EPPP cheat sheet

Resting membrane potential is about -70 mV; depolarization to threshold opens voltage-gated sodium channels and triggers an action potential.

Absolute refractory period prevents another action potential regardless of stimulus strength; relative refractory period requires a stronger stimulus.

Dopamine pathways: mesolimbic/mesocortical for reward and motivation, nigrostriatal for movement, tuberoinfundibular for prolactin inhibition.

Serotonin contributes to mood, sleep, appetite, and aggression; SSRIs block serotonin reuptake, and MAOIs inhibit monoamine breakdown.

Sympathetic activation uses norepinephrine; the HPA axis releases CRH from hypothalamus, ACTH from pituitary, and cortisol from adrenal cortex.

Cortical lobes: frontal for executive function and motor control, parietal for somatosensation, temporal for audition and memory, occipital for vision.

Hippocampus supports declarative memory consolidation; amygdala supports fear learning; basal ganglia support procedural motor learning; cerebellum coordinates movement.

Genetic patterns: phenylketonuria is autosomal recessive; Huntington disease is autosomal dominant; Down syndrome is trisomy 21.

Classical conditioning pairs a neutral conditioned stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus; extinction weakens the response, and spontaneous recovery can recur.

Operant consequences: positive reinforcement adds a desirable stimulus, negative reinforcement removes an aversive stimulus, positive punishment adds an aversive stimulus, negative punishment removes a desirable stimulus.

Baddeley's working memory includes the phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, central executive, and episodic buffer.

Piaget stages: sensorimotor (0-2), preoperational (2-7), concrete operational (7-11), formal operational (11 and older).

Heuristics include availability, representativeness, and anchoring; confirmation bias favors information consistent with existing beliefs.

Encoding specificity predicts better recall when retrieval cues match encoding context; interference and spaced practice affect retention.

Yerkes-Dodson law describes an inverted-U relation between arousal and performance; optimal arousal is lower for complex tasks.

Attribution dimensions are internal-external, stable-unstable, and global-specific; the fundamental attribution error overweights dispositional causes for others' behavior.

Social facilitation improves simple task performance in the presence of others; social loafing reduces individual effort in groups.

Asch conformity studies show pressure to match group judgments; Milgram obedience studies show authority can override personal conscience.

Cognitive dissonance arises when beliefs and actions conflict; change in belief, behavior, or cognition reduces discomfort.

Social identity theory distinguishes ingroup favoritism and outgroup derogation; stereotypes are cognitive, prejudice is affective, discrimination is behavioral.

Contact hypothesis conditions: equal status, common goals, intergroup cooperation, and institutional support.

Berry acculturation strategies combine cultural maintenance and contact: integration, assimilation, separation, marginalization.

Group polarization shifts group decisions toward the initial average; groupthink symptoms include self-censorship, illusion of unanimity, and mindguards.

DSM cultural formulation considers cultural identity, explanations of illness, stressors, and clinician-client relationship; idioms of distress vary across cultures.

Prenatal periods: germinal (first 2 weeks), embryonic (weeks 3-8), fetal (week 9 to birth); teratogens have critical-period effects.

Ainsworth attachment classifications: secure, anxious-ambivalent, avoidant, and disorganized; sensitivity predicts secure attachment.

Erikson stages include trust-mistrust, autonomy-shame, initiative-guilt, industry-inferiority, identity-role confusion, intimacy-isolation, generativity-stagnation, integrity-despair.

Kohlberg moral stages: preconventional (punishment and reward), conventional (social approval and law), postconventional (social contract and universal principles).

Language milestones: cooing around 2 months, babbling around 6 months, first words around 12 months, two-word combinations around 18-24 months.

Baumrind parenting styles: authoritative (warm and demanding), authoritarian (cold and demanding), permissive (warm and undemanding), neglectful (low on both).

Fluid intelligence often declines with age; crystallized intelligence tends to remain stable or increase.

Kubler-Ross grief stages are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance; progression is not necessarily linear.

Reliability is consistency; validity is accuracy for an intended use; a test can be reliable without being valid.

Standard scores: IQ mean 100, SD 15; T score mean 50, SD 10; z score mean 0, SD 1; stanine mean 5, SD 2.

Sensitivity = true positives / (true positives + false negatives); specificity = true negatives / (true negatives + false positives).

Positive predictive value depends on sensitivity, specificity, and base rate; low base rates reduce PPV even for accurate tests.

Criterion validity includes concurrent and predictive validity; construct validity includes convergent and discriminant evidence.

DSM-5-TR uses a nonaxial diagnostic system and includes cultural formulation and differential diagnosis considerations.

WAIS index scores include verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, working memory, and processing speed.

Neuropsychological screening examples: MMSE and MoCA assess cognition; executive function tasks measure planning, inhibition, and set-shifting.

CBT targets thoughts, behaviors, and emotions; behavioral activation schedules rewarding activities; exposure modifies conditioned fear.

Exposure and response prevention pairs feared stimuli with blocked rituals; response prevention is essential for OCD habituation.

Psychodynamic therapy addresses transference, countertransference, defenses, and unconscious conflict.

Rogers's person-centered core conditions are unconditional positive regard, empathic understanding, and congruence.

Family systems concepts include boundaries, triangulation, differentiation, homeostasis, and identified patient.

Motivational interviewing uses OARS: open questions, affirmations, reflections, summaries; stages of change are precontemplation through maintenance.

Prevention levels: primary reduces incidence before onset; secondary reduces prevalence through early detection; tertiary reduces impairment after disorder.

Supervision requires informed consent, competence boundaries, evaluation, gatekeeping, and management of multiple relationships.

Type I error is rejecting a true null hypothesis; probability equals alpha, usually .05. Type II error is failing to reject a false null hypothesis; probability equals beta.

Statistical power equals 1 - beta; power increases with larger samples, larger effect sizes, lower alpha, and lower variability.

Cohen benchmarks: d = .2 small, .5 medium, .8 large; r = .1 small, .3 medium, .5 large.

Internal validity concerns causal inference and confounds; external validity concerns generalization; randomization and counterbalancing reduce threats.

Correlation measures association, not causation; regression predicts an outcome from one or more predictors.

ANOVA compares means across three or more groups; t-tests compare one or two means; chi-square tests categorical associations.

Single-subject designs include ABA reversal and multiple-baseline designs; they examine individual behavior change over time.

Informed consent, IRB review, deception safeguards, and debriefing protect research participants.

APA Ethics Code principles: beneficence and nonmaleficence, fidelity and responsibility, integrity, justice, respect for rights and dignity.

Informed consent covers procedures, risks, benefits, alternatives, confidentiality limits, and right to withdraw.

Confidentiality limits include danger to self or others, suspected abuse or neglect, court orders, and client waiver.

Tarasoff duty requires protecting identifiable third parties from serious foreseeable violence, often by warning, police notification, or hospitalization.

Multiple relationships are avoided when they could impair objectivity or exploit the client; not all multiple relationships are unethical.

Mandated reporting laws require reporting suspected child abuse or neglect; elder and dependent-adult abuse may also be reportable.

Forensic roles differ: competence to stand trial concerns capacity to understand proceedings and assist counsel; insanity concerns mental state at offense.

Test security, record retention, HIPAA privacy, and boundaries of competence are professional obligations.