Psychology AP Exam Flashcards
(102 cards)
1
Q
Positive Psychology
A
Focuses on well-being, resilience, positive
emotions, and psychological health.
2
Q
Frontal Lobe
A
Cognitive and language expression (Brocas area).
3
Q
Temporal Lobe
A
Emotions, auditory, storing and retrieving memories, and language comprehension (Wernicke’s area).
4
Q
The Parasympathetic Nervous System
A
The part of the autonomic nervous system that is responsible for relaxation.
5
Q
The Medulla
A
Basic autonomic functions and reflexes.
6
Q
Deep Processing
A
Encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention.
6
Q
The Gestalt principle of figure-ground
A
The process that allows us to focus on a figure rather than the background.
7
Q
Accommodation (Lenses)
A
The focusing on an object by the ray focusing on the curvature and thickness of the lense adjusts.
8
Q
Synesthesia
A
The stimulation of one sense triggers another.
9
Q
Top-Down Processing
A
Based on experiences.
10
Q
Bottom-Up Processing
A
Based on sensory detection to fill in the blanks.
11
Q
Qualitative
A
Cannot be measure; observable.
12
Q
Quantitative
A
Can be measured; numerical.
13
Q
Mean
A
Average; Add all and divide by the amount of variables. Bad for extreme outliers.
14
Q
Median
A
Middle number of ordered numbers.
15
Q
Mode
A
Most frequently occurring number in a data set.
16
Q
Experiment
A
Compares two or more variables.
17
Q
Meta-Analysis
A
A procedure for statistically synthesizing a body of scientific evidence with a variety of studies.
18
Q
Deindividuation
A
The loss of self-awareness and restraint within a group.
19
Q
Group Polarization
A
When a belief becomes more extreme after entering a group.
20
Q
Groupthink
A
When a group of people go along with an idea to keep the peace.
21
Q
Social Trap
A
A situation in which the conflicting parties, by each pursuing their self-interest rather than the good of the group, become caught in mutually destructive behavior.
22
Q
Substance P
A
Associated with pain perception
23
Q
Correlational Study
A
The relationship between two variables; correlation is not causation (that requires an experiment).
24
First Step of Neuron Transmission
Action potential reaches synaptic terminals.
25
Second Step of Neuron Transmission
Ca^2+ enters terminals through channels.
26
Third Step of Neuron Transmission
Ca^2+ triggers synaptic vesicles to release neurotransmitters.
27
Fourth Step of Neuron Transmission
Transmitters bind to receptors
28
Threshold
Occurs when the signals to fire outweigh the inhibitory signals. Once threshold is met,
an action potential will fire and send its electrical signal down the axon.
29
Refractory period
Resting pause where action potentials cannot fire.
30
Resting potential
The electrical potential difference across the plasma membrane when the cell is in a non-excited state
31
Reuptake
Reabsorption of neurotransmitters.
32
Linear Perception
A type of depth prompt that the human eye perceives when viewing two parallel lines that appear to meet at a distance
33
Closure
(Gestalt) The tendency to fill in the blanks of something incomplete.
34
Diathesis-Stress
Suggests that mental and physical disorders develop from a combination of a genetic or biological predisposition (diathesis) and stressful conditions
35
Superordinate goals
Shared goals only achievable with cooperation.
36
Eustress
Mild stress that is considered beneficial.
37
Drive-reduction theory
Focuses on how we respond to inner pushes and external pulls.
38
Mesosystem
Where all of a child's immediate influences (family, school, community, church, etc.) interact.
39
Exosystem
The formal and informal social structures or systems that indirectly influence a child's development
40
Microsystem
The immediate environment where a child interacts directly and develops relationships
41
Macrosystem
How societal and cultural factors contribute to the development of an
individual.
42
Fluid Intelligence
Our ability to reason speedily and abstractly, as when solving logic problems
43
Crystalized Intelligence
Our accumulated knowledge as reflected in vocabulary and applied skills
44
General intelligence (g)
According to Spearman and others, underlies all mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test.
45
Effect Size
Tells you how meaningful the relationship between variables or the difference between groups is. A large effect size means that a research finding has practical significance, while a small effect size indicates limited practical applications.
46
Standard Deviation
To measure the distance between data points on a probability distribution, statisticians use standard deviation (SD).
47
Informed Consent
A person’s voluntary agreement to participate in a procedure on the basis of their understanding of its nature, its potential benefits and possible risks, and available alternatives.
48
Rods
Photoreceptor cells that detect light levels.
49
Cones
Photoreceptors in the retina that detect color.
50
Change Blindness
When a person does not see a visible change in the environment because it does not have their immediate focus.
51
Shaping
The process of successive approximation, operant conditioning with positive reinforcements, breaking down complex behaviors into manageable steps, and behavior modification all in one.
52
Parietal Lobe
Sensory, spatial relationships, and language processing.
53
Occipital Lobe
Visual processing.
54
Broca's Area
Speech expression.
55
Wernicke's Area
Speech comprehension.
56
Medulla
Autonomic functions.
57
Cerebellum
Balance, equilibrium, coordination, and implicit memory.
58
Aphasia
A acquired language disorder caused by brain damage that impairs a person's ability to communicate through speech, writing, or understanding language (located in frontal lobe).
59
Activation Synthesis
Suggests that dreams are a result of the brain's attempt to interpret random neural activity in the brain stem during REM sleep.
60
Arousal Theory
This theory posits that too much anxiety/arousal can be distressful and detrimental across a wide
range of performance domains.
61
Opponent-Process Theory
Posits that emotions and color vision are experienced in pairs of opposing sensations.
62
Agonist
A substance that mimics the actions of a neurotransmitter or hormone to produce a response when it binds to a specific receptor in the brain.
63
Antagonist
A substance that blocks or inhibits the function of a neurotransmitter in the brain.
64
Discrimination (Operant conditioning)
It involves the ability to distinguish between one stimulus and similar stimuli.
65
An Approach-Approach Conflict
An intrapersonal conflict when a decision is to be made from two appealing choices.
66
Glial Cells
Glial cells provide structural support to neurons, insulate them with myelin, and help remove
waste products from neurons. These functions are essential for the overall health and function of neurons.
67
Neurons
Neurons create and transmit neural impulses.
68
Approach-Avoidance Conflict
An approach-avoidance conflict is characterized by the presence of both advantages and disadvantages, or perceived negatives and positives.
69
Avoidance-Avoidance
Times when an individual wants to avoid making a decision between two options that are both objectionable.
70
Oxytocin
Oxytocin is a hormone responsible for starting uterine contractions during labor and childbirth.
Oxytocin is also known for bonding, attachment, and stress reduction.
71
The facial-feedback Hypothesis
Suggests their facial expressions influence that individuals' emotional experiences.
72
Display Rules
Determine how we act and to what extent an emotion is expressed in any given situation.
73
Cognitive Appraisal
Is the subjective interpretation made by an individual to stimuli in the environment.
74
Relative Deprivation
Feelings of deprivation usually arise from the discrepancy between what a person believes they deserve or expect to receive and the actual quantity of what they have.
75
Dispositional Attribution
When making a dispositional attribution, the person focuses on the internal qualities, such as
personality, in explaining behavior.
76
Serial position effect
The tendency to remember the first and last items in a series better than those in the middle.
77
Proactive interference
The tendency of previously learned material to hinder subsequent learning.
78
Retrograde amnesia
A neurological condition characterized by the inability to recall events, information, or experiences that occurred before the onset of the amnesia.
79
Forgetting curve
Learners will forget an average of 90% of new information within the first seven days. As such, without retention, we remember less and less information as the hours and days go by.
80
Sensory interaction
Senses interact with one another to create robust sensory experiences.
81
Prosopagnosia
A condition where you struggle to recognize faces or can't interpret facial expressions and cues.
82
Intelligence Quotient Formula
Take the person's mental age and divide it by their chronological age. Next, multiply that number by 100.
83
Perceptual constancies
Perceptual constancy is the ability of an observer to perceive familiar objects as unchanging...
84
Peripheral Nervous System
Delivers signals that your brain uses to control vital, unconscious processes like your heartbeat and breathing. It carries signals that allow you to move your muscles.
85
Autonomic Nervous System
A component of the peripheral nervous system that regulates involuntary physiologic processes including heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, digestion, and sexual arousal.
86
Hippocampus
It converts short-term memories into long-term memories by organizing, storing and retrieving memories within your brain. Spatial relationship memory, Alzheimers, and anterograde amnesia.
87
Thalmus
Sensory switchboard.
88
Corpus Callosum
The connection between the two lobes.
89
Cerebral Cortex
Controls many parts of the brain.
90
Amygdala
Anger, aggression, afraid, and emotional memory integration.
91
Instinctive Drift
Occurs when a reinforced behavior is replaced as an animal gradually returns to
an innate or instinctual behavior.
92
Implicit priming of memory
Occurs when a person is exposed to one stimulus, then later reacts to a similar stimulus without consciously recalling why.
93
Long-term potentiation
The creation of smoother, more efficient neural pathways through
frequent activation.
94
Recency effect
A cognitive bias in which those items, ideas, or arguments that came last are remembered more clearly than those that came first.
95
Pons
Coordination, movements, and sleep.
96
RAS
Nerve fibers involved in attention, arousal, and alertness.
97
Midbrain
Nerve system connecting lower and higher brain portions, relays information between eyes, ears, and brain.
98
Limbic (What does it include?)
Thalmus, hypothalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus.
99
Hypothalamus
Fight or flight (regulates nervous systems), feeding, and fornication.
100
Prefrontal Cortex
Cognitive functions, thinking, planning, decisions, and impulse control.
101
Retroactive Interference
When new information makes recalling old information difficult.
