AP Psychology Set 1 Flashcards

Key Psychological Terms and Concepts

• Empiricism

  • Knowledge is derived from experience, emphasizing observation and experimentation.
  • Contrasts with intuition-based understanding.

• Structuralism

  • Involves self-reflective introspection to analyze experiences.
  • Results are subjective and can vary greatly between individuals.

• Functionalism

  • Focuses on emotions, memories, willpower, and consciousness streams.
  • Examines mental and behavioral functions in adapting and thriving; likened to understanding a car by examining its parts.

• Experimental Psychologists

  • Conduct experiments to explore behavior and thinking.
  • Aim to understand fundamental psychological processes across various subjects.

• Behaviorists

  • Study subjects' behaviors in response to environmental stimuli.
  • Analyze how specific environments elicit certain reactions from individuals.

• Humanistic Psychology

  • Highlights the role of environmental influences on growth potential.
  • Focus on fulfilling needs for love and acceptance.

• Cognitive Neuroscience

  • Investigates brain activity associated with mental processes.
  • Researches the transfer and use of stored brain data in cognition.

• Psychology

  • Defined as the science of behavior and mental processes.
  • Behavior: observable actions (e.g., yelling, smiling).
  • Mental processes: inferred internal experiences (e.g., perceptions, thoughts).

• Nature-Nurture Issue

  • Debate around the impact of biology versus experience in human traits.
  • Poses questions about hereditary vs. environmentally influenced characteristics.

• Natural Selection

  • Concept of "survival of the fittest," whereby traits beneficial for survival are naturally selected.
  • Successful adaptations proliferate within a species’ genome.

• Levels of Analysis

  • Different complementary views for understanding phenomena.
  • An analysis can be conducted from multiple perspectives, such as biological or sociological.

• Bio-Psychosocial Approach

  • Considers biological, psychological, and social-cultural influences on behavior.
  • Useful for understanding complex issues, such as depression.

• Biological Psychology

  • Examines the link between biology (e.g., brain health) and behavior.
  • Investigates how bodily processes and brain circuits affect emotional and sensory experiences.

• Evolutionary Psychology

  • Studies behavior and mental processes through the lens of natural selection.
  • Example: Aggressiveness may have been advantageous for ancestral survival.

• Psycho-Dynamic Psychology

  • Focuses on unconscious motivations driving behavior and psychological disorders.
  • Utilizes insights into unconscious drives for therapeutic purposes.