- DSST
- The DANTES Subject Standardized Tests — a Prometric credit-by-exam program of 30+ exams that earn college credit.
- Corporation
- A business that is a legal entity separate from its owners, can issue stock, and offers limited liability.
- Sole proprietorship
- A business owned and run by one person who keeps all profits and is personally liable for all debts.
- Partnership
- A business owned by two or more people who share profits, management, and liability.
- Limited liability company (LLC)
- A hybrid structure giving owners limited liability with pass-through taxation.
- Limited liability
- Owners can lose only what they invested; their personal assets are protected from business debts.
- Profit
- Total revenue minus total costs; the reward (and signal) that drives activity in a free market.
- Supply and demand
- The market forces that set price: where the quantity supplied equals the quantity demanded (equilibrium).
- Equilibrium price
- The price at which quantity supplied equals quantity demanded; the market clears.
- Opportunity cost
- The value of the next-best alternative given up when a choice is made.
- Scarcity
- The core economic problem: limited resources cannot satisfy unlimited wants.
- Gross domestic product (GDP)
- The total market value of all final goods and services produced in a country in a year.
- Inflation
- A sustained rise in the general price level that reduces money's purchasing power.
- Fiscal policy
- Government use of taxing and spending to influence the economy.
- Monetary policy
- Central-bank actions on money supply and interest rates to influence the economy.
- Federal Reserve
- The U.S. central bank; conducts monetary policy and regulates the money supply.
- Money
- Anything widely accepted as a medium of exchange, store of value, and unit of account.
- Fractional reserve banking
- Banks hold only a fraction of deposits as reserves and lend out the rest.
- Time value of money
- A dollar today is worth more than a dollar later because it can earn interest.
- Present value
- Today's worth of a future sum, found by discounting it at an interest rate.
- Future value
- The value a sum will grow to after earning interest over time.
- Compound interest
- Interest earned on both the principal and previously accumulated interest.
- Simple interest
- Interest = principal × rate × time, calculated only on the original principal.
- Marketing mix (4 Ps)
- Product, Price, Place, and Promotion — the controllable marketing variables.
- Break-even point
- The output level where total revenue equals total cost; profit is zero.
- Fixed cost
- A cost that does not change with output, such as rent.
- Variable cost
- A cost that rises and falls with the level of output, such as materials.
- Balance sheet
- A statement of assets, liabilities, and owners' equity at a point in time.
- Income statement
- A statement of revenues, expenses, and net income over a period.
- Assets = Liabilities + Equity
- The fundamental accounting equation that must always balance.
- Human resource management
- The function of recruiting, training, compensating, and managing an organization's people.
- Maslow's hierarchy of needs
- A motivation theory: physiological, safety, social, esteem, then self-actualization needs.
- Theory X and Theory Y
- McGregor's view: managers see workers as needing control (X) or as self-motivated (Y).
- Span of control
- The number of subordinates a manager directly supervises.
- Delegation
- Assigning authority and responsibility for a task to a subordinate.
- Centralization
- Concentrating decision-making authority at the top of an organization.
- Organizational behavior
- The study of how individuals and groups act within organizations.
- Leadership vs. management
- Leaders set direction and inspire; managers plan, organize, and control.
- SWOT analysis
- Assessing Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats for strategy.
- Stakeholder
- Any person or group affected by a business — owners, employees, customers, community.
- Business ethics
- Applying moral principles to business conduct and decision-making.
- Corporate social responsibility
- A firm's obligation to act for the benefit of society beyond profit.
- Budget
- A financial plan that projects income and expenses over a period.
- Net worth
- Total assets minus total liabilities; what a person or firm owns free and clear.
- Diversification
- Spreading investments across assets to reduce overall risk.
- Stock vs. bond
- A stock is ownership (equity); a bond is a loan to the issuer (debt).
- Liquidity
- How quickly an asset can be converted to cash without losing value.
- Management information system (MIS)
- Technology and processes that supply managers with information for decisions.
- Entrepreneur
- A person who organizes and assumes the risk of a new business venture.
- Market economy
- An economy where prices and production are guided by supply and demand, not central planning.
- Monopoly
- A market with a single seller and no close substitutes, limiting competition.
- Perfect competition
- A market with many firms selling identical products and free entry; no price control.
- Recession
- A significant, broad decline in economic activity lasting months.
- Unemployment rate
- The percentage of the labor force actively seeking work but without a job.
- Comparative advantage
- The ability to produce a good at a lower opportunity cost than others.
