A comprehensive review of terminology for AP Psychology. Definitions are for triggering other information. (Pulled from other lists.)
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| 5838418306 | absolute threshold | intensity level at which one can detect a stimulus 50% of the time | 0 | |
| 5838418307 | 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 | |
| 5838418308 | acetylcholine (ACh) | a neurotransmitter involved in learning, memory and muscle movement | 2 | |
| 5838418311 | acquisition | a process in classical conditioning by which the association of a neutral stimulus with a natural stimulus is first established | 3 | |
| 5838418312 | action potential | the electrical process by which information is transmitted the length of an axon | 4 | |
| 5838418313 | activation synthesis | the idea that dreams are the result of the cerebral cortex interpreting and organizing random flashes of brain activity, originating in the lower brain structures, especially the pons | 5 | |
| 5838418314 | adrenal gland | source of the hormone norepinephrine which affects arousal | 6 | |
| 5838418317 | after image | an image that remains after a stimulus is removed, especially one in which the colors are reversed | 7 | |
| 5838418318 | agonists | drugs which mimic the activity of neurotransmitters | 8 | |
| 5838418319 | alcohol | the most frequently used and abused CNS depressant in most cultures; its use affects mood, judgment, cognition | 9 | |
| 5838418320 | all-or-nothing | description of the action of neurons when firing | 10 | |
| 5838418321 | alpha waves | seen when an individual is in a relaxed, unfocused, yet still awake state | 11 | |
| 5838418322 | amygdala | limbic system component associated with emotion, particularly fear and anger | 12 | |
| 5838418325 | antagonist | drug which blocks the activity of neurotransmitters | 13 | |
| 5838418329 | anvil | the middle of the three ossicles | 14 | |
| 5838418330 | aphasia | impairment of language usually caused by damage to the left hemisphere | 15 | |
| 5838418331 | arousal | condition in which the sympathetic nervous system is in control | 16 | |
| 5838418334 | association areas | areas of the cerebral cortex which have no specific motor or sensory repsonsibilities, but rather are involved in thinking, memory and judgment | 17 | |
| 5838418335 | 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 | 18 | |
| 5838418340 | auditory canal | the area that sound waves pass through to reach the eardrum | 19 | |
| 5838418342 | autonomic nervous system | division of the nervous system that control the glands and organs; its divisions arouse or calm | 20 | |
| 5838418345 | axon | extension of the neuron which carries, via an action potential, information that will be sent on to other neurons, muscles or glands | 21 | |
| 5838418347 | basic research | scientific investigations intended to expand the knowledge base | 22 | |
| 5838418348 | applied research | scientific investigations intended to solve practical problems | 23 | |
| 5838418349 | behavioral | perspective on psychology that sees psychology as an objective science without reference to mental states | 24 | |
| 5838418352 | binocular cues | retinal disparity and convergence which enable people to determine depth using both eyes | 25 | |
| 5838418353 | biological | perspective that stresses links between biology and behavior | 26 | |
| 5838418354 | bipolar cells | eye neurons that receive information from the retinal cells and distribute information to the ganglion cells | 27 | |
| 5838418356 | blind spot | point in the retinal where the optic nerve leaves the retina so there are no rods or cones there | 28 | |
| 5838418357 | bottom-up processing | analysis that begins with sensory receptors and works its way up to the brain's integration of sensory information | 29 | |
| 5838418358 | hemispheres | we have two, right and left, and some brain functions seem to centered in one or the other | 30 | |
| 5838418359 | brainstem | oldest part of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells upon entering the skull; controls fundamental survival processes like heartrate and breathing | 31 | |
| 5838418361 | bystander effect | the tendency to not offer help when needed if others are present who do not offer help | 32 | |
| 5838418362 | Cannon-Baird | theory of emotion that says that a stimulus causes simultaneously psyiological arousal and the subjective experience of an emotion | 33 | |
| 5838418363 | case study | scientific investigation in which a single subject is studied in great detail | 34 | |
| 5838418364 | CAT scan | a method of creating static images of the brain through computerized axial tomography | 35 | |
| 5838418367 | Central Nervous System | consists of the brain and the spinal cord | 36 | |
| 5838418368 | cerebellum | brain structure that controls well-learned motor activities like riding a bike | 37 | |
| 5838418369 | cerebral cortex | the fabric of interconnecting cells that blankets the brain hemispheres; the brain's center for information processing and control | 38 | |
| 5838418372 | circadian rhythm | the daily biological rhythms that occur in a 24-hour period | 39 | |
| 5838418373 | 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 | 40 | |
| 5838418376 | cochlea | this coiled structure in the inner ear is fluid-filled and in it the energy from sound waves stimulate hair cells | 41 | |
| 5838418378 | cognitive | perspective on psychology that stresses the importance of mental activities associated with thinking, remembering, etc | 42 | |
| 5838418380 | collective unconscious | Jung's theory that we all share an inherited memory that contains our culture's most basic elements | 43 | |
| 5838418381 | color blindness | a variety of disorders marked by inability to distinguish some or all colors | 44 | |
| 5838418385 | conditioned response | in classical conditioning, the response elicited by the conditioned stimulus | 45 | |
| 5838418386 | conditioning | generally, learning in which certain experiences make certain behaviors more or less likely; there are two forms of this | 46 | |
| 5838418387 | conduction | one type of hearing impairment caused by mechanical problems in the ear structures | 47 | |
| 5838418388 | cones | neurons in the retina that are responsible for color vision | 48 | |
| 5838418389 | confirmation bias | a tendency to search for information that supports one's preconceptions | 49 | |
| 5838418391 | confounding variable | extraneous factor that interferes with the action of the independent variable on the dependent variable | 50 | |
| 5838418392 | consciousness | one's awareness of one's environment and oneself. | 51 | |
| 5838418394 | control group | subjects in an experiment who do not receive application of the independent variable but are measured nonetheless for the dependent variable | 52 | |
| 5838418396 | cornea | the transparent outer covering of the eye | 53 | |
| 5838418397 | corpus callosum | the fibers that connect the right and left hemispheres, enabling them to communicate | 54 | |
| 5838418398 | correlation | the degree of relationship between two variables | 55 | |
| 5838418399 | 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 | 56 | |
| 5838418400 | cross-sectional | type of study that measures a variable across several age groups at the same time | 57 | |
| 5838418401 | debriefing | giving participants in a research study a complete explanation of the study after the study is completed | 58 | |
| 5838418405 | delta waves | largest brain waves, associated with deep, dreamless sleep | 59 | |
| 5838418407 | dendrite | a branch off the cell body of a neuron that receives new information from other neurons | 60 | |
| 5838418409 | dependent variable | the variable that the experimenter measures at the end of the experiment | 61 | |
| 5838418410 | depressant | any agent that reduces the activity of the CNS | 62 | |
| 5838418411 | depth perception | an ability that we exercise by using both monocular and binocular cues | 63 | |
| 5838418412 | difference threshold | also called the jnd; smallest distinction between two stimuli that can consistently be detected | 64 | |
| 5838418420 | dopamine | a neurotransmitter that is associated with Parkinson's disease (too little of it) and schizophrenia (too much of it) | 65 | |
| 5838418421 | 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 | 66 | |
| 5838418422 | dreams | occur most often during REM sleep; may be caused by activation-synthesis, or may be a way of cementing memories | 67 | |
| 5838418424 | DSM | initials of the American Psychiatric Association's book that lists diagnostic criteria for many psychological disorders | 68 | |
| 5838418426 | eardrum | also called the tympanic membrane - vibrates - sends converted sounds into inner ear to be interpreted | 69 | |
| 5838418428 | EEG | initials of a method of representation of brain waves | 70 | |
| 5838418436 | endocrine system | the slow messenger system of the body; produces hormones that affect many bodily functions | 71 | |
| 5838418437 | endorphins | neurotransmitters that give one a feeling of well-being, euphoria or eliminate pain | 72 | |
| 5838418439 | evolutionary | perspective that stresses the value of behavior in Darwinian terms | 73 | |
| 5838418440 | experiment | form of scientific investigation in which one variable is tested to determine its effect on another | 74 | |
| 5838418441 | experimental group | subjects in an experiment to whom the independent variable is administered | 75 | |
| 5838418444 | extinction | in classical conditioning, the process of eliminating the previously acquired association of the conditioned stimulus and conditioned response | 76 | |
| 5838418446 | extrinsic | term that describes motivations that drive behavior in order to gain rewards from outside forces | 77 | |
| 5838418448 | feature detection | the ability of the brain to identify specific components of visual stimuli such as corners or edges | 78 | |
| 5838418451 | figure-ground | refers to our ability to distinguish foreground from background in visual images | 79 | |
| 5838418452 | fixed interval | describes the schedule of reinforcement wherein a worker receives a paycheck every Friday | 80 | |
