AP PSYCHOLOGY CORE MAIN QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS SET A+
✔✔random assignment - ✔✔assigning participants to experimental and control
conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned
to the different groups
✔✔independent variable - ✔✔the experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable
whose effect if being studied
✔✔dependent variable - ✔✔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 - ✔✔the most frequently occurring score in a distribution
✔✔mean - ✔✔the arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores
and then dividing by the number of scores
✔✔median - ✔✔the middle score in a distribution; the scores are above it and half are
below it
✔✔range - ✔✔the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution
✔✔standard deviation - ✔✔a computed measure of how much scores vary around the
mean score
✔✔statistical significance - ✔✔a statistical criterion for rejecting the assumption of no
differences in a particular study
✔✔culture - ✔✔the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a
large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next
,✔✔Biological psychology - ✔✔concerned with links between biology and behavior
✔✔Neuron - ✔✔building blocks of the nervous system
✔✔Dendrite - ✔✔Branches designed to receive/send/and transport information
✔✔Axon - ✔✔transports messages to different muscles/glands in the body
✔✔Action potential - ✔✔a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an
axon. The action potential is generated by the movement of positively charged atoms in
and out of channels in the axon's membrane.
✔✔Myelin sheath - ✔✔a layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fibers of many
neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the impulse
hops from one node to the next
✔✔Threshold - ✔✔the level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse
✔✔Synapse - ✔✔the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the
dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron. The tiny gap at this junction is called the
synaptic gap or cleft
✔✔Neurotransmitters - ✔✔chemical messengers that traverse the synaptic gaps
between neurons. When released by the sending neuron, neurotransmitters travel
across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby
influencing whether it will generate a neural impulse
✔✔Acetylcholine - ✔✔a neurotransmitter that, among its functions, triggers muscle
contraction
✔✔Endorphins - ✔✔"morphine within" - natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters linked to
pain control and to pleasure.
✔✔Nervous system - ✔✔the body's speedy, electrochemical communication system,
consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems.
✔✔Central nervous system (CNS) - ✔✔the brain and spinal cord
✔✔Peripheral nervous system (PNS) - ✔✔The sensory and motor neurons that connect
the central nervous system (CNS) to the rest of the body
✔✔Nerves - ✔✔Neural "cables" containing many axons. These bundled axons, which
are part of the peripheral nervous system, connect the central nervous system with
muscles, glands, and sense organs
,✔✔Sensory neurons - ✔✔neurons that carry incoming information from the sense
receptors to the central nervous system
✔✔Interneurons - ✔✔central nervous system neurons that intervene between the
sensory inputs and motor outputs
✔✔Motor neurons - ✔✔The neurons that carry outgoing information from the central
nervous system to the muscles and glands
✔✔Somatic nervous system - ✔✔the division of the peripheral nervous sytem that
controls the body's skeletal muscles.
✔✔Autonomic nervous system - ✔✔the part of the peripheral nervous system that
controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart). Its
sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms.
✔✔Sympathetic nervous system - ✔✔The division of the autonomic nervous system
that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations
✔✔Parasympathetic nervous system - ✔✔The division of the autonomic nervous
system that calms the body, conserving its energy
✔✔Reflex - ✔✔a simple, automatic, inborn response to a sensory stimulus, such as the
knee-jerk response
✔✔Neural networks - ✔✔interconnected neural cells. With experience, networks can
learn, as feedback strengthens or inhibits connections that produce certain results.
Computer stimulations of neural networks show analogous learning.
✔✔Phrenology - ✔✔an ill-fated theory that claimed bumps on the skull could reveal our
mental abilities and our character traits.
✔✔lesion - ✔✔tissue destruction. A brain lesion is a naturally or experimentally caused
destruction of brain tissue
✔✔EEG (electroencephalogram) - ✔✔an amplified recording of the waves of electrical
activity that sweep across the brain's surface. These waves are measured by electrodes
placed on the scalp
✔✔CT (computed tomography) - ✔✔a series of x-ray photographs taken from different
angles and combined by computer into a composite representation of a slice through
the body
, ✔✔PET (positron emission tomography) - ✔✔a visual display of brain activity that
detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task
✔✔MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) - ✔✔a technique that uses magnetic fields and
radio waves to produce computer-generated images that distinguish among different
types of soft tissue; allows us to see structures within the brain
✔✔brainstem - ✔✔the oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the
spinal cord swells as it enters the skull; the brainstem is responsible for automatic
survival functions
✔✔medulla - ✔✔the base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing
✔✔reticular formation - ✔✔a nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role
in controlling arousal
✔✔thalamus - ✔✔the brain's sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem; it
directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to
the cerebellum and medulla
✔✔cerebellum - ✔✔the "little brain" attached to the rear of the brainstem; it helps
coordinate voluntary movement and balance
✔✔limbic system - ✔✔a doughnut-shaped system of neural structures at the border of
the brainstem and cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions such as fear and
aggression and drives such as those for food and sex. Includes the hippocampus,
amygdala, and hypothalamus
✔✔amygdala - ✔✔two almond-shaped neural clusters that are components of the limbic
system and are linked to emotion
✔✔hypothalamus - ✔✔a neural structure lying below the thalamus; it directs several
maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature), helps govern the endocrine
system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion
✔✔cerebral cortex - ✔✔the intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells that covers the
cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information-processing center
✔✔glial cells - ✔✔cells in the nervous system that are not neurons but that support,
nourish, and protect neurons
✔✔frontal lobes - ✔✔the portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead;
involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgement
ANSWERS SET A+
✔✔random assignment - ✔✔assigning participants to experimental and control
conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned
to the different groups
✔✔independent variable - ✔✔the experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable
whose effect if being studied
✔✔dependent variable - ✔✔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 - ✔✔the most frequently occurring score in a distribution
✔✔mean - ✔✔the arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores
and then dividing by the number of scores
✔✔median - ✔✔the middle score in a distribution; the scores are above it and half are
below it
✔✔range - ✔✔the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution
✔✔standard deviation - ✔✔a computed measure of how much scores vary around the
mean score
✔✔statistical significance - ✔✔a statistical criterion for rejecting the assumption of no
differences in a particular study
✔✔culture - ✔✔the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a
large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next
,✔✔Biological psychology - ✔✔concerned with links between biology and behavior
✔✔Neuron - ✔✔building blocks of the nervous system
✔✔Dendrite - ✔✔Branches designed to receive/send/and transport information
✔✔Axon - ✔✔transports messages to different muscles/glands in the body
✔✔Action potential - ✔✔a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an
axon. The action potential is generated by the movement of positively charged atoms in
and out of channels in the axon's membrane.