- Depreciation
- The allocation of an asset's cost over its useful life.
- Working capital
- Current assets minus current liabilities; funds for day-to-day operations.
- Performance appraisal
- A formal review of an employee's job performance.
- Job analysis
- Studying a job's duties and requirements to guide hiring and training.
- Span of management
- Another name for span of control — how many report to one manager.
- Herzberg's two-factor theory
- Hygiene factors prevent dissatisfaction; motivators drive satisfaction.
- Contingency leadership
- The best leadership style depends on the situation, not one fixed approach.
- Culture
- The shared beliefs, values, customs, and material objects of a group, passed across generations.
- Socialization
- The lifelong process of learning a society's norms, values, and roles.
- Norm
- A shared rule or expectation about how members of a group should behave.
- Ethnocentrism
- Judging another culture by the standards of one's own.
- Cultural relativism
- Understanding a culture on its own terms rather than judging it by another's.
- Anthropology
- The study of humans across cultures, biology, language, and time.
- Sociology
- The scientific study of human society, groups, and social behavior.
- Demography
- The statistical study of populations — size, growth, and distribution.
- Nature vs. nurture
- Debate over how much heredity versus environment shapes behavior.
- Nurture and environment
- The role of learning, experience, and surroundings in shaping behavior.
- Piaget's stages
- Cognitive development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational.
- Erikson's stages
- Eight psychosocial stages, each a crisis (e.g., trust vs. mistrust, identity vs. role confusion).
- Classical conditioning
- Learning by association (Pavlov): a neutral stimulus triggers a response.
- Operant conditioning
- Learning shaped by reinforcement and punishment (Skinner).
- Reinforcement
- A consequence that increases the likelihood a behavior is repeated.
- Attachment
- The strong emotional bond between an infant and caregiver.
- Lifespan development
- The study of growth and change from conception through death.
- Cognitive development
- How thinking, reasoning, and memory change over the lifespan.
- Counseling
- A professional helping relationship aimed at personal growth and problem solving.
- Empathy
- Understanding and sharing another person's feelings — central to counseling.
- Substance use disorder
- A pattern of harmful, compulsive use of alcohol or drugs despite consequences.
- Tolerance
- Needing more of a substance over time to feel the same effect.
- Withdrawal
- Physical or psychological symptoms when a dependent person stops using a substance.
- Criminal justice system
- Police, courts, and corrections — the institutions that respond to crime.
- Due process
- The constitutional requirement of fair legal procedures before life, liberty, or property is taken.
- Deterrence
- Discouraging crime through the threat of punishment.
- Recidivism
- The tendency of a convicted offender to reoffend.
- Plea bargain
- An agreement where a defendant pleads guilty for a reduced charge or sentence.
- Geography
- The study of Earth's physical features and human activity across space.
- Cultural geography
- How culture shapes, and is shaped by, places and regions.
- Latitude and longitude
- The coordinate system of parallels (N-S) and meridians (E-W) that locate any point.
- Climate vs. weather
- Weather is short-term conditions; climate is the long-term average pattern.
- Urbanization
- The growing share of a population living in cities.
- Vietnam War
- A Cold War conflict (1955-1975); U.S. fought to stop communist North Vietnam.
- Containment
- The U.S. Cold War policy of stopping the spread of communism.
- Cold War
- Decades-long geopolitical rivalry between the U.S. and Soviet Union after WWII.
- Soviet Union (USSR)
- Communist state (1922-1991) led by the Russian Communist Party; a Cold War superpower.
- Civil War (U.S.)
- 1861-1865 conflict between the Union and Confederacy, ending slavery.
- Reconstruction
- 1865-1877 era of rebuilding the South and extending rights to freed people.
- Foundations of education
- The history, philosophy, and social context of schooling.
- Public education
- Tax-supported schooling open to all, a foundation of American society.
- Industrial Revolution
- Shift to machine manufacturing that transformed economy and society from the 1700s.
- Globalization
- Growing interconnection of economies, cultures, and populations worldwide.
- Western Europe since 1945
- Postwar rebuilding, the EU's rise, and the Cold War divide in Europe.
- Marshall Plan
- U.S. aid program (1948) that helped rebuild Western Europe after WWII.
- NATO
- The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a Western military alliance formed in 1949.
- Détente
- An easing of Cold War tensions between the U.S. and USSR in the 1970s.
- Glasnost and perestroika
- Gorbachev's 1980s policies of openness and economic restructuring in the USSR.