| 5838418453 | fixed ratio | describes a schedule of reinforcement wherein a worker is paid for a certain sum for each product produced | 81 | |
| 5838418459 | fovea | the central focus area of the retina | 82 | |
| 5838418460 | frequency | theory of hearing which states that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the tone's frequency | 83 | |
| 5838418462 | functionalism | William James's school of thought that stressed the adaptive and survival value of behaviors | 84 | |
| 5838418464 | ganglion cells | their axons form the optic nerve | 85 | |
| 5838418469 | gestalt | German word for "whole", it refers to our tendency to perceive incomplete figures as complete | 86 | |
| 5838418470 | glial cell | this acts as a support system for neurons | 87 | |
| 5838418475 | hallucination | a false sensory perception that seems to be real but for which there is not an actual external stimulus | 88 | |
| 5838418476 | hallucinogen | a substance capable of producing a sensory effect in the absence of real external sensory stimuli | 89 | |
| 5838418477 | heritability | the extent to which differences in a group of a characteristic is due to genetics, not environment | 90 | |
| 5838418479 | hierarchy of needs | Maslow's theory of the most important motivations people have | 91 | |
| 5838418480 | hindsight bias | the tendency, after an event occurs, to overestimate the likelihood that an event could have been predicted | 92 | |
| 5838418481 | hippocampus | limbic system component associated with memory | 93 | |
| 5838418482 | homeostasis | the steady, stable state that is the body's regulatory processes try to maintain | 94 | |
| 5838418483 | hormone | chemical substance secreted by endocrine glands that affect body processes | 95 | |
| 5838418484 | humanist | perspective in psychology that stresses the goodness of people and their possibility of reaching their fullest potential | 96 | |
| 5838418485 | hunger | it is regulated by the lateral hypothalamus and the ventromedial hypothalamus | 97 | |
| 5838418486 | hypnosis | a social interaction in which one person suggests to another that certain events or emotions will occur | 98 | |
| 5838418488 | hypothalamus | limbic system component that regulates hunger, body temperature and other functions | 99 | |
| 5838418489 | hypothesis | a prediction of how the an experiment will turn out | 100 | |
| 5838418495 | incentive | an external stimulus that tends to encourage behavior | 101 | |
| 5838418496 | independent | type of variable manipulated by the experimenter | 102 | |
| 5838418500 | information processing | humans accomplish this either in parallel (unconsciously) or in serial fashion (consciously) | 103 | |
| 5838418501 | informed consent | agreement to participate in psychology research, after being appraised of the dangers and benefits of the research | 104 | |
| 5838418504 | insight | in psychoanalysis, the basic understanding one develops of the underlying sources of emotion or behavioral difficulty | 105 | |
| 5838418505 | insomnia | inability to fall asleep or remain asleep long enough for sufficient rest | 106 | |
| 5838418511 | interneurons | cells in the spinal cord through which reflexes travel without going to the brain | 107 | |
| 5838418512 | 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 | 108 | |
| 5838418514 | intrinsic | term that describes motivations that derive from one's interest in the object of the motivation, rather than from rewards that one might gain | 109 | |
| 5838418518 | just noticeable difference | the threshold at which one can distinguish two stimuli that are of different intensities, but otherwise identical | 110 | |
| 5838418519 | kinethesis | sense of balance and of one's physical position | 111 | |
| 5838418520 | latent | Freud's stage of psychosexual development occuring from about age 6 to puberty during which little happens in psychosexual terms | 112 | |
| 5838418521 | latent content | the hidden or disguised meaning of dreams | 113 | |
| 5838418522 | 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 | 114 | |
| 5838418523 | law of effect | Thorndike's rule that behaviors which have positive outcomes tend to be repeated | 115 | |
| 5838418525 | lens | a curved, transparent element of the vision system that provides focus | 116 | |
| 5838418526 | lesion | any destruction or damage to brain tissue | 117 | |
| 5838418531 | lucid | describes a dream in which the dreamer is aware that he or she is dreaming and is able to influence the progress of the dream narrative | 118 | |
| 5838418534 | manifest | describes, in Freudian terms, the surface content of a dream | 119 | |
| 5838418535 | marijuana | a drug, often smoked, whose effects include euphoria, impairment of judgment and concentration and occasionally hallucinations; rarely reported as addictive | 120 | |
| 5838418536 | mean | numerical average of a set of numbers | 121 | |
| 5838418537 | median | the middle one of a set of numbers | 122 | |
| 5838418538 | medulla | part of the brain nearest the spinal cord which controls breathing, heart rate and blood pressure | 123 | |
