Ap Psych
Ap Psych
st
1 Semester Review
Unit 1: Cognition
Memory: the persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information.
Flashbulb memory: a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event. The memory is as clear as looking at
a picture. Ex. Being in the Twin Towers on 9/11, you remember every detail: sights, sounds, smells, etc.
Episodic memory: memories of certain episodes/events. Ex. vacations, birthdays, holidays, prom, etc. Not every
episodic memory is a flashbulb memory, but every flashbulb memory is an episodic memory.
Prospective memory: remembering not to forget to do something. Ex. I can’t forget to call my boss later today.
Parallel processing: the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of
information processing for many functions. We take in a lot of information at the same time, not like a computer in which
you can only input one piece of information at a time.
Automatic processing: unconscious encoding of incidental information such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-
learned information, such as the meanings of words.
Shallow processing: encoding the shapes, looks, or surface structure of things, especially words, not the meanings. It is
difficult to remember things if it is only shallowly processed. *Remember: the “what would you need on an island
activity” – does the word have the letter E in it?
Self-referent processing: encoding something based on how it relates to you. This is a type of deep processing.
Rehearsal: the conscious repetition of information, either to maintain it in consciousness or to encode it for storage.
Spacing effect: the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through
massed study or practice.
Next-in-line effect: a person in a group has diminished recall for the words of others who spoke immediately before or
after the person.
Serial position effect: our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list.
1. Primacy effect: information at the beginning of a list is remembered better than material in the middle.
2. Recency effect: information at the end of a list is remembered better than the material in the middle.
Overlearning: the additional rehearsal of information even after learning material that increases retention.
Imagery: mental pictures, a powerful aid to effortful processing, especially when combined with semantic encoding.
Rosy retrospection: recalling the high points of an event while forgetting the mundane ones.
Mnemonics: memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices.
Method of Loci: a mnemonic that helps people remember things by placing them in a familiar place, such as in your
house, on a baseball field, etc.
Link method: forming a mental image of items remembered in a way that links them together. Ex. making a story out of
items.
Peg-word system: remembering a peg-word jingle (one is a bun, two is a shoe, etc) and visually associating the peg-
words with the to-be-remembered words.
Hierarchies: a few broad concepts divided and subdivided into narrower concepts and facts.
Acronym: a type of chunking in which a word is made out of the first letters of the to-be-remembered items. Ex. HOMES
(the 5 Great Lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior)
1. Sensory memory: a quick, fleeting memory that is activated by the five senses.
2. Short-term/working memory: activated memory that holds a few items (on the average 7) for a brief time
(usually 30 seconds) before the information is stored or forgotten. Located in the frontal lobe.
3. Long-term memory: the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system that includes
knowledge, skills and experiences.
Working memory: a newer understanding of Atkinson and Shiffrin’s second stage of short-term memory that focuses on
conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-
term memory.
Iconic memory: a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no
more than a few tenths of a second. *Remember: an icon is a picture on your computer, iconic means visual.
Echoic memory: a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still
be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds *Remember: an echo is a sound.
Explicit memory: memories of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and “declare”, such as telling about
a vacation or giving directions. Also called declarative memory. Goes through the hippocampus (the part of the limbic
system responsible for explicit memories of names, images, and events).
Implicit memory: procedural, how-to memory that you don’t have to think about, it’s independent of conscious
recollection. Also called nondeclarative or procedural memory. Goes through the cerebellum (the part of the brain
that plays an important role in forming and storing implicit memories).
Long-term potentiation (LTP): an increase in a synapse’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be the
neural basis for learning and memory.
Memory trace: proof of memory, the neuron physically changes when memories are made.
CREB: the protein that forms memories by reshaping synapses. The less CREB, the less memory making ability.
Recall: a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test.
Recognition: a measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned, as on a multiple-
choice test.
Relearning: a measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material for a second time.
Retrieval cues: anchor points used to access the information you want to remember later.
Déjà vu: the eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before.” Cues from the current situation may subconsciously trigger
retrieval of an earlier experience.
Mood-congruent memory: the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood.
State-dependent memory: what we learn in one state may be more easily recalled when we are again in that state, such
as being happy or sad.
Context-dependent memory: putting yourself back in the context where you experienced something can prime your
memory retrieval.
Retrograde amnesia: the inability to remember anything after specific brain surgery or an accident.
Anterograde amnesia: the inability to form new memories after specific brain surgery or an accident.
Dementia: a loss of brain function that occurs with certain diseases. It affects memory, thinking, language, judgment, and
behavior.
Delirium: sudden severe confusion and rapid changes in brain function that occur with physical or mental illness.
Alzheimer’s disease: is one form of dementia that gradually gets worse over time. It affects memory, thinking, and
behavior. Usually the body “forgets” to work and eventually shuts down.
Dissociative Disorder: Dis-association of memory, sudden unawareness of some aspect of identity or history.
Tulving’s Encoding Specificity Hypothesis: memory of information is improved if the cues are present during learning
are also present at the time of retrieval because those cues can be used to facilitate retrieval. Ex. learning a list
underwater and being tested on land.
Distributed practice: working to retain information over time, not cramming it all in during one session, that produces
better long-term recall.
Massed practice: cramming that can produce speedy short-term learning and feelings of confidence.
Tip-of-the-tongue Phenomenon: knowing the answer but not being able to retrieve it.
Proactive interference: the disruptive effect prior learning on the recall of new information; forward-acting. Ex. can’t
remember your new locker combination because you keep remembering your old one.
Retroactive interference: the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information; backward-acting. Ex. can’t
remember your old locker combination because you keep remembering your new one.
Positive transfer: when old information can facilitate our learning of new information, such as knowing Latin to help learn
French.
Repression: a defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from
consciousness.
Source amnesia: attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined;
also known as source misattribution. Source amnesia, along with the misinformation effect, is at the heart of many false
memories.
Confabulation: the spontaneous narrative report of events that never happened. It consists of the creation of false
memories, perceptions, or beliefs about the self or the environment.
Memory Key People:
Donald Broadbent: developed the encoding Filter Theory that states unimportant information is dropped and relevant
information is encoded.
Hermann Ebbinghaus: discovered the more time we spend learning novel information, the more we retain it. (The
Ebbinghaus retention curve)
Karl Lashley: lesioned rats’ brains after running a maze to discover where memory is stored. He concluded that it is all
over the cortex.
Eric Kandel & James Schwartz: discovered the neural basis of learning, long-term potentiation, by observing changes in
the sending neurons of a simple animal, the California sea slug, Aplysia.
Daniel Schacter: specified seven ways in which our memories fail us (three sins of forgetting, three sins of distortion, one
sin of intrusion).
Elizabeth Loftus: memory researcher who showed that if false memories, such as being lost in a mall or drowning in a
lake, are implanted in individuals, they construct (fabricate) their memories.
Cognition: all of the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.
Concepts: a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people. Concepts can be grouped by:
a. Definitions: some concepts fit into a group because of their definition. Ex. by definition, a triangle has 3
sides
b. Hierarchies: breaking things down from broad to specific. Superordinate (broad category), basic (most
common), or subordinate (specific) Ex. Fruit > apple > Granny Smith
c. Prototypes: a mental image of best example of a category. Ex. most people think of a robin, as opposed to a
flamingo, when they hear the word “bird”.
Schemas: an organized mental framework about a particular topic, event, object, idea, setting, or group of people.
a. Trial and error: just trying any method to solve an answer. Ex. typing in random numbers to figure out a pin
number for an ATM card.
b. Means-end analysis: breaking a problem into subgoals in order to reach the ultimate goal. Ex. wanting to run a
marathon, but you don’t go out the first day and run 20 miles. You have to start small, set a goal for a 5K, then a
10K, etc.
c. Algorithm: a logical, step-by-step procedure that, if followed correctly, will eventually solve a specific problem.
Ex. typing in 0000, 0001, 0002, 0003, etc. to figure out a pin number for an ATM card.
d. Heuristic: a general rule of thumb or shortcut that is used to reduce the number of possible solutions to a
problem. Ex. using birthdays for a pin number.
a. Fixation: having a preoccupation with something, not being able to stop thinking of it.
b. Mental set: the tendency to continue using belief systems and problem-solving strategies that have worked in the
past, even though it may not be working now.
c. Functional fixedness: the tendency to think of an object as functioning only in its usual way or customary way.
As a result, individuals often do not see unusual or innovative uses of familiar objects.
d. Availability heuristic: judging the likelihood of an event based on readily available personal experiences or new
reports. Ex. not wanting to fly after 9/11.
e. Representative heuristic: judging the likelihood of an event based on how well it matches a typical example.
Ex. Not thinking a tall, skinny man who likes to read would be a truck driver.
f. Anchoring effect: the tendency to be influenced by a reference point. Ex. only buying a car because it’s the
color you want even though it has a lot of miles.
g. Framing: posing a question or wording a phrase in such a way to persuade someone’s thoughts. Ex. buying
something because it’s 95% fat free sounds better than 5% fat.
1. Confirmation bias: a preference for information that confirms preexisting positions or beliefs, while ignoring
or discounting contradictory evidence. Ex. only looking at good reviews of something you want.
2. Belief perseverance: holding onto a belief even after its been discredited. Ex. believing that fad diets work.
3. Hindsight bias: also known as the knew-it-all-along effect, the inclination to see events that have already
occurred as being more predictable than they were before they took place
4. Overconfidence bias: the tendency to be more confident than correct. Ex. Hitler thinking he could invade
Russia when no one else has ever successfully done it.
5. Exaggerated fear: being overly fearful of something to the point of a phobia. Availability heuristic plays a
part in this.
Critical Thinking:
b. Creativity: the ability to think about a problem or idea in new and unusual ways, come up with
unconventional solutions to problems.
c. Divergent thinking: a type of thinking in which problem solvers devise a number of possible alternative
approaches to problems and multiple solutions, it involves taking risks.
d. Convergent thinking: using logic and algorithms to solve problems, there is only one answer, doesn’t see
things from various perspectives.
e. Inductive reasoning: reasoning from the specific to the general. Ex. evidence collected in crime scenes is
used to figure out what happened.
f. Deductive reasoning: reasoning from the general to the specific. Ex. all birds have wings, a flamingo is a
bird, therefore, it has wings.
Language: The way we communicate meaning (spoken, written, or gestured) to ourselves and others.
Grammar: the system of rules in a language that enable us to communicate with and understand others.