- Reinforcement schedule
- The pattern (fixed/variable, ratio/interval) by which a behavior is rewarded.
- Defense mechanism
- An unconscious strategy (e.g., denial, repression) that reduces anxiety (Freud).
- Heredity
- The passing of traits from parents to offspring through genes.
- Stages of grief
- Kübler-Ross model: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance.
- Self-actualization
- Realizing one's full potential — the top of Maslow's hierarchy.
- Folkway vs. mores
- Folkways are everyday customs; mores are norms with strong moral significance.
- Demographic transition
- The shift from high to low birth and death rates as a society develops.
- Push and pull factors
- Conditions that drive migration away from (push) or toward (pull) a place.
- Felony vs. misdemeanor
- A felony is a serious crime; a misdemeanor is a lesser offense.
- Miranda rights
- Warnings police must give about the right to silence and an attorney.
- Humanities
- The study of human culture — art, literature, philosophy, religion, and history.
- Ethics
- The branch of philosophy concerned with right and wrong conduct.
- Utilitarianism
- An ethics judging actions by whether they maximize overall happiness (greatest good).
- Deontology
- Kant's duty-based ethics: act only on rules you could will to be universal.
- Virtue ethics
- Aristotle's view that morality flows from good character and habits, not just rules.
- Categorical imperative
- Kant's principle to act only on maxims that could become universal laws.
- Relativism
- The view that moral truths are relative to cultures or individuals.
- Public speaking
- The skill of delivering a structured spoken message to an audience.
- Ethos, pathos, logos
- Aristotle's appeals: credibility (ethos), emotion (pathos), logic (logos).
- Thesis statement
- The central claim a speech or essay sets out to support.
- Audience analysis
- Studying listeners' needs and views to adapt a speech effectively.
- Informative speech
- A speech that explains or teaches without trying to persuade.
- Persuasive speech
- A speech aimed at changing the audience's beliefs or actions.
- Extemporaneous delivery
- Speaking from an outline with planned but flexible wording — the preferred style.
- World religions
- The major faith traditions and their beliefs, texts, and practices.
- Monotheism
- Belief in a single God (e.g., Judaism, Christianity, Islam).
- Polytheism
- Belief in many gods (e.g., Hinduism's many deities).
- Judaism
- Oldest Abrahamic monotheistic faith; the Torah is its central text.
- Christianity
- Faith centered on Jesus Christ; the Bible is its scripture.
- Islam
- Monotheistic faith founded on the Quran and the teachings of Muhammad.
- Hinduism
- Ancient Indian faith with many deities, dharma, karma, and reincarnation.
- Buddhism
- A tradition founded by the Buddha, centered on the Four Noble Truths and ending suffering.
- Karma
- The principle that actions shape future outcomes, in Hinduism and Buddhism.
- Renaissance
- The 14th-17th c. European revival of art and learning rooted in classical antiquity.
- Humanism
- A Renaissance movement emphasizing human potential and classical study.
- Perspective (art)
- A technique that creates the illusion of depth on a flat surface.
- Impressionism
- A 19th-c. art movement capturing light and momentary impressions (Monet).
- Baroque
- A dramatic, ornate 17th-c. style in art and music.
- Classical era (music)
- Roughly 1750-1820; balanced, formal works by Mozart and Haydn.
- Romanticism
- An art movement emphasizing emotion, nature, and individualism.
- Western canon
- The body of art, literature, and music considered foundational to Western culture.
- Genre
- A category of artistic work defined by form, style, or content.
- Symbolism
- Using objects or images to represent deeper ideas in art and literature.
- Tragedy vs. comedy
- Tragedy ends in downfall; comedy ends happily — classical dramatic forms.
- Golden mean
- Aristotle's idea that virtue lies between two extremes of excess and deficiency.
- Social contract
- The idea that people consent to be governed in exchange for protection of rights.
- Cultural relativism (ethics)
- The view that moral judgments depend on cultural context.
- Logical fallacy
- A flaw in reasoning that weakens an argument (e.g., ad hominem).
- Plagiarism
- Presenting another's work or ideas as one's own — an ethical violation.
- Nonverbal communication
- Conveying meaning through gestures, posture, and tone, not words.
- Articulation and projection
- Speaking clearly and loudly enough to be understood by the audience.
- Stage fright
- Anxiety before or during a speech; managed by preparation and practice.
- Four Noble Truths
- Buddhism's core teaching about suffering and the path to end it.
