Individual Psychology and Behavior - AP Psychology

Short-term memories are stored differently than long-term memories. Short-term memories generally include quick observations, and are only stored for 10-30 seconds. Short-term memories must be processed and stored as long-term memory in order to be accessible for any longer period of time.

Noam Chomsky's theory of language development suggests that children possess the inherent ability to acquire language. When exposed to any given language, children pick it up easily because they have a kind of "universal grammar" that allows them to understand the commonalities between all languages.

Those with a fantasy-prone personality spend much time daydreaming, thus utilizing their vivid imagination. They are often able to recall their fantasies with near perfect accuracy.

Top-down processing involves the impact of prior knowledge on sensation and perception. Many optical illusions are successful by capitalizing on our prior knowledge to influence our perception of an image.

Freud believed there were five psychosexual stages of development. In order of development from earliest to latest, these were the oral stage, the anal stage, the phallic stage, the latent stage, and the genital stage.

Retroactive interference is when newly learned information causes people to forget old information.

Rapid-eye movement (REM) is the stage during which most dreaming occurs. It is the last stage in the cycle of sleep and gets longer and more frequent the longer you sleep.

REM sleep (REM stands for "rapid eye movement") is the stage of sleep in which we dream. As the name suggests, our eyes move rapidly in different directions while in this stage. The other 4 stages of sleep are called "non-REM" sleep.

A circadian rhythm is any process that abides by a 24-hour rhythm. It is best known for helping to tell our bodies when they need sleep. Having a disrupted circadian rhythm is related to negative health outcomes, including various neurological and cardiological problems.

Sleep occurs in 4 stages, NREM-1, NREM-2, NREM-3, and REM.

It's during the first stage of sleep (NREM-1) that you may experience images that resemble hallucinations. These experiences occur without a sensory stimulation and can sometimes be later incorporated into one's memories.

REM (rapid eye-movement) sleep is the fifth and final stage of sleep during which the body is in it's deepest sleep. Dreaming is most frequent, most vivid, and most memorable during REM sleep; however, other dreaming can occur during the other sleep stages.

Endorphins—released during exercise, sex, and excitement—work in relieving pain symptoms. Analgesics, painkillers, are developed to have similar neurological reactions with longer-lasting effects.

The zygote refers to a fertilized egg. At eight weeks, the baby becomes known as an embryo, and fetus refers to the stage of development between 8 weeks and birth.

Ivan Pavlov conducted experiments on dogs, in which he used classical conditioning principles to spur the dogs to salivate whenever a bell was rung. Specifically, the dogs learned to associate the ringing of the bell (the conditioned stimulus) with the presentation of food (the unconditioned stimulus).

Learned helplessness occurs when a person believes that they have no power to change their life for the better. Thus, Johnny will also have an external locus of control, defined as believing that fate is controlled by external forces (e.g., luck, other people).

The Bobo doll experiment serves as a groundbreaking study on aggression and demonstrates that children are able to learn by behavioral observation.

In the Bobo doll experiment, children who observed an adult acting agressively towards a blow up "Bobo doll" toy would emulate and mimic that behavior. This supports the social learning theory developed by Bandura.

Gardner claimed that a person's intelligence could be measured along these eight parameters: linguistic, logic-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic. These eight different abilities correspond to three overarching categories of intelligence: the ability to create things of cultural value, problem solving, and the ability to gather knowledge. He informally considers there to be two additional intelligences: existential and pedagogical.

Many criticize Gardner for his lack of evidence to support his theory, as well as potentially confusing the difference between "intelligence" and "ability." Yet he has inspired many to think about intelligence from a less rigid and more holistic point of view.

The Flynn Effect refers to an increasing IQ average (by about three to four points) every ten years years. The Flynn Effect is a result of today’s advanced healthcare and improved living conditions. Also, increased emphasis on the importance of education in today’s culture has impacted this rising number.