AP Psychology Unit 1 Biological Bases of
Behavior (2024 2025) Part 1 (1.1, 1.2, 1.3,
and 1.4)
Unlocking Psychology Your Essential
Guide to Heredity, the Nervous System,
and More
This guide breaks down key concepts in the foundations of psychology to help you
master the material quickly and effectively.
1. Heredity: Passing of traits from parents to offspring.
2. Nature: The influence of our inherited characteristics (genes) on our
personality, physical growth, intellectual growth, and social interactions.
3. Nurture: External factors that one experiences, such as family interactions or
education.
4. Genetic Predisposition: An inherited genetic pattern that makes one
susceptible to a certain disease or behaviors.
5. Evolutionary Perspective of Psychology: Explores how natural selection
affects the expression of behavior and mental processes to increase survival and
reproductive success.
6. Natural Selection: A process in which individuals with certain inherited traits
tend to survive and reproduce at higher rates than other individuals because of
those traits.
7. Eugenics: Study of factors that influence the hereditary qualities of the human
race and ways to improve those qualities.
8. Twin Studies: A common method of investigating whether nature or nurture
has a greater effect on behavior by comparing identical and fraternal twins.
, 9. Family Studies: Researchers assess hereditary influence by examining blood
relatives to see how much they resemble one another on a specific trait.
10. Adoption Studies: Assess hereditary influence by examining the resemblance
between adopted children and both their biological and their adoptive parents.
The Nervous System: Your Body's Command Center
11. Central Nervous System (CNS): The brain and spinal cord; interacts with
all processes in the body.
12. Peripheral Nervous System (PNS): Relays messages from the central nervous
system to the rest of the body and includes the autonomic and somatic nervous
systems.
13. Autonomic Nervous System (ANS): Governs processes that are involuntary
(automatic) and includes the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems.
14. Sympathetic Nervous System: The division of the autonomic nervous system
that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations (the "fight or
flight" response).
15. Parasympathetic Nervous System: The division of the autonomic nervous
system that calms the body, conserving its energy (the "rest and digest" response).
16. Somatic Nervous System: The division of the peripheral nervous system that
controls the body's skeletal muscles; governs processes that are voluntary.
17. Neurons: Neural cells that transmit information throughout the nervous
system.
18. Glial Cells: Cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect
neurons.
19. Reflex Arc: A rapid, involuntary response to a stimulus, often occurring in the
spinal cord. It demonstrates how sensory, motor, and interneurons work
together.
Behavior (2024 2025) Part 1 (1.1, 1.2, 1.3,
and 1.4)
Unlocking Psychology Your Essential
Guide to Heredity, the Nervous System,
and More
This guide breaks down key concepts in the foundations of psychology to help you
master the material quickly and effectively.
1. Heredity: Passing of traits from parents to offspring.
2. Nature: The influence of our inherited characteristics (genes) on our
personality, physical growth, intellectual growth, and social interactions.
3. Nurture: External factors that one experiences, such as family interactions or
education.
4. Genetic Predisposition: An inherited genetic pattern that makes one
susceptible to a certain disease or behaviors.
5. Evolutionary Perspective of Psychology: Explores how natural selection
affects the expression of behavior and mental processes to increase survival and
reproductive success.
6. Natural Selection: A process in which individuals with certain inherited traits
tend to survive and reproduce at higher rates than other individuals because of
those traits.
7. Eugenics: Study of factors that influence the hereditary qualities of the human
race and ways to improve those qualities.
8. Twin Studies: A common method of investigating whether nature or nurture
has a greater effect on behavior by comparing identical and fraternal twins.
, 9. Family Studies: Researchers assess hereditary influence by examining blood
relatives to see how much they resemble one another on a specific trait.
10. Adoption Studies: Assess hereditary influence by examining the resemblance
between adopted children and both their biological and their adoptive parents.
The Nervous System: Your Body's Command Center
11. Central Nervous System (CNS): The brain and spinal cord; interacts with
all processes in the body.
12. Peripheral Nervous System (PNS): Relays messages from the central nervous
system to the rest of the body and includes the autonomic and somatic nervous
systems.
13. Autonomic Nervous System (ANS): Governs processes that are involuntary
(automatic) and includes the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems.
14. Sympathetic Nervous System: The division of the autonomic nervous system
that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations (the "fight or
flight" response).
15. Parasympathetic Nervous System: The division of the autonomic nervous
system that calms the body, conserving its energy (the "rest and digest" response).
16. Somatic Nervous System: The division of the peripheral nervous system that
controls the body's skeletal muscles; governs processes that are voluntary.
17. Neurons: Neural cells that transmit information throughout the nervous
system.
18. Glial Cells: Cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect
neurons.
19. Reflex Arc: A rapid, involuntary response to a stimulus, often occurring in the
spinal cord. It demonstrates how sensory, motor, and interneurons work
together.