| 5838418541 | mere exposure effect | this phenomenon causes one to prefer a stimulus as a consequence of repeated exposures to that stimulus, particularly is there is no adverse result of the exposure | 124 | |
| 5838418545 | mode | the most commonly occurring term in a batch of data | 125 | |
| 5838418546 | modeling | the process of observing and imitating a behavior | 126 | |
| 5838418547 | 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 | 127 | |
| 5838418550 | motivation | a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior | 128 | |
| 5838418551 | motor cortex | an area of the brain, near the rear of the frontal lobes, that controls voluntary movement | 129 | |
| 5838418552 | motor neuron | this carries information from the brain to the muscles; also called "efferent" | 130 | |
| 5838418553 | MRI | a technique that enables us to see static images of the brain's structures; uses magnetism to achieve this effect | 131 | |
| 5838418555 | myelin sheath | a layer of fatty tissue encasing a neuron's axon that speeds transmission | 132 | |
| 5838418556 | narcolepsy | a disorder characterized by sudden sleep attacks, often at inopportune times | 133 | |
| 5838418557 | naturalistic | term refers to observations made of individual's behavior in an everyday life setting | 134 | |
| 5838418558 | nature vs nurture | name for a controversy in which it is debated whether genetics or environment is responsible for driving behavior | 135 | |
| 5838418559 | negative reinforcement | in operant conditioning, removing something unpleasant in order to elicit more of a particular behavior | 136 | |
| 5838418560 | neural network | refers to interconnected neuron cells | 137 | |
| 5838418561 | neuron | the fundamental building block of the nervous system | 138 | |
| 5838418562 | neuroscience | perspective on psychology that emphasizes the study of the brain and its effects on behavior | 139 | |
| 5838418563 | neurotransmitter | a chemical that is released by a neuron for the purpose of carrying information across the gaps (synapses) between neurons | 140 | |
| 5838418564 | 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 | 141 | |
| 5838418565 | 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 | 142 | |
| 5838418566 | normal distribution | describes a symmetrical, bell shaped curve that shows the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes | 143 | |
| 5838418568 | NREM | refers to sleep during which there is no rapid eye movement | 144 | |
| 5838418571 | observational learning | change in behavior due to watching other people behave | 145 | |
| 5838418573 | occipital | this lobe contains the primary vision processing function | 146 | |
| 5838418575 | olfactory bulb | the first brain structure to pick up smell information from the nose | 147 | |
| 5838418577 | operant conditioning | a method of influencing behavior by rewarding desired behaviors and punishing undesired ones | 148 | |
| 5838418578 | operational definition | a description of an experimental variable in such a way that the variable can be measured and the procedure can be replicated | 149 | |
| 5838418580 | optic nerve | the axons of the ganglion cells form this | 150 | |
| 5838418584 | oval window | membrane at the enterance to the cochlea through which the ossicles transmit vibrations | 151 | |
| 5838418587 | parasympathetic | the branch of the nervous system that automatically calms us down when the reason for arousal has passed | 152 | |
| 5838418588 | parietal | lobe that contains the sensory cortex | 153 | |
| 5838418590 | perception | the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information | 154 | |
| 5838418591 | peripheral nervous system | the subsystem of the nervous system that does not include the CNS | 155 | |
| 5838418593 | person-centered | therapy developed by Rogers featuring the patient's self-discovery and actualization; also called client-centered | 156 | |
| 5838418595 | PET scan | method of brain imaging using positron emissions | 157 | |
| 5838418597 | phobia | fear | 158 | |
| 5838418599 | pituitary | gland that is the master gland of the endocrine system | 159 | |
| 5838418600 | place theory | the idea that different sound frequencies stimulate different locations on the basilar membrae | 160 | |
| 5838418601 | placebo | an inert substance given to the control group in an experiment | 161 | |
| 5838418602 | placebo effect | phenomenon that some people get better even though they receive not medication but an inert substance which should have no medical effect | 162 | |
| 5838418603 | plasticity | the ability of the brain to adapt to damage by reorganizing functions | 163 | |
| 5838418604 | pons | part of the brain, works with the cerebellum in coordinating voluntary movement; neural stimulation studied in activation synthesis theory may originate here | 164 | |
| 5838418605 | population | all of the individuals from which subjects for an experiment may be drawn | 165 | |
| 5838418608 | preconscious | in Freud's theory, the level of consciousness in which thoughts and feelings are not conscious but are readily retrieveable to consciousness | 166 | |
| 5838418611 | preoperational | Piaget's second stage of cognitive development, when egocentrism declines | 167 | |
