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MCAT > AAMC PS > Flashcards

AAMC PS Flashcards

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MCAT flashcards
1
Q

foot in the door

A

The foot-in-the-door technique refers to convincing individuals to make a small commitment toward a cause, because this small commitment increases the likelihood of a larger commitment toward the same cause in the future.

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2
Q

cognitive dissonance theory

A

when an individual’s attitudes are incongruent with his or her behavior, this leads to cognitive dissonance.

To eliminate cognitive dissonance, the individual can either change his or her attitudes or his or her behavior. The theory posits that individuals are more likely to adjust their attitudes to align with their behavior than the other way around.

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3
Q

hypothesized factors must be ____ to their assumed effects

A

TEMPORALLY PRIOR

eg. independent variable experienced (uniquely!) before dependent variable is measured

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4
Q

malthusian theory of demographic change

A

population grows exponentially and will eventually outgrow its resources.

War, famine, disease bring the population back down to a sustainable level (positive checks).

Population control (preventive checks) such as later marriage also keeps the population from outgrowing its resources.

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5
Q

population pyramids

A

bottom heavy = population growth

Top heavy = population decline

Side skew = gender imbalance.

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6
Q

total vs crude fertility rate

A

Total fertility rate = total number of babies the average woman has in her lifetime in a population

Crude fertility rate = babies per population per time

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7
Q

push/pull factors in migration

A

Push = why you want to leave this place = lack of jobs, natural disasters, descrimination, etc

Pull = why you want to go to the other place = better paying jobs, promise of a better life, etc

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8
Q

social movements

A

Proactive = promote change

Reactive = resist change

Organizations = facilitate social movements

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9
Q

suburbanization and urban decline

A

with better transportation and the ability to work at home, many people prefer to live in the suburbs (city outskirts), where there is less crime, noise and pollution.

This depopulation leads many areas of the city abandoned, contributing to urban decline.

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10
Q

schemas vs scripts

A

Schemas are mental frameworks used to categorize novel information and help us to categorize it.

Scripts are a series of behaviors that we learn in order to respond to a given stimuli.

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11
Q

reticular activating system

A

short, pencil-sized piece of the brain located just above where the spinal cord is attached to the brain

gatekeeper of information between most sensory systems and the conscious mind; responsible for arousal, wakefulness, and the sleep/wake cycle

involved in controlling alertness and is most likely to be stimulated to bring someone out of a coma

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12
Q

james lange theory of emotion

a before e

A

ACTION BEFORE EMOTION: physiological arousal precedes the identification of emotion.

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13
Q

schacter singer theory of emotion

s + s

A

SENSATION + SOLVE: physiological response and interpretation of it (cognition) lead to an emotional response

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14
Q

cannon bard theory of emotion

“kill two bards w one stone (cannon)”

A 
stone = event
bards = physiological response and emotion

physiological response and emotion are processed simultaneously as a result of the one event

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15
Q

lazarus theory of emotion

rhymes w tables

A

LAZARUS LABELS FIRST: labelling cognition leads to physiological response and emotional response

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16
Q

token economy

A

regulated system that relies on secondary reinforcers

secondary reinforcers are literally anything that we aren’t biologically programmed to want

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17
Q

meritocracy

A

when societal rewards, status, and positions are awarded to individuals based on their own ability and work (that is, merit).

requires that everyone has the same opportunity (to prove their merit / worth!)

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18
Q

agent of socialization (4)

A

social entities that impart values, beliefs, and social norms

family, school, peers, and mass media.

Family is usually considered to be the most important agent of socialization.

19
Q

define the following:

  • cultural transmission
  • cultural diffusion
  • cultural lag
A

Cultural transmission has to do with passing down culture from one generation to the next.

Cultural diffusion - Transfer of elements of a culture to another. For instance, anime originated in Japan but is now popular around the world.

Cultural lag is when culture takes time to catch up with technological innovations, resulting in social problems.

20
Q

proximal vs distal stimulus

A

Proximal=what you actually perceive

Distal=What is causing the stimulus

For example, for vision the distal stimulus is a tree and a proximal stimulus is the photon from the tree onto your retina

21
Q

Define the following:

  • flashbulb memory

- false memory

A

Brown and Kulik (1977) coined the term “flashbulb memory” when they found that people claimed to remember detail of what they were doing when they received news about an emotionally arousing event.

so-called false memories can be observed both in real-world and laboratory settings, and they are generally given with high confidence.

22
Q

in operant conditioning studies, how do we define the subject’s most typical motivational state

A

by depriving the subject of some desirable stimulus item for a period of time

23
Q

mono vs dizygotic twins

A

Twins can be either monozygotic (‘identical’), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two embryos, or dizygotic (‘fraternal’), meaning that each twin develops from a separate egg and each egg is fertilized by its own sperm cell.

