Marina Florack

AP Psychology Mid-term Study Guide

Intro to Psychology

Psychology: study of behavior and mental processes Dualist: believe that the body and soul were separate Monists: believe that the body and soul were one William Wundt: 1879, 1st recognized psychological experiment

o Time lapse b/t hearing ball hit platform and pressing telegraph key Structuralism

o Introspection: used to analyze the mind’s structural elements Functionalism: consciousness developed as necessity of survival; how the mind

functions to help us adapt and surviveo Based on Darwin’s Natural Selection (evolution of mental processes through

natural selection) Modern Psychology

o Neuroscience: body and brain’s influence on mental processes and behavioro Evolutionary: evolution influences genetic development…o Behavioral Genetics: genes and environment influence individual differenceso Psychodynamic: behavior springs from unconscious drives, conflicts

Psychological Research

Hindsight bias: “I knew it all along” Intuition: “Trust the Force within” Overconfidence: Tend to be more confident than correct Critical Thinking: Examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, and evaluates evidence Research Strategies

o Theory: an explanations using an integrated set of principles that organizes and predicts observations

o Hypothesis: a testable prediction, often implied by a theoryo Operational Definitions: A description of the specific procedure used to

determine the presence of a variable (a smile indicates happiness) Correlational Methods

o Cause and effect relationship, not causation

o Case Studies: observation technique, one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles

Con: anecdotal caseso Survey: self-reported attitudes or behaviors of people, questioning a

representative, random sample of people Con: wording can impact the effectiveness of the survey

o Samples: the larger the sample size the more likely to represent the whole Random assignment- representative sampling which is equally available

to participants (ex. Computer generated list of every 5th person)o Naturalistic Observation: observe subjects in their natural habitats w/o

interacting w/ them Con: control is sacrificed

o Experimenter Effects: Observer effect: changes in behavior due to awareness of a person or

animal being observed Observer Bias: observer sees what they expect to see or record only

selected details Anthropomorphic Fallacy: attributing human thoughts, feelings, or

motives to animals, especially as a way of explaining their behavior Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: prediction that leads people to act in ways to

make the prediction come true False Consensus Effect: tendency to overestimate other’s agreement with

us Experiment vs. Correlational Study

o Experiment: manipulates a factor to determine its effecto Correlational Studies: uncover naturally occurring relationships

Experiments:o Experimental Group: group that receives treatmento Control Group: group that does not receive the treatment (placebo)o Independent Variable: the factor manipulated (the cause)o Dependant Variable: behavior or mental process that is measured in response to

the experiment (the effect)o Confounding Variables: any difference b/t the experimental group and control

which affect the outcome (time, place, frequency, etc.)o Controls:

Placebos Double-blind procedure Random assigning

Experiments aim to MANIPULATE an independent variable, MEASURE a dependent variable, and CONTROL all other variables.

Good Research is… o Valid: measures what the researcher set out to measure and is accurateo Replication: measures reliability (ability to produce same results repeated times)

Statistics and Research Central Tendencies: a single score which represents a whole set of scores

o Mean: Average (most easily distorted by extreme scores)

o Median: Middle value Most representative

o Mode Most frequently occurring score

o Range Measure of variability Difference b/t the highest and lowest scores

o Standard Deviation Measure of variability How much values differ from the average score Bell curve

Neuroscience, Genetics and Behavior “Modern psychology views each individual as a biopsychosocial system.” Biological

states, and psychological states both affect, and the impact of your environment, biological predispositions, and nurturing

“Everything psychological is simultaneously biological.” Our thought processes, emotions, behavior have a partial biological influence

