AP Psychology 0020 Top 10 Most Often Confused terms for students in AP Psychology

10. The Distinction between Fundamental Attribution Error and Actor-Observer Bias Fundamental Attribution Error: The tendency to attribute the behavior of others to internal causes. Actor-Observer Bias: The likelyhood to attribute others behavior to internal causes while attributing our own behavior to external or situational causes

9. The Difference between Population and Sample Both should be random. The population is defined by the objective of the research study. If the study intended to answer the question of how voting activity related to civic involvement one would seek to find a random representation of all of those over the age of 18. Each person in the population should have an equal chance of being selected to participate in the study In the sample, one should attempt to have a random assignment to the control and experimental group, this can be achieved by using a random number table. This means that each participant in the study has an equal chance of being placed in either the control or experimental group.

8. Stages of Sleep The stages of sleep in order occur 1,2,3,4,3,2,REM,2,3,4,3,2, REM,2,3,etc. Students often believe that after stage 4, individuals experience REM sleep, however one must move from a deep to a light sleep in order to experience the relatively light stage that is REM sleep

7. Negative Reinforcement/Punishment Negative Reinforcement increases a behavior by taking away something bad. Someone with obsessive-Compulsive Disorder washes their hands because it decreases their levels of anxiety. Because the anxiety goes away they are more likely to wash their hands again and again. Punishment seeks to decrease a behavior by either adding something bad or taking away something good.

6. Avaliability and Representative Heuristic The Avaliability Heuristic involves judging how likely a certain event is to happen, based on how easily information regarding this topic is available. After 9-11 many individuals were afraid to fly even though the likelihood that they were in more danger was slight. When individuals watch a horror film, they believe that they are in danger but the changes really are the same as before they watched the film. A Represenative Heuristic is a mental shortcut in which one thinks or the best example of a given category, which can often lead to stereotyping. When people think of librarians, they often think of middle age women, because this is what they believes represents the vast majority of librarians even if this is not true.

5. Proactive and Retroactive Interference In Proactive Interference (Negative Transfer) old learning interferes with new learning. The Stroop effect is a good example of this phenomena. If a person learns to drive on a stick shift car and then switches to an automatic, they will often look for the clutch and the gear shift, thus disrupting the task at hand. In retroactive interference, the old information if forgotten. If a student had a locker last year and are assigned a new locker this year, they will likely forget their locker combination from the previous year.

4. Anterograde/Retrograde Amnesia Both of these are typically organic types of organic Amnesia. In anterograde amnesia, the individual cannot lay down any new memories but old memories are intact. Alzheimer patients often experience anterograde amnesia and mistake grandchildren for their own children. In retrograde amnesia, the old memories are the one’s that are forgotten, while more recent memories are recalled.

3. Kohlberg’s and Piaget’s Stages of Development Kohlberg: Moral Development Preconventional Punishment/Obedience Satisfying Needs Conventional Approval Seeking Law and Order Authority PostConventional Social Order Universal Ethics

Piaget Sensorimotor Preoperational Concrete Operational Formal Operational

2. Dissociative Identity Disorder and Schizophrenia Dissociative Identity Disorder is classified as a Dissociative Disorder in which part of one’s personality separates from the rest of the individual. However, some part of the individual is in touch with reality at all times. This is not the case in Schizophrenia which is classified as a psychotic disorder. Psychotic disorders main characteristic is a loss of touch with reality at least some point. These terms should therefore not be used interchangeably.

1. Truth AP Psychology is great FUN!!!!!