AP Psychology Mega Review Lecture Notes

Introduction

• 4-hour comprehensive review covering the entire AP Psychology course.
• Study guide worksheets available for self-assessment.

Unit 1: Biological Basis of Behavior

1.1 Interaction of Heredity and Environment

• Nature vs. Nurture Debate: Heredity (genetics) vs. Environment (external factors).
• Interactionist Perspective: Both genetics and environment shape behavior.
• Evolutionary Perspective: Natural selection affects human traits; critique of eugenics.
• Research Methods: Twin, family, and adoption studies to explore heredity vs. environment.

1.2 Overview of the Nervous System

• Central Nervous System: Brain and spinal cord (command center).
• Peripheral Nervous System: Autonomic and somatic systems.
  • Autonomic: Involuntary functions (sympathetic and parasympathetic branches).
  • Somatic: Voluntary movements.

1.3 The Neuron and Neural Firing

• Neurons and Glial Cells: Neurons carry signals; glial cells support.
• Reflex Arc: Interaction of sensory, motor, and interneurons.
• Neural Transmission: Resting potential, depolarization, all-or-nothing principle, refractory period, neurotransmitters.
• Neurotransmitters: Dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, glutamate, GABA, endorphins, substance P, acetylcholine.
• Hormones: Influence behavior; adrenaline, leptin, ghrelin, melatonin, oxytocin.
• Psychoactive Drugs: Agonists and antagonists alter neural activity (stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens, opioids).

1.4 Structures of the Brain

• Brain Stem: Basic life functions.
• Limbic System: Thalamus, hypothalamus, pituitary gland, hippocampus, amygdala.
• Cerebral Cortex: Four lobes - occipital, temporal, parietal, frontal.
• Split Brain Research: Hemispheric specialization and brain plasticity.

1.5 Sleep

• Circadian Rhythm: Regulates sleep-wake cycle.
• Sleep Stages: NREM (3 stages) and REM (dreaming).
• Dream Theories: Activation-synthesis, consolidation.
• Sleep Disorders: Insomnia, narcolepsy, REM sleep behavior disorder, sleep apnea, somnambulism.

1.6 Sensation

• Key Concepts: Absolute threshold, just noticeable difference, Weber's law, sensory adaptation.
• Sensory Interaction: Cooperation of senses, synesthesia.
• Sensory Systems: Vision, hearing, chemical senses, touch, pain, balance.

Unit 2: Cognition

2.1 Perception

• Processing Types: Bottom-up vs. top-down.
• Schemas and Perceptual Sets: Expectations affect perception.
• Gestalt Principles: Closure, figure-ground, proximity, similarity.
• Attention: Influences and limitations (cocktail party effect, inattentional blindness, change blindness).
• Depth Cues: Binocular (retinal disparity, convergence) and monocular (size, clarity, texture gradient, linear perspective, interposition).
• Constancy and Apparent Movement: Perceptual consistency, apparent motion.

2.2 Thinking, Problem Solving, Judgments, and Decision Making

• Concepts and Prototypes: Mental categories and best examples.
• Schemas: Assimilation and accommodation.
• Problem Solving: Algorithms vs. heuristics.
• Decision Making: Mental sets, priming, framing, fallacies (gambler's, sunk cost).
• Executive Functions: Goal setting, planning, impulse control.
• Creativity: Divergent/convergent thinking, functional fixedness.

2.3 Memory Models

• Types of Memory: Explicit (episodic, semantic), implicit (procedural, prospective).
• Memory Processes: Long-term potentiation.
• Models: Working memory, multi-store, levels of processing.

2.4 Encoding Memories

• Encoding Strategies: Mnemonics, information grouping, spacing effect, serial position effect.

2.5 Storing Memories

• Memory Categories: Sensory, short-term, working, long-term.
• Rehearsal Types: Maintenance and elaborative.
• Autobiographical Memory and Memory Impairments: Amnesia, Alzheimer’s, infantile amnesia.

2.6 Retrieving Memories

• Types of Retrieval: Recall vs. recognition.
• Enhancing Retrieval: Context, mood, state dependency.
• Retrieval Techniques: Testing effect, metacognition.

2.7 Forgetting and Memory Challenges

• Forgetting Curve: Rapid decline and stabilization.
• Retrieval Failure: Encoding failure, interference, inadequate retrieval.
• Repression and Memory Distortion: Repression, misinformation effect, source amnesia, constructive memory.

2.8 Intelligence and Achievement Testing

• Theories of Intelligence: Spearman's g, Gardner's multiple intelligences, Sternberg's triarchic theory.
• Intelligence Testing: IQ, standardization, validity, reliability.
• Social Issues: Stereotype threat/lift, Flynn effect, job discrimination.
• Mindsets: Fixed vs. growth.

Unit 3: Developmental Psychology

3.1 Themes and Methods

• Development Themes: Stability/change, nature/nurture, continuity/discontinuity.
• Research Methods: Cross-sectional vs. longitudinal studies.

