AP PSYCHOLOGY Review for the AP Exam

1. AP PSYCHOLOGYReview for the AP Exam

2. Psychology: The science of behavior (what we do) and mental processes (sensations, perceptions, dreams, thoughts, beliefs, and feelings….) At all levels, psychologists examine how we process information--how we organize, interpret, store, and use it.

3. SCHOOLS OF PSYCHOLOGY Prologue

4. Prologue: Psychology’s Roots • Empiricism • Knowledge comes from experience via the senses • Science flourishes through observation and experiment

5. Founding Psychologists: 1) William Wundt: (1879 Leipzig, Germany) Founded the first formal laboratory devoted to experimental psychology. 2) Hermann von Helmholtz: physicist who conducted simple experiments on perception and the nervous system…..the first to measure the speed of a nerve impulse. 3) Herman Ebbinghaus: 1885 published classic studies on memory 4) G. Stanley Hall: first psychology laboratory in US (1883) at John Hopkins Univ…………..first American Psychology Journal (1887)…….first president of American Psychological Association (1892) 5) Margaret Floy Washburn: First woman to receive PhD in Psychology (1894) 6) Francis Cecil Sumner: first African-American PhD in psychology 7) Mary Whiton Calkins: first woman elected president of APA, 1905

6. Historical Schools STRUCTURALISM: using introspection, the systematic examination by individuals of their own thoughts and feelings about specific sensory experiences. Emphasized the structure of the mind and behavior. Edward Titchener: (Cornell University) emphasized the “what” of mental illness rather than “why” or “how” of thinking. The major opponent to Stucturalism was…… FUNCTIONALISM: gives primary importance to learned habits that enable organisms to adapt to their environment and to function effectively. “What is the function or purpose of any behavioral act?” John Dewey: provided impetus for progressive education. William James: study of consciousness was not limited to elements, contents, and structures. ….the mind haS an ongoing relationship with the environment. He published “Principles of Psychology” 1890

7. GESTALTISM: The whole is greater than the sum of its’ parts. Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Köhler, Kurt Koffka, and Kurt Lewin BIOLOGICAL: the causes of behavior in the genes, the brain, the nervous system, and endocrine system ………the role of specific brain systems in aggression by stimulating different regions and then recording any destructive actions that are elicited.

8. BEHAVIORISM: emphasizes observable behaviorrather than inner mental experiences……… emphasizes the role of environment as the cause of behavior. (From our environment, we learn to do certain behaviors and learn not to do others.) Sometimes called learning theory. ……….use of positive reinforcement rather than punishment B. F. Skinner: radical behaviorism acknowledged that evolution provided each species with a repertory of behaviors. John B.Watson: observable behavior was important; stated the chief goal of psychology was the prediction and control of behavior. Ivan Pavlov: classical conditioning.

9. NEUROPHYSIOLOGY: An approach which emphasizes that all actions, feelings, and thoughts are associated with bodily events such as the firing of nerve cells in the brain or the release of hormones COGNITIVE: refers to mental activity including thinking, remembering, learning and using language. Behavior is only partly determined by preceding environmental events and past behavioral consequences. “People act because they think.” Jerome Bruner: developed a learning theory based upon categorization David Ausubel: attempted to explain meaningful verbal learning as a phenomenon of consciousness rather than of behavior…. Created the “advance organizer.” Jean Piaget: identified stages of cognitive development.

10. PSYCHOANALYSIS: An approach that emphasizes unconscious motives and conflicts. A psychodynamic psychologist will analyze aggression as a reaction to frustrations caused by barriers to pleasure, such as unjust authority. They view aggression as an adult’s displacement of hostility originally felt as a child against his or her parents. Sigmund Freud: developed from his work with mentally disturbed patients; views a person as being pushed and pulled by complex network of inner and outer forces. Developed stages of life to age 12, claiming that an individual would change little after that point. Erik Erikson: expanded on Freud’s stages of life to include 8 stages into later adulthood. Carl Jung: challenged his mentor Freud with the hypothesis that adulthood, not childhood, represents the most significant phase of psychology. Bernice Neugarten: focused on the difference between chronological age and social age.

11. HUMANISM: emphasizes personal growth, self-esteem, and the achievement of human potential more than the scientific understanding, prediction, and control of behavior. Human beings are not driven by the powerful, instinctive forces postulated by Freudians or manipulated by environments. ………….look for personal values and social conditions that foster self-limiting, aggressive perspectives instead of growth-enhancing, shared experiences. Abraham Maslow: developed the Hierarchy of Needs, stating that each level of needs must be satisfied before one moves onto the next.

