(A little over) 100 of the most frequently used terms on AP Psych tests over the last decade (as informally compiled by prominent AP test graders)...your chance to prime, scaffold, and over learn the key concepts in the course. It's like a Golden Ladder - the view from the top is fantastic!
Terms : Hide Images
| 7227176673 | empiricism+ | The philosophical idea that knowledge originates in experience, and that science, therefore, should rely on observation and experimentation; the theory that you can only have knowledge if you have concrete evidence and have experienced it. Often contrasted against rationalism. | 0 | |
| 7227163099 | Gestalt+ | From a German word that means "whole" or "form" or "configuration." This was the name given to a school of psychology founded by Max Wertheimer which believed that much of perception is shaped by innate factors built into the brain. It sought to understand how the brain works by studying perception and perceptual learning, believing that "percepts" consist of meaningful wholes. For example, the theory that we perceive concepts as a whole rather than perceiving the individual parts (e.g. a "group" rather than "five people standing together"). | 1 | |
| 7242704304 | nature-nurture debate+ | The long-standing controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors. Most theorists today believe that traits an behaviors arise from and interaction of the two. | 2 | |
| 7242707666 | hindsight bias+ | The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it (aka I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon). | 3 | |
| 7242710795 | sample+ | Part of a population. | 4 | |
| 7227075529 | hypothesis+ | A tentative explanation of a phenomenon based on observations. A theory on why something has occurred; can be proven right or wrong; an educated guess or prediction on what is going to happen in an experiment; an explanation made on the basis of limited evidence that acts as a starting point for further investigation. Generally measurable and preferably written in "If...then" format. | 5 | |
| 7242716547 | correlation coefficient+ | A statistical index (a measurement or mathematical expression) of the relationship between two variables. A range from -1 to +1 is used to show the strength of a relationship (NOT the cause and effect) between two variables; often symbolized as "r." The closer to +1 or -1, the stronger the relationship, whether it be negative or positive, between the two variables. |  | 6 |
| 7227153222 | normal distribution+ | In statistics, a bell-shaped curve, describing the spread of a characteristic throughout a population ;a set of data that is spaced evenly under a bell shaped curve. This uses the 68%, 95% and 99.7% rule, where 68% of data falls within 1 standard deviation of the mean, 95% falls within 2 standard deviations, and 99.7% falls within 3 standard deviations of the mean. A perfect bell curve's mean, median, and mode, are all the same - they are all the peak of the curve. | 7 | |
| 7242720781 | control group+ | In experiments, the group that DOES NOT receive the variable (the treatment) being tested; this group is compared to a group which does receive the test variable. | 8 | |
| 7242727169 | experimental group+ | In experiments, the group that DOES receive the independent variable (the treatment) being tested; this group is compared to a group which does not receive the test variable. | 9 | |
| 7242631358 | expectancy bias+ | The researcher allowing his or her expectations to subconsciously influence the study participants and thus affect the outcome of an experiment or study (which is why double-blind studies are so valuable). Or, in memory, a tendency to distort recalled events to make them fit one's expectations. | 10 | |
| 7242758410 | dependent variable (DV)+ | The outcome factor -- the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable. Often identified by the value "y;" it's value depends on that of another variable. | 11 | |
| 7242758668 | independent variable (IV)+ | The experimental factor or condition in a scientific study that is manipulated so that its effects nay be observed; often identified by "x." This is the experimental factor that is manipulated - the variable whose effect is being studied. | 12 | |
| 7242739983 | placebo effect+ | Any effect that seems to be a consequence of an inert substance or condition, which the recipient assumes is an active agent. Any experimental results are caused by expectations alone. | 13 | |
| 7232838155 | significant difference or statistical significance+ | A statistical statement of how likely it is that an experimental result occurred by chance; this shows that the independent variable (IV) made a real difference in the dependent variable (DV). An experiment's data qualifies as this if (when assuming that the hypothesis is false - a null hypothesis) a probability value (p-value) is less than .05, or 5%. | 14 | |
| 7254044312 | action potential+ | A neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon. | 15 | |
| 7254047233 | dendrite+ | A neuron's bushy, branching extensions that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body. | 16 | |
| 7254050061 | synapse+ | The junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron. The tiny gap at this junction (sometimes referred to as the cleft) is crossed by neurotransmitters. | 17 | |