3.2 Physical Development

• Prenatal Development: Teratogens, maternal illness, genetic mutations.
• Infancy and Childhood: Motor coordination, reflexes, depth perception, critical periods, imprinting.
• Adolescence: Puberty, primary/secondary sex characteristics.
• Adulthood: Physical decline, menopause.

3.3 Sex and Gender

• Sex vs. Gender: Biological vs. social roles.
• Gender Schema Theory and Socialization: Influence of culture and society.

3.4 Cognitive Development

• Piaget’s Stages: Sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, formal operational.
• Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory: Scaffolding, zone of proximal development.
• Adulthood Changes: Crystallized vs. fluid intelligence, cognitive disorders.

3.5 Language Development

• Language Components: Phonemes, morphemes, semantics, syntax.
• Development Stages: Cooing, babbling, one-word, telegraphic speech.
• Language Learning Errors: Overgeneralization.

3.6 Social and Emotional Development

• Ecological Systems Theory: Micro, meso, exo, macro, chrono systems.
• Parenting Styles: Authoritarian, permissive, uninvolved, authoritative.
• Attachment Styles: Secure, avoidant, anxious, disorganized.
• Childhood and Adolescent Relationships: Peer interactions, adolescent egocentrism.
• Adult Social Development: Social clock, emerging adulthood, relationships, attachment styles.
• Stages of Psychosocial Development: Trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, integrity vs. despair.
• Adverse Childhood Experiences and Identity Status: Exploration and commitment, identity development.

3.7-3.9 Behavioral Perspective

• Behaviorism and Learning: Classical conditioning, operant conditioning, social learning theory.
  • Classical Conditioning: Acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, discrimination, generalization.
  • Operant Conditioning: Reinforcement, punishment, schedules of reinforcement.
  • Social Learning Theory: Observation, modeling, vicarious conditioning.

Unit 4: Social Psychology and Personality

4.1 Attribution Theory

• Types of Attribution: Dispositional vs. situational.
• Explanatory Styles: Optimistic vs. pessimistic.
• Attribution Biases: Actor-observer, fundamental attribution error, self-serving bias.
• Related Concepts: Locus of control, mere exposure effect, self-fulfilling prophecy, social comparison.

4.2 Attitudes and Biases

• Stereotypes and Implicit Attitudes: Just world phenomenon, outgroup homogeneity bias, ingroup bias, ethnocentrism.
• Belief Perseverance and Cognitive Dissonance: Confirmation bias and attitude change.

4.3 Social Situations

• Social Norms and Influence: Normative vs. informational influence.
• Persuasion Routes: Central vs. peripheral.
• Compliance Techniques: Foot-in-the-door, door-in-the-face.
• Group Dynamics: Conformity, obedience, group polarization, groupthink, diffusion of responsibility, social loafing, deindividuation.
• Cultural Values: Individualism vs. collectivism, multiculturalism.
• Conflict and Cooperation: Superordinate goals, social traps.
• Altruism and Bystander Effect: Situational and attentional variables.

4.4 Psychodynamic and Humanistic Theories

• Psychodynamic Theory: Freud, ego defense mechanisms, projective tests.
• Humanistic Theory: Unconditional positive regard, self-actualization.

4.5 Social Cognitive and Trait Theories

• Social Cognitive Theory: Reciprocal determinism, self-concept, self-efficacy, self-esteem.
• Trait Theories: Big five personality traits, personality inventories.

4.6 Motivation

• Motivational Theories: Drive reduction, arousal, self-determination, incentive, instinct, motivational conflicts.
• Motivational Factors: Sensation seeking, role of food.

4.7 Emotion

• Components of Emotion: Cognitive and physiological aspects.
• Theories of Emotion: Facial feedback hypothesis, broaden and build theory.
• Cultural Experiences of Emotion: Universality, display rules, elicitors.

Unit 5: Health Psychology

5.1 Stress

• Types of Stressors: Eustress, distress.
• General Adaptation Syndrome: Alarm, resistance, exhaustion stages.
• Tend and Befriend Theory: Social support as a response to stress.
• Coping Strategies: Problem-focused vs. emotion-focused coping.

5.2 Positive Psychology

• Gratitude and Well-being: Expressing gratitude, signature strengths, post-traumatic growth.

5.3 Diagnosing Disorders

• Classification Systems: DSM, ICD.
• Psychological Perspectives: Behavioral, psychodynamic, humanistic, cognitive, evolutionary, sociocultural, biological, biopsychosocial, diathesis-stress.

5.4 Psychological Disorders

• Categories: Neurodevelopmental, schizophrenia spectrum, depressive, bipolar, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, dissociative, trauma and stressor-related, feeding and eating, personality disorders.

5.5 Treatment of Disorders

• Effectiveness and Ethics: Evidence-based interventions, therapeutic alliance, ethical principles.
• Therapy Types: Psychodynamic, cognitive, applied behavior analysis, cognitive-behavioral, humanistic, group therapy, hypnosis, medication, surgical methods.

Conclusion

• Comprehensive review covered all five units of AP Psychology.
• Emphasis on using study guides and additional resources for exam preparation.