| 5838418615 | psychiatrist | medical doctor who has specialized in treating psychological disorders | 168 | |
| 5838418616 | psychoanalysis | Freud's therapeutic technique - cons, precons, uncons - iceberg - underlying experiences affecting cons life | 169 | |
| 5838418617 | psychodynamic | term describes the perspective on psychology in which inner feeling and unconscious tensions are emphasized | 170 | |
| 5838418619 | punishment | can be either positive or negative, intended to reduce the occurrence of a behavior | 171 | |
| 5838418620 | random | term that describes assignment in which all subjects have an equal chance of being assigned to the control group or to the experimental group | 172 | |
| 5838418625 | refractory period | resting time; occurs in both neuron firing and in human sexual response | 173 | |
| 5838418628 | reinforcer | in operant conditioning any event that strengthens the behavior it follows | 174 | |
| 5838418629 | reliability | in testing, the characteristic of a test that produces consistent scores through retesting or alternate halves or other methods | 175 | |
| 5838418630 | REM | describes sleep in which vivid dreams typically occur; this type of sleep increases as the night progresses while stage 4 sleep decreases | 176 | |
| 5838418631 | representative | this kind of sample accurately reproduces the characteristics of the population a researcher is studying | 177 | |
| 5838418634 | reticular formation | a network of cells in the brainstem that filters sensory information and is involved in arousal and alertness | 178 | |
| 5838418635 | retina | the sensory reception system of the eye; includes rods and cones | 179 | |
| 5838418638 | rods | responsible for black and white vision | 180 | |
| 5838418644 | scatterplot | name for a graph of data points in a two variable correlation | 181 | |
| 5838418645 | schedules of reinforcement | these include fixed interval and variable ratio | 182 | |
| 5838418646 | schema | a collection of basic knowledge about a category of information; serves as a means of organization and interpretation of that information | 183 | |
| 5838418650 | selective attention | this term describes the situation when you are focused on certain stimuli in the environment while other stimuli are excluded | 184 | |
| 5838418653 | self-actualization | the highest of Malow's needs; "the full use of talent" | 185 | |
| 5838418655 | self-fulfilling prophecy | a belief or expectation that helps to make itself true | 186 | |
| 5838418659 | sensory adaptation | reduced responsiveness caused by prolonged stimulation | 187 | |
| 5838418660 | sensory cortex | the parts of the brain that receive information from the sensory receptors | 188 | |
| 5838418661 | sensory neurons | nervous system cells that receive information from the environment | 189 | |
| 5838418662 | afferent | in neurons, another name for sensory | 190 | |
| 5838418664 | serotonin | a neurotransmitter; associated with improved mood and other positive emotions | 191 | |
| 5838418668 | shaping | an operant conditioning technique in which reinforces guide behavior to closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior | 192 | |
| 5838418670 | signal detection | this theory predicts how and in what circumstances we can detect a stimulus; assumes there is no single threshold | 193 | |
| 5838418671 | sleep apnea | a disorder characterized by cessation of breathing during sleep | 194 | |
| 5838418672 | sleep spindles | short bursts of brain waves detected in stage 2 sleep | 195 | |
| 5838418673 | socio-cultural | a perspective on psychology that emphasizes effects on behavior and thinking of one's culture and the people around one | 196 | |
| 5838418677 | somatic | a division of the nervous system that controls voluntary muscle movements | 197 | |
| 5838418679 | split brain | a condition in which the two brain hemispheres are isolated by cutting the corpus callosum | 198 | |
| 5838418680 | spontaneous recovery | in classical conditioning the re-occurence of conditioning after it had appeared to be extinct | 199 | |
| 5838418681 | standard deviation | a computation of how much scores vary around a mean | 200 | |
| 5838418683 | structuralism | school of psychology developed by Wilhelm Wundt | 201 | |
| 5838418686 | sympathetic | part of the nervous system that controls the "flight or fight" response | 202 | |
| 5838418687 | synaptic gap | space between the axon terminal of one neuron and the receptors of the next neuron | 203 | |
| 5838418688 | syntax | in language the set of rules that describe how words are arranged to make sentences | 204 | |
| 5838418690 | temporal | the lobe that controls audition | 205 | |
| 5838418691 | thalamus | the sensory switchboard | 206 | |
| 5838418693 | theory | this organizes data and is used to make predictions | 207 | |
| 5838418694 | threshold | in a neuron, reaching this causes the neuron to fire | 208 | |
| 5838418697 | unconditioned response | in conditioning the behavior elicited by the unconditioned stimulus | 209 | |
| 5838418698 | unconditioned stimulus | in conditioning it elicits the UCR | 210 |
