AP Psych Vocab

the junction between theaxon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite of the receiving neuron

a doughnut shapedsystem of neural structures associated with emotions (fear/aggression) anddrives (food/sex); includes hippocampus, amygdale, hypothalamus, and parts ofthe thalamus

the term for any naturalor synthetic compound, usually a steroid hormone, that stimulates or controls the development and maintenance of masculine characteristics

controls languageexpression; an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere thatdirects the muscle movements involved in speech

the biologicalclock; regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24 hour cycle

the genetic makeup of a cell

the sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system to the restof the body

a chronic disordercharacterized by recurrent unprovoked seizures

a rare procedure used to calm uncontrollably emotional or violent patients by cutting the connection between the frontal lobes and the emotion controlling centers of the inner brain

located on the temporal lobe on the left side of the brain and is responsible for the comprehension of speech.

(REM sleep) a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur; called sobecause the muscles are relaxed yet the mind is active

– a condition in which the two hemispheres of the brain are isolated by cutting the connecting fibers(corpus callosum) between them

a group of symptoms characterized by progressive loss of motor function resulting form the degeneration of neurons in the cerebellum (voluntary muscle control) as well as lack of dopamine in the brain

the life long ability ofthe brain to reorganize neural pathways based on our new experiences incompensation to damage

– a medicationused to alleviate mood disorders, such as major depression

psychoactive drugs used to treat psychosis and other similar mental disorders

the study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior

Hobson’s theory that dreaming is simply the brain’s attempt to make sense of the random neural activity

– drugs that excite the neuron’s firing and give pleasure by mimicking neurotransmitters or endorphins; ACH (Acetylcholine)

the front of the brain (in the frontal lobe) that is responsible for decision making, predictions, mediating, and other such functions; it is the biggest part of aperson’s personality

Ebbinghaus’ theory that states that the course of forgetting is initially rapid but then levels off with time

the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it (aka I knewit all along phenomenon)

our awareness o fourselves and our environment

– the principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those that lead to increased reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations

theory of memory that states that the human mind is a system that uses encoding, storage, and retrieval, much like a computer, to process information

a term coined by Ebbinghaus that states that it is our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list

– the conscious repetition of information, either to maintain it in consciousness or to encode it for storage

memory of names and facts

is a theory of emotion suggesting that human emotion has two components (factors): physiological arousal and cognition (a conscious understanding of that arousal)

Emotion are physical responses to external stimuli.

your ability to attend to only one voice among many

– Miller’s theory that short-term memory is limited to seven bits of information (give or take 2)

(part of the serial position effect) the tendency to remember the first items in a list rather than those in the middle or end

the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus, as in the cocktail party effect

information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations

analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the bran’s integration of sensory information

the memory of autobiographical events (times, places, associated emotions, and othercontextual knowledge) that can be explicitly stated; episodic and semantic memory make up explicit memory

memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices

Piaget’s theory that views organized knowledge as an elaborate network of abstract mental structures which represent one's understanding of the world

a newer understanding of short-term memory that involves conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory

the theory that groups of objects are easier to remember rather than individual items because they take up the same amount of space

the feeling of uncomfortable tension caused by holding two inconsistent viewpoints(usually one though/one action) at the same time

the active processing of items to improve memory, through a variety of methods,such as focusing on sensory characteristics

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

the processing of several aspects of a problem/situation simultaneously

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

a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli: a photographic or picture-image of memorylasting no more than a few tenths of a second

refers to one’s knowledge concerning one’s own cognitive processes or anything related to them

all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

a theory of emotion suggesting that individuals experience emotions and physiologically react simultaneously.