| 7254058210 | neurotransmitters+ | Chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons. When released by the sending neuron, they travel across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron - influencing whether or not that neuron will generate a neural impulse. They are excitatory or inhibitory. | 18 | |
| 7254059399 | central nervous system (CNS)+ | The brain and the spinal cord. | 19 | |
| 7254063319 | somatic nervous system+ | The division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body's skeletal muscles (skeletal nervous system). | 20 | |
| 7257597436 | sympathetic nervous system+ | The division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situation (You hear a loud noise outside your window and think it may be an intruder). | 21 | |
| 7254068187 | parasympathetic nervous system+ | The division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy (After freaking out about an intruder, your parents come home and calm you down - "parachute"). | 22 | |
| 7257608412 | electroencephalogram (EEG)+ | An amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity sweeping across the brain's surface. The waves are measured by electrodes placed on the scalp. |  | 23 |
| 7257613204 | cerebellum+ | "little brain" at the rear of the brainstem; functions including processing sensory input, coordinating movement output and balance, and enabling nonverbal learning and memory. (a bell" hanging from the upper brain). | 24 | |
| 7257616003 | cerebral cortex+ | The intricate fabric of the interconnected cells covering the cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information processing center. This wrinkled outer layer of the cerebrum is the most highly developed part of the human brain and is responsible for thinking, perceiving, producing and understanding language - divided into the Frontal, Occipital, Parietal, and Temporal lobes. (1.5-5 mm thick/ two-thirds of total brain mass) | 25 | |
| 7232845958 | cerebral hemispheres+ | Both halves of the brain which are covered by the cerebral cortex. The right hemisphere and the left hemisphere are connected to each other by the corpus callosum, though each half has some special functions, they both work together to produce thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. | 26 | |
| 7257649692 | plasticity+ | The brain's ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing after damage or by building new pathways based on experience. | 27 | |
| 7257650967 | DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)+ | A complex molecule containing the genetic information that makes up chromosomes. | 28 | |
| 7227081622 | evolution+ | The gradual process of biological change that occurs over time in a species as it adapts to its environment. Driven by natural selection, this affects the physical and mental processes of organisms over time, as well as their behaviors. Organisms with the greatest chance of survival live long enough to breed and pass on their genes. | 29 | |
| 7227070715 | natural selection+ | The driving force behind evolution, by which the environment "selects" the fittest organism. Traits represented in the population are based off of the "survival of the fittest." Individuals well adapted to their environment are more likely to reproduce than individuals who are not well adapted. This means that the genes and traits of well adapted individuals are more likely to be passed down to the next generation, making their genes more prevalent in the population. | 30 | |
| 7279283960 | absolute threshold+ | The minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus (light, sound, pressure, taste or odor) 50 percent of the time. | 31 | |
| 7279293714 | just noticeable difference (JND)+ | The minimum difference between two stimuli that is required for detection 50% of the time; measured by the size of the stimulus (Like noticing the difference between a 10 ounce weight and an 11 ounce weight - but not the difference between something that weighs 10 pounds and something that weights 10 pounds 1 ounce). | 32 | |
| 7279323407 | sensory adaptation+ | Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation. | 33 | |
| 7279328514 | perceptual set+ | A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another; this top-down processing can influence what we see, hear, feel (ex. the Loch Ness Monster or a tree limb?) | 34 | |
| 7279341817 | depth perception+ | The ability to see objects in 3D although the images that strike the retina are 2D (and we do this using both monocular and binocular cues); allows us to judge distance. | 35 | |
| 7279357573 | binocular cues+ | Depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes. | 36 | |
| 7232842522 | distance cues+ | Reference points that allow us to judge distance. Our brains use retinal disparity (or the lack of it), relative size, interposition (layering), linear perspective, relative height and motion, and light and shadow all to calculate distance. | 37 | |
| 7279366163 | perceptual constancy+ | Perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent shapes, size, brightness and color) even as illumination and retinal images change (a door seen from an angle is not actually rectangular - but our brain knows that it is). | 38 | |
| 7279388685 | pitch+ | A tone's experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency. | 39 | |