24
Q

statistical adjustment

A

Statistical adjustment refers to controlling for variables that could affect the relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable.

eg. race / ethnicity / education

25
Q

define the following:

  • social epidemiology

- symbolic interactionism

A

Social epidemiology focuses on the contribution of social and cultural factors to disease patterns in populations.

Symbolic interactionism examines small scale (or micro level) social interactions, focusing attention on how shared meaning is established among individuals or small groups.

26
Q

define the following:

  • cultural capital

- intersectionality

A

Cultural capital refers to knowledge, skills, education, and similar characteristics that are used to make social distinctions and that are associated with differences in social status.

Intersectionality calls attention to how identity categories intersect in systems of social stratification.

27
Q

define the following:

  • structural MRI

- functional MRI

A

Structural MRI: Describes the shape, size, and integrity of gray/white matter structures in brain (used for soft tissues)

Functional MRI (*fMRI): Measure brain activity by measuring the blood flow and the relative concentrations of oxygenated blood to deoxygenated blood

28
Q

define the following:

  • CAT / CT scan

- PET scan

A

CAT Scan (aka a more Detailed X-Ray): takes cross-sectional images of bones/ cancer detection for lungs/chest

PET Scan: patients are injected with radioactive glucose; active brain areas will have higher metabolic activity

29
Q

define the following:

  • EGG

- ECG

A

EGG: electroencephalogram; Measures electrical activity in the brain

ECG: electrocardiogram; measures electrical activity of the heart

30
Q

what brain scans observe brain structure vs activity

A

CAT (CT) scans and MRI will allow you to detect brain structures but not the brain activity whereas fMRI and PET scans can detect brain activity.

31
Q

CT vs MRI

A

CT has higher spatial resolution while MRI has a higher soft tissue contrast

32
Q

mesolimbic pathway

A

dopaminergic reward pathway associated w addiction

incl ventral tegmental area of the midbrain and its connections to the prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, hippocampus, and amygdala

33
Q

Parallel processing

A

what allows our brains to quickly process visual information simultaneously vs one by one

eg. color, depth, motion, and size
eg. space, time and frequency of events

DOES NOT INCLUDE PROCESSING OF NOVEL INFORMATION

34
Q

define the following:

  • interposition

- place theory

A

Interposition occurs in instances where one object overlaps the other, which causes us to perceive depth.

place theory posits that one is able to hear different pitches because different sound waves trigger activity at different places along the cochlea’s basilar membrane.

35
Q

define the following:

  • stranger anxiety

- negative symptoms

A

stranger anxiety is the fear of strangers that infants commonly begin to express around 8 months of age.

negative symptoms are defined as the absence of appropriate behaviors and emotion

36
Q

retina: center vs periphery

A

macula / fovea is the part of the retina that contains a high density of cones for daytime vision, whereas, the periphery of the retina contains a high density of rods which are more photosensitive and can detect dim light.

37
Q

counterbalancing

  • definition
  • justifications
A

counterbalancing is a method to control for any effect that the order of presenting stimuli might have on the dependent variable.

Justifications for counterbalancing incl:

    • Participants may become fatigued causing performance to decline as the experiment progresses.
    • Some tasks may be more exciting or boring than others and may affect how participants respond to subsequent tasks.
    • It is an effective method for controlling the order in which stimuli are presented.
38
Q

neuroleptics

A

neuroleptics are the first antipsychotic drugs used to treat schizophrenia and though they are effective in treating positive symptoms, their side effects include cognitive dulling, which can exacerbate negative symptoms.

39
Q

define the following:

- fluid intelligence

A

fluid intelligence is the ability to think on one’s feet, be adaptable, and solve problems using deductive and inductive reasoning → key to cognitive functioning

40
Q

unidirectional vs reciprocal relationship

A

unidirectional: directly related to each other
reciprocal: one can affect the other depending on its magnitude
eg. independent stressors are unidirectional bc they are out of the individual’s control and cause stress to anyone
eg. dependent stressors are reicprocal bc they are within the individuals control – the individual who does not deal with such stressors experiences more distress than the individual who does

41
Q

cognitive dissonance causes individuals to ____ their behavior

A

When attitudes don’t align with behaviors, a person must change either attitude or behavior to get out of their state of cognitive dissonance.

According to AAMC explanations, the person is more likely to change their attitude than their behavior.

42
Q

front vs backstage

A

frontstage: persona behavior; acting a role
backstage: personal behavior; being yourself

43
Q

social constructionism vs social interactionism

A

Social constructionism is how SOCIETY on a larger scale constructs/gives values to things.
– MACRO

symbolic interactionism is how PEOPLE interact with each other based on the symbolic meaning/value given to objects
– MICRO

MCAT (38 decks)

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