Psychological Theories, Concepts and Terms

The following terms commonly appear on the A.P. exam. Know this list and you will get no less than a four on both the Mock and National A.P. exam. You should be able to define and know the significance of each term. To study, eliminate terms you already know well and focus on those you've forgotten or never recall seeing. It is important that you start attacking this list bit by bit over the next month or the task will be too great. Good luck. autism benzodiazepines catatonia absolute threshold balance theory convergence achievement v. aptitude tests bimodal distribution cretinism/dwarfism afferent (v. efferent nerves) bipolar cells corticosteroids amygdala binocular disparity constancy (size/shape/color) availability heuristic blood-brain barrier correlational research accommodation (Piaget) basilar membrane cerebellum approach-avoidance conflict binocular disparity (cues) cerebrum assimilation bystander intervention/apathy convolutions aphasia Babinski reflex conversion disorder agnosia the Big Five apraxia Broca's area (aphasia) Drive-reduction theory agoraphobia bell curve dream analysis acetylcholine (ACh) Bobo doll experiments diffusion of responsibility anthropomorphism bottom-up processing dependent (v. independent variable) Alzheimer's disease Barnum effect double blind study antisocial personality disorder basic security divergent thinking (v. convergent) alpha waves (v. beta/delta/theta) basic hostility/anxiety Down's syndrome autonomic (v. somatic) nervous backward conditioning dominant responses (social facilitation) anal stage (retentive/expulsive) biofeedback developmental psychology altruism descriptive statistics anxiolytics contingency (v. contiguity) theory depression algorithm circadian rhythm debriefing association areas conditioned stimulus dizygotic twins (v. monozygotic) apparent motion corpus callosum dishabituation attachment theory client-centered therapy defense mechanisms attribution theory chlorpromazine deindividuation aversive conditioning criterion-referenced test (v. norm) dichromats (v. mono and trichromats) aggression (hostile/instrumental) Cannon-Bard theory of emotion DSM-IV (of Mental Disorders) anti-diuretic hormones classical conditioning difference threshold (jnd) arousal theory congruence discrimination (learning) amnesia (anterograde v. retrograde) cognitive dissonance displacement action potential (v. resting) cochlea dopamine APA standards chaining depolarization all or none response chunking deinstitutionalization activation-synthesis model conflicts (4-Approach/Avoid…) dendrites anxiety disorders correlation coefficient dissociative disorders affiliation motive cortical regions (major) applied science (v. basic) cross-cultural studies explicit memory Atkinson and Schiffrin's model central tendency extinction atttitude discrepant behavior cross-sectional research electroencephalogram (EEG) Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) CS/CR/UCS/UCR endocrine system anxiety disorders complementary colors egocentrism anthropocentrism crystallized intelligence (v. fluid) episodic memory agonists (v. antagonists) catharsis (abreaction) electroconvulsive shock therapy (ECT) antidepressants (tricyclic) cutaneous receptors engram anima and animus conduction deafness (v. sensorineural) expectancies archetypes correlation v. causation ethnocentrism antipsychotic medication conditions of worth echoic memory actor--observer effect conditioned taste aversion endorphins (endogenous morphine) eidetic memory histogram linguistic relativity hypothesis ethology human factors L-dopa effort justification hypermnesia limbic system eight ages of man hypochondriasis lithium salts expectancy theory (set) holophrases long-term potentiation extrinsic (v. intrinsic motivation) hyper/hypothyroidism law of Pragnanz equity theory (relationships) Hawthorne effect locus of control theory halo effect longitudinal study heritability (v. heredity) light/dark adaptation fugue hippocampus latent learning fixation time hypothalamus (lateral/ventromedial) lesion studies factor analysis hunger drive L.A.D. false consensus effect Humanistic perspective law of effect feature detector cells habituation language sensitivity period fetal alcohol syndrome homeostasis fixed interval/ratio schedule hyper/hypophagia mere exposure effect frontal lobe histrionic personality disorder monocular (v. binocular) depth cues fluid intelligence heuristics (types) motion parallax fight or flight Hierarchy of needs M.M.P.I feral children high v. low self-monitors Myers-Briggs free association hindsight bias mood disorders formal operations stage mental set frustration-aggression hypothesis metacognition fundamental attribution error IRB process misinformation effect foot-in-the door phenomenon instinctual drift method of loci feature analysis inferiority complex modeling functional fixedness introspection milieu therapy frequency polygon inhibitory (v. excitatory) monoamine inhibitors (MAO) fovea id/ego/superego melatonin Flynn effect identification (v. internalization) memonics fixed action pattern illusory correlation medulla oblongata factitious disorder informed consent maturational theory facial feedback iconic memory metamemory flooding implicit (v. explicit memory) means-end analysis frequency (v. place theory) intelligence quotient motor cortex functionalism induced motion multiple intelligences imprinting mindguard glucostatic (v. lipostatic hypothesis) incentives morphemes (phonemes) Gate control theory IRB process myelineation generalizability interneurons maintenance rehearsal (v. elaborative) gustatory sense imaging techniques (MRI, CAT, fMRI) manifest v. latent content genotype (v. phenotype) ingroup (and outgroup bias) Gestalt theory industrial psychology normative social influence Gansfield procedure instrumental/operant conditioning neuromodulators GABA inductive (v. deductive reasoning) norms glial cells induced motion neonate groupthink IDEAL (problem solving) nodes of ranvier group therapy ipsilateral (v. contralateral) noradrenaline/norepinephrine Gestalt therapy infantile amnesia neodissociation theory gender schema theory narcolepsy galvanic skin response (GSR) just noticeable difference null hypothesis Garcia effect just world phenomenon negative reinforcement Ganglia James-Lange theory of emotion narcissistic personality disorder group polarization neurotransmitters General Adaptation Syndrome (Selye) K-complex next-in-line effect generalization (learning) kinesthesis neuroticism obedience to authority reaction formation Turner's syndrome overgeneralization reuptake Type A-B object permanence reflex arc teratogens outgroup homogeneity rods and cones two-point threshold opposing processes theories repression (RMS) token economy optic nerve rooting reflex (other newborn reflexes) theory of social comparison organ of corti random assignment transactional analysis overregularization obsessive-compulsive disorder selective reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) unconditional positive regard Oedipal conflict (and electra complex) source amnesia operational definition signal detection theory vestibular sense occipital lobe Social Readjustment Rating Scale visual cliff osmoreceptors situational attribution (v. dispositional) validity (types) olfactory bulb sound localization volunteer bias standard deviation visual accommodation psychosurgery somatoform disorders post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) self-serving bias Wernicke's area (aphasia) pheromones serial position effect Weber's law prosocial behavior self-efficacy Wechsler (WISC and WAIS) proximodistal (v. cephalocaudal) schema/schemata Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome paradoxical sleep shaping wavy flexibility perceptual set selective attention wish fulfillment phenylketonuria (PKU) schizophrenia phi phenomenon social facilitation Yerkes-Dodson photoreceptors social loafing Young-Helmholtz pituitary gland stratified sample personal space set point theory Zone of proximal development primacy (v. recency) effect semantic memory Premack principle self-fulfilling prophecy paresis social exchange parietal lobe somatosensory cortex psychometrics spontaneous recovery parasympathetic NS (v. sympathetic) systematic desensitization pineal gland separation (stranger) anxiety plasticity structuralism projective tests sensory memory/register peripheral nervous system (v. central) self-actualization proactive intereference (v. retroactive) surface v. deep structure parapsychology selective avoidance v. exposure placebo effect stereotype bias parenting styles split-brain research primary reinforcer (v. secondary) serotonin prototype successive approximations proximal processes saccadic eye movement projection parallel processing trace conditioning psychophysics tricyclic antidepressants terminal buttons reaction time/response latency thalamus rational emotive therapy (RET) temporal lobe reliability(types) transduction resistance telegraphic speech REM sleep transference v. countertransference reticular formation thorazine Rosenthal effect thyroid gland rebound anxiety type I and II errors retinal disparity transduction remote associates test tardive dyskinesia