1. Semantics: the set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences. Ex. By
adding –ed to the word laugh means that it happened in the past.
2. Overregularization: occurs when children apply a grammatical rule too widely and therefore created
incorrect forms. Ex. I beated him in the game. I holded the door open for my friend.
3. Syntax: the rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences. Ex. In English, syntactical rule
says that adjectives come before nouns; white house. In Spanish, it is reversed; casa blanca.
Receptive language: the ability to understand language. ***Wernicke’s area in the brain allows you to understand
language.
Productive language: the ability to produce language. ***Broca’s area in the brain allows you to speak.
Babbling: universal noises made by babies around the age of 4 months. This is NOT the household language. That is
revealed at 10 months.
Telegraphic speech: two-word phrases babies make around the age of 24 months.
Critical period: if children are not exposed to language before a certain age, they will be unable to acquire language.
(Noam Chomsky)
Universal grammar: all human languages have the same grammatical building blocks, such as nouns, verbs, subjects,
and objects. (Noam Chomsky)
Language Acquisition Device: innate speech-enabling structures in the brain that allow us to learn language. (Noam
Chomsky)
Surface structure: learning ABCs, just the letters and layout of the words (like shallow processing).
Linguistic determinism: thinking affects our language, which in turn affects our thoughts. (Benjamin Whorf)
******************************************************************************************************************************
Language Key People/Animals:
B.F. Skinner: argues that language is acquisition is based on the principles of operant conditioning – babies imitate
sounds and then are reinforced. ***Nurture point of view.
Noam Chomsky: a linguist who argues that young children possess an innate capability to learn and produce speech.
Believes that children in widely different cultures progress through the same stages of language development at about the
same age. Believes in the language acquisition device. ***Nature point of view.
Benjamin Whorf: a linguist who believed that a language does more than describe a person’s culture. He argued that
a person’s language may also shape a person’s thoughts and perceptions (linguistic determinism).
Sultan: Chimpanzee who demonstrated insight by getting out of reach food with a stick.
Koko: Gorilla who could sign over 1,000 words. Called Pinocchio a “baby elephant”.
Washoe: Chimpanzee who could sign about 132 words. Gave an interview to a New York Times reporter.
Schools of Psychology
Structuralism – early psychological perspective that emphasized units of consciousness and identification of
elements of though using introspection.
Wilhelm Wundt – founder of scientific psychology in Leipzig, Germany; studied consciousness using
introspection
G. Stanley Hall – brought introspection to his lab at Johns Hopkins University in the United States; first president
of the American Psychological Association
Edward Titchener – studied elements of consciousness at his Cornell University lab
Margaret Floy Washburn – first woman to complete her Ph.D. in psychology
Functionalism – early psychological perspective concerned with how an organism uses its perceptual abilities
to adapt to its environment
William James– wrote Principles of Psychology
Mary Whiton Calkins – first woman president of the American Psychological Association
Humanistic approach – psychological perspective concerned with individual potential for growth and the role
of unique perceptions in growth towards one’s potential
Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow – humanistic psychologists
Biological Approach – psychological perspective concerned with physiological and biochemical factors that
determine behavior and mental processes
Cognitive approach – psychological perspective concerned with how we receive, store and process
information; think/reason; and use language
Jean Piaget – studied cognitive development in children
Evolutionary approach– psychological perspective concerned with how natural selection favored behaviors
that contributed to survival and spread of our ancestors’ genes; evolutionary psychologists take a Darwinian
approach to the study of human behavior
Sociocultural approach – psychological perspective concerned with how cultural differences affect behavior
Surveys and Tests – obtain large samples of abilities, beliefs, or behaviors at a specific time and place
key strength – ease of administration, scoring and statistical analysis
major weakness – distorted results because of sampling error, poorly phrased questions and response
biases
Case Studies – intensive investigation of the behavior and mental processes associated with a specific person
or situation
key strength – provide detailed descriptive data and analyses of new, complex and rare phenomena
major weakness – may not be representative of phenomena
Vocabulary
Random Assignment – division of the sample into groups so that every individual has an equal chance of
being put in any group or condition
Confounding Variables – factors that cause differences between the experimental group and the control
group other than the independent variable
Operational Definition – a description of the specific procedure used to determine the presence of a variable
When you operationalize a variable, you explain how you will measure it. For example, if you were doing any type
of experiment where you measure “doing well” in school, you would need an operational definition for “doing well.”
Would you use class rank? Would you use GPA? Would you use attendance and assignment completion
percentages? There as lot of possible definitions for “doing well.”