12. EVOLUTIONARY: Seeks to connect contemporary psychology to a central idea of the life sciences, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. Researchers focus on the environmental conditions in which the human brain evolved. Those organisms best suited to their environments will flourish and pass on genes more successfully than those with poorer adaptations. CULTURAL: Study cross-cultural differences in the causes and consequences of behavior. Researchers may compare the prevalence of eating disorders for white Americans vs. African American teenagers within the U.S. Cultural psychologists study the perceptions of the world as affected by culture, the languages one speaks and how it affects ones experience of the world, or how does culture affect the way children develop toward adulthood.

13. Prologue: Contemporary Psychology

14. Prologue: Contemporary Psychology Psychology’s Perspectives A lot depends on your viewpoint

15. Prologue: Contemporary Psychology Psychology’s Subfields • Basic Research • Biological psychologists explore the links between brain and mind • Developmental psychologists study changing abilities from womb to tomb • Cognitive psychologists study how we perceive, think, and solve problems • Personality psychologists investigate our persistent traits • Social psychologists explore how we view and affect one another

16. Prologue: Contemporary Psychology Psychiatry • A branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders • Practiced by physicians who sometimes use medical (for example, drug) treatments as well as psychotherapy

17. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH Chapter 1

18. Psychologists, like all scientists, use the scientific method to construct theories that organize observations and imply testable hypotheses Five Steps of the Scientific Method: Developing a hypothesis 2) Performing a controlled test 3) Gathering objective data 4) Analyzing the result/Survival of Hypothesis (refine hypothesis and retest) 5) Publishing, criticizing and replicating the results

19. Types of ResearchExperimental Method Components of the Research Process: 1) Developing a research question 2) Surveying the literature 3) Hypothesis 4) Independent variable 5) Dependent variable 6) Extraneous variables 7) Controls 8) Sampling/Subjects (random assignment to groups) 9) Procedure 10) Results/Statistics 11) Discussion 12) New Hypothesis

20. Research Strategies--Step 1Developing a Hypothesis Empirical Investigation *collecting objective information firsthand by making careful measurements based on direct experience. Theory *an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes and predicts observations Hypothesis *a testable prediction *often implied by a theory *MUST be defined operationally

21. Research Strategies--Step 1Developing a Hypothesis Operational Definition *a statement of procedures (operations) used to define research variables *REQUIRED to make your suspicion testable *You MUST describe: independent variables dependent variable list of procedures *Example- *intelligence may be operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures

22. Research Strategies--Step 2Performing a Controlled Test Independent Variable *the experimental factor that is manipulated *the variable whose effect is being studied Think of the independent variable as a condition that the experimenter changes INDEPENDENTLYof all the other controlled experimental conditions.

23. Research Strategies--Step 3 Gathering Objective Data Dependent Variable *the experimental factor that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable *in psychology it is usually a behavior or mental process, or test. The responses of the participants in an experiment DEPEND directly on the conditions to which they have been exposed. **the dependent variable must also be given an operational definition.

24. Research Strategies--Step 5Publishing, Criticizing, Replicating the Results Critics will look for flaws in the research. REPLICATION is one way to see if one would get the same results. Replication *repeating the essence of a research study to see whether the basic finding generalizes to other subjects and circumstances *usually with different subjects in different situations

25. Types of Psychological Research: 1) Experimental Method 2) Non-Experimental Methods (Descriptive Studies) 3) Correlational Studies *Survey *Naturalistic Observation *Longitudinal Study *Cross-Sectional Study *Cohort-Sequential Study

26. Advantages of Experimental Method *cause-and-effect *operationalization of variables *stresses the control of variables *can implement double-blind or blind procedures *high internal validity *may be replicated Disadvantages of Experimental Method *reduce external validity *difficult to establish adequate control conditions *statistical probability of bias

27. Advantages of Case Study *in-depth, detailed information about the case *opportunity to study unusual cases *time, money issues *ethical considerations Disadvantages of Case Study *results cannot be generalized *prone to inaccurate reporting from source *cannot be used to establish cause-and-effect relationships *biased researcher?

