AP Psych Exam Review

1. AP Psych Exam Review

4. Research Methods: Important Terms • Hypothesis • Operational definitions • Variables • Theory • Population • Representative sample • Stratified sample • Random sampling • Sampling bias • Experiments • Independent variable • Dependent variable • Confounding variables • Experimental group • Control group • Random assignment • Participant bias/subject expectancy effect • Experimenter bias/expectancy • Single-blind and double-blind design • Placebo effects • Replication • Descriptive statistics • Frequency distribution • Measures of central tendency • Mean • Median • Mode • Normal distribution and curve • Measures of variability • Range • Standard deviation • Correlation • Correlation coefficient • Positive correlation • Negative correlation • Illusionary correlation • Inferential statistics • Statistically significant • Ethical Guidelines • Consent • Debriefed • Confidentiality • No psychological or physical harm • Use of animals ??

5. Research Methods

6. Research Methods

7. Correlation Coefficient Indicates direction of relationship (+ or -) Correlation coefficient r = +0.65 Indicates strength of relationship (0.00 to 1.00)

8. Normal Curve The mean, median, and mode of a normal distribution are identical and fall exactly in the center of the curve. This means that any score below the mean falls in the lower 50% of the distribution of scores and any score above the mean falls in the upper 50%. Also, the shape of the curve allows for a simple breakdown of sections. For instance, we know that 68% of the population fall between one and two standard deviations (See Measures of Variability Below) from the mean and that 95% of the population fall between two standard deviations from the mean. Figure 8.1 shows the percentage of scores that fall between each standard deviation.

9. 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 90 475 710 70 Mode Median Mean One Family Income per family in thousands of dollars Skewed Distribution An asymmetrical distribution of scores, such as a curve with a bump on the left and tail to the right or most scores are bunched to the left or right of the mean • The mean is the largest or the mode or median are smaller than the mean • The mean is a less useful measure; while the median is more useful

10. Measures of Variability Indicate the dispersion or spread in a data set. How much the scores in a set of data vary from: a. Each Other b. the Mean Tell you if the scores are very different from one another or if they cluster around the mean. Range The difference between the highest and lowest score in a set of data. Extreme scores can radically affect the range of a data set. Standard Deviation Reflects the average distance between every score and the mean. Tell you how different the scores are from the mean. Tells you whether scores are packed together or dispersed. Increase variability = increase in standard deviation

11. Statistical Significance Results are “statistically significant” when the probability that the findings are due to chance is very low. EX: If the difference between two group means is statistically significant, a researcher would conclude that the difference most likely exists in the population of interest. If the difference is not statistically significant, a researcher would conclude that the difference occurred by chance – possibly because of an unrepresentative sample or the presence of confounding variables. “Very Low” means less than 5 chances in 100 or P < 0.05 level of significance

12. Biology: Important Terms • Neuron • Glial cells • Dendrites • Nucleus • Soma • Axon • Myelin • Axon terminal buttons • Synapse/synaptic cleft • Neurotransmitters • Excitatory • Inhibitory • Receptor site • Reuptake • Neural networks • Types of neurons • Afferent (sensory) neurons • Efferent (motor) neurons • Neural Communication • Resting potential (Polarization) • Action potential • Depolarization • Repolarization • Hyperpolarization • Threshold • All or none principle • Refractory Period • Agonists vs antagonists

13. Neuron Structure Approx 15,000 synapses per neuron (DETECT) (ANNOUNCE) Neurons do NOT touch each other - the space in between is called the synapse.

14. How Neurons Communicate: Action Potential

15. How Neurons Communicate: Synaptic Transmission

17. Agonist vs. Antagonist

18. Neurotransmitters

19. Biology: Important Terms • Nervous System • Central Nervous System • Brain • Spinal Cord • Peripheral Nervous System • Somatic Nervous System • Afferent (sensory) neurons • Efferent (motor) neurons • Autonomic Nervous System • Sympathetic Nervous System • Parasympathetic Nervous System

20. Biology: Important Terms • The Brain • Lateralization • Corpus callosum • Cerebral cortex • Frontal lobe • Motor cortex • Parietal lobe • Somatosensory cortex • Temporal lobe • Occipital lobe • Association areas • Wernicke’s area • Broca’s area • Ablation • Lesion • Plasticity • How Psychologists Look Into the Brain • EEG • CT or CAT scan • MRI and fMRI • TMS • PET scan • Endocrine System • Hormones

24. Hemispheres • Contralateral control: right controls left and vice versa. • Left Hemisphere: logic and sequential tasks; language. • Right Hemisphere: spatial and creative tasks.