Experimenter Bias – a phenomenon that occurs when a researcher’s expectations or preferences about the
outcome of a study influence the results obtained
Hindsight Bias – the tendency upon hearing about research finding (and many other things) to thinking that
one knew it all along
Demand Characteristics – clues participants discover about the purpose of the study that suggest how they
should respond
Single-Blind Procedure – research design in which participants don’t know whether they are in the
experimental or control group
Double-Blind Procedure – research design in which neither the experimenter nor the participants know who
is in the experimental group and who is in the control group
Placebo – a physical or psychological treatment given to the control group that resembles the treatment given
to the experimental group, but that contains no active ingredient
Placebo Effect – a response to the belief that the independent variable will have an effect, rather than the
actual effect of the independent variable, which can be a confounding variable
Interesting Video: Dove: Patches
Statistics – a field that involves the analysis of numerical data about representative samples of populations
Descriptive Statistics – numbers that summarize a set of research data obtained from a sample. Key
concepts of descriptive statistics include:
Frequency Distribution – an orderly arrangement of scores indicating the frequency of each score or
group of scores
Central Tendency – average or most typical scores of a set of research data or distributions
(mode, median, mean)
Mode – most frequently occurring score in a set of research data (“quick and dirty”)
Median – the middle score when a set of data is organized by size
Mean – the arithmetic average of a set of scores
Variability – the spread or dispersion of a set of research data or distribution (range)
Range – the difference between the largest score and the smallest score (“quick and dirty”)
Standard Deviation (SD) – measures the average difference between each score and the
mean of the data set
Normal Distribution – bell-shaped curve that represents data about how lots of human
characteristics are dispersed in the population
Percentile Score – the percentage of scores at or below a particular score (from 1 to 99)
Correlation Coefficient (r) – a statistical measure of the degree of relatedness or association
between two sets of data that ranges from -1 to +1
Inferential Statistics – statistics that are used to interpret data and draw conclusions
Statistical Significance (p) – how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance; statistical significance
indicates a high probability that the independent variable caused the change in the dependent variable; it does
NOT refer to how important the results are; results are likely to be statistically significant when there is a large
difference between the means of the two frequency distributions, when their standard deviations (SD) are
small, and when the samples are large.
• Understanding the p-value: Researchers can use a variety of inferential statistics to determine
statistical significance (chi square tests, t-tests, ANOVAs);
The p-value must be ≤ .05 for statistical significance to exist
The lower the p-value, the more significant the results and the less likely they are caused by
chance
A p-value of 0 will never happen because it is impossible to be 100% certain that the
hypothesis is correct and that chance is not involved in any way.
Ethical Guidelines – suggested rules for acting responsibly and morally when conducting research or in
clinical practice
Unit 3: Biological Bases of
Behavior
Modules 9-15 (Myers for AP 2nd Edition)
Identify basic process and system in the biological basis of behavior, including parts
of the neuron and the process of transmission of a signal between neurons.
Agonists: drugs that work by either blocking reuptake or mimicking the natural
neurotransmitters by fitting into receptor sites on the postsynaptic neuron.
Antagonists: drugs that work by occupying receptor sites on the postsynaptic neuron and block the impact of
neurotransmitters.
Individuals with schizophrenia have too much dopamine, and antipsychotic medications act as
dopamine antagonists to block the receptor sites and prevent cell excitement
Discuss the effect of the endocrine system on behavior
The endocrine system consists of ductless glands, which secrete hormones, or chemical messengers into the
bloodstream. The endocrine system uses these hormones to control and coordinate functions, including growth,
metabolism, reproduction, and stress responses. Transported by the bloodstream throughout the body, hormones are
capable of influencing behavior in a SLOW fashion over minutes, hours, or weeks, instead of the nervous system’s fast
milliseconds. Though hormones circulate throughout the bloodstream, only certain types of cells respond to each
hormone in the same way neurotransmitters fit into only certain receptor sites. The central nervous system exerts
control over the endocrine system through the activity of the hypothalamus, a limbic system structure that releases
hormones that trigger action by the pituitary gland.
Hindbrain
“Primitive” part of the brain; coordinates basic bodily functions
Functions Helpful Hint
Automatic survival functions Severe damage to the brainstem would result in
Brainstem Sends and receives information death.
Base of the brain at the top of the
spinal cord
Balance and coordination Cerebellum literally means “little brain” and looks
Cerebellum Fine motor movements like a miniature brain attached to the brain stem.
Behind the brainstem underneath Procedural memory
the brain
Sleep and arousal Imagine the pons as a pillow (sleep) located to the
Pons Dreams top of the bed (brainstem)
Above the medulla on the Facial expressions
brainstem and below the thalamus
Survival functions (heartbeat, “I my medulla!”
Medulla breathing, and digestion)
(Medulla Oblongata) Reflexes (sneezing, coughing,
Below the pons on the brainstem vomiting, and swallowing)
Midbrain
Very small in humans; coordinates simple movements with sensory information
Functions Helpful Hint
Arousal to stimuli Damage to the reticular formation results in a
Reticular Sleep coma.
Formation Attentiveness
(Reticular Activating System) Filters incoming stimuli and relays
Network of nerves running vertically important information to the
through the brainstem and extending thalamus
to the thalamus
Forebrain
Sophisticated part of the human brain; allows for complex thought and behaviors unique to humans
Functions Helpful Hint
Filters and relays sensory Think of the thalamus as the banker in Monopoly
Thalamus information except for smell to the that manages all the money (incoming sensory
Two connected egg-shaped appropriate parts of the cerebral information) and distributes the money to the
structures located at the top of the cortex players (specific brain areas responsible for that
brainstem type of information)
Learning To help identify the three parts, thinks of the
Limbic System Memory mnemonic HAH: Hippocampus, Amygdala, and
Bagel-shaped group of structures Emotion Hypothalamus
between the brainstem and the Basic drives
cerebral cortex
STUDY TIP:
Be able to differentiate between the following…
The hypothalamus regulates internal body temperature.
The parietal lobes are where the perception of temperature on the skin occurs.