28. Disadvantages of Correlation Study *cannot establish cause-and-effect *prone to inaccurate reporting *hard to access the impact of additional variables *do not allow for the active manipulation of variables. Advantages of Correlation Study *examine, test, reveal, compare or describe relationship between 2 variables *efficient, collect lots of data *make predictions *dispel illusory correlations *utilize preexisting or archival data

29. Conceive Do not conceive confirming evidence disconfirming evidence Adopt disconfirming evidence confirming evidence Do not adopt Illusory Correlation *the perception of a relationship where none exists

30. Research Strategies Three Possible Cause-Effect Relationships could cause Depression (1) Low self-esteem or (2) Depression could cause Low self-esteem or Low self-esteem (3) Distressing events or biological predisposition could cause and Depression

31. BIOLOGICAL (Neurophysiological) Chapter 2

32. Neural Communication • Neuron • a nerve cell • Dendrite • the bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body • Axon • the extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages are sent to other neurons or to muscles or glands • Myelin [MY-uh-lin] Sheath • a layer of fatty cells segmentally encasing the fibers of many neurons • enables vastly greater transmission speed of neutral impulses

33. Neural Communication

34. Cell body end of axon Direction of neural impulse: toward axon terminals Neural Communication • Action Potential • a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon • generated by the movement of positively charged atoms in and out of channels in the axon’s membrane • Threshold • the level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse

35. Neural Communication • Synapse [SIN-aps] • junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron (synaptic gap) • Neurotransmitters • chemical messengers that traverse the synaptic gaps between neurons • when released by the sending neuron, neuro-transmitters travel across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing whether it will generate a neural impulse

36. Dopamine Pathways Serotonin Pathways

37. Neural Communication • Acetylcholine [ah-seat-el-KO-leen] • a neurotransmitter that, among its functions, triggers muscle contraction • Endorphins [en-DOR-fins] • “morphine within” • natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters • linked to pain control and to pleasure

38. Neurotransmitter molecule Receiving cell membrane Agonist mimics neurotransmitter Receptor site on receiving neuron Antagonist blocks neurotransmitter Neural Communication EXAMPLES: Neurotransmitters: dopamine, serotonin Agonists cocaine (increases dopamine in synapse) Antagonist (blocks reuptake) curare SSRI

39. PROBLEMS: • Serotonin Syndrome: potentially life-threatening • *two drugs increase the level of serotonin at the same time. (ie) migraine medication (triptans) and antidepressants with SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) • *examples: SSRI = Celexa, Zoloft, Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, and Lexapro. SNRI's include Cymbalta and Effexor • *examples: Triptans = mitrex, Zomig, Frova, Maxalt, Axert, Amerge, and Relpax • Drugs of abuse, such as ecstasy and LSD have also been associated with serotonin syndrome.

40. The ENDOCRINE SYTEM

41. The Endocrine System • Endocrine System • the body’s “slow” chemical communication system • a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream The Endocrine System is made up of tissues or organs called endocrine glands, which secrete chemicals directly into the bloodstream. The chemical messengers are called HORMONES.

42. HYPOTHALAMUS(ADH and OXYTOCIN—Secretes REGULATORY HORMONES) *Primary link between Endocrine and Nervous systems. PINEAL GLAND (MELATONIN) PITUITARY GLAND *Secretes seven important hormones which REGULATE GROWTH THYROID GLAND (TYROSINE, CALCITONIN) THYMUS ( thymosins ) *Two lobes consists--outer CORTEX and a central MEDULLA. PARATHYROID GLANDS ( PARATHORMONE ) ADRENAL GLANDS (CORTICOSTEROIDS, EPINEPHRINE (adrenaline), NOREPINEPHRINE (noradrenaline)) *Lie along the superior borders of the kidneys. PANCREAS(GLUCAGON., INSULIN) GONADS (TESTOSTERONE. ESTROGEN,PROGESTERONE)

43. The NERVOUS SYSTEM

44. The Nervous System • Central Nervous System (CNS) • the brain and spinal cord • Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) • the sensory and motor neurons that connect CNS to the rest of the body • Nerves • neural “cables” containing many axons • part of the PNS • connect the CNS with muscles, glands, and sense organs • Sensory Neurons • neurons that carry incoming information from the sense receptors to the CNS

45. The Nervous System • Interneurons • CNS neurons that internally communicate and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs • Motor Neurons • carry outgoing information from the CNS to muscles and glands • Somatic Nervous System • the division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body’s skeletal muscles

46. The Nervous System • Autonomic Nervous System • the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart) • Sympathetic Nervous System • division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations • Parasympathetic Nervous System • division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy

48. Neurons in the brain connect with one another to form networks Inputs Outputs The brain learns by modifying certain connections in response to feedback The Nervous System • Reflex • a simple, automatic, inborn response to a sensory stimulus • Neural Networks • interconnected neural cells • with experience, networks can learn, as feedback strengthens or inhibits connections that produce certain results • computer simulations of neural networks show analogous learning

49. The BRAIN

50. Brain Structures and their Functions