25. Split Brain Patients: Testing the Divided Brain

26. Sensation: Important Terms • Sensory Receptors • Transduction • Psychophysics • Factors that Affect Sensation • Absolute threshold • Signal detection theory • Difference threshold (just noticeable difference) • Sensory adaptation • Subliminal stimulation • Sensory interaction • Visual capture • Vision • Light waves • Cornea, Pupil, Iris, Lens (Accommodation) • Retina • Photoreceptors: Rods, Cones (Fovea), Bipolar cells, Ganglion cells) • Optic nerve (Blind spot) • Primary visual cortex • Feature detectors • Parallel processing • Color Vision • Hue/color (wavelength) • Intensity/Brightness (amplitude) • Saturation (purity) • Color Mixing: Subtractive vs. additive • Trichromatic theory of color vision • Opponent process theory of color vision • Afterimage • Hearing • Sound waves • Pitch (frequency) • Loudness (amplitude) • Timbre (purity) • Outer ear: pinna, auditory canal, eardrum • Middle ear: hammer, anvil, stirrup, oval window • Inner ear: cochlea, basilar membrane, auditory nerve • Frequency theory • Place theory • Volley principle • Auditory localization • Conduction hearing loss • Sensorineural hearing loss • Smell • Olfactory nerves and olfactory bulb • Taste • Taste buds: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami • Pain • Gate-control theory • Sensory homunculus • Kinesthetic sense • Vestibular sense • Semicircular canals

27. Sensing the World: Basic Principles • Difference Threshold (just noticeable difference or jnd) = the lowest difference between two stimuli that person can detect 50% of the time. • Weber’s Law = regardless of magnitude, two stimuli must differ by a constant proportion for the difference to be noticeable. • Light intensity – 8% • Tone frequency - .3% • Weight – 2% • EX: Lemon Lab – if you lemon weighs 6 oz then the next lemon will have to weigh .12 oz heavier or .12 oz lighter in order to detect the difference between lemon • JND varies according to the strength or intensity of the original stimulus. The greater the stimulus the greater the change necessary to produce JND • EX: If a farmer grows giant lemons, a greater difference threshold will be needed to determine a change from a 500 oz lemon, such as a change of 10 oz versus .12 oz with a 6 oz lemon.

28. Sensing the World: Basic Principles • Difference Threshold (just noticeable difference or jnd) = the lowest difference between two stimuli that person can detect 50% of the time. • Fechner’s Law – larger and larger increases in stimulus intensity are required to produce perceptible increments in the magnitude of sensation. Constant increments in stimulus intensity produce smaller and smaller increases in perceived magnitude of sensation. • Scene #1: dark room – add one light bulb – difference in light is striking • Scene #2: same room – add a second light bulb – the amount of light is doubled but the room does not seem twice as bright • Scene #3: same room – add a third light bulb, it adds just as much light as the second, but you barely notice the difference • Three equal increases in stimulus intensity produces progressively smaller differences in the magnitude of sensation

29. Visual Processing: light waves cornea pupil (iris) lens retina (rods and cones – trichromatic theory bipolar ganglion – start of opponent process) optic nerve (blind spot) thalamus occipital lobe (visual cortex – end of opponent process) feature detectors abstraction (cells in parietal and temporal lobe combine info from feature detectors) PERCEPTION

30. Theories of Color Vision: Trichromatic Theory Wavelength Input Cone Signal to Brain “Blue” Blue “Green” Equal Parts Red and Green = Yellow “Red”

33. Pitch – high or lowness of sound • The greater the number of cycles per second, the higher the pitch. Longer the wave = lower the pitch / Shorter the wave = higher the pitch • Frequency – number of cycles per second as expressed in the unit Hertz. • Hertz – A unit expressing the frequency of sound waves. One Hertz, or 1Hz, equals one cycle per second. • Human hearing  detect sounds ranging in frequency from 20Hz – 20,000Hz

34. Loudness • The higher the amplitude of a wave, the louder the sound. • Amplitude – strength or height of wave. • Decibel – A unit expressing the loudness of a sound, abbreviated dB. • Perceived loudness doubles about every 10 decibels. The absolute threshold for hearing is arbitrarily defined as 0 decibels.