| 7279393627 | consciousness+ | Our awareness of ourselves and our environment. | 40 | |
| 7279398261 | REM sleep (rapid eye movement sleep)+ | A recurring stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur. Also known as paradoxical sleep since the muscles are relaxed (except for minor twitches) but other body systems are active. | 41 | |
| 7279417598 | NREM sleep (non-rapid eye movement sleep)+ | Encompasses all sleep stages except for REM sleep. | 42 | |
| 7279409655 | circadian rhythm+ | The biological clock; regular bodily patterns (e.g. of temperature and wakefulness) that occur on a 24-hour cycle. | 43 | |
| 7279424033 | classical conditioning+ | A type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events. | 44 | |
| 7279427508 | conditioned stimulus (CS)+ | In classical conditioning, a formerly irrelevant or neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response. | 45 | |
| 7279450902 | conditioned response (CR)+ | In classical conditioning, a learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus. | 46 | |
| 7279456644 | extinction+ | The diminishing and disappearance of a conditioned response. In classical conditioning, this occurs when an unconditioned stimulus does not follow a conditioned stimulus. In operant conditioning, this occurs when a response is no longer reinforced. | 47 | |
| 7279474145 | operant conditioning+ | A type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher. | 48 | |
| 7297216870 | law of effect+ | Thorndike's principle that (in operant conditioning) behaviors which are followed by favorable consequences are more likely to be repeated; conversely, behaviors which are followed by unfavorable consequences are less likely to be repeated. | 49 | |
| 7297234108 | reinforcement+ | In operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows; this ALWAYS increases a behavior | 50 | |
| 7297239561 | positive reinforcement+ | Increasing behaviors by presenting stimuli that strengthen the response; any stimulus that , when presented after a response, strengthens the response. Add good stuff (appetitive - desired). | 51 | |
| 7297251574 | negative reinforcement+ | Increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli; any stimulus that when removed after a response, strengthens the response. NOT punishment. Remove bad stuff (aversive). | 52 | |
| 7297358972 | intrinsic motivation*+ | A desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake. | 53 | |
| 7297360246 | extrinsic motivation*+ | A desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishments. | 54 | |
| 7240975396 | cognitive map+ | A mental representation of the layout of one's environment. Connected to Tolman's experiments with rats and mazes which demonstrated evidence of latent learning. Ex. when an underclassmen asks how to get to a class, you remember because you are able to mentally visualize the campus and give directions; when you can type without looking at your keyboard because you have a mental representation of the keys. | 55 | |
| 7297361635 | learned helplessness+ | The hopeless and passive resignation an animal (or human) learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events. | 56 | |
| 10458421011 | mirror neurons+ | Frontal lobe neurons that some scientists believe fire when performing certain actions or when observing another doing so. The brain's mirroring of another's action may enable imitation and empathy. | 57 | |
| 7242657444 | locus of control+ | An individual's sense of where his or her life influences originate - internally or externally. Internal: Belief that you are the cause of your success and failures; you choose your own destiny. External: Belief that external factors determine what happens around you; everything happens for a reason and you choose your own fate. | 58 | |
| 7297373597 | prosocial behavior+ | Positive, constructive, helpful behavior. The opposite of antisocial behavior. | 59 | |
| 7297381299 | long term memory+ | The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system; includes knowledge, skills and experiences. | 60 | |
| 7237331486 | information processing model+ | An analogy for understanding how memory works using the example of computer processing. The three big steps are included: getting the information into our brains (encoding), the process of retaining that information (storage), and then later getting that information back out (retrieval). | 61 | |
| 7241106896 | script+ | A feature of long term memory (specifically a part of semantic memory - vocabularies, concepts, numbers or facts), these are something like blueprints of what happens in a certain situation (visiting a restaurant, spending a period in a particular class). In contrast with procedural memory (which does not require conscious attention), these are steps you expect to take and which hold your conscious attention (at times peripherally). | 62 | |
| 7237368694 | maintenance rehearsal+ | A working-memory process in which information is merely repeated or reviewed to keep it from fading while in working memory. Maintenance rehearsal involves no active elaboration. Your short term memory is able to hold information for about 20 seconds. However, this time can be increased to around 30 seconds by using this. Ex. repeating an address or a number over and over until you can write it down. | 63 | |
