha tonly require one eye, for example, interposition | 111 | |
| 5874562333 | motivation | a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior | 112 | |
| 5874562334 | motor cortex | an area of the brain, near the rear of the frontal lobes, that controls voluntary movement | 113 | |
| 5874562335 | motor neuron | this carries information from the brain to the muscles; also called "efferent" | 114 | |
| 5874562336 | MRI | a technique that enables us to see static images of the brain's structures; uses magnetism to achieve this effect | 115 | |
| 5874562338 | myelin sheath | a layer of fatty tissue encasing a neuron's axon that speeds transmission | 116 | |
| 5874562339 | narcolepsy | a disorder characterized by sudden sleep attacks, often at inopportune times | 117 | |
| 5874562341 | nature vs nurture | name for a controversy in which it is debated whether genetics or environment is responsible for driving behavior | 118 | |
| 5874562342 | negative reinforcement | in operant conditioning, removing something unpleasant in order to elicit more of a particular behavior | 119 | |
| 5874562343 | neural network | refers to interconnected neuron cells | 120 | |
| 5874562344 | neuron | the fundamental building block of the nervous system | 121 | |
| 5874562345 | neuroscience | perspective on psychology that emphasizes the study of the brain and its effects on behavior | 122 | |
| 5874562346 | neurotransmitter | a chemical that is released by a neuron for the purpose of carrying information across the gaps (synapses) between neurons | 123 | |
| 5874562347 | neutral | describes a stimulus in classical conditioning that would normally not elicit the response intended, such as the tone in Pavlov's experiments before it was associated with the food | 124 | |
| 5874562348 | night terrors | also called sleep terror disorder, these include the characteristic of waking abruptly in a state of panic, usually in children, less often in adults | 125 | |
| 5874562349 | normal distribution | describes a symmetrical, bell shaped curve that shows the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes | 126 | |
| 5874562351 | NREM | refers to sleep during which there is no rapid eye movement | 127 | |
| 5874562353 | object permanence | recognition that things continue to exist even though hidden from sight; infants generally gain this after 3 to 7 months of age | 128 | |
| 5874562354 | observational learning | change in behavior due to watching other people behave | 129 | |
| 5874562355 | obsessive-compulsive disorder | an anxiety disorder characterized by repetitive obsessions and compulsions | 130 | |
| 5874562356 | occipital | this lobe contains the primary vision processing function | 131 | |
| 5874562358 | olfactory bulb | the first brain structure to pick up smell information from the nose | 132 | |
| 5874562360 | operant conditioning | a method of influencing behavior by rewarding desired behaviors and punishing undesired ones | 133 | |
| 5874562363 | optic nerve | the axons of the ganglion cells form this | 134 | |
| 5874562365 | opponent process theory | term used in both vision theory and emotion theory | 135 | |
| 5874562370 | parasympathetic | the branch of the nervous system that automatically calms us down when the reason for arousal has passed | 136 | |
| 5874562371 | parietal | lobe that contains the sensory cortex | 137 | |
| 5874562373 | perception | the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information | 138 | |
| 5874562374 | peripheral nervous system | the subsystem of the nervous system that does not include the CNS | 139 | |
| 5874562378 | PET scan | method of brain imaging using positron emissions | 140 | |
| 5874562380 | phobia | fear | 141 | |
| 5874562382 | pituitary | gland that is the master gland of the endocrine system | 142 | |
| 5874562383 | place theory | the idea that different sound frequencies stimulate different locations on the basilar membrae | 143 | |
| 5874562384 | placebo | an inert substance given to the control group in an experiment | 144 | |
| 5874562385 | placebo effect | phenomenon that some people get better even though they receive not medication but an inert substance which should have no medical effect | 145 | |
| 5874562387 | pons | part of the brain, works with the cerebellum in coordinating voluntary movement; neural stimulation studied in activation synthesis theory may originate here | 146 | |