- Reincarnation
- The rebirth of the soul into a new body, in Hinduism and Buddhism.
- Sacred text
- A writing central to a religion (e.g., Torah, Bible, Quran, Vedas).
- Reformation
- The 16th-c. religious movement that split Western Christianity.
- Sculpture and medium
- A three-dimensional artwork; medium is the material an artist uses.
- Scientific method
- Observe, hypothesize, experiment, analyze, and conclude to test explanations.
- Hypothesis
- A testable, falsifiable proposed explanation for an observation.
- Independent variable
- The factor an experimenter deliberately changes.
- Dependent variable
- The factor measured to see if it responds to the independent variable.
- Atom
- The basic unit of matter, made of protons, neutrons, and electrons.
- Proton, neutron, electron
- Subatomic particles: positive proton, neutral neutron, negative electron.
- Element
- A pure substance made of one kind of atom; organized on the periodic table.
- Periodic table
- A chart arranging elements by atomic number and shared properties.
- Molecule
- Two or more atoms chemically bonded together.
- Chemical vs. physical change
- A chemical change forms new substances; a physical change does not.
- Conservation of mass
- Matter is neither created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction.
- States of matter
- Solid, liquid, gas, and plasma — changes of state are physical changes.
- Force
- A push or pull that can change an object's motion; measured in newtons.
- Newton's first law
- An object stays at rest or in uniform motion unless acted on by a net force (inertia).
- Newton's second law
- Force equals mass times acceleration (F = ma).
- Newton's third law
- For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
- Kinetic energy
- The energy of motion; depends on mass and speed.
- Potential energy
- Stored energy due to position or arrangement.
- Conservation of energy
- Energy is not created or destroyed, only converted from one form to another.
- Gravity
- The attractive force between masses; gives objects weight.
- Speed vs. velocity
- Speed is how fast; velocity is speed with a direction.
- Acceleration
- The rate of change of velocity over time.
- Cell
- The basic structural and functional unit of all living things.
- Photosynthesis
- Plants use sunlight, CO₂, and water to make glucose and oxygen.
- Cellular respiration
- Cells break down glucose to release usable energy (≈ reverse of photosynthesis).
- DNA
- The molecule carrying genetic instructions; a double helix of base pairs.
- Natural selection
- Better-adapted organisms survive and reproduce more, driving evolution.
- Ecosystem
- A community of organisms interacting with their physical environment.
- Food chain
- A sequence showing energy flow from producers to consumers.
- Astronomy
- The scientific study of celestial objects and the universe.
- Solar system
- The Sun and the objects bound to it by gravity, including the planets.
- Star
- A massive ball of gas producing light and heat by nuclear fusion.
- Light-year
- The distance light travels in one year — a unit of astronomical distance.
- Big Bang
- The leading theory that the universe began from a hot, dense state ~13.8 billion years ago.
- Galaxy
- A vast system of stars, gas, and dust bound by gravity (e.g., the Milky Way).
- Water cycle
- The continuous movement of water: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, collection.
- Greenhouse effect
- Atmospheric gases trap heat, warming the planet; excess gases intensify it.
- Ecology
- The study of how organisms interact with each other and their environment.
- Biodiversity
- The variety of life in an ecosystem; greater diversity adds stability.
- Renewable resource
- A resource naturally replenished, such as solar or wind energy.
- Plate tectonics
- The theory that Earth's crust is divided into moving plates.
- Order of operations
- PEMDAS: Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication/Division, then Addition/Subtraction.
- Slope
- Steepness of a line: rise over run = (y₂ − y₁) / (x₂ − x₁); the m in y = mx + b.
- y = mx + b
- Slope-intercept form: m is the slope, b is the y-intercept.
- y-intercept
- Where a line crosses the y-axis (x = 0); the b in y = mx + b.
- Linear equation
- An equation whose graph is a straight line; variables to the first power.
- Quadratic equation
- ax² + bx + c = 0; its graph is a parabola; solved by factoring or the formula.
- Quadratic formula
- x = (−b ± √(b² − 4ac)) / 2a, used to solve any quadratic.
- Function
- A relation where each input has exactly one output, written f(x).
- Domain and range
- Domain = all valid inputs (x); range = all resulting outputs (y).
- Exponent rule
- When multiplying like bases, add exponents: xᵃ · xᵇ = xᵃ⁺ᵇ.
- Square root
- A value that, multiplied by itself, gives the original number; √ undoes squaring.
- Pythagorean theorem
- For a right triangle, a² + b² = c².
