AP PSYCHOLOGY EXAM QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS
Naturalistic Observation - Answer-The process of watching without interfering as a
phenomenon occurs in the natural environment.
Case Study - Answer-A research method involving the intensive examination of some
phenomenon in a particular individual, group, or situation.
Survey - Answer-A research method that involves giving people questionnaires or
special interviews designed to obtain descriptions of their attitudes, beliefs, opinions,
and intentions.
Control Group - Answer-In an experiment, the group that receives no treatment or
provides some other baseline against which to compare the performance or response of
the experimental group.
Independent Variable - Answer-The variable manipulated by the researcher in an
experiment.
Dependent Variable - Answer-In an experiment, the factor affected by the independent
variable.
Placebo - Answer-A physical or psychological treatment that contains no active
ingredient but produces an effect because the person receiving it believes it will.
Experimenter Bias - Answer-A confounding variable that occurs when an experimenter
unintentionally encourages participants to respond in a way that supports the
hypothesis.
Double-Blind Design - Answer-A research design in which neither the experimenter nor
the participants know who is in the experimental group and who is in the control group.
Sampling - Answer-The process of selecting participants who are members of the
population that the researcher wishes to study.
Correlation Coefficient - Answer-A statistic, r, that summarizes the strength and
direction of a relationship between two variables.
Statistically Significant - Answer-Referring to a correlation, or a difference between two
groups, that is larger than would be expected by chance.
, Nervous System - Answer-A complex combination of cells whose primary function is to
allow an organism to gain information about what is going on inside and outside the
body and to respond appropriately.
Neuron - Answer-Fundamental unit of the nervous system; nerve cell.
Glial Cells - Answer-Cells in the nervous system that hold neurons together and help
them communicate with one another.
Axon - Answer-A fiber that carries signals from the body of a neuron out to where
communication occurs with other neurons.
Dendrite - Answer-A neuron fiber that receives signals from the axons of other neurons
and carries those signals to the cell body.
Synapse - Answer-The tiny gap between neurons across which they communicate
Myelin - Answer-A fatty substance that wraps around some axons and increases the
speed of action potentials.
Neurotransmitters - Answer-Chemicals that assist in the transfer of signals from one
neuron to another.
Central Nervous System - Answer-The parts of the nervous system encased in bone,
including the brain and the spinal cord.
Autonomic Nervous System - Answer-A subsystem of the peripheral nervous system
that carries messages between the central nervous system and the heart, lungs, and
other organs and glands.
Cerebellum - Answer-The part of the hindbrain whose main functions include controlling
finely coordinated movements and storing memories about movement, but which may
also be involved in impulse control, emotion, and language.
Thalamus - Answer-A forebrain structure that relays signals from most sense organs to
higher levels in the brain and plays an important role in processing and making sense
out of this information.
Hippocampus - Answer-A structure in the forebrain associated with the formation of new
memories.
Cerebral Cortex - Answer-The outer surface of the brain
Corpus Callosum - Answer-A massive bundle of fibers that connects the right and left
cerebral hemispheres and allows them to communicate with each other.
AND ANSWERS
Naturalistic Observation - Answer-The process of watching without interfering as a
phenomenon occurs in the natural environment.
Case Study - Answer-A research method involving the intensive examination of some
phenomenon in a particular individual, group, or situation.
Survey - Answer-A research method that involves giving people questionnaires or
special interviews designed to obtain descriptions of their attitudes, beliefs, opinions,
and intentions.
Control Group - Answer-In an experiment, the group that receives no treatment or
provides some other baseline against which to compare the performance or response of
the experimental group.
Independent Variable - Answer-The variable manipulated by the researcher in an
experiment.
Dependent Variable - Answer-In an experiment, the factor affected by the independent
variable.
Placebo - Answer-A physical or psychological treatment that contains no active
ingredient but produces an effect because the person receiving it believes it will.
Experimenter Bias - Answer-A confounding variable that occurs when an experimenter
unintentionally encourages participants to respond in a way that supports the
hypothesis.
Double-Blind Design - Answer-A research design in which neither the experimenter nor
the participants know who is in the experimental group and who is in the control group.
Sampling - Answer-The process of selecting participants who are members of the
population that the researcher wishes to study.
Correlation Coefficient - Answer-A statistic, r, that summarizes the strength and
direction of a relationship between two variables.
Statistically Significant - Answer-Referring to a correlation, or a difference between two
groups, that is larger than would be expected by chance.
, Nervous System - Answer-A complex combination of cells whose primary function is to
allow an organism to gain information about what is going on inside and outside the
body and to respond appropriately.
Neuron - Answer-Fundamental unit of the nervous system; nerve cell.
Glial Cells - Answer-Cells in the nervous system that hold neurons together and help
them communicate with one another.
Axon - Answer-A fiber that carries signals from the body of a neuron out to where
communication occurs with other neurons.
Dendrite - Answer-A neuron fiber that receives signals from the axons of other neurons
and carries those signals to the cell body.
Synapse - Answer-The tiny gap between neurons across which they communicate
Myelin - Answer-A fatty substance that wraps around some axons and increases the
speed of action potentials.
Neurotransmitters - Answer-Chemicals that assist in the transfer of signals from one
neuron to another.
Central Nervous System - Answer-The parts of the nervous system encased in bone,
including the brain and the spinal cord.
Autonomic Nervous System - Answer-A subsystem of the peripheral nervous system
that carries messages between the central nervous system and the heart, lungs, and
other organs and glands.
Cerebellum - Answer-The part of the hindbrain whose main functions include controlling
finely coordinated movements and storing memories about movement, but which may
also be involved in impulse control, emotion, and language.
Thalamus - Answer-A forebrain structure that relays signals from most sense organs to
higher levels in the brain and plays an important role in processing and making sense
out of this information.
Hippocampus - Answer-A structure in the forebrain associated with the formation of new
memories.
Cerebral Cortex - Answer-The outer surface of the brain
Corpus Callosum - Answer-A massive bundle of fibers that connects the right and left
cerebral hemispheres and allows them to communicate with each other.