The Cerebral Cortex and Lobes
The largest and most developed area of the brain, the cerebrum, refers to most of the brain except for the brainstem and cerebellum and is
comprised of two separate layers. The internal layer of the cerebrum is made up of the axons of neurons and glial cells and is called white matter.
The one-fourth-inch thick wrinkled outer layer is called the cerebral cortex and is made up of the cell bodies of neurons called gray matter. The
cerebral cortex is responsible for sophisticated thinking and learning in humans. Any portion of the cerebral cortex that is not devoted to motor or
sensory functions is known as an association area.
The rather large cerebral cortex in humans, which would approximately the size of a newspaper if it were stretched out flat, is folded upon itself to
fit within the skull. The ridges along the surface of the cortex are referred to as gyri, and the valleys on the surface are called sulci. The two halves
of the brain are referred to as the left and right hemispheres. Especially deep or pronounced grooves on the cerebral cortex in each hemisphere are
called fissures. Several deep fissures divide the cerebral cortex into four regions or lobes: the frontal lobes (located behind the forehead), the
parietal lobes (located directly behind the frontal lobes), the temporal lobes (located above the ears), and the occipital lobes (located at the back
of the cortex).
Frontal Lobe
Higher-level thinking; Reasoning; Planning; Judgment; Impulse Control
Location Function
Controls conscious thoughts and actions
Prefrontal Association area located in
front of the motor strip in Working memory
Cortex the frontal lobes Short-term and long-term planning
Front of the LEFT frontal Controls the facial muscle movements required for speech
Broca’s Area lobe production
Rear of the frontal lobes, Controls voluntary movement
Primary Motor parallel to the sensory Left motor cortex controls movement on the right side of the body
cortex (extending from ear
Cortex to ear like a headband)
Right motor cortex controls movement on the left side of the body
Parietal Lobes
Receives sensory information about the somatic senses of touch, pain, and temperature; Spatial abilities
Location Functions
Primary Front of the parietal lobes, Sensory input is received for touch and body position
parallel to the motor cortex Left sensory cortex controls sensation for the right side of the body
Somatosensory (extending from ear to ear Right sensory cortex controls sensation for the left side of the body
Cortex like a headband)
Occipital Lobes
Visual processing
Location Functions
Information from the left visual field goes to the right side of each eye
Primary Visual and is interpreted by the right visual cortex
Bottom area of the occipital
Cortex lobes Information from the right visual field goes to the left side of each eye
and is interpreted by the left visual cortex
Temporal Lobes
Auditory processing (hearing); Olfactory (smell); Recognition of faces
Location Functions
Primary Processes most auditory information from the opposite ear
Upper area of the temporal
Auditory lobes
Cortex
Responsible for language comprehension
Wernicke’s Top of the LEFT temporal
lobe Creates meaningful statements
Area
Describe brain lateralization and hemispheric specialization
Specific functions controlled by each half of the cerebral cortex have been identified in what is referred to as
lateralization (hemispheric specialization)
Much of what we known about lateralization is the result of research with split-brain patients whose corpus
callosum was severed to treat severe epilepsy that did not respond to medications and other treatments.
o Key researchers
Roger Sperry
Michael Gazzaniga
o Split brain patients do not display differences in intelligence or personality, but the lateralized
functions of each hemisphere can be observed in specific laboratory experiments
If a word is flashed to the left visual field (received by the right side of each eye), this
information is sent by optic nerve to the right hemisphere. Normally this information would
then cross the corpus callosum to the left hemisphere where language exists.
Because these connections have been cut, the split-brain patient will be unable to
say the word aloud. However, the nerves of the right motor cortex cross under the
medulla and will allow the split-brain individual to use his or her left hand to select
the object that was viewed.
If a word is flashed to the right visual field (received by the left side of each eye), the
information will be sent to the left hemisphere and the split-brain patient will be able to
pronounce the word because the left hemisphere is in charge of langue.
Contralateral Control
Discuss the role of neuroplasticity in traumatic brain injury
One of the most amazing abilities of the human brain is the capacity it has for adaptation or plasticity which allows the
brain to be able to modify itself as an adaptation to experience or repair itself after damage.
For example, if a particular area in the brain is damaged, nearby areas can learn to assume the functions of the regions
that were destroyed by developing new connections between dendrites.
DEFINTION: Neuroplasticity: The brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections
throughout life. Neuroplasticity allows the neurons (nerve cells) in the brain to compensate for injury and
disease and to adjust their activities in response to new situations or to changes in their environment.
**************************************************************************************************
For instance, psychologists attempt to determine how an individual’s level of aggression is impacted by inheritance and
exposure to violence, as well as why aggressive tendencies were naturally selected.
Behavioral genetics attempts to integrate the influences of heredity, environment, and evolution in terms of their effect on
human behavior
Every human cell contains 46 chromosomes in 23 pairs. The genetic material that makes up chromosomes is DNA. Certain
segments of DNA control the production of specific proteins that control some human traits. These discrete segments are
called genes
Genes can be dominant or recessive. If we inherit two recessive genes for a particular trait, that trait will be
expressed. In any other combination of genes, the dominant trait is expressed.
A genotype comprises of all of the possible combinations of genes. The phenotype is the observable
result.
Psychological researchers investigate how different combinations of genes create tendencies for physical
and behavior traits.