Neuron (nerve cell): basic unit info. Processing, building block of the brain (and nervous system)

o Think, feel, move and breathe Dendrite: receives messages

Axon: sends messages Myelin Sheath: protects axon, speeds up transmission

o Wears out: Alzheimer’s, Multiple Sclerosis Cell body: stores proteins to nourish transmission Action Potential: neural impulse

o Stimulated when neuron receives signal of heat, pressure or lighto Generated by movement of positively charged atoms in and out of the axon’s

membrane Threshold: all or nothing response in the action potential Reuptake: extra neurotransmitters are sent back to the receptor site Ions

o Neurons generate energy from themo Resting potential

Fluid inside axon is negatively charged Fluid outside axon is positively charged

o Axon’s surface is selectively permeable Synapse: gap b/t the axon tip of sending neuron and dendrite or cell body of receiving

neurono Gap is called the synaptic gap

Neurtotransmitters: chemical messengers which cross synaptic gap b/t neuronso Receptor sites: “lock and key”o Acetylcholine: muscle action, learning and memory

Alzheimer’so Dopamine: perceptual awareness, muscle control

Schizophrenia Parkinson’s disease

o Serotonin: sleep, eating, mood Depression Prozac raises serotonin lvls

o Norepinephrine: mood Bipolar disorder, mania, depression

o Endorphins: pain control and pleasure “runners high” Natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters

Drugs:o Agonists: excite, mimic neurotransmitter signalo Antagonists: block, inhibit neurotransmitter signal

Nervous System:o Body’s electrochemical communication systemo Central Nervous System (CNS): brain and spinal cordo Peripheral Nervous System (PNS): sensory and motor neurons connect the CNS

to the rest of the body

o Afferent Neurons: sensory, incoming info from sense receptorso Efferent Neurons: motor, outgoing info from CNS to muscles and glandso Interneurons: CNS neurons that internally communicate, process afferent and

efferent neurons (most complex) Reflexes: don’t require the brain’s involvement

o Spinal reflex: autonomic, brain isn’t involvedo Pain reflex: simple, automatic, inborn response to a sensory stimulus

Endocrine Systemo Produces hormoneso Growth, mood, metabolism, reproductiono Slower than CNSo Pituitary Gland: growth, and release of hormoneso Adrenal Glands: heart rate, blood sugar, blood pressure

“Old Brain”o Brainstem: automatic survival functionso Medulla: heartbeat and breathingo Reticular Formation: arousal and sleepo Pons: coordinate movemento Thalamus: sensory switchboardo Cerebellum: coordinate voluntary movement and balance

Limbic System

o Emotions: fear and aggression, food and sexo Hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus

Hemisphereso Right: spatial creativeo Left: language and logic

Cerebral Cortex: ultimate control and info. processing centero Glial Cells: support, nourish and protect neuronso Lobes:

Frontal: speaking and muscle movement, judgment and logic Parietal: sensory cortex, touch Occipital: visual info. opposite visual field Temporal: hearing, auditory areas

o Motor Cortex: voluntary movemento Sensory Cortex: registers and processes body sensationso Broca’s Area: making speecho Wernicke’s Area: language comprehension and expression

Aphasia: language impairmento Corpus Callosum: carries messages b/t hemisphereso Split Brain:

See what is in left hemisphere field of vision (right) verbalize Point to word in the right hemisphere field of vision (left)

Human Behavior Chromosomes are composed of DNA

o DNA are composed of Geneso Gene Complexes: many genes acting in concerto Genes: influence physical make-up, intelligence, aggressiveness, happinesso Fraternal (dizygotic)o Identical (monozygotic)o Nurture Influences:

Values, manners, faith/religion, political views, and social viewso Temperament remains consistent through lifeo Evolutionary Psychology: natural selection shapes our behavior, and thinking

(over time)o Pruning: neural connections, “If you don’t use it, you lose it.”o Influence Parents vs. Peers

Parents: education, discipline, responsibility, orderliness, charitableness, dealing with authority

Peers: cooperation, popularity, styles of interactionDevelopmental Psychology

Zygote: fertilized egg Teratogens: toxic substances which can harm baby during prenatal development FAS: mental retardation, poor motor coordination, impaired attention, hyperactivity Newborn Reflexes:

o Rooting: open mouth when touched on cheeko Grasping: grasp anything when put in hando Sucking: rhythmic sucking when mouth is touchedo Moro: if startled baby will making hugging motion

