Nature Versus Nurture Was I born or made the way I am? The Nature Perspective Genes: Our Biological Blueprint * Imagine that every room in Orthanc had a bookcase listing all the different races mentioned in Treebeard’s poem (thanks Jackie). These lists run to 46 books: 23 donated by your mother (from her egg) and … Continue reading “Nature Versus Nurture”
Neuroscience and Behavior Intro Z Everything psychological is simultaneously biological. You relate to the world through your body Z “In spite of our mechanical magnificence, if it were not for this continuous stream of motor impulses, we would COLLAPSE! Like a bunch of BROCCOLI!” –Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein Z Aristotle believed … Continue reading “Neuroscience and Behavior”
Perception Objectives: Explain how illusions help us understand perception. Discuss Gestalt psychology’s contribution to our understanding of perception. Explain the figure-ground relationship, and identify the principles of perceptual grouping in form perception. Discuss research on depth perception involving the use of the visual cliff, and describe the binocular and monocular cues in depth perception. Describe … Continue reading “Perception”
Personality (The Psychoanalytic Perspective) Objectives: Describe what is meant by personality, and explain how Freud’s treatment of psychological disorders led to his study of the unconscious. Describe personality structure in terms of the interactions of the id, ego and superego. Identify Freud’s psychosexual stages of development, and describe the effects of fixation on behavior. Explain … Continue reading “Personality”
B Babbling stage Beginning at 3 to 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language Barbiturates Drugs that depress the activity of the central nervous system, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgment Basal metabolic rate The body’s resting rate of … Continue reading “Babbling stage”
Motivation Achievement motivation a desire for significant accomplishment: mastery of things, people, or ideas, for attaining a high standard Anorexia nervosa an eating disorder in which a normal-weight person (usually an adolescent female) diets and becomes significantly underweight, yet, still feeling fat, continues to starve Basal metabolic rate the body’s resting rate of energy expenditure … Continue reading “Motivation”
Personality Collective Unconscious Carl Jung’s concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species’ history. Collectivism Giving priority to the goals of one’s group (often one’s extended family or work group) and defining one’s identity accordingly. Defense Mechanisms In psychoanalytic theory, the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality. … Continue reading “Personality”
1997 AP Psychology Free-Response Questions Directions: You have 50 minutes to answer BOTH of the following questions. It is not enough to answer a question by merely listing facts. You should present a cogent argument based on your critical analysis of the question posed. Many people are concerned about the effects of the use of … Continue reading “1997 AP Psychology Free-Response”
Emotion Emotion is at the heart of who we are as people. It is a reflection of our mental state. For the AP exam you will have to be aware of three different theories that try to explain how and why we have emotions. James-Lange Theory of Emotion William James and Carl Lange theorized that … Continue reading “Emotion”
Before I get started in AP Psychology I need to know that…. My teacher was a schmoolie in high school!!! I discovered I was an schmoolie in high school. I started dating my first girlfriend in the spring of my sophomore year. Here is a photo of her from high school (yeah right). Well it … Continue reading “One thing I detest about living”