Our gender is determined by our 23rd pair of chromosomes. Men have an X and Y chromosome and women have
two X chromosomes. Usually a man will contribute either an X chromosome (resulting in a girl) or a Y (resulting in a
boy)
Since identical twins (called monozygotic twins since they develop from one fertilized egg) share all the same genetic
material, researchers study them in order to examine the influence of genes on human traits.
Heritability is the degree of variance among individuals that can be attributed to genetic variations. Many physical and
psychological characteristics are inherited. However, genes do not determine everything about us. Environmentality is the
degree to which a trait’s expression is caused by the environment in which an organism lives.
Today, the debate is no longer nature versus nurture, but rather nature and nurture working together; our psychological
makeup is largely the result of the interaction of the two forces.
**************************************************************************************************
Predict how traits and behaviors can be selected by their adaptive value
Based on the ideas of natural selection – the principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those
contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations.
Certain biological and behavioral variations increase organisms’ reproductive and survival chances in their particular
environment
Offspring that survive are more likely to pass their genes to ensuing generations
Thus, over time, population characteristics may change
Some genetic variations arise from mutations (random errors in gene replication), others from new gene combinations at
conception
Unit 4: Sensation & Perception
/ States of Consciousness
Modules 16-25 (Myers for AP 2nd Edition)
Sensation: the process by which we receive physical energy from the environment and encode it into neural signals.
Bottom-up processing: analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of
sensory information.
Top-up processing: information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions
drawing on our experience and expectations.
Selective attention: the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus. Also known as the cocktail party
effect.
Inattentional blindness: failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere.
Ex. When attending to one task (counting basketball passes by one of the
three-person teams) about half the viewers displayed inattentional
blindness by failing to notice a clearly visible gorilla passing through. This
also happened in an experiment with a woman walking across the screen
with an umbrella.
Change blindness: failing to notice changes in the environment. Ex. The bearded man not noticing that the man giving
directions was replaced by someone else after the board passed by.
Psychophysics: the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our
psychological experience of them.
Absolute threshold: the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time.
Signal detection theory: predicts how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background
stimulation (noise). This theory assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a
person’s experience, expectations, motivation, and alertness.
Priming: the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one’s perception, memory, or
response.
Difference threshold: the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time. We
experience this difference threshold as a just noticeable difference (jnd).
Weber’s law: the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant
percentage (rather than a constant amount).
Sensory adaptation: diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation. Ex. hot tub no longer feeling hot
because you have gotten “used” to it.
Transduction: the conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, this is the transformation of sights,
sounds, and smells into neural impulses our brain can interpret.
Iris: the ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye and that controls the size of the pupil opening.
Lens: the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina. This process of
the lens changing shape is called accommodation.
Retina: the light-sensitive inner surface of the eye that contains the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that
begin the processing of transduction for vision.
Rods: retinal receptors that detect black, white, and shades of gray that are necessary for peripheral and twilight vision
when cones don’t respond. The human eye has around 120 million rods.
Cones: retinal receptors that are concentrated near the center of the retina that detect colors and details and that
function in the daylight or in well-lit conditions. The human eye has around 6 million cones.
Fovea: the central focal point in the retina, around which the eye’s cones cluster.
Optic nerve: the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain.
Blind spot: the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a “blind’ spot because there are no receptor cells
located there.
Pitch: a tone’s highness or lowness. The shorter the waves, the higher the pitch; the longer the waves, the lower the
pitch.
Amplitude: the strength of a wave. This is measured from peak to trough. The taller the wave, the louder the sound;
the shorter the wave, the softer the sound.
Timbre: the sound of a tone. It allows you to distinguish between two similar sounds. Ex. Hearing the difference
between a flute and a piccolo.
Outer ear: the part of the ear that traps sound waves and channels them through the auditory canal to the eardrum.
Auditory canal: the canal in the outer part of the ear down which sound waves travel. At the end of the auditory canal
is the eardrum.
Eardrum: the tight membrane that vibrates when sound waves hit it.
Middle ear: the part of the ear that transmits the eardrum’s vibrations through a piston made of three tiny bones
(hammer, anvil, and stirrup) to the cochlea.
Inner ear: the innermost part of the ear that contains the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs (important for
balance). This is where transduction happens for sound.
Basilar membrane: A membrane inside the cochlea which vibrates in response to sound and whose vibrations lead to
activity in the auditory pathways.
Auditory nerve: the nerve that sends neural messages (via the thalamus) to the temporal lobe’s auditory cortex.
Pinna
Place theory: links pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea’s membrane is stimulated. This theory can explain
how we high-pitched sounds, but now how we hear low-pitch sounds because the neural signals generated by low-
pitched sounds are not so neatly localized on the basilar membrane.
Frequency theory: states that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a
tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch.
Volley principle: neural cells alternate firing. By firing in rapid succession, they can achieve a combined frequency.
Conduction hearing loss: hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system, such as the three bones, that
conducts sound waves to the cochlea. A hearing aid may help amplify sounds for someone who has conduction hearing
loss.
Sensorineural hearing loss: hearing loss caused by damage of the cochlea’s receptor cells or to the auditory nerves. It is
also called nerve deafness. This can be caused by disease, but are more often the culprits of biological changes linked
heredity, aging, and prolonged exposure to ear-splitting noise or music.
