AP Notes, Outlines, Study Guides, Vocabulary, Practice Exams and more!

AP Psychology: Unit 1 Flashcards

Vocab from Baron's AP Psychology prep book and Psychology, AP Edition with Discovery Psychology

Terms : Hide Images
286588651introspectionfirst began in laboratory set up by Wilhelm Wundt; process of reporting on one's own conscious mental experiences0
286588653structuralismidea proposed by Wundt that the mind operates by combining subjective emotions and objective sensations; aimed to uncover the basic structures that make up mind and thought1
286588654functionalismtheory presented by William James; emphasizes adaptiveness of the mental or behavioral processes2
286588655Wilhelm Wundtset up first psychological laboratory in Leipzig, Germany in 1879; known for training subjects in introspection and for his theory of structuralism3
286588656Margaret Floy Washburnfirst woman to earn a Ph.D. in psychology4
286588657William Jamespublished The Principles of Psychology, the science's first textbook; responsible for theory of functionalism5
286588658Mary Whiton Calkinsstudied with William James and went on to become president of the American Psychological Association6
286588659G. Stanley Hallstudent of William James who pioneered he study of child development and was the first president of the APA7
286588660Gestalt psychologytheory that states that the whole experience is often more than just the sum of the parts, because the way we experience the world is more than just an accumulation of various perceptual experiences; relatively little influence on current psychology8
286588661psychoanalysistheory that states a part of our mind over which we do not have conscious control determines, in part, how we think and behave9
286588662Sigmund Freudrevolutionized psychology with his psychoanalytic theory; believed the unconscious mind must be examined through dream analysis, word association, and other psychoanalytic therapy techniques; criticized for being unscientific and creating unverifiable theories10
286588663behaviorismtheory that states psychologists should look at only behavior and causes of behavior, and not concern themselves with describing elements of consciousness; dominant school of thought in psychology from the 1920s through the 1960s11
286588664John Watsonpsychologist who believed the science must limit itself to observable phenomena; wanted to establish behaviorism as the dominant paradigm of psychology12
286588665B. F. Skinnerbehaviorist who expanded the basic ideas of behaviorism to include the idea of reinforcement- environmental stimuli that either encourage or discourage certain responses13
286588666humanismmodern psychological viewpoint that stresses individual choice and free will; suggests that we choose most of our behaviors and these choices are guided by physiological, emotional or spiritual needs; not easily tested by the scientific method; includes theorists Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers14
286588668biopsychologymodern psychological perspective that explains human thought and behavior strictly in terms of biological processes (e.g. genes, hormones, and neurotransmitters)15
286588669evolutionary perspectivealso known as Darwinian; modern psychological perspective that examines human thoughts and actions in terms of natural selection; similar to biopsychology16
286588670behavioral perspectivemodern psychological perspective that explains human thought and behavior in terms of conditioning; looks strictly at observable behaviors and what reaction organisms get in response to specific behaviors17
286588671cognitive perspectivemodern psychological perspective that examines human thought and behavior in terms of how we interpret, process, and remember environmental events18
286588672sociocultural perspectivemodern psychological perspective that looks at how our thoughts and behaviors vary from people living in other cultures; emphasizes the influence of culture on the way we think and act19
286588673Jean Piagetcame up with a cognitive developmental theory, which focuses on how our cognitions develop in stages as we mature20
286588674developmental perspectivemodern psychological perspective emphasizing that change occurs across a lifespan; focus has shifted over recent years to teens and adults21
286588676operational definitionsa researcher's explanation how the variable of an experiment will be measured22
286588680participantsindividuals on which research is conducted23
286588681samplingthe process by which participants for research are selected24
286588682populationincludes anyone or anything that could possibly be selected to be in the sample for research25
286588683random selectionevery member of the population has an equal chance of being selected as a participant in research26
286588686field experimentsexperiments conducted in the world; advantage of being more realistic27
286588687confounding variablesany difference between the experimental and control conditions, except for the independent variable, that might affect the dependent variable28
286588688assignmentthe process by which participants are put into a group, experimental control29
286588689random assignmenteach participant has an equal chance of being placed into any group30
286588693experimenter biasthe unconscious tendency for researchers to treat members of the experimental and control groups differently to increase the chance of confirming their hypothesis31
286588696double-blind procedurewhen neither the participants nor the researcher are able to affect the outcome of the research32
286588698response biasthe tendency for subjects to behave in certain ways; can alter validity of experiment33
286588700confirmation biasthe tendency to attend to evidence that complements and confirms our beliefs or expectations, while ignoring evidence that does not34
286588704neurosciencefield devoted to understanding how the brain creates thoughts, feelings, motives, consciousness, memories and other mental processes35
286588705cognitionsmental processes, such as thinking, memory, sensation, and perception36
286588708clinical viewpsychological perspective emphasizing mental health and mental illness; psychodynamic and humanistic psychology are variations of this37
286588710scientific methoddeveloping a hypothesis, performing a controlled test, gathering objective data, analyzing results, and publishing, criticizing, and replicating the results38
286588712correlational studiesnon-experimental method; a type of research that is mainly statistical in nature; determines the relationship between two variables39
286588713surveynon-experimental method; a quasi-experimental method in which questions are asked to subjects; when being designed, the researcher hast o be careful that the questions are not skewed or biased towards a particular answer40
286588714naturalistic observationnon-experimental method; research in which subjects are observed in their natural environment41
286588717measures of central tendencyaverages; mean, median, and mode42
286588718hindsight biaspeople's tendency upon hearing about research findings to think that they knew it all along43
286588719applied researchresearch conducted in order to solve practical problems44
286588720standard deviationa measure of variability that indicates the average difference between the sources and their mean45
286588721normal distributiona bell-shaped curve, describing the spread of a characteristic throughout a population46
286588722correlation coefficienta number between -1 and +1 expressing the degree of relationship between two variables47
286588723representative samplea sample obtained in such a way that it reflects the distribution of important variables in the larger population in which the researchers are interested; variables such as age, income level, ethnicity, and geographic distribution48

Need Help?

We hope your visit has been a productive one. If you're having any problems, or would like to give some feedback, we'd love to hear from you.

For general help, questions, and suggestions, try our dedicated support forums.

If you need to contact the Course-Notes.Org web experience team, please use our contact form.

Need Notes?

While we strive to provide the most comprehensive notes for as many high school textbooks as possible, there are certainly going to be some that we miss. Drop us a note and let us know which textbooks you need. Be sure to include which edition of the textbook you are using! If we see enough demand, we'll do whatever we can to get those notes up on the site for you!