| 5874562398 | psychiatrist | medical doctor who has specialized in treating psychological disorders | 147 | |
| 5874562399 | psychoanalysis | Freud's therapeutic technique | 148 | |
| 5874562400 | psychodynamic | term describes the perspective on psychology in which inner feeling and unconscious tensions are emphasized | 149 | |
| 5874562401 | psychopharmacology | the study of the effects of drugs on the mind and behavior | 150 | |
| 5874562402 | punishment | can be either positive or negative, intended to reduce the occurrence of a behavior | 151 | |
| 5874562411 | reinforcer | in operant conditioning any event that strengthens the behavior it follows | 152 | |
| 5874562413 | REM | describes sleep in which vivid dreams typically occur; this type of sleep increases as the night progresses while stage 4 sleep decreases | 153 | |
| 5874562414 | representative | this kind of sample accurately reproduces the characteristics of the population a researcher is studying | 154 | |
| 5874562415 | representativeness heuristic | this cognitive short cut enables one to generalization based on how closely a stimulus matches a typical member of a class; given a picture of a man in a tweed jacket with a textbook, is this man a professor or a truck driver? | 155 | |
| 5874562417 | reticular formation | a network of cells in the brainstem that filters sensory information and is involved in arousal and alertness | 156 | |
| 5874562418 | retina | the sensory reception system of the eye; includes rods and cones | 157 | |
| 5874562419 | retrieval | the process of recovering information stored in memory | 158 | |
| 5874562421 | rods | responsible for black and white vision | 159 | |
| 5874562427 | scatterplot | name for a graph of data points in a two variable correlation | 160 | |
| 5874562429 | schema | a collection of basic knowledge about a category of information; serves as a means of organization and interpretation of that information | 161 | |
| 5874562430 | schemata | plural form of schema | 162 | |
| 5874562442 | sensory adaptation | reduced responsiveness caused by prolonged stimulation | 163 | |
| 5874562443 | sensory cortex | the parts of the brain that receive information from the sensory receptors | 164 | |
| 5874562444 | sensory neurons | nervous system cells that receive information from the environment | 165 | |
| 5874562447 | serotonin | a neurotransmitter; associated with improved mood and other positive emotions | 166 | |
| 5874562452 | short-term | type of memory that holds a few items briefly before they are lost | 167 | |
| 5874562454 | sleep apnea | a disorder characterized by cessation of breathing during sleep | 168 | |
| 5874562459 | social learning | a theory that suggests we learn social behaviors by watching and imitating others | 169 | |
| 5874562460 | somatic | a division of the nervous system that controls voluntary muscle movements | 170 | |
| 5874562462 | split brain | a condition in which the two brain hemispheres are isolated by cutting the corpus callosum | 171 | |
| 5874562463 | spontaneous recovery | in classical conditioning the re-occurence of conditioning after it had appeared to be extinct | 172 | |
| 5874562469 | sympathetic | part of the nervous system that controls the "flight or fight" response | 173 | |
| 5874562470 | synaptic gap | space between the axon terminal of one neuron and the receptors of the next neuron | 174 | |
| 5874562471 | syntax | in language the set of rules that describe how words are arranged to make sentences | 175 | |
| 5874562473 | temporal | the lobe that controls audition | 176 | |
| 5874562474 | thalamus | the sensory switchboard | 177 | |
| 5874562477 | threshold | in a neuron, reaching this causes the neuron to fire | 178 | |
| 5874562479 | twin studies | a common method of investigating whether nature or nurture affects behavior | 179 | |
| 5874562480 | unconditioned response | in conditioning the behavior elicited by the unconditioned stimulus | 180 | |
| 5874562481 | unconditioned stimulus | in conditioning it elicits the UCR | 181 | |
| 5874859079 | Flashbulb | Term describes a vivid memory of a personally significant and emotional event | 182 | |
| 5874859080 | Interneurons | Cells in the spinal chord through which reflexes travel without going to the brain | 183 | |
| 5874859081 | Structuralism | School of psychology developed by Wilhelm Wundt | 184 |
