AP Psych Encyclopedia

8/10/2019 AP Psych Encyclopedia

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AP Psychology- Encyclopedia

of My Life

David Bechtel


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Autism

Autism is a disorder thatshapes the way somepeople think, behave, andinteract with others. Thisdisorder runs in my family,and it affects both my auntand my sister. Growing uparound them, I have learnedto be more accepting of theuniqueness of other people,and it has opened my eyes

to the difficulties somepeople experience withinthemselves. As I get older, Iintend to raise awarenessand help those affected.


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Belief perseverance

Belief perseverance is defined as refusing to accept

other ideas/opinions because you are so convinced

that your belief is the correct one. I have been

known to be somewhat stubborn when it comes toideas that do not agree with my personal doctrines.

For example, the band Im in wanted to play at a

venue that I had previously deemed below our

standards. Since I refused to play,

I might have missed out on a

great experience.


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Cocktail party

phenomenon

The cocktail party phenomenonrefers to the fact that we ashumans can block out certainstimuli in order to focus on oneparticular stimulus. This is

usually demonstrated within acocktail party, for people atparties are able to focus on justthe person they are talking toand arent troubled by otherpeoples conversations. In mycase, this phenomenon

manifests itself quite often inmarching band. Though theresa lot going on, it is possible totune in to your ownmarching/playing.

The Cavalier Drum and BugleCorp is depicted, because theymust constantly block outcheering, judges, etc. in order tostay in time and balanced.


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Dishabituation

Dishabituation occurs whenan animal or personresponds to a stimulus in away that suggests thestimulus is new. For me,this is often the case withholidays. Since they onlycome once a year, Ifrequently get the samebuzz of excitement everytime they come around; as if

I had never experienced theholiday before. I believe thisis why holidays aretherapeutic in the sense thatthey make people feel youngagain.

Christmas time with my moms side

of the family


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Extrasensory perception

Extrasensory perception(otherwise known as ESP) isthe obtaining of knowledgesubconsciously. In otherwords, a person doesnt

explicitly seek to receive theinformation. I have alwaysbeen fascinated by this idea,and on more than oneoccasion I have found thatsome decision or choice Imade was due to a stimulus

that I did not initially pick upon. For example, whilebrowsing Facebook, Irandomly switched over toiTunes to play a Jim Crocesong.

Back on Facebook, Irealized a minute earliersomeone had postedsomething about Croce, andit showed in my sidebar. I

hadnt initially seen it, butundoubtedly my brain hadpicked up on it which mademe choose a song of his.


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Flashbulb memories

A flashbulb memory is amemory that implants itselfdeep in your brain becauseof a high amount ofstimulation surrounded it.

These memories are usuallycaused by traumatic events-remembering exactly whereyou were when you heard aplane flew into one of thetwin towers, for example. Aflashbulb memory was

created for me when I was inthe backseat of my dads carand a block of ice fell off thetop of a truck and landed onour windshield.

I remember my dadswerving off the road andseeing the glass cracked likea spider web.


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General intelligence

Sometimes called the g factor,general intelligence is known asthe broadest form of cognitiveability when it comes tothinking, solving problems, and

so on. This idea relates to mylife because I have learned tocurb the way I teach someonesomething based on mypreexisting knowledge of theirgeneral intelligence. Sincegeneral intelligence relates to

almost all areas of life, I canusually relate how goodsomeone is at math to how welltheyll be able to pick upsomething like a musicalinstrument or the rules of asport.

General intelligence has helpedme to become a better teacherand to work smarter, notharder.


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Homeostasis

Homeostasis describes the tendency of an organism

to behave in way that will allow it to maintain internal

stability. In other words, it means that your body will

only do what is absolutely vital for it to stay alive. Atone point in my life I was not much of a risk taker. I

would only take chances if I absolutely had to, and

looking back I realize how boring that was. Though

homeostasis is important, its also important to live a

little and go beyond just surviving.