- Mean
- The average — sum of all values divided by how many there are.
- Median
- The middle value of a data set arranged in order.
- Mode
- The value that occurs most often in a data set.
- Range (statistics)
- The difference between the highest and lowest values.
- Standard deviation
- A measure of how spread out values are around the mean.
- Probability
- Favorable outcomes ÷ total outcomes, a number from 0 to 1.
- Independent events
- Events where one outcome does not affect the other; multiply their probabilities.
- Permutation vs. combination
- Permutations count ordered arrangements; combinations count unordered selections.
- Ratio
- A comparison of two quantities by division, such as 3:4.
- Proportion
- A statement that two ratios are equal; solved by cross-multiplying.
- Percent
- A part per hundred; convert to a decimal by dividing by 100 (25% = 0.25).
- Percent change
- (new − old) ÷ old × 100.
- Absolute value
- The distance of a number from zero, always non-negative: |−5| = 5.
- Integer
- A whole number and its negatives, including zero.
- Prime number
- A whole number greater than 1 divisible only by 1 and itself.
- Factor
- A number that divides another exactly with no remainder.
- Logarithm
- The exponent to which a base is raised to get a number; log₂ 8 = 3.
- System of equations
- Two or more equations solved together for shared variable values.
- Inequality
- A statement comparing values with <, >, ≤, or ≥; flip the sign when multiplying by a negative.
- Set theory (union/intersection)
- Union ∪ combines all elements; intersection ∩ keeps shared elements.
- Mutually exclusive events
- Events that cannot both occur; add their probabilities.
- Coordinate plane
- A grid of x and y axes locating points as ordered pairs (x, y).
- Area of a circle
- A = π r², where r is the radius.
- Distance formula
- d = √((x₂ − x₁)² + (y₂ − y₁)²) between two points.
- Computer
- A device that processes data through input, processing, storage, and output.
- Hardware vs. software
- Hardware is the physical equipment; software is the programs that run on it.
- CPU
- The central processing unit — the computer's 'brain' that executes instructions.
- RAM
- Random-access memory — fast, volatile working memory that clears when power is off.
- Operating system
- Software (e.g., Windows, Linux) that manages hardware and runs programs.
- Binary
- The base-2 number system of 0s and 1s that computers use.
- Bit and byte
- A bit is one binary digit; a byte is 8 bits.
- Algorithm
- A finite, step-by-step procedure for solving a problem.
- Database
- An organized collection of data that can be queried and updated.
- Network
- Two or more connected computers that share data and resources.
- Internet
- A global network of networks communicating via standard protocols.
- IP address
- A unique numeric label identifying a device on a network.
- Protocol
- A set of rules governing how data is transmitted (e.g., TCP/IP, HTTP).
- Cloud computing
- Delivering computing resources over the internet on demand.
- Cybersecurity
- Protecting systems, networks, and data from digital attacks.
- CIA triad
- Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability — core goals of information security.
- Confidentiality
- Ensuring information is accessible only to authorized people.
- Integrity (security)
- Ensuring data is accurate and not improperly altered.
- Availability
- Ensuring systems and data are accessible when needed.
- Encryption
- Converting data into a coded form so only authorized parties can read it.
- Authentication
- Verifying a user's identity, e.g., by password or biometrics.
- Authorization
- Granting an authenticated user permission to specific resources.
- Malware
- Malicious software such as viruses, worms, ransomware, and spyware.
- Phishing
- A scam tricking users into revealing credentials via fake messages.
- Firewall
- A barrier that filters network traffic to block unauthorized access.
- Multi-factor authentication
- Requiring two or more proofs of identity for stronger security.
- Virus vs. worm
- A virus needs a host file to spread; a worm self-replicates across networks.
- Ransomware
- Malware that encrypts files and demands payment to restore them.
- Patch
- A software update that fixes bugs or security vulnerabilities.
- Backup
- A copy of data kept to restore it after loss or attack.
- Ethics in technology
- Applying moral principles to computing — privacy, intellectual property, AI.
- Intellectual property
- Legal rights over creations: copyrights, patents, trademarks.
- Copyright
- Legal protection for original works of authorship.
- Privacy
- An individual's right to control their personal information.
- Open source
- Software whose source code is freely available to use and modify.
- Technical writing
- Clear, concise documentation that helps a defined audience use a product or process.
- Audience (technical writing)
- The intended readers, whose needs shape a document's content and tone.
- Programming language
- A formal language (e.g., Python) used to write instructions for a computer.
