AP PSYCHOLOGY UPDATED SET QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS SET A+
✔✔temporal lobes - ✔✔the portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears,
includes the auditory areas, each of which receives auditory information primarily from
the opposite ear
✔✔motor cortex - ✔✔an area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary
movements
✔✔sensory cortex - ✔✔the area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and
processes body sensations
✔✔association areas - ✔✔areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary
motor or sensory functions; rather, they are involved in higher mental functions such as
learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking
✔✔aphasia - ✔✔impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage to
either Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding)
✔✔Broca's Area - ✔✔an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that
directs the muscle movements involved in speech
✔✔Wernicke's area - ✔✔a brain area involved in language comprehension and
expression; usually in the left temporal lobe
✔✔plasticity - ✔✔the brain's capacity for modification, as evident in the brain
reorganization following damage (especially in children) and in experiments on the
effects of experience on brain development
✔✔corpus callosum - ✔✔the large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain
hemispheres and carrying messages between them
,✔✔split brain - ✔✔a condition in which the two hemispheres of the brain at isolated by
cutting the connecting fibers (mainly those of the corpus callosum) between them
✔✔endocrine system - ✔✔the body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of
glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream
✔✔hormones - ✔✔chemical messengers, mostly those manufactured by the endocrine
glands, that are produced in one tissue and affect another
✔✔adrenal glands - ✔✔a pair of endocrine glands just above the kidneys. The adrenals
secrete the hormones epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (nonadrenaline),
which help to arouse the body in times of stress
✔✔pituitary gland - ✔✔the endocrine system's most influential gland. Under the
influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other
endocrine glands.
✔✔learning - ✔✔a relatively permanent change in an organism's behavior due to
experience
✔✔associative learning - ✔✔learning that certain events occur together. The events
may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences (as
in operant conditioning)
✔✔behaviorism - ✔✔the view that psychology 1) should be an objective science that 2)
studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists
today agree with 1) but not with 2).
✔✔classical conditioning - ✔✔a type of learning in which an organism comes to
associate stimuli. A neutral stimulus that signals an unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
begins to produce a response that anticipates and prepares for the unconditioned
stimulus.
✔✔unconditioned response (UCR) - ✔✔in classical conditioning, the unlearned,
naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus (UCS), such as salivation
when food is in the mouth.
✔✔unconditioned stimulus (UCS) - ✔✔in classical conditioning, a stimulus that
unconditionally--naturally and automatically--triggers a response.
✔✔conditioned response (CR) - ✔✔in classical conditioning, the learned response to a
previously neutral conditioned stimulus (CS)
, ✔✔conditioned stimulus (CS) - ✔✔in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant
stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (UCS), comes to trigger a
conditioned response (CR)
✔✔acquisition - ✔✔the initial stage in classical conditioning; the phase associating a
neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus comes to
elicit a conditioned response. In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced
response
✔✔extinction - ✔✔the diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical
conditioning when an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) does not follow a conditioned
stimulus (CS); occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced
✔✔spontaneous recovery - ✔✔the reappearance, after a rest period, of an extinguished
conditioned response
✔✔generalization - ✔✔the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli
similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses
✔✔discrimination - ✔✔in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguished
between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned
stimulus
✔✔operant conditioning - ✔✔a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if
followed by reinforcement or diminished if followed by punishment
✔✔respondent behavior - ✔✔behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some
stimulus; Skinner's term for behavior learned through classical conditioning
✔✔operant behavior - ✔✔behavior that operates on the environment, producing
consequences
✔✔law of effect - ✔✔Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by favorable
consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable
consequences become less likely
✔✔operant chamber ("Skinner box") - ✔✔a chamber containing a bar or key that an
animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer, with attached devices to
record the animal's rate of bar pressing or key pecking. Used in operant conditioning
research
✔✔shaping - ✔✔an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior
toward closer and closer approximation of a desired goal
ANSWERS SET A+
✔✔temporal lobes - ✔✔the portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears,
includes the auditory areas, each of which receives auditory information primarily from
the opposite ear
✔✔motor cortex - ✔✔an area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary
movements
✔✔sensory cortex - ✔✔the area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and
processes body sensations
✔✔association areas - ✔✔areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary
motor or sensory functions; rather, they are involved in higher mental functions such as
learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking
✔✔aphasia - ✔✔impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage to
either Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding)
✔✔Broca's Area - ✔✔an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that
directs the muscle movements involved in speech
✔✔Wernicke's area - ✔✔a brain area involved in language comprehension and
expression; usually in the left temporal lobe
✔✔plasticity - ✔✔the brain's capacity for modification, as evident in the brain
reorganization following damage (especially in children) and in experiments on the
effects of experience on brain development
✔✔corpus callosum - ✔✔the large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain
hemispheres and carrying messages between them
,✔✔split brain - ✔✔a condition in which the two hemispheres of the brain at isolated by
cutting the connecting fibers (mainly those of the corpus callosum) between them
✔✔endocrine system - ✔✔the body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of
glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream
✔✔hormones - ✔✔chemical messengers, mostly those manufactured by the endocrine
glands, that are produced in one tissue and affect another
✔✔adrenal glands - ✔✔a pair of endocrine glands just above the kidneys. The adrenals
secrete the hormones epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (nonadrenaline),
which help to arouse the body in times of stress
✔✔pituitary gland - ✔✔the endocrine system's most influential gland. Under the
influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other
endocrine glands.
✔✔learning - ✔✔a relatively permanent change in an organism's behavior due to
experience
✔✔associative learning - ✔✔learning that certain events occur together. The events
may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences (as
in operant conditioning)
✔✔behaviorism - ✔✔the view that psychology 1) should be an objective science that 2)
studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists
today agree with 1) but not with 2).
✔✔classical conditioning - ✔✔a type of learning in which an organism comes to
associate stimuli. A neutral stimulus that signals an unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
begins to produce a response that anticipates and prepares for the unconditioned
stimulus.
✔✔unconditioned response (UCR) - ✔✔in classical conditioning, the unlearned,
naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus (UCS), such as salivation
when food is in the mouth.
✔✔unconditioned stimulus (UCS) - ✔✔in classical conditioning, a stimulus that
unconditionally--naturally and automatically--triggers a response.
✔✔conditioned response (CR) - ✔✔in classical conditioning, the learned response to a
previously neutral conditioned stimulus (CS)
, ✔✔conditioned stimulus (CS) - ✔✔in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant
stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (UCS), comes to trigger a
conditioned response (CR)
✔✔acquisition - ✔✔the initial stage in classical conditioning; the phase associating a
neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus comes to
elicit a conditioned response. In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced
response
✔✔extinction - ✔✔the diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical
conditioning when an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) does not follow a conditioned
stimulus (CS); occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced
✔✔spontaneous recovery - ✔✔the reappearance, after a rest period, of an extinguished
conditioned response
✔✔generalization - ✔✔the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli
similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses
✔✔discrimination - ✔✔in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguished
between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned
stimulus
✔✔operant conditioning - ✔✔a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if
followed by reinforcement or diminished if followed by punishment
✔✔respondent behavior - ✔✔behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some
stimulus; Skinner's term for behavior learned through classical conditioning
✔✔operant behavior - ✔✔behavior that operates on the environment, producing
consequences
✔✔law of effect - ✔✔Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by favorable
consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable
consequences become less likely
✔✔operant chamber ("Skinner box") - ✔✔a chamber containing a bar or key that an
animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer, with attached devices to
record the animal's rate of bar pressing or key pecking. Used in operant conditioning
research
✔✔shaping - ✔✔an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior
toward closer and closer approximation of a desired goal
