AP Psychology

structuralist who founded psychology as a formal science; opened first psychology research laboratory in 1879

developed structuralism and introspection; student of wilhelm wundt

formulated a theory of evolution by natural selection

founder of functionalism; studied how humans use perception to function in our environment

focused on the unconscious causes of behavior and personality formation; founded psychoanalysis; id/ego/superego; defense mechanisms

behaviorist who discovered classical conditioning; trained dogs to salivate at the ringing of a bell

behaviorist that developed the theory of operant conditioning by training pigeons and rats (used successive approximations and a skinner box)

behaviorism; emphasis on external behaviors of people and their reactions on a given situation; famous for Little Albert study in which baby was taught to fear a white rat

humanistic; founded client-centered therapy, theory that emphasizes personal growth, unconditional positive regard

humanistic psychology; hierarchy of needs in which the most basic needs (food/shelter) must be fulfilled to achieve self actualization

gestalt psychologist who argued against dividing human thought and behavior into discrete structures; whole is greater than sum of the parts

first woman to earn a Ph.D. in psychology

first female president of the APA; student of william james

law of effect (behavior followed by favorable consequences becomes more likely and vice versa)

researcher known for work in observational or social learning including the famous Bobo doll experiment

language development; disagreed with Skinner about language acquisition, stated humans have an inborn native ability to develop language

concept of "linguistic determinism" or how language impacts the way we think

researcher who studied insight learning in chimps

creator of "g-factor", or general intelligence, concept

devised theory of multiple intelligences: logical-mathematic, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal, linguistic, musical, interpersonal, naturalistic

intelligence; devised the Triarchic Theory of Intelligence (academic problem-solving, practical, and creative)

pioneer in intelligence (IQ) tests, designed a test to identify slow learners in need of help-not applicable in the U.S. because it was too culture-bound (French)

conducted famous conformity experiment that required subjects to match lines of similar length; found that people conformed to the group even if the answer was wrong

social psychology; stanford prison experiment that proved the power of social roles to influence people's behavior

social psychology; shock experiment testing obedience to authority; had participants administer what they believed were dangerous electrical shocks to other participants

pioneer in cognitive therapy; suggested depression came from negative schemas about the world, the self, and the future

discovered area in the brain (named for him) in the left frontal lobe responsible for language production

memory; conducted studies on forgetting: first, a rapid loss followed by a gradual declining rate of loss; ebbinghaus forgetting curve

pioneer in Rational-Emotive Therapy (RET), focuses on altering client's patterns of irrational thinking to reduce maladaptive behavior and emotions

neo-Freudian, humanistic; 8 psychosocial stages of development: theory shows how people evolve through the life span

personality theorist; asserted that personality is largely determined by genes, used introversion/extroversion

railroad worker who survived a severe brain injury that dramatically changed his personality and behavior; case study played a role in the development of the understanding of the localization of brain function

neo-Freudian who created concept of "collective unconscious" and wrote books on dream interpretation

four stage theory of cognitive development (sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational); studied why children got the same questions wrong in the same way

personality, psychoanalysis; developed one of the first projective test where the observer derives aspects of the personality from the subject's commentary on inkblots

perception; identified just-noticeable-difference (JND) that eventually becomes Weber's law

theory of moral development in children; made use of moral dilemmas in assessment

development; realized that touch is preferred in development (studied attachment of infant monkeys to artificial mothers made of cloth and wire)

neo-freudian; introduced concept of "inferiority complex" and stressed the importance of birth order

emotion; stated that in order to experience emotions, a person must be physically aroused and know the emotion before you experience it

developmental psychology; compared effects of maternal separation, devised patterns of attachment; observation of parent/child attachment

social psychology; research evidence of internalized racism caused by stigmatization; doll experiments-black children chose white dolls

social psychologist; study in which healthy patients were admitted to psychiatric hospitals + diagnosed with schizophrenia; showed that diagnosis leads to negative labels

intelligence; famous for contributions to emotional intelligence

perception; discovered area of left temporal lobe involved language understanding

split-brain research; understanding of functional lateralization in the brain; how the cerebral hemispheres communicate

the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage

theory of color vision that suggests that the retina contains three types of color receptors (cones) that combine to produce color perception

the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision

the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated

theory of pitch that states that pitch is related to the speed of vibrations in the basilar membrane

the idea that facial expressions can influence emotions as well as reflect them

this theory of dreaming that proposes that the brain tries to make sense of random brain activity by synthesizing the activity with stored memories

behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely

the course of forgetting is initially rapid, then levels off with time

our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list

tendency to remember words at the beginning of a list especially well

tendency to remember words at the end of a list especially well

the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information

the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information

the proposition that our language determines our way of thinking and our perceptions of the world

the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort we feel when two of our thoughts are inconsistent

the theory that we explain someone's behavior by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition

the psychological state of deindividuation is aroused when individuals join crowds or large groups

idea that prejudice can be reduced by increasing contact with those that are different

the alteration of behavior by the subjects of a study due to their awareness of being observed

people will question their own perceptions when presented with the judgements of others

stronger responses on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others

the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal

theory of sleep proposing that sleep is necessary to the physical health of the body and serves to replenish chemicals and repair cellular damage

theory of sleep that says it helped avoid danger and predators

dreams reflect real-life worries, hopes, and desires

theory that dreams provide an opportunity to work through everyday problems and emotional issues in life

referring to the use of cognitive processes in relation to understanding the social world

the theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain

images in a series of still pictures presented at a certain speed will appear to be moving

an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession

the phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them

a strong emotional and physical attachment to at least one primary caregiver is critical to personal development

three types of attachment

moral development theory

theory made up of sensorimotor period, preoperational period, concrete operations, and formal operations expressed by Jean Piaget

the approach that emphasizes how cognitive development proceeds as a result of social interactions between members of a culture

developing children progress through a predictable sequence of stages of moral reasoning (preconventional, conventional, postconventional).

depression occurs when people (and other animals) become resigned to the idea that they are helpless to escape from something painful

incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event

we imitate our parents for words, reinforcement encourages linguistic growth, there is an association between sight and sound

says that all languages share a common universal grammar and that children inherit a mental program to learn this universal grammar

the worldwide phenomenon that shows intelligence test performance has been increasing over the years

a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise); assumes there is no single absolute threshold

prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame

the theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs

the law that the neuron either fires at 100% or not at all

hypnosis has caused a split in awareness

hypnotic subjects may simply be imaginative actors playing a social role

a theory of death-related anxiety; explores people's emotional and behavioral responses to reminders of their impending death

Gardner's intelligence theory that proposes that there are eight distinct spheres of intelligence