AP Psychology All Terms Exam Questions
with Definitive Solutions
psychology - Answer the science of behavior and mental processes
nature-nurture issue - Answer the long-standing controversy over the relative contributions that genes
and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors
natural selection - Answer the principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those
contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations
neuroscience - Answer the perspective of psychological science that deals with how the body and brain
create emotions, memories, and sensory experiences
evolutionary - Answer the perspective of psychological science that deals with how nature selects traits
that promote the perpetuation of one's genes
behavior genetics - Answer the perspective of psychological science that deals with how much our
genes, and our environment, influence our individual differences
psychodynamic - Answer the perspective of psychological science that deals with how behavior springs
from unconscious drives and conflicts
behavioral - Answer the perspective of psychological science that deals with how we learn observable
responses
cognitive - Answer the perspective of psychological science that deals with how we encode, process,
store, and retrieve information
social-cultural - Answer the perspective of psychological science that deals with how behavior and
thinking vary across situations and cultures
,basic research - Answer pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base
applied research - Answer scientific study that aims to solve practical problems
clinical psychology - Answer a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with
psychological disorders
psychiatry - Answer a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders, practiced by physicians
who sometimes provide medical (for example, drug) treatments as well as psychological therapy
hindsight bias (I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon) - Answer the tendency to believe, after learning an
outcome, that one would have foreseen it
critical thinking - Answer thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it
examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions
theory - Answer an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes and predicts
observations
hypothesis - Answer a testable prediction, often implied by a theory
operational definition - Answer a statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research
variables. For example, intelligence may be operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures
replication - Answer repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in
different situations, to see whether the basic finding generalizes to other participants and circumstances
case study - Answer an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of
revealing universal principles
survey - Answer a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of people, usually
by questioning a representative, random sample of them
,false consensus effect - Answer the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our
beliefs and behaviors
population - Answer all the cases in a group, from which samples may be drawn for a study
random sample - Answer a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an
equal chance of inclusion
naturalistic observation - Answer observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations
without trying to manipulate and control the situation
correlation coefficient - Answer a statistical measure of the extent to which two factors vary together,
and thus of how well either factor predicts the other
scatterplot - Answer a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables. The
slope of the points suggests the direction of the relationship between the two variables. The amount of
scatter suggests the strength of correlation (little scatter indicates high correlation).
illusory correlation - Answer the perception of a relationship where none exists
experiment - Answer a research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors
(independent variables) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process (the dependent
variable). By random assignment of participants the experimenter controls other relevant factors)
placebo - Answer an inert substance or condition that may be administered instead of a presumed
active agent, such as a drug, to see if it triggers the effects believed to characterize the active agent
double-blind procedure - Answer an experimental procedure in which both the research participants
and the research staff are ignorant (blind) about whether the research participants have received the
treatment or a placebo. Commonly used in drug-evaluation studies.
placebo effect - Answer any effect on behavior caused by a placebo
, experimental condition - Answer the condition of an experiment that exposes participants to the
treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable
control condition - Answer the condition of an experiment that contrasts with the experimental
condition and serves as a comparison for evaluation the effect of the treatment
random assignment - Answer assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance,
thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups
independent variable - Answer the experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect if
being studied
dependent variable - Answer the experimental factor--in psychology, the behavior or mental process--
that is being measured; the variable that may change in response to the manipulations of the
independent variable
mode - Answer the most frequently occurring score in a distribution
mean - Answer the arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing
by the number of scores
median - Answer the middle score in a distribution; the scores are above it and half are below it
range - Answer the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution
standard deviation - Answer a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score
statistical significance - Answer a statistical criterion for rejecting the assumption of no differences in a
particular study
with Definitive Solutions
psychology - Answer the science of behavior and mental processes
nature-nurture issue - Answer the long-standing controversy over the relative contributions that genes
and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors
natural selection - Answer the principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those
contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations
neuroscience - Answer the perspective of psychological science that deals with how the body and brain
create emotions, memories, and sensory experiences
evolutionary - Answer the perspective of psychological science that deals with how nature selects traits
that promote the perpetuation of one's genes
behavior genetics - Answer the perspective of psychological science that deals with how much our
genes, and our environment, influence our individual differences
psychodynamic - Answer the perspective of psychological science that deals with how behavior springs
from unconscious drives and conflicts
behavioral - Answer the perspective of psychological science that deals with how we learn observable
responses
cognitive - Answer the perspective of psychological science that deals with how we encode, process,
store, and retrieve information
social-cultural - Answer the perspective of psychological science that deals with how behavior and
thinking vary across situations and cultures
,basic research - Answer pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base
applied research - Answer scientific study that aims to solve practical problems
clinical psychology - Answer a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with
psychological disorders
psychiatry - Answer a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders, practiced by physicians
who sometimes provide medical (for example, drug) treatments as well as psychological therapy
hindsight bias (I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon) - Answer the tendency to believe, after learning an
outcome, that one would have foreseen it
critical thinking - Answer thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it
examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions
theory - Answer an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes and predicts
observations
hypothesis - Answer a testable prediction, often implied by a theory
operational definition - Answer a statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research
variables. For example, intelligence may be operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures
replication - Answer repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in
different situations, to see whether the basic finding generalizes to other participants and circumstances
case study - Answer an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of
revealing universal principles
survey - Answer a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of people, usually
by questioning a representative, random sample of them
,false consensus effect - Answer the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our
beliefs and behaviors
population - Answer all the cases in a group, from which samples may be drawn for a study
random sample - Answer a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an
equal chance of inclusion
naturalistic observation - Answer observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations
without trying to manipulate and control the situation
correlation coefficient - Answer a statistical measure of the extent to which two factors vary together,
and thus of how well either factor predicts the other
scatterplot - Answer a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables. The
slope of the points suggests the direction of the relationship between the two variables. The amount of
scatter suggests the strength of correlation (little scatter indicates high correlation).
illusory correlation - Answer the perception of a relationship where none exists
experiment - Answer a research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors
(independent variables) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process (the dependent
variable). By random assignment of participants the experimenter controls other relevant factors)
placebo - Answer an inert substance or condition that may be administered instead of a presumed
active agent, such as a drug, to see if it triggers the effects believed to characterize the active agent
double-blind procedure - Answer an experimental procedure in which both the research participants
and the research staff are ignorant (blind) about whether the research participants have received the
treatment or a placebo. Commonly used in drug-evaluation studies.
placebo effect - Answer any effect on behavior caused by a placebo
, experimental condition - Answer the condition of an experiment that exposes participants to the
treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable
control condition - Answer the condition of an experiment that contrasts with the experimental
condition and serves as a comparison for evaluation the effect of the treatment
random assignment - Answer assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance,
thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups
independent variable - Answer the experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect if
being studied
dependent variable - Answer the experimental factor--in psychology, the behavior or mental process--
that is being measured; the variable that may change in response to the manipulations of the
independent variable
mode - Answer the most frequently occurring score in a distribution
mean - Answer the arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing
by the number of scores
median - Answer the middle score in a distribution; the scores are above it and half are below it
range - Answer the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution
standard deviation - Answer a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score
statistical significance - Answer a statistical criterion for rejecting the assumption of no differences in a
particular study
