AP Psychology Exam

• The view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should, therefore, rely on observation and experimentation.

  Empiricism
• Early school of thought promoted by Wundt and Titchener; used introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind.

  Structuralism
• Early school of thought promoted by James and influenced by Darwin; explored how mental and behavioural processes function--how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish.

  Functionalism
• The view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behaviour without reference to mental processes.

  Behaviourism
• A historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth of healthy people.

  Humanistic Psychology
• The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language).

  Cognitive Neuroscience
• The science of behaviour and mental processes.

  Psychology
• The long-standing controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviours.

  Nature-Nurture Issue
• The principle that, among the range of inherited traits, those contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations.

  Natural Selection
• The differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon.

  Levels of Analysis
• An integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis.

  Biopsychosocial Approach
• The scientific study of observable behaviour, and its explanation by principles of learning.

  Behavioural Psychology
• The scientific study of the links between biological (genetic, neural, hormonal) and psychological processes.

  Biological Psychology
• The scientific study of all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

  Cognitive Psychology
• The study of the evolution of behaviour and mind, using principles of natural selection.

  Evolutionary Psychology
• A branch of psychology that studies how unconscious drives and conflicts influence behaviour, and uses that information to treat people with psychological disorders.

  Psychodynamic Psychology
• The study of how situations and cultures affect our behaviour and thinking.

  Social-Cultural Psychology
• The scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits.

  Psychometrics
• Pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base.

  Basic Research
• A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span.

  Developmental Psychology
• The study of how psychological processes affect and can enhance teaching and learning.

  Educational Psychology
• The study of an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.

  Personality Psychology
• The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another.

  Social Psychology
• Scientific study that aims to solve practical problems.

  Applied Research
• The application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behaviour in workplaces.

  Industrial-Organizational (I/O) Psychology
• An I/O psychology subfield that explores how humans and machines interact and how machines and physical environments can be made safe and easy to use.

  Human Factors Psychology
• A branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater well-being.

  Counseling Psychology
• A branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders.

  Clinical Psychology
• A branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical treatments as well as psychological therapy.

  Psychiatry
• The scientific study of human functioning, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive.

  Positive Psychology
• A branch of psychology that studies how people interact with their social environments and how social institutions affect individuals and groups.

  Community Psychology
• Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information.

  Testing Effect
• A study method incorporating five steps: survey, question, read, retrieve, and review.

  SQ3R
• The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it.

  Hindsight Bias
• Thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, assesses the source, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions.

  Critical Thinking
• An explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviours or events.

  Theory
• A testable prediction, often implied by a theory.

  Hypothesis
• A carefully worded statement of the exact procedures used in a research study.

  Operational Definition
• A descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles.

  Case Study
• Observing and recording behaviour in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation.

  Naturalistic Observation