| 7297400271 | elaborative rehearsal*+ | A memory technique which links the meaning of new information to knowledge already stored in long term memory. Example: learning the acronym "Roy G. Biv" to remember that the colors of the rainbow (in order) are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. | 64 | |
| 7297474886 | chunking+ | A memory technique in which one organizes items into familiar, manageable units; this often happens automatically as with letters grouped into words or numbers grouped into larger, more memorable sets. | 65 | |
| 7237489254 | semantic memory+ | A portion of long-term memory that processes ideas and concepts that are not drawn from personal experience; includes things that are common knowledge, such as the names of colors, the sounds of letters, the capitals of countries and other basic facts acquired over a lifetime (like an encyclopedia or database for your mind); knowledge that you can access without knowing how you attained it. | 66 | |
| 7297477160 | recall+ | A measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill in the blank test. | 67 | |
| 7297498617 | serial position effect+ | Our tendency to recall best the last (recency) and first (primacy) items in a list. | 68 | |
| 7232837152 | forgetting curve+ | Ebbinghaus' idea that, after storing information, the amount you retain decreases quickly at first but over time levels off until you eventually retain about 30% of the information. | 69 | |
| 7297504643 | proactive interference+ | The disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information. | 70 | |
| 7297511198 | retroactive interference+ | The disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information. | 71 | |
| 7298150338 | algorithm+ | A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. Contrasts with the usually speedier (but also error-prone) use of heuristics. | 72 | |
| 7298153389 | heuristic+ | Any approach to problem solving, learning, or discovery that employs a practical method (common sense or a "rule of thumb" or frequently used patterns - as in spelling); a "big-picture" approach that is more planned than blind trial and error and more efficient (though less accurate) than the step-by-step procedure of an algorithm. | 73 | |
| 10459935419 | aphasia+ | Impairment of language, usually caused by left-hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding). | 74 | |
| 7242263245 | cognition+ | All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating. | 75 | |
| 7232835468 | functional fixedness+ | The inability to perceive a new use for an object associated with a different purpose; Not being able to use an object for a task other than its intentional use; an inability to be McGyver; a form of mental set. | 76 | |
| 7298159475 | Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs+ | A pyramid of human needs with the most basic physiological ones at the base moving up through higher levels needs for safety, belonging, esteem, and so on. According to the theory, lower level needs must first be satisfied before individuals can attend to or meet higher order need areas. | 77 | |
| 7242677346 | anxiety+ | A feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome; in severe instances, it's at the heart of a disorder characterized by a state of excessive uneasiness and apprehension, often with compulsive behavior or panic attacks. | 78 | |
| 7298162315 | general adaptation syndrome (GAS)+ | Selye's concept of the body's adaptive response to stress in 3 phases - alarm, resistance, and exhaustion | 79 | |
| 7298165748 | achievement motivation+ | A desire for significant accomplishment; for mastery of skills or ideas; for control; and for attaining a high standard (aka need for achievement). | 80 | |
| 7242308582 | developmental stages+ | Embraced by developmental psychologists who believe that humans develop through distinct, identifiable stages (see Kolberg, Erikson and Piaget). The opposing view (continuity) suggests that development is gradual and continuous. | 81 | |
| 7242416078 | overregularization+ | Applying a grammatical rule too widely and thereby creating incorrect forms. ("He breaked the toy; She hitted me; Those are pretty gooses.") | 82 | |
| 7298169851 | schema+ | A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information; mental "molds" into which we pour our experiences. Two types: assimilation (interpreting our new experiences in terms of existing ones) and accommodation (adapting our current ones to incorporate new info. | 83 | |
| 7298175816 | attachment+ | An emotional tie with another person shown in young children by their seeking closeness to their care giver and showing distress in separation. | 84 | |
| 7298179296 | longitudinal studies+ | Research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period of time ("lifetime"). | 85 | |
| 7298180509 | personality+ | An individual's characteristic and enduring pattern of thinking, feeling and acting. | 86 | |
| 7298182263 | the unconscious+ | According to Freud, the reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feeling and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware. | 87 | |
| 7298184438 | psychoanalysis+ | Freud's theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts. | 88 | |
| 7298183233 | free association+ | In psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, now matter how trivial or embarrassing. | 89 | |
