AP Psychology Exam Review
Psychology - Answer The science of behavior and mental processes
Positive Psychology - Answer A field of research that focuses on people's positive
experiences and characteristics, such as happiness, optimism, and resilience.
Biological Psychologists - Answer Psychologists who analyze the biological factors
influencing behavior and mental processes.
Developmental Psychologists - Answer Psychologists who seek to understand,
describe, and explore how behavior and mental processes change over a lifetime.
Cognitive Psychologists - Answer Psychologists who study the mental processes
underlying judgment, decision making, problem solving, imagining, and other aspects of
human thought or cognition. Also called experimental psychologists.
Clinical And Counseling Psychologists - Answer Psychologists who seek to assess,
understand, and change abnormal behavior.
Educational Psychologists - Answer Psychologists who study methods by which
instructors teach and students learn and who apply their results to improving those
methods
School Psychologists - Answer Psychologists who test IQ's, diagnose students'
academic problems, and set up programs to improve students' achievement
Forensic Psychologists - Answer Psychologists who assist in jury selection, evaluate
defendants mental competence to stand trial, and deal with other issues involving
psychology and the law.
Psychodynamic Approach - Answer A view developed by Freud that emphasizes the
interplay of unconscious mental processes in determining human thought, feelings, and
behavior.
Behavioral Approach - Answer An approach to psychology emphasizing that human
behavior is determined mainly by what a person has learned, especially from rewards
and punishments.
Critical Thinking - Answer The process of assessing claims and making judgments on
the basis of well-supported evidence.
Hypothesis - Answer In scientific research, a prediction stated as a specific, testable
proposition about a phenomenon.
, Variable - Answer A factor or characteristic that is manipulated or measured in research
Theory - Answer An integrated set of propositions that can be used to account for,
predict, and even suggest ways of controlling certain phenomena
Naturalistic Observation - Answer The process of watching without interfering as a
phenomenon occurs in the natural environment.
Case Study - Answer A research method involving the intensive examination of some
phenomenon in a particular individual, group, or situation.
Survey - Answer A research method that involves giving people questionnaires or
special interviews designed to obtain descriptions of their attitudes, beliefs, opinions,
and intentions.
Control Group - Answer In an experiment, the group that receives no treatment or
provides some other baseline against which to compare the performance or response of
the experimental group.
Independent Variable - Answer The variable manipulated by the researcher in an
experiment.
Dependent Variable - Answer In an experiment, the factor affected by the independent
variable.
Placebo - Answer A physical or psychological treatment that contains no active
ingredient but produces an effect because the person receiving it believes it will.
Experimenter Bias - Answer A confounding variable that occurs when an experimenter
unintentionally encourages participants to respond in a way that supports the
hypothesis.
Double-Blind Design - Answer A research design in which neither the experimenter nor
the participants know who is in the experimental group and who is in the control group.
Sampling - Answer The process of selecting participants who are members of the
population that the researcher wishes to study.
Correlation Coefficient - Answer A statistic, r, that summarizes the strength and
direction of a relationship between two variables.
Statistically Significant - Answer Referring to a correlation, or a difference between two
groups, that is larger than would be expected by chance.
Psychology - Answer The science of behavior and mental processes
Positive Psychology - Answer A field of research that focuses on people's positive
experiences and characteristics, such as happiness, optimism, and resilience.
Biological Psychologists - Answer Psychologists who analyze the biological factors
influencing behavior and mental processes.
Developmental Psychologists - Answer Psychologists who seek to understand,
describe, and explore how behavior and mental processes change over a lifetime.
Cognitive Psychologists - Answer Psychologists who study the mental processes
underlying judgment, decision making, problem solving, imagining, and other aspects of
human thought or cognition. Also called experimental psychologists.
Clinical And Counseling Psychologists - Answer Psychologists who seek to assess,
understand, and change abnormal behavior.
Educational Psychologists - Answer Psychologists who study methods by which
instructors teach and students learn and who apply their results to improving those
methods
School Psychologists - Answer Psychologists who test IQ's, diagnose students'
academic problems, and set up programs to improve students' achievement
Forensic Psychologists - Answer Psychologists who assist in jury selection, evaluate
defendants mental competence to stand trial, and deal with other issues involving
psychology and the law.
Psychodynamic Approach - Answer A view developed by Freud that emphasizes the
interplay of unconscious mental processes in determining human thought, feelings, and
behavior.
Behavioral Approach - Answer An approach to psychology emphasizing that human
behavior is determined mainly by what a person has learned, especially from rewards
and punishments.
Critical Thinking - Answer The process of assessing claims and making judgments on
the basis of well-supported evidence.
Hypothesis - Answer In scientific research, a prediction stated as a specific, testable
proposition about a phenomenon.
, Variable - Answer A factor or characteristic that is manipulated or measured in research
Theory - Answer An integrated set of propositions that can be used to account for,
predict, and even suggest ways of controlling certain phenomena
Naturalistic Observation - Answer The process of watching without interfering as a
phenomenon occurs in the natural environment.
Case Study - Answer A research method involving the intensive examination of some
phenomenon in a particular individual, group, or situation.
Survey - Answer A research method that involves giving people questionnaires or
special interviews designed to obtain descriptions of their attitudes, beliefs, opinions,
and intentions.
Control Group - Answer In an experiment, the group that receives no treatment or
provides some other baseline against which to compare the performance or response of
the experimental group.
Independent Variable - Answer The variable manipulated by the researcher in an
experiment.
Dependent Variable - Answer In an experiment, the factor affected by the independent
variable.
Placebo - Answer A physical or psychological treatment that contains no active
ingredient but produces an effect because the person receiving it believes it will.
Experimenter Bias - Answer A confounding variable that occurs when an experimenter
unintentionally encourages participants to respond in a way that supports the
hypothesis.
Double-Blind Design - Answer A research design in which neither the experimenter nor
the participants know who is in the experimental group and who is in the control group.
Sampling - Answer The process of selecting participants who are members of the
population that the researcher wishes to study.
Correlation Coefficient - Answer A statistic, r, that summarizes the strength and
direction of a relationship between two variables.
Statistically Significant - Answer Referring to a correlation, or a difference between two
groups, that is larger than would be expected by chance.