Piaget’s COGNITIVE Developmento Schema: concepts which are developed over timeo Stages

o Sensorimotor: Assimilation: apply same concept to all things generally similar Accommodation: adapting schemas to incorporate new info.

o Preoperational: Theory of mind: understand another’s perspective, infer other’s feelings,

understand joke of tricks played on another

o Criticisms Stages more continuous Ages INACCURATE

Harlow’s Monkeyso Disproved attachment theory, nourishment is not the only way an infant

develops an attachmento Secure attachment and insecure attachment

Parenting Styles:o Authoritarian: impose rules and expect obedience, stricto Permissive: few demands, little punishmento Authoritative: demanding and responsive, provide explanations, open

discussions, and exceptions Kohlberg’s MORAL Development

o Postconventional Level (self-defined morality) Morality of abstract principles; to affirm agreed-upon rights and personal

ethical principleso Conventional Level (Early adolescence)

Morality of law and social rules; to gain approval or avoid disapprovalo Preconventional Level (Up to age 9)

Morality of self-interest; to avoid punishment or gain concrete rewardso Criticisms:

Carol Gilligan: he only studied boys, women and men have different types of morality

Erikson’s PsychoSOCIAL Development

Sensation and Perception Schema: first impression Sensation: what we sense and send to the brain

o Bottom-up Processing Perception: what the brain does with the sensory info.

o Top-Up Processing Prosopagnosia: “face blindness”

o Complete sensation but incomplete perception Absolute Threshold: min. stimulation needed to detect a stimulus 50% of the time Difference Threshold: min. difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of

the time (JND- just noticeable difference)o Subliminal: stimulus below ones absolute threshold for conscious awareness-

subconsciouso Weber’s Law: two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage, AKA

different threshold is a ratio Sensory Adaptation: diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation Vision:

o Transduction: conversion of one form of energy to anothero Accommodation: lens changes to help focus objects on the retinao Optic Nerve: rope-like axons fro ganglion cells, carries info from eye to the braino Blind spoto Fovea: central point in the retina, where the cones cluster

Parallel Processing: simultaneous processing of several aspects of visual stimulus (different parts of cortex integrate all info at once to form perception)

Tri-chromatic Theory: red, green, blue

Opponent Process Theory: opposing retinal processes enable color vision (“ON” & “OFF”)

Auditiono Frequency: number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given timeo Pitch: High freq.= high pitch/ low=lowo Wave to Sound

Outer Ear: Channels sounds wave through auditory canal to eardrum Middle Ear: Vibrations pass through piston (hammer, anvil, stirrup) piston

concentrates vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea’s oval window Eardrum: basilar membrane converts wave to vibrations

Inner Ear Cochlea: converts vibrations into neural activity (vibration =

ripples in basilar membrane fluid) Bending hair cells = auditory neural impulse

o Discerning Pitch Place Theory: specific places along basilar membrane match a tone with a

particular pitch Frequency Theory: rate of sound wave = rate of neural impulses to the

braino Conduction Hearing Loss: caused by damage to the mechanical system that

conducts sound wave to the cochleao Nerve Hearing Loss: damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells or to the auditory

nerveo Tinnitus: damage to auditory ear (ring in ears)o Cochlear Implants: stimulates sites on auditory nerve for those w/ nerve

deafness Touch

o Pressure: only sensation identifiable w/ skin receptorso Pain: “no brain, no pain”

Gate-Control Theory: Small nerve fibers open gate, large nerve fibers close gate

Tasteo Taste Sensations

Sweet, sour, salty, bitter, Umami (meaty)o Sensory Interaction: one sense may influence another

Synaesthesia: joining of senses, one sense stimulates anothero Place theory outdate for tongue: Taste is comprehensive all over tongue