| 7298186258 | id+ | A reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that (according to Freud) strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives; operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification. | 90 | |
| 7298192009 | ego+ | The largely conscious "executive" part of personality that Freud said mediates among the demands of the id, the superego and reality; operates on the reality principle trying to satisfy the id's desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure and not pain. | 91 | |
| 7298198246 | trait+ | (In personality) a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reporting. | 92 | |
| 7298203334 | introversion+ | A feature of personality involving more reserved behavior and a preference for more solitary activities or those involving smaller groups of closely trusted individuals. | 93 | |
| 7298204188 | extroversion+ | A feature of personality involving more outgoing, talkative, energetic behavior and a preference for social contact, especially with larger groups. | 94 | |
| 7242189782 | self consistency bias+ | The commonly held idea that we are more consistent in our attitudes, opinions, and beliefs than we actually are. Believing that you've thought the same way now as you have your whole life or in previous situations, that our actions and emotions are consistent. | 95 | |
| 7298205041 | intelligence+ | Mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations. | 96 | |
| 7298209348 | IQ (Intelligence Quotient)+ | Originally conceived as a ratio of mental age to chronological age (multiplied by 100 - ma/ca x 100). | 97 | |
| 7298208061 | emotional intelligence+ | The ability to perceive emotions in faces, music and stories; to predict emotions by understanding how they blend in themselves and others; to manage emotions by being able to express them appropriately in varied situations; and use emotions for adaptive and creative thinking. People with a high level of this are socially and self-aware and sensitive to emotional cues; they know what to say to soothe a grieving friend, encourage a colleague, and manage a conflict. | 98 | |
| 7232836309 | artificial intelligence (AI)+ | A branch of computer science which deals with writing computer programs that can solve problems creatively; systems and machines which run on these programs. True ______ is able to adapt to different environments in order to come up with appropriate solutions, without following a strict preset list of algorithms. | 99 | |
| 7298211374 | psychological disorder+ | A syndrome marked by a clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotional regulation, or behavior (aka mental illness). | 100 | |
| 7298214981 | anxiety disorder+ | A psychological disorder characterized by distressing, persistent nervousness or maladaptive (not appropriate) behaviors to reduce anxiety. OCD, PTSD and phobias are examples. | 101 | |
| 7298222307 | phobia+ | An anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of the specific object, activity or situation. | 102 | |
| 7298224273 | major depressive disorder (depression)+ | A mood disorder in which a person experiences, in the absence of drugs or another medical condition, 2 or more weeks with 5 or more symptoms at least 1 of which must be either depressed mood of loss of interest or pleasure. | 103 | |
| 7298230507 | somatic symptom disorder+ | A psychological disorder in which the symptoms take a somatic (bodily) form without apparent physical cause (aka psychosomatic, conversion, or illness anxiety disorder). | 104 | |
| 7298238068 | psychotherapy+ | Freud's techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions; the use of a patient's free associations, resistances, dreams and transferences - and the therapist's interpretations of them - to release previously repressed feelings, allowing the patient to gain self insight. | 105 | |
| 7298244003 | aversive conditioning (aversive therapy)+ | A type of counter conditioning that associates an unpleasant state (like nausea) with unwanted behavior (like drinking alcohol). | 106 | |
| 7298247274 | fundamental attribution error+ | The tendency for observers, when analyzing another's behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and overestimate the impact of personal disposition (the tendency to believe that a problem has more to do with a person's character and less to do with his-her circumstances). | 107 | |
| 7298255051 | attribution theory+ | The idea that we explain people's behavior by crediting either their personalities (dispositional) or the situation they're in (situational). Sometimes observers overestimate the importance of personality and underestimate the power of the situation in explaining the behavior of others. | 108 | |
| 7298256361 | cognitive dissonance theory+ | The idea that we act to reduce the discomfort we feel when two of our thoughts are inconsistent. For example, when we become aware that our attitudes and our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting emotional or intellectual discomfort by changing our attitudes. | 109 | |
| 7298258014 | conformity+ | Adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard. | 110 | |
| 7298260254 | prejudice+ | An unjustifiable and usually negative attitude toward a group and its members; generally involves stereotyped beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action. | 111 |