35. Perceiving Pitch Place Theory (Traveling Wave Theory) = pitch determined by point of maximal vibration on basilar membrane. Different pitches activate different places of the cochlea’s basilar membrane. Only applicable to high pitched sounds – over 5000 Hz (low pitched sounds do not localize as well) Frequency Theory = frequency of a tone (or pitch) matches the rate at which the hair cells fire or the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerves (i.e., 1KHz tone cause hair cells to fire 1k times/sec) Only applicable to sounds under 1000 Hz (individual neurons cannot fire faster than 1000 times/sec) Volley Theory = receptors in the ear fire in sequence. Several neurons together, firing in sequence, can send a more rapid series of impulses to the brain than one.

36. Touch Sensory receptors located around the roots of hair cells fire when surface of skin is touched (mechanical and thermal energy). The sense of touch is a mix of four distinct skin senses—pressure, warmth, cold, and pain. Only pressure has identifiable receptors. All other skin sensations are variations of pressure, warmth, cold and pain. Two pathways: #1 – signals from thermal receptors + pain signals; #2 – signals from tactile stimulation (pressure) Hot = warm ( firing) +cold ( firing) Wet = pressure + cold Tickling itch = pressure + pain

37. Sensory Homunculus Homunculus - Latin for "little human“; any representation of a human being. The Motor Cortex is the area at the rear of the frontal lobes that control voluntary movements. The Sensory Cortex (parietal cortex) receives information from skin surface and sense organs.

38. Gate-Control Theory Spinal cord contains neurological “gates” that either block pain or allow it to be sensed. • Small fibers (pain + temp) = open gate = pain. When tissue is injured, the small fibers activate and open the neural gate • Slow pathway – lags a second or two behind the fast system; longer lasting, aching pain • Fast pathway – registers pain and relays it to the cortex in a fraction of a second • Large fibers (tactile – pressure or vibration) = close gate = no pain. • Stimulate (massage, rub, acupuncture) gate closing activity to treat pain. • Also closed by signals from the brain – attention and expectations • Endorphins can also close gate • Brain (attention and expectations) also close gate

39. Perception: Important Terms • Perceptual Organization • Bottom-up processing • Top-down processing • Gestalt laws • Depth Perception • Monocular cues • Binocular cues • Retinal disparity • Convergence • Perceptual Constancies • Shape constancy • Color constancy • Brightness constancy • Size constancy • Perception of Movement • Stroboscopic motion • Phi phenomenon • Selective attention • Change blindness • Inattentional blindness • Cocktail party effect • Observe Characteristics • Expectations • Perceptual set • Context effects • Cognitive style • Field independent (sharpeners) • Field dependent (levelers • Culture

42. Consciousness: Important Terms • Levels • Conscious • Preconscious • Unconscious • Circadian rhythms • Stages of sleep • NREM • REM • Functions • REM rebound • Restorative theory • Adaptive theory • Behavioral theory • Sleep Disorders • Narcolepsy • Sleep apnea • Sleep walking (somnambulism) • Night terrors • Nightmares • Dream Theories • Psychoanalysis • Manifest content • Latent content • Activation-synthesis theory • Hypnosis • Posthypnotic suggestions • Posthypnotic amnesia • Higard’s split consciousness • Hidden observer • Psychoactive drugs • Blood-brain barrier • Agonist vs. antagonist • Psychological dependency • Physical dependency • Withdrawal symptoms • Tolerance

43. Sleep Stages Measuring sleep: About every 90 minutes, we pass through a cycle of five distinct sleep stages. Sleep is divided into two major states:  NREM and REM. With each 90-minute cycle, stage 4 sleep decreases and the duration of REM sleep increases. 1 2 3 4 3 2 REM 2 3 4 3 2 REM 2 REM 2 REM

48. Learning: Important Terms • Behaviorism • Classical Conditioning • Pavlov • Unconditioned (UCS/US) • Unconditioned response (UCR/UR) • Neutral stimulus (NS) • Conditioned stimulus (CS) • Conditioned response (CR) • Short-delayed conditioning • Generalization • Discrimination • Extinction • Spontaneous recovery (reconditioning) • Second or Higher order conditioning • Watson and Little Albert • Phobias • Flooding • Systematic desensitization • Conditioned taste aversion • Biological preparedness • Operant Conditioning • Instrumental Learning / Law of effect • Reinforcement • Positive • Negative • Punishment • Positive • Negative • Primary reinforcer • Secondary (conditioned) reinforcer • BF Skinner • Shaping • Continuous reinforcement • Partial (intermittent) reinforcement • Fixed ratio • Variable-ratio • Fixed –interval • Variable-interval • Behavior modification • Token economy • Overjustification effect • Latent learning • Observational Learning • Modeling • Mirror neurons • Bandura’s Bobo Doll Study