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AP Psychology Terminology Notes
These are all the terminology you need to know for the AP Psychology exam.
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Psychology1: History
Terms
Libido means sex drive
AP PSYCHOLOGY EXAM TESTED FROM CHAPTER 1 TO CHAPTER 10
Trepanation
Early belief drilling a hole in a human’s head would relieve it of evil spirits (usually
“treatment” for headaches, mental instability, angriness)
Introspection
Observation of cognitive reactions to simple stimuli; observation of one’s own mental
processes. This was essential in the establishment of psychology, but not as
important in modern psychology
Stimulus/i
Something that evokes a reaction in someone/thing. Environmental reactions
Theory of structuralism
Derived from introspection experiments; the cognitive mind operates with subjective
feelings and objective sensations. These are one’s senses and how people view the
outside of one. It focused on explaining mental processes by breaking it down into
simple categories
,Theory of functionalism
It is a reaction of structuralism; it explained mental processes in a more systematic
and detailed manner. It focused on the purpose of behaviour and consciousness
Gestalt Psychology
Examines one’s total experience, does not believe in dividing human thought and
behaviour in separate categories. Also called Law of Simplicity. This has little
influence in modern psychology
Psychoanalysis/Psychoanalytic theory
All people possess an unconscious mind- a part of our mind that controls both our
thoughts and behaviours
Repression:
The building up of an unconscious mind due to one’s aging. Many of the traumatic
thoughts are said to be pushed into our unconscious mind due to the conscious mind
not being able to deal with them
Defense Mechanism
Psychological strategies from the unconscious mind to suppress negative feelings
such as anxiety to maintain one’s self schema (self-impressions and how they
influence one’s behaviours)
Behaviourism
System of understanding the behaviours of a person; believes all behaviours are
reflexes of stimuli. Behaviourists use investigative, observative psychological
approaches. Seen as the paradigm (dominant model) of psychology
,Reinforcement
A stimulus that strengthens or increases the probability of a single exact response.
These can either encourage or discourage certain responses
Deterministic behaviour
Theorizes all behaviours are caused by past conditioning
Humanist Perspective
Believes behaviours are caused by free will and own choices. These choices can be
influenced by psychological, emotional, or spiritual needs, but overall we have
control of most of our own decisions
Psychoanalytic Perspective
The unconscious mind controls much of our thoughts and behaviours. This is usually
analyzed by dream analysis, seeing the repressed memories and thoughts in the
unconscious
Biopsychology Perspective
This centers around the use of biological knowledge, such as believing a response to
stimuli might be caused from one’s genetic family history. From this, psychology has
the potential of becoming a branch of biology in the near future
Evolutionary/Darwinian Perspective
Psychologists in this perspective are called sociobiologists. They believe human
thoughts are due to natural selection, and are adapted from past generations for a
survival tactic
, Behavioural Perspective
Behaviorists use past conditioning to explain human behaviour. They examine the
way someone responds to a reward. The response of something by someone is
learnt through conditioning (and reinforcement)
Cognitive Perspective
This is a perspective on examining how one processes and remembers stimuli. The
response of something is influenced by how they interpret that specific situation to
be in terms of the “rules of the world” so they act in the way they think makes most
sense
Socio-cultural Perspective
One’s thoughts and behaviours vary from the culture they are adapted to, and this
culture’s rules about something. This can be described as attaining to social norms
Biopsychosocial Perspective
This perspective explains behaviour through all biological, psychological, and social
factors.
People
Introspection
Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)
German physician, founder of psychology, set up the first physiological lab.
Conducted introspection, developed theory of structuralism.
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