An exhaustive list? No. Feel free to add terms you think should appear on this list (And please tell me about redundancies)! 20 Important Theories (There are dozens more)

1. Signal detection theory 2. Role and Neodissociative theories 3. Contingency v. contiguity theories 4. Frequency v. Place theories 5. James-Lange v. Cannon-Bard and Cognitive Theories/2 Factor (and Zajonc) 6. Young-Helmholtz (trichromatic theory) v. Opponent processes 7. Ainsworth and Bowlby's Theories of Attachment 8. Dream Theories: Activation-Synthesis and others 9. Piaget's Cognitive-Developmental Theory v. Vygotsky's Social Constructivism Theory 10. Erikson's Theory of Social Development 11. Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development 12. Theories of Intelligence: g (Spearman), Primary Mental Abilities (Thurstone), Multiple Intelligences (Gardner), Triarchic(Sternberg), and Socio-Emotional intelligence (Goleman) 13. Sternberg's Triarchic theory of love 14. Theories of Language Acquisition: Learning, Nativist, and Cognitive 15. Theories of Motivation: Instinct, Drive Reduction, Opponent Process, Humanistic, Cognitive, Sociocultural 16. Theory of Social Comparison 17. Freud's Theory of Psychosexual Development and the Neo-Freudian counter-theories (Jung, Adler, Horney and Erickson) 18. Theories of Personality: Trait and Social-Cognitive perspectives 19. Attribution theory 20. I/O Psychology: Organizational Theories

Key Experiments you should know - Know the experiment, concepts introduced and demonstrated, and the area of psychology (or perspective) to which it belongs

Kandel's snails Kohler's chimp's Tolman and rat mazes Bandura and Bobo doll Watson and Baby Albert Zimbardo's prison pathology Ebbinghaus and forgetting Milgram and obedience to authority Harlow''s and contact comfort Lorenz and imprinting Sperry's split-brains (and Gazzaniga) Gibson and Walk's visual cliff Ainsworth's strange situations Asch's and conformity Seligman and learned helplessness Miller and chunking Olds and Milner and hypothalamus Miller and biofeedback Maccoby and sex differences Lorenz and imprinting Loftus and memory Pavlov's classical conditioning B.F. Skinner's operant conditioning Rescorla and Wagner Schachter and Singer emotions Garcia and taste aversion Adoption and twin studies Schachter and social comparison Breland's instinctual drift Thorndike's puzzle box Sperling and sensory memory Rosenhan’s Mental Illness Festinger's cognitive dissonance