Prepare for the AP Psychology exam with these unit review practice questions. This covers all 9 units from scientific foundations to social psychology.

Q: sq3r

Answer: survey, question, read, rehearse, review

Q: example of biological perspective

Answer: explaining how heredity and experience influences differences in temperament; brain circuits that cause us to be red in the face

Q: empiricism

Answer: the view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should, therefore, rely on observation and experimentation

Q: structuralism

Answer: an early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the structural elements of the human mind (Titchener)

Q: functionalism

Answer: a school of psychology that focused on how our mental and behavioral processes function-how they enable us to adapt, survive and flourish (James)

Q: experimental psychology

Answer: the study of behavior and thinking using the experimental method

Q: behaviorism

Answer: the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science, overt that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2)

Q: humanistic psychology

Answer: historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people and the individual’s potential for personal growth (Maslow, Rogers)

Q: cognitive neuroscience

Answer: the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language)

Q: psychology

Answer: the science of behavior and mental processes

Q: nature-nurture issue

Answer: the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors. Today’s science sees traits and behaviors arising from the interaction of nature and nurture

Q: natural selection

Answer: the principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those contributing to reproduction and survival with most likely be passed on to succeeding generations

Q: level of analysis

Answer: the differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon

Q: biopsychosocial approach

Answer: an integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis

Q: biological psychology

Answer: a branch of psychology that studies the links between biological (including neuroscience and behavior genetics) and psychological processes

Q: evolutionary psychology

Answer: the study of the roots of behavior and mental processes using the principles of natural selection

Q: psychodynamic psychology

Answer: a branch of psychology that studies how unconscious drives and conflicts influence behavior, and uses that information to treat people with psychological disorders

Q: behavioral psychology

Answer: the scientific study of observable behavior, and its explanation by principles of learning

Q: cognitive psychology

Answer: the scientific study of all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicatin

Q: social-cultural psychology

Answer: the study of how situations and cultures affect our behavior and thinking

Q: psychometrics

Answer: the scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits

Q: basic research

Answer: pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base

Q: developmental psychology

Answer: the scientific study of physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span

Q: educational psychology

Answer: the study of how psychological processes affect and can enhance teaching and learning

Q: personality psychology

Answer: the study of an individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling and acting

Q: social psychology

Answer: the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another

Q: applied research

Answer: scientific study that aims to solve practical problems

Q: industrial-organizational (I/O) psychology

Answer: the application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in workplaces

Q: human factors psychology

Answer: the study of how people and machines interact and the design of safe and easily used machines and environments

Q: counseling psychology

Answer: a branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater well-being

Q: clinical psychology

Answer: a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders

Q: psychiatry

Answer: a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who often provide medical treatments as well as psychological therapy

Q: Charles Darwin

Answer: Evolution, natural selection

Q: B.F. Skinner

Answer: Behaviorist

Q: John Watson & Rosalie Rayner

Answer: Behaviorist, “Little Albert”

Q: Sigmund Freud

Answer: Psychoanalysis, Psychodynamic, Unconscious

Q: Margarent Washburn

Answer: 1st women Psychology Ph.D.

Q: Mary Whiton Calkins

Answer: 1st women President of the American Psychology Association

Q: William James

Answer: Factionalism, 1st Psychology Textbook,

Q: Wilhelm Wundt

Answer: 1st Psychology Lab, structuralism

Q: Edward Titchener

Answer: Structuralism, introspection

Q: Ivan Pavlov

Answer: Behaviorist, conditioning

Q: Carl Rogers & Abraham Maslow

Answer: Humanistic

Q: SQ3R

Answer: Survey, Question, Read, Rehearse (Objectives), Review (Quizlet)