Cochlear implant: a device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through
electrodes threaded into the cochlea.
Gate-control theory: the theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological “gate” that blocks pain signals or allows
them to pass on to the brain. The “gate” is opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is
closed by activity in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain.
Phantom limb sensations: feeling sensations or movement in limbs that have been removed.
Tinnitus: a phantom auditory sensation in which people hear ringing in the ears.
Gustation: the sense of taste. There are 5 basic tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami (taste of meat).
Papillae: structures on the tongue in which the taste buds are located.
Sensory interaction: the principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste.
McGurk effect: a perceptual phenomenon which demonstrates an interaction between hearing and vision in speech
perception. This effect may be experienced when a video of one phoneme's production is dubbed with a sound-
recording of a different phoneme being spoken. Often, the perceived phoneme is a third, intermediate phoneme. For
example, a visual /ga/ combined with an audio /ba/ is often heard as /da/.
Olfaction: the sense of smell. *Remember: an old factory smells bad.
Olfactory bulb: the place in the nasal cavity where transduction occurs for smell. *Remember that smell does not go to
the thalamus. It goes directly to the amygdala and then the hippocampus. Bad smells make people angry and smells
make strong memories.
Kinesthesis: the system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts.
Proprioceptors: sensors that are located in the skin, joints, muscles, and tendons for kinesthesis.
Perception: the process of organization and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful
objects and events.
Gestalt: an organized whole. Gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into
meaningful wholes.
Figure-ground: the organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that
stand out from their surroundings (the ground).
Depth perception: the ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-
dimensional; allows us to judge distance.
Visual cliff: a laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals. Used by Eleanor
Gibson and Richard Walk to determine whether crawling infants could perceive depth
Binocular cues: depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depends on the use of two eyes. *Remember bi
means two so you need 2 eyes for disparity.
o Retinal disparity: a binocular cue for perceiving depth. By comparing images from the retinas in the two
eyes, the brain computes distance – the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the
closer the object.
Monocular cues: depth cues that depend on the use of one eye. *Remember mono means one.
o Relative height: we perceive objects higher in our field of vision as farther away.
o Relative size: if we assume two objects are similar in size, most people perceive the one that casts the
smaller retinal image as farther away.
o Interposition: if one object partially blocks our view of another, we perceive it as closer.
o Linear perspective: parallel lines, such as railroad tracks, appear to converge with distance. The mover
they converge, the greater their perceived distance.
o Relative motion: As we move, objects that are actually stable may appear to move.
o Light and shadow: nearby objects reflect more light to our eyes. Thus, given two identical objects, the
dimmer one seems farther away. Shading, too, produces a sense of depth consistent with our
assumption that light comes from above.
Phi Phenomenon: an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick
succession, like Christmas lights.
Perceptual constancy: perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent shapes, size, lightness, and color) even as
illumination and retinal images change.
Color constancy: perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the
wavelengths reflected by the object.
Perceptual adaptation: in vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field. This is
usually done with distorting lenses. When the lenses are removed, it takes some time for perception to return to “normal”.
Perceptual set: a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another.
Schema: Organized bodies of information that are stored in memory which can bias the way new information is
interpreted, stored, and recalled.
Context effects: describes the influence of environmental factors on one's perception of a stimulus.
Extrasensory Perception (ESP): the controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input; includes
telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition.
Telepathy: mind-to-mind communication, one person sending thoughts to another or perceiving another’s thoughts.
Clairvoyance: perceiving remote events, such as sensing that a friend’s house is on fire.
Precognition: perceiving future events, such as a political leader’s death or a sporting event’s outcome.
Muller-Lyer:
Ponzo Illusion:
Necker Cube:
Consciousness: our awareness of ourselves and our environment.
Preconscious: something that is not in our conscious, but can be easily pulled into consciousness, such as memories.
Unconscious: according to Sigmund Freud, it’s a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories.
According to contemporary psychologists, it’s information processing of which we are unaware. *This is different than being
knocked unconscious.
Nonconscious: things happening in your body of which you are not aware, such as hormone secretion.
Annual cycles: cycles that occur in our bodies on a yearly basis, such as SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder – becoming depressed
during the winter), or birds flying south for the winter and bears hibernating.
28-day cycles: cycles that occur every month. Ex. a woman’s menstrual cycle.
Circadian rhythm: the biological clock; regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24-hour cycle, such as body temperature or
wakefulness.
Suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN): a pair of grain-of-rice –sized cell clusters in the hypothalamus that helps in waking up a person when
it is activated by light-sensitive retinal proteins. It works with the pineal gland.
Melatonin: a sleep-inducing hormone. The SCN causes the brain’s pineal gland to decrease its production of melatonin in the
morning or to increase it in the evening.
Adenosine: a neurotransmitter that causes drowsiness and the slowing of nerve cells. Caffeine is an antagonist that blocks the
transmission of adenosine keeping us awake.
Sleep: a periodic, natural loss of consciousness. Throughout the night, the body experiences many sleep cycles, each one lasting
around 90 minutes. Each cycle has 5 stages (1, 2, 3, 4, REM)
Beta waves: waves of someone who is wide awake.
Alpha waves: the relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state.