Smello Olfaction

Chemical sense Body Position and Movement (Sensorimotor Coordination)

o Kinesthesis: sensing position and movement of individual body partso Vestibular Sense: sense of balance

Inner ear: semicircular canals, vestibular sacs = fluid = hair-like receptors = impulse to cerebellum

States of Consciousness Stage 1

o Few minutes, only experience it onceo Theta waveso “hallucinations”

Stage 2o More theta waveso Sleep spindles, short bursts of rapid brain waves

Stages 3 and 4o 3: intro. To deep sleepo Slow wave sleepo Delta waveso Restoring body’s growth hormones o Genital arousal

REM!!!o Paradoxical sleepo Very active braino Dreams usually occur in REMo Essentially paralyzedo Rapid heart rate and breathing

Sleep Disorderso Insomnia: persistent problems falling asleepo Narcolepsy: Sleeplessness and may fall asleep at unpredictable or inappropriate

times, directly into REMo Sleep Apnea: stops breathing while sleepingo Night Terrors: wake up screaming and have no idea whyo Somnambulism: sleep walking (stage 4)

Dreamso Manifest Content: storyline

o Latent Content: underlying meaningo Activation-Synthesis Theory: cerebral cortex is trying to interpret random

electrical activity we have while sleepingo Info.-Processing Theory: dreams are a way to deal with the stresses of everyday

life Hypnosis

o Social interaction between one person who suggests to another that certain perceptions, feelings, and thoughts will spontaneously occur

o Posthypnotic suggestiono Posyhypnotic amnesiao Role Theory vs. State Theory

Role: not altered state of consciousness Social phenomenon

State: is altered state of consciousness Dramatic health benefits Works best on pain

o Dissociation Theory: We voluntarily divide our consciousness up Drugs:

o If a drug is used often enough a TOLERANCE is createdo Neuroadaptation: brain adapts chemistry to offset drug’s effect

Learning Pavlov: classical conditioning Stimuli

o US: unlearned (food)o UR: (salivation)o NS: bell paired with the food to form associationo CS: (bell)o Acquisition: learning, respond to CS w/o USo Extinction: to unlearn behavior, present CS w/o USo Spontaneous Recovery: reappearance of CR upon presentation of CS

Renewal effect: reappearance of CR after extinction when returning to environment where acquisition took place

o Generalization: stimulus similar to CS elicits a CRo Discrimination: distinguish b/t various stimuli

Watson: aversive conditioningo Second/higher order conditioning: CS elicits a CR, the CS can be used to

condition a response to a new stimulus (Bell paired w/ light)

Skinner: operant conditioning Consequenceso Reinforcement: consequence that increase likelihood of behavior

Positive R = adds something pleasant Negative R = removes something unpleasant

o Punishment: consequence that decreases likelihood of behavior Positive Punishment = adds something negative Negative Punishment (omission training) = removes something pleasant

o Shaping: reinforcing the stepso Chaining: reinforcing a number of separate behaviors for a more complex activityo Primary reinforcers: natural reinforcerso Secondary reinforcers: learned to valueo Reinforcement Schedules: pattern of reinforcing behavior

Fixed Ration = reinforcement after set number of responses Variable Ratio = reinforcement after varied number of responses Fixed Interval = fixed amount of time set before reward for behavior Variable Interval = varied amount of time before reward

o Observational Learning: Imitation

Prosocial behavior: role modeling Antisocial behavior: bobo doll experiment

o Latent learning (“hidden”) Learning that isn’t directly observable

Rats and varied rewardso Insight Learning: “aha”o Abstract Learning: higher order thinking (inferring relationships, complex

problem solving)

Memory Three Stage Processing Model

o Sensory Memory (working memory)o Short-Term Memoryo Long-Term Memory

Sensory Memory: immediate initial recording of sensory info. in memory systemo Iconic (split second photograph)o Echoic (split second sound(s))

Encodingo Automatic and Effortful

Memories do NOT reside in a single specific spot of our brain