1. AP Psychology Exam Prep

2. About the test 100 multiple choice questions/ 70 minutes
Will you be punished for guessing? NO
2 Free Response questions/ 50 minutes
Pick out key words- compare, describe, explain..
Make notes on the test sheet-definitions, examples….
Make sure it applies to the case given!!!
WORD, DEFINITION, APPLICATION!!!!

3. Multiple Choice WRITE ALL OVER IT!!! After you read the question:
What is it asking
What do you know about the concept/person/theory
What do each of the choices mean
What school of thought is it from

4. Sensation How do you convert incoming stimuli into neural impulses?
Transduction: the process of changing physical stimuli into neural energy
Two theories of color
Opponent-process:
Triarchic Theory:

5. Rods-black and white Cones- colored
Eye
Pupil: regulates amount of light sent to retina
Cornea: clear part covers iris and pupil; lets light in to see
Iris: colored part of eye; regulates pupil
Lens: behind cornea; focuses light into retina
Retina: lines the eye; converts stimuli to signals to be sent to optic nerve
Rods-black and white
Cones- colored

6. Hearing- Audition Ear: impacts hearing and balance
Vestibulocochlear nerve: carries the nerve impulses to be able to hear and balance to the brain
Terms: amplitude, frequency,
Theories of hearing:
Place Theory: location of greatest vibration
Frequency Theory: frequency in which amount of hair cell in the cochlea fire

7. Parts of the Ear
Cochlea- inner ear contains fluid that vibrates
Hammer/anvil/s tirrup: small bones relay vibrations of eardrum to inner ear
Basil membrane: in the cochlea contains sense receptors for sound

8. Hearing loss Conductive hearing loss:
When vibrations to inner ear are blocked; earwax build up, ear infections
sensorineural hearing loss: caused from damage to vestibulocochlear nerve; head injury, birth defects, high blood pressure, stroke
Presbycusis- old age
Tinnitus- ringing in the ear

9. Other senses Touch- gate control theory Taste- gustation
Smell- olfaction; only one directly connect to brain

10. Concepts
Top-Down Processing: we perceive by filling in gaps with what we know
Bottom-up Processing: use sensory information to process data.
Monocular cues: visual cues-one eye
Interposition-one objct partially blocks another
Linear perspective- base distance on things coming together—lines
Binocular cues: requires both eyes
Retinal disparity- difference between 2 objects
Convergence- both eyes focus same thing
Stereoscopic vision- 3d

11. Sleep Sleep Cycle Sleep Disorders Hypnosis
Circadian rhythm: awake and sleep cycle
REM: rapid eye movement; dreams occur
Sleep stages: from slowed breathing, lower blood pressure, near body paralysis
Sleep Disorders
Insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnea
Hypnosis

12. Psychopharmacology
Psychoactive drugs are either agonist or antagonists
Depressants: alcohol, barbiturates(anesthesia)
Stimulants: caffeine, cocaine, nicotine, amphetamines
Opiates: morphine, heroin, codeine
Hallucinogens: LSD, marijuana

13. Social Thinking
Attribution Theory
tendency to give an explanation for someone’s behavior, often by crediting either the situation or the person’s disposition

14. Social Thinking
Fundamental Attribution Error
tendency for observers, when analyzing another’s behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition

15. Social Thinking – Some Concepts
Our Attitudes often direct our behavior but sometimes behavior shapes our attitudes
Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon
tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request
“Doing Becomes Believing”

16. Social Influence Normative Social Influence
influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval
Leads to……Conformity
adjusting one’s behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard

17. Social Influence - concepts
Informational Social Influence
influence resulting from one’s willingness to accept others’ opinions about reality
…Leads To Norms
an understood rule for accepted and expected behavior
describes “proper” behavior

18. Asch Conformity Experiment
Social Influence
Asch Conformity Experiment
click above for a clip!
Comparison lines
Standard lines 1 2 3

19. 65% of Milgram’s “teachers” did!
Obedience
Stanley Milgram: People conform, but will they simply obey others?
65% of Milgram’s “teachers” did!

20. Social Influence:somebody’s helping me…
Social Loafing
tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable

21. Deindividuation
The loss of self awareness and self restrain occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity

22. presumed available to help
Social Relations
Percentage
attempting
to help 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10
Number of others
presumed available to help
Bystander Effect
tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present

23. Social Relations – why do we treat each other differently?
Prejudice
an unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members
involves stereotyped beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action
Stereotype
a generalized (often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people

24. Social Relations – why prejudice & social bias?
Ingroup Bias
tendency to favor one’s own group
Scapegoat Theory
theory that prejudice provides an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame
Just-World Phenomenon
tendency of people to believe the world is just
people get what they deserve and deserve what they get

25. Preconceived ideas can affect the way someone acts towards another person.
Our expectations of behavior can be influenced as well. This is called the self-fulfilling prophecy.

26. Social Relations Aggression Frustration-Aggression Principle
any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy
Frustration-Aggression Principle
principle that frustration – the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal – creates anger, which can generate aggression

27. To Help or Not to Help…
The Bystander Effect
Inaction or failure to assume responsibility due to the mere presence of others.

28. Social Relations- What attracts us to others?
Proximity
mere exposure effect- repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them
Physical Attractiveness
youthfulness may be associated with health and fertility
Similarity
friends share common attitudes, beliefs, interests

29. Social Relations Passionate Love Companionate Love
an aroused state of intense positive absorption in another
usually present at the beginning of a love relationship
Companionate Love
deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined

30. The key to lasting and satisfying relationships
Equity
a condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give to it
Self-disclosure
revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others
Altruism
unselfish regard for the welfare of others