NREM-1: the first stage that lasts about 5 minutes, emit theta
waves, may experience hallucinations and hynagogic sensations
(feelings of floating or falling).
NREM-2: the second stage that lasts for about 20 minutes, clearly
asleep and experience sleep spindles (random bursts of activity).
Insomnia: a sleep disorder in which a person has recurring problems in falling or staying asleep.
Narcolepsy: a sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks. These attacks are usually caused by excitement. The
sufferer may lapse directly into REM sleep, often at inopportune times.
Sleep apnea: a sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and repeated momentary
awakenings. Sleep apnea is associated with obesity. It is suggested people lose weight to help curb the sleep apnea. Wearing an air
pump while sleeping helps also.
Night terrors: a sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified; unlike nightmares, night terrors
occur during NREM-3 sleep, within two or three hours of falling asleep, and are seldom remembered.
Dreams: a sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping person’s mind during REM sleep.
Lucid dreams: a dream in which one is aware that one is dreaming.
Manifest content: the remembered story line of a dream (according to Sigmund Freud).
Dream theories:
Freud’s wish-fulfillment theory: dreams provide a “psychic safety valve” – expressing otherwise unacceptable
feelings; contain manifest (remembered) content and a deeper layer of latent content (hidden meaning).
Information-processing theory: dreams help us sort out the day’s events and consolidate our memories.
Physiological theory: regular brain stimulation from REM sleep may help develop and preserve neural pathways.
Activation-synthesis theory: REM sleep triggers impulses that evoke random visual memories, which our sleeping
brain weaves into stories.
Cognitive theory: dream content reflects dreamers’ cognitive development – their knowledge and understanding.
Hypnosis: a social interaction in which one person (the hypnotist) suggests to another (the subject) that certain perceptions,
feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur.
Posthypnotic suggestion: a suggestion, made during a hypnosis session, to be carried out after the subject is no longer hypnotized;
used by some clinicians to help control undesired symptoms and behaviors.
Posthypnotic amnesia: a condition in which, in response to the hypnotist’s suggestion, the subject is unable to recall what happened
while s/he was under hypnosis.
Dissociation: a split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur simultaneously with others.
Hidden observer: a part of a hypnotized person’s consciousness that remains aware of happenings even under hypnosis; Hilgard
believes this is an example of dissociation.
Social Influence Theory of hypnosis: Hypnotic subjects may simply be imaginative actors playing a social role.
Hilgard’s Divided Consciousness Theory of hypnosis: Hypnosis is a special state of dissociated (divided) consciousness.
Psychoactive drugs: a chemical substance that alters a perceptions and moods.
Tolerance: the diminishing effect of a drug after repeated use that requires the user to take larger and larger does before
experiencing the drug’s effect.
Withdrawal: the discomfort and distress that follow the discontinued use of a drug.
Physical dependence: a physiological need for a drug, marked by unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the drug is no longer
taken.
Psychological dependence: a psychological need to use a drug, such as to relieve negative emotions.
Depressants: drugs (such as alcohol, barbiturates, and opiates) that reduce neural activity and slow body functions.
Korsakoff’s Syndrome: a disorder that involves a severe B1 deficiency that causes dementia, brought on by alcoholism. Alcoholics
tend to drink instead of eat.
Barbiturates: a major tranquilizer that depress the activity of the CNS, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgment.
Opiates: opium and its derivatives, such as morphine and heroin; they depress neural activity, temporarily lessening pain and
anxiety.
Stimulants: drugs (such as caffeine, nicotine, and the more powerful amphetamines, cocaine, and Ecstasy) that excite neural activity
and speed up body functions.
Amphetamines: drugs that stimulate neural activity, causing speeded-up body functions and associated energy and mood changes;
also known as speed.
Methamphetamine: a powerfully addictive drug that stimulates the CNS, with speeded-up body functions and associated energy
and mood changes; over time, appears to reduce baseline dopamine levels.
Hallucinogens: psychedelic (“mind-manifesting”) drugs that distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory
input.
LSD: a powerful hallucinogenic drug; also known as acid (lysergic acid diethylamide).
Ecstasy (MDMA): a synthetic stimulant and mild hallucinogen that produces euphoria and social intimacy, but with short-term
health risks and longer-term harm to serotonin-producing neurons and to mood and cognition.
THC: the major active ingredient in marijuana; triggers a variety of effects, including mild hallucinations.
Near-death experience: an altered state of consciousness reported after a close brush with death (such as through cardiac arrest);
often similar to drug-induced hallucinations.
Monism: a philosophical belief that the mind and body are different aspects of the same thing.
Dualism: a philosophical belief that the mind and body are distinct entities; the mind non-physical, the body physical.
Eugene Aserinsky: discovered REM sleep when he hooked his son up to an EEG.
Sigmund Freud: wrote The Interpretation of Dreams. Believed dreams are “the royal road to the unconscious.” Said there were two
levels of dreams: manifest and latent.
Ernest Hilgard: theorized that hypnosis induces a special state of dissociation, or divided consciousness.
Anton Mesmer: an Austrian physician who is credited with hypnosis’s modern popularity. He mistakenly thought he discovered an
“animal magnetism”.
Crick & McCarley: said dreams were “housekeeping” for our brains.
J. Allan Hobson: proposed the activation-synthesis theory of dreaming (the personal way in which a dream organizes images).