AP Psychology College Board Exam—Examples Questions And Answers Solved Graded A+

Asch Conformity Study - correct answers line test Cocktail Party Effect - correct answers the ability to focus one's listening attention on a single talker among a mixture of conversations and background noises False Consensus Effect - correct answers The tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors Normative social influence - correct answers influence resulting from a person's desire to gain approval Informational social influence - correct answers one's willigness to accept others' beliefs about reality Social Exchange theory - correct answers the theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs American psychological association - correct answers the largest organization of professional psychologists in the world that set the ethical guidelines for research Applied Psychology - correct answersThe branch of psychology concerned with everyday, practical problems Basic Psychology - correct answersthe study of psychological issues in order to seek knowledge for its own sake rather than for its practical application behavior - correct answersmanner of acting or conducting yourself Functionalist - correct answersa psychologist who studied the function (rather than the structure) of consciousness Goals of psychology - correct answersobserve, describe, explain, predict, control Mental process - correct answersthoughts, feelings and motives that each of us experiences privately, but cannot be observed directly Psychiatrist - correct answersa medical doctor who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders; can prescribe medication Pyschologist - correct answersa health professional who studies the human mind and behavior and helps people with emotional problems: usually have 2 - 6 years of training after college Psychological construct - correct answersa concept used to describe specific psychological activity or a pattern of activity that is believed to occur or exist but cannot be directly observed or measured Structuralist - correct answersa psychologist who studied the basic elements that make up conscious mental experiences Altruism - correct answersAny behavior that is designed to increase another person's welfare, and particularly those actions that do not seem to provide a direct reward to the person who performs them. Attitudes - correct answersGenerally positive or negative views of a person, place, thing, or event. Bystander Effect - correct answersthe lack of action by those present in an emergency or other situation when other people are present, out of the assumption that because others are not responding, perhaps it is not an emergency, and action is not taken by the majority. Cognitive Dissonance Theory - correct answersThe theory that inconsistencies produce psychological discomfort, leading people to rationalize their behavior or change their attitudes Deindividuation - correct answersthe loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occuring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity Foot in the door Phenomenon - correct answersA method of persuasion in which the person is first persuaded to accept a rather minor request, then further asked for a larger one after that. Fundamental Attribution Error - correct answersThe tendency to overestimate the role of person factors and overlook the impact of situations in judging others' behavior. Frustration-Aggression Principle - correct answersThe concept that when people perceive that they are being prevented from achieving a goal, their frustration is likely to turn to aggression. Groupthink - correct answersA phenomenon that occurs when a group made up of members who may be very competent and thus quite capable of making excellent decisions nevertheless ends up, as a result of flawed group process and strong conformity pressures, making a poor decision. Group Polorization - correct answersThe tendency of people to make decisions that are more extreme when they are in a group, that if they were making the decision individually. Ingroup vs. Outgroup - correct answersUs versus then Just-World Phenomenon - correct answersthe tendency of people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get Prejudice - correct answersThe tendency to dislike people because of their appearance or group affiliations. Mere Exposure Effect - correct answersThe tendency to prefer stimuli that we have seen more frequently. Normative Conformity - correct answersThe influence of other people that leads us to conform in order to be liked and accepted by them. Scapegoat Theory - correct answersThe theory that often, people will instill a prejudice against something, or some group of people, in order to vent their anger, and blame their own problems on. Social Facilitation - correct answersimproved performance of tasks in the presence of others; occurs with simple or well-learned tasks but not with tasks that are difficult or not yet mastered Social Loafing - correct answersthe tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable Social Norms - correct answersstandards that define what is socially acceptable in a given situation Social Psychology - correct answersthe branch of psychology that studies persons and their relationships with others and with groups and with society as a whole Social Trap - correct answersA situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior Stereotype - correct answersa generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people Superordinate Goals - correct answersmutual goals that require the cooperation of individuals or groups otherwise in conflict. Mental Processes - correct answersInternal experiences that we infer from behavior. Behavior - correct answersAnything that can organism does; actions that others can observe and measure. Basic Psychology - correct answersBuilds psychology knowledge base. Applied Psychology - correct answersSeeks solutions to practical problems. Clinical Psychology - correct answersThe study, assessment, and treatment of troubled people. Counseling Psychology - correct answersA branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater well-being Industrial-organizational - correct answersBehavior in the workplace. Electric Approach - correct answersMethod that combines various kinds of therapy or combinations of therapies Introspection - correct answersA method of self-observation in which participants report their thoughts and feelings Unconscious - correct answersaccording to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware. Wundt - correct answersFirst psychology lab in 1879 Washburn - correct answersFirst woman phD Calkins - correct answersFirst woman president of APA James - correct answersFirst psych comprehensive textbook. Roots of psychology - correct answersPhilosophy and physiology Milgrim - correct answersObedience studies and shock experiment Zimbardo - correct answersStanford prison experiment Asch - correct answersLine test Nature vs. Nurture - correct answersRelative contributions of biology and experience on behavior. Humanistic - correct answersapproach that says humans are innately good begins capable of personal growth Psychodynamic - correct answersapproach that says their is a reservoir of unconscious motives and thoughts Neuroscience - correct answersapproach that says behavior and thought processes are a result of biological means Cognitive - correct answersapproach that says that human behavior is understood by examining how people acquire and store information Behavior-Genetics - correct answersapproach that says that human experiences are dependent upon inherited qualities. Evolutionary - correct answersapproach that says that traits and behaviors of humans are a product of natural selection. Behavioral - correct answersapproach that says that only observable events can be studied scientifically. Socio-Cultural - correct answersapproach that says that values and environment influence individuals behavior and mental processes. Gestalt School - correct answersschool of psychology with the idea that perception of something is affected by the context in which it occurs "shape" or "form" in german based on the idea that perceptions are more than the sums of their parts Ingroup Bias - correct answersthe tendency to favor one's own group Achievement Test - correct answersTest designed to determine a person's level of knowledge in a given subject area. Algorithm - correct answersA methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. Contrasts with the usually speedier -- but also more error-prone -- use of heuristics Aptitude Test - correct answersA test that estimates the probability that a person will be successful in learning a specific new skill or subject. Availability Heuristic - correct answersEstimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind, we presume such events are common. Belief Perseverance - correct answersThe tendency to remain with our initial beliefs even when evidence contradicts them. Confirmation Bias - correct answersA tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence. Convergent Thinking - correct answersA type of critical thinking in which one evaluates existing possible solutions to a problem to choose the best one Divergent Thinking - correct answersType of thinking in which a person starts from one point and comes up with many different ideas or possibilities based on that point Downs Syndrome - correct answersA human genetic disorder resulting from the presence of an extra chromosome 21; characterized by heart and respiratory defects and varying degrees of mental retardation. Emotional Intelligence - correct answersThe ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions. Framing - correct answersThe way an issue is posed; can significantly affect decisions and judgments. Functional Fixedness - correct answersThe tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions; an impediment to problem solving. Hindsight Bias - correct answersThe tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it. (Also known as the I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon). Insight - correct answersA sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem; it contrasts with strategy-based solutions. Intelligence - correct answersMental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations. Intelligence Quotient - correct answersA measure of a person's intelligence as indicated by an intelligence test. Linguistic Relativity - correct answersThe theory that one's language determines the nature of one's thought. Metacognition - correct answersThe awareness of one's own cognitive process, or how one thinks. Morphemes - correct answerssmallest meaningful units of speech; simple words, suffixes, prefixes etc. Multiple intelligences - correct answersidea that people vary in their ability levels across different domains of intellectual skill. Phonemes - correct answersSmallest units of sound in the human language, like consonants or vowels Prototype - correct answersA full-scale working model used to test a design concept by making actual observations and necessary adjustments. Representativeness Heuristic - correct answersJudging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead one to ignore other relevant information. Semantics - correct answersThe set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language; also, the study of meaning. Syntax - correct answersThe grammatical arrangement of words in sentences Activation Synthesis Model - correct answersThe theory that dreams are produced when the brain attempts to make sense of activation's that occur randomly during sleep. Addiction - correct answersBeing abnormally tolerant to and dependent on something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming (especially alcohol or narcotic drugs) Alpha Waves - correct answersThe brain-wave pattern associated with deep relaxation. Circadian Rythm - correct answers... Consciousness - correct answersAn alert cognitive state in which you are aware of yourself and your situation. Delta Waves - correct answersThe brain-wave pattern associated with slow-wave (deep) sleep. Depressants - correct answersDrugs (such as alcohol, barbiturates, and opiates) that reduce neural activity and slow body functions.