We wear extra layers of clothes when its

cold out to regulate our body temperature.


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Insight

Insight learning occurs when a person obtains a

clear understanding of a problem without having to

test many ideas- a light bulb moment. I often learn

by light bulb moments, especially when it comes towriting papers. When presented with a prompt, I

usually have to think about it for a while before I start

writing, which is why I abhor ACT writing. Instead of

writing down a bunch of ideas about the topic, it will

all of a sudden come to me.


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Jocund

Jocund is a word used to describe someone who is

often cheerful and spirited. Its often used in place

of terms such as jovial or merry. I would

definitely describe myself as jocund because Imalways trying to make the best of things. No matter

what happens Ill try to keep a smile on face and find

a silver lining in the clouds, no matter how elusive it

might seem to be.


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Kinesthesis

Kinesthesis is essentiallybeing aware of ones body.This idea is demonstratedwhen a person is able tolocate their limbs in a dark

room. For me, kinesthesis issignificant because ofmarching band. Contrary topopular belief, it is a veryphysical activity, but it is alsoa form of art. Just asdancers and actors must

always be aware of whattheir body/face is doing, somust marchers be aware oftheir expression andmovements. Notacknowledging these thingswould jeopardize a

performance.


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Left Hemisphere

The left hemisphere is thepart of the brain whichcontrols logical thoughtsand calculations, and it

uses a more scientificmode of thinking than theright hemisphere. I havealways been left-brained,with my strengths comingin science and math. As a

kid I would always buildpractical, unassuming Legohouses instead of wildshapes and structures.

I am also a big advocate ofthe idea forms followsfunction.


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Motivation

Motivation is defined as a stimulus that inspires a

reaction. The two main types of motivation are

intrinsic (self-motivation) and extrinsic (outside

motivation). Pictured here is an example of extrinsicmotivation, as its my drum instructor motivating us

to give our best during our upcoming performance.

By talking to us and encouraging us, he makes us

react to what he says.


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Nearsightedness

Nearsightedness occurs inpeople when distant objectsare blurry due to incorrectrefracting of light by the eye.When I was in fifth grade I

began having trouble seeingthe board, so I had to wearglasses. I never likedwearing them much, butwhen I tried to switch tocontacts I had troublegetting the contact in my

eye. As I got older I becamemore self-conscious of myglasses, so I saw mynearsightedness as aburden. I finally got contactsduring freshman year andrealized it was silly to be so

self aware.

Good ol eighth grade Dave


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overlearning

Overlearning involveslearning how to dosomething to the extent thatit becomes automatic,allowing that person to

perform under extremecircumstances.Overlearning is a veryimportant concept when itcomes to music, becausepracticing by yourself isnothing compared to

performing in front ofthousands of people. Bymaking the task automatic, itbecomes easier to performin pressure because theperformer doesnt have tothink twice about what to do.

When preparing for solo andensemble contest, I alwaystry to achieve such amastery of a piece.


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Practical intelligence

Practical intelligence is the ability to learn from

mistakes, apply basic knowledge in everyday life,

and to properly use street smarts. Basically,

practical intelligence is common sense. Over-thinking is a curse that many analytical people face,

but I have always been able to combine my

technical knowledge with my practical knowledge.

When it came to the ACT for example, I was able to

logically think about something when looking at it

from a

scientific angle did not work.


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Quizzical

Being quizzical is defined asbeing curious or questioning.Ever since I was a kid, Ivealways asked a lot ofquestions about even the

most random things. Mydad still tells people abouthow often I would ask himabout the rules of the NFL orwhy there was a penalty ona certain play. The fact thathe and my mom fostered my

inquisitiveness is importantbecause it assured me that itnever hurts to want to learnmore. Sure, curiosity killedthe cat, but complacencywould kill me.

I caught a shot this quizzical

bird last summer in San Francisco.