✔✔Myelin sheath - ✔✔a layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fibers of many
neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the impulse
hops from one node to the next
✔✔Threshold - ✔✔the level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse
✔✔Synapse - ✔✔the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the
dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron. The tiny gap at this junction is called the
synaptic gap or cleft
✔✔Neurotransmitters - ✔✔chemical messengers that traverse the synaptic gaps
between neurons. When released by the sending neuron, neurotransmitters travel
across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby
influencing whether it will generate a neural impulse
✔✔Acetylcholine - ✔✔a neurotransmitter that, among its functions, triggers muscle
contraction
✔✔Endorphins - ✔✔"morphine within" - natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters linked to
pain control and to pleasure.
✔✔Nervous system - ✔✔the body's speedy, electrochemical communication system,
consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems.
✔✔Central nervous system (CNS) - ✔✔the brain and spinal cord
✔✔Peripheral nervous system (PNS) - ✔✔The sensory and motor neurons that connect
the central nervous system (CNS) to the rest of the body
✔✔Nerves - ✔✔Neural "cables" containing many axons. These bundled axons, which
are part of the peripheral nervous system, connect the central nervous system with
muscles, glands, and sense organs
,✔✔Sensory neurons - ✔✔neurons that carry incoming information from the sense
receptors to the central nervous system
✔✔Interneurons - ✔✔central nervous system neurons that intervene between the
sensory inputs and motor outputs
✔✔Motor neurons - ✔✔The neurons that carry outgoing information from the central
nervous system to the muscles and glands
✔✔Somatic nervous system - ✔✔the division of the peripheral nervous sytem that
controls the body's skeletal muscles.
✔✔Autonomic nervous system - ✔✔the part of the peripheral nervous system that
controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart). Its
sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms.
✔✔Sympathetic nervous system - ✔✔The division of the autonomic nervous system
that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations
✔✔Parasympathetic nervous system - ✔✔The division of the autonomic nervous
system that calms the body, conserving its energy
✔✔Reflex - ✔✔a simple, automatic, inborn response to a sensory stimulus, such as the
knee-jerk response
✔✔Neural networks - ✔✔interconnected neural cells. With experience, networks can
learn, as feedback strengthens or inhibits connections that produce certain results.
Computer stimulations of neural networks show analogous learning.
✔✔Phrenology - ✔✔an ill-fated theory that claimed bumps on the skull could reveal our
mental abilities and our character traits.
✔✔lesion - ✔✔tissue destruction. A brain lesion is a naturally or experimentally caused
destruction of brain tissue
✔✔EEG (electroencephalogram) - ✔✔an amplified recording of the waves of electrical
activity that sweep across the brain's surface. These waves are measured by electrodes
placed on the scalp
✔✔CT (computed tomography) - ✔✔a series of x-ray photographs taken from different
angles and combined by computer into a composite representation of a slice through
the body
, ✔✔PET (positron emission tomography) - ✔✔a visual display of brain activity that
detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task
✔✔MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) - ✔✔a technique that uses magnetic fields and
radio waves to produce computer-generated images that distinguish among different
types of soft tissue; allows us to see structures within the brain
✔✔brainstem - ✔✔the oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the
spinal cord swells as it enters the skull; the brainstem is responsible for automatic
survival functions
✔✔medulla - ✔✔the base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing
✔✔reticular formation - ✔✔a nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role
in controlling arousal
✔✔thalamus - ✔✔the brain's sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem; it
directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to
the cerebellum and medulla
✔✔cerebellum - ✔✔the "little brain" attached to the rear of the brainstem; it helps
coordinate voluntary movement and balance
✔✔limbic system - ✔✔a doughnut-shaped system of neural structures at the border of
the brainstem and cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions such as fear and
aggression and drives such as those for food and sex. Includes the hippocampus,
amygdala, and hypothalamus
✔✔amygdala - ✔✔two almond-shaped neural clusters that are components of the limbic
system and are linked to emotion
✔✔hypothalamus - ✔✔a neural structure lying below the thalamus; it directs several
maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature), helps govern the endocrine
system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion
✔✔cerebral cortex - ✔✔the intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells that covers the
cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information-processing center
✔✔glial cells - ✔✔cells in the nervous system that are not neurons but that support,
nourish, and protect neurons
✔✔frontal lobes - ✔✔the portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead;
involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgement
