ELITE COMPREHENSIVE
ADVANCED PLACEMENT (AP) PSYCHOLOGY
COMPREHENSIVE AP PSYCHOLOGY TERMS
VOCABULARY REVIEW — 2026 EDITION
FINAL SPRING EXAMINATION MAY 2026
psychology
• the science of behavior and mental processes
nature-nurture issue
• the long-standing controversy over the relative contributions that genes and
experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors
natural selection
• 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
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, • the perspective of psychological science that deals with how the body and
brain create emotions, memories, and sensory experiences
evolutionary
• the perspective of psychological science that deals with how nature selects
traits that promote the perpetuation of one's genes
behavior genetics
• the perspective of psychological science that deals with how much our
genes, and our environment, influence our individual differences
psychodynamic
• the perspective of psychological science that deals with how behavior
springs from unconscious drives and conflicts
behavioral
• the perspective of psychological science that deals with how we learn observable
responses
cognitive
2|Page
, • the perspective of psychological science that deals with how we encode,
process, store, and retrieve information
social-cultural
• the perspective of psychological science that deals with how behavior and
thinking vary across situations and cultures
basic research
• pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base
applied research
• scientific study that aims to solve practical problems
clinical psychology
• a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with
psychological disorders
psychiatry
• a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders, practiced by
physicians who sometimes provide medical (for example, drug) treatments
as well as psychological therapy
3|Page
, hindsight bias (I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon)
• the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have
foreseen it
critical thinking
• thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it
examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and
assesses conclusions
theory
• an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes and
predicts observations
hypothesis
• a testable prediction, often implied by a theory
operational definition
• a statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research
variables. For example, intelligence may be operationally defined as what
an intelligence test measures
4|Page
ADVANCED PLACEMENT (AP) PSYCHOLOGY
COMPREHENSIVE AP PSYCHOLOGY TERMS
VOCABULARY REVIEW — 2026 EDITION
FINAL SPRING EXAMINATION MAY 2026
psychology
• the science of behavior and mental processes
nature-nurture issue
• the long-standing controversy over the relative contributions that genes and
experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors
natural selection
• 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
1|Page
, • the perspective of psychological science that deals with how the body and
brain create emotions, memories, and sensory experiences
evolutionary
• the perspective of psychological science that deals with how nature selects
traits that promote the perpetuation of one's genes
behavior genetics
• the perspective of psychological science that deals with how much our
genes, and our environment, influence our individual differences
psychodynamic
• the perspective of psychological science that deals with how behavior
springs from unconscious drives and conflicts
behavioral
• the perspective of psychological science that deals with how we learn observable
responses
cognitive
2|Page
, • the perspective of psychological science that deals with how we encode,
process, store, and retrieve information
social-cultural
• the perspective of psychological science that deals with how behavior and
thinking vary across situations and cultures
basic research
• pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base
applied research
• scientific study that aims to solve practical problems
clinical psychology
• a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with
psychological disorders
psychiatry
• a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders, practiced by
physicians who sometimes provide medical (for example, drug) treatments
as well as psychological therapy
3|Page
, hindsight bias (I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon)
• the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have
foreseen it
critical thinking
• thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it
examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and
assesses conclusions
theory
• an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes and
predicts observations
hypothesis
• a testable prediction, often implied by a theory
operational definition
• a statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research
variables. For example, intelligence may be operationally defined as what
an intelligence test measures
4|Page
