Flashcards › Test Prep & College › AP Psychology

AP Psychology Key Terms

Core vocabulary on the brain, learning, memory, development, personality and mental health.

113 cardsGrades 9–12, College#ap#psychology

0 of 113 known
113 cards
  • BehaviorismTerm
    School of thought studying observable behavior
  • Cognitive psychologyTerm
    Study of mental processes such as memory and thinking
  • Psychoanalytic perspectiveTerm
    Freud's view that unconscious drives shape behavior
  • Humanistic psychologyTerm
    Focus on growth, free will and self-actualization
  • BiopsychologyTerm
    Study of how biology influences behavior
  • Wilhelm WundtTerm
    Founded the first psychology lab in 1879
  • HypothesisTerm
    A testable prediction
  • Independent variableTerm
    The factor the researcher manipulates
  • Dependent variableTerm
    The outcome measured
  • Random assignmentTerm
    Placing participants into groups by chance
  • Control groupTerm
    Group not receiving the treatment
  • Double-blind studyTerm
    Neither participants nor researchers know who gets the treatment
  • Placebo effectTerm
    Improvement due to expectation, not the treatment
  • CorrelationTerm
    A relationship between two variables; does not prove cause
  • Correlation coefficientTerm
    A number from -1 to +1 showing strength and direction of relationship
  • Operational definitionTerm
    A precise statement of how a variable is measured
  • Informed consentTerm
    Participants agree after learning what is involved
  • NeuronTerm
    A nerve cell
  • DendriteTerm
    Receives signals into a neuron
  • AxonTerm
    Carries signals away from the cell body
  • Action potentialTerm
    An electrical impulse along an axon
  • SynapseTerm
    The gap between neurons
  • NeurotransmitterTerm
    Chemical messenger sent across a synapse
  • DopamineTerm
    Neurotransmitter linked to reward and movement
  • SerotoninTerm
    Neurotransmitter affecting mood, sleep and appetite
  • AcetylcholineTerm
    Neurotransmitter involved in muscles and memory
  • EndorphinsTerm
    Natural pain relievers
  • Central nervous systemTerm
    The brain and spinal cord
  • Peripheral nervous systemTerm
    Nerves outside the brain and spinal cord
  • Sympathetic nervous systemTerm
    Prepares the body for action
  • Parasympathetic nervous systemTerm
    Calms the body
  • HypothalamusTerm
    Regulates hunger, thirst, temperature and hormone release
  • HippocampusTerm
    Forms new explicit memories
  • AmygdalaTerm
    Processes fear and emotion
  • CerebellumTerm
    Coordinates balance and movement
  • Frontal lobeTerm
    Planning, judgment and movement
  • Broca's areaTerm
    Involved in producing speech
  • Wernicke's areaTerm
    Involved in understanding language
  • Corpus callosumTerm
    Band of fibers connecting the brain's hemispheres
  • NeuroplasticityTerm
    The brain's ability to change through experience
  • SensationTerm
    Detecting stimuli with sense organs
  • PerceptionTerm
    Interpreting sensory information
  • Absolute thresholdTerm
    The smallest stimulus detected half the time
  • Just noticeable differenceTerm
    The smallest change that can be detected
  • Sensory adaptationTerm
    Reduced response to unchanging stimuli
  • Gestalt principlesTerm
    Rules for how we organize perceptions into wholes
  • Depth perceptionTerm
    Judging distance
  • Binocular cuesTerm
    Depth cues that need both eyes
  • Bottom-up processingTerm
    Perception built from sensory details
  • Top-down processingTerm
    Perception guided by expectations
  • Circadian rhythmTerm
    The roughly 24-hour body clock
  • REM sleepTerm
    Sleep stage with vivid dreams and active brain
  • ConsciousnessTerm
    Awareness of ourselves and our surroundings
  • Classical conditioningTerm
    Learning by associating two stimuli
  • Unconditioned stimulusTerm
    Naturally triggers a response
  • Conditioned stimulusTerm
    Neutral stimulus that comes to trigger a response
  • ExtinctionTerm
    Fading of a learned response when the association stops
  • Operant conditioningTerm
    Learning through consequences
  • ReinforcementTerm
    Anything that increases a behavior
  • PunishmentTerm
    Anything that decreases a behavior
  • Positive reinforcementTerm
    Adding something pleasant to increase behavior
  • Negative reinforcementTerm
    Removing something unpleasant to increase behavior
  • Variable-ratio scheduleTerm
    Reinforcement after an unpredictable number of responses
  • Observational learningTerm
    Learning by watching others
  • Albert BanduraTerm
    Bobo doll studies on observational learning
  • Ivan PavlovTerm
    Discovered classical conditioning using dogs
  • B.F. SkinnerTerm
    Pioneer of operant conditioning
  • EncodingTerm
    Getting information into memory
  • StorageTerm
    Keeping information over time
  • RetrievalTerm
    Getting information out of memory
  • Working memoryTerm
    Short-term memory used to process information
  • Explicit memoryTerm
    Memory of facts and experiences you can state
  • Implicit memoryTerm
    Memory shown through skills and habits
  • Mnemonic deviceTerm
    A memory aid
  • Spacing effectTerm
    Learning is better spread out than crammed
  • Retroactive interferenceTerm
    New learning disrupts old memories
  • Proactive interferenceTerm
    Old learning disrupts new memories
  • Anterograde amnesiaTerm
    Inability to form new memories
  • HeuristicTerm
    A mental shortcut
  • Confirmation biasTerm
    Seeking information that supports existing beliefs
  • Functional fixednessTerm
    Seeing objects only in their usual uses
  • AlgorithmTerm
    A step-by-step method that guarantees a solution
  • Intelligence quotientTerm
    Score derived from standardized intelligence tests
  • ReliabilityTerm
    Consistency of a test
  • ValidityTerm
    Whether a test measures what it claims to
  • StandardizationTerm
    Uniform procedures and norms for a test
  • Developmental psychologyTerm
    Study of change across the lifespan
  • Piaget's stagesTerm
    Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational
  • Object permanenceTerm
    Knowing that things exist when not seen
  • ConservationTerm
    Understanding that amount stays the same despite shape change
  • EgocentrismTerm
    Difficulty seeing another person's viewpoint
  • AttachmentTerm
    Emotional bond between infant and caregiver
  • Harlow's monkeysTerm
    Showed infants need comfort contact as well as food
  • Authoritative parentingTerm
    High warmth with firm limits
  • Erikson's stagesTerm
    Eight psychosocial crises across life
  • Zone of proximal developmentTerm
    Tasks a child can do with help; Vygotsky's idea
  • Maslow's hierarchyTerm
    Needs from physiological to self-actualization
  • Intrinsic motivationTerm
    Doing something for its own enjoyment
  • Cannon-Bard theoryTerm
    Emotion and body arousal occur at the same time
  • Cognitive dissonanceTerm
    Discomfort when beliefs and actions conflict

Download this deck

Want paper cards? Paste the plain-text download into the flashcard maker.