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Rem rebound

REM rebound occurs after aperson has been sleepdeprived and therefore lostout on a significant amountof REM sleep. This involves

longer and more frequentbouts of REM sleep. Junioryear, I had significantexperience with thisbecause of how little sleep Iwould get during the week.Between trying to maintain

high grades, zero hour,preparing for the ACT, andeverything else in between, Iwould typically get aroundfive hours of sleep per nightat one point in the year.

When I did sleep for longeramounts of time, it would bea very deep sleep since Iwas experiencing REMrebound.


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Stress

Stress is an ever-present part of life that is caused

by unpleasant stimuli. Though annoying, stress is

unavoidable and having a bit of stress in life is

healthy. For me, it is definitely something I havelearned to live with. Whether it be scheduling

practices, booking gigs, or writing new material, the

stress that comes with being in a band has made

me learn to prioritize my life.

Taking a vacation is a great

way to reduce stress.


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Task leadership

Task leadership is a type ofleadership that is focusedexpressly on specific goals.I have a lot of experiencein task leadership, becauseit is the type that I used toas a section leader fordrum line. In band we hadto focus on the end game,which could be hard to do

after working on suchminute details. It wasimportant for me to helpeveryone work together toreach an objective.


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Bottom-up processing

Bottom-up processinginvolves taking the data thatis given to you and piecing ittogether in order to form afinal idea. I often engage in

bottom-up processing whenI approach a problem.Instead of looking at theproblem as a whole (a top-down approach), I look athow the problems individualcomponents add up to

cause a source of error. Forexample, if I was trying tosolve a complicated mathproblem, I would try to findissues in the problemssteps as opposed to trying tofind an issue by looking at

the answer.

When deciding how to improve West

Fest this year, I looked at last years

individual components instead of the

show as a whole for issues.


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Visual encoding

Visual encoding is the way that people remember the

observable characters of something. In my case, visual

encoding is one of the best ways I ascertain and encode

information. I may forget information about a person, but I

almost never forget a face. This has served me well, for even ifI dont remember someones name, I am still able to tell that

Ive meant them before so Im not faced with the awkward

situation of asking their name again. Visual encoding also

allows me to remember my way around unfamiliar territory if I

forget the directions.

After a few days in Colorados

Rocky Mountain National Park,

I was able to get a feel for the lay

of the land


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Webers LAw

Webers Law dictates that anoticeable difference instimulation is determined by themagnitude of the originalstimulation. For example, a

light that changes in brightnesshas to change more in thedaytime than in the nighttime inorder to be noticed. Weberslaw is noticeable in my life whenit comes to busyness. Oftentimes my weeks are filled with a

constant stream of to-dos, so Idont notice how much myworkload increases week toweek. Only when I get anextreme amount of work do Inotice a difference in how busy Iam.


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Theory x

Theory X maintains thatworkers are naturally lazyand will avoid work if theycan because they dislike it. Ihad to live by this theory for

a while in marching bandbecause after so manymonths, attitudes canbecome apathetic when itcomes to work. Wheneverwe would load up the truckafter practice or for

competitions, I would haveto really dictate who didwhat and lay out exactlywhat needed to happen inorder for things to get done.

Though it is not an optimalmanagement style, it can getthe job in the toughsituations.


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Theory y

Theory Y takes the approachopposite to that of Theory X;it maintains that employeesare inherently hard workersand can handle their

assigned duties. Whilesometimes I had to take theTheory X approach, most ofmy time leading in marchingband was spent using theTheory Y philosophy. Thisserved me well, as Marching

Warriors was a voluntaryactivity and therefore mostpeople wanted to be there.Most of the time I did nothave to babysit andmonitor their every activity.

Also, by showing those I ledthat I thought they wereresponsible, a sense of trustwas formed.


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Zealous

To be zealous is to be full of energy and life. I would

consider myself zealous because I try to put a lot

enthusiasm into whatever I do. Whether it be

playing music, doing school work, or playing sports,I always find a purpose in what Im doing. This has

served me well, as putting in energy makes even the

most boring tasks exciting.

My current laptop

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