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Bobby's MCAT Flashcards > Bobby - psych - Flashcards > Flashcards

Bobby - psych - Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the five main ways to increase the power of an experiment or study?

A

Inc power: Increase alpha level, decrease random error, conduct a one-tailed test, expand sample size, increase effect size

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2
Q

What is the role of a mediating variable?

A

The original (independent) predictor works indirectly through a more immediate cause (mediator) to yield a final (dependent) effect

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3
Q

What is self-efficacy?

A

Measure of a person’s perceived ability to change the external realities of their life

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4
Q

What is social capital?

A

The benefit one receives from one’s social networks

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5
Q

What is the Cannon-Bard theory of emotion?

A

Emotion-arousing stimuli simultaneously trigger physiological responses and the subjective experience of emotion

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6
Q

What is the serial position effect?

A

Short-term memory is more likely to retain pieces of info from the beginning and end of a list

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7
Q

What is Functionalism?

A

Views society and social institutions as interdependent, interacting parts of a whole

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8
Q

What are retrograde and anterograde memories?

A

Retrograde - memories formed before an event (eg. stroke), Anterograde - memories formed after an event

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9
Q

What are the types of stressors?

A

Ambient - chronic environmental stressors that can’t be changed, Acute - present over a short period of time, Microstressor - small daily hassles, Crisis - sudden rare occurrence (natural disaster)

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10
Q

What is the mesolimbic pathway?

A

Reward pathway (connecting midbrain to forebrain), releases dopamine in response to rewarding stimuli

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11
Q

What is Weber’s Law?

A

The change required to perceive a difference from an initial stimulus is directly proportional to the percent change in the original stimulus

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12
Q

What are positive/negative punishments/reinforcements?

A

Positive- adds a stimulus, Negative- removes a stimulus, Punishment- discourage behavior Reinforcement- encourage behavior

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13
Q

What is aversive conditioning?

A

Behavioral conditioning technique in which noxious stimuli are associated with undesirable behaviors

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14
Q

What is the pre-encounter stage of Cross’s Nigrescence Model of African-American identity development

A

In the first stage (pre-encounter), blacks tends to vew the majority Caucasian culture as being more desirable

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15
Q

A drive-reduction and cognitive theorist would argue that depression is most strongly correlated with a deficiency in what?

A

Drive-reduction theories - depression stems from a reduction in the motivating forces of arousal. Cognitive theorist - arousal is essential to sustaining most behaviors

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16
Q

What are three areas of the brain involed in depression?

A

Frontal lobe - consequences of actions. Limbic system - regulate emotion and memory. Hypothalamus - coordinates many hormons (mood regulation)

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17
Q

What is Gestalt’s Law of Closure?

A

Law of Closure - taking an incomplete figure (disconnected pieces) and perceiving it as a complete whole

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18
Q

What is the definition of ethnocentrism?

A

Ethnocentrism - a world view in which one’s own culture and traditions are seen as inherently superior to those of other people

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19
Q

What is attrition bias?

A

Attrition bias - occurs when participants drop out of a long-term experiment or study

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20
Q

What is the definition of neustress?

A

Neustress - neutral type of stress. When you are exposed to something stressful, but it doesn’t actively or directly affect you (natural disaster halfway around the globe)

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21
Q

What is the difference between the bystander effect and deindividuation?

A

Bystander effect - people stand by during a situation where someone else is at risk (do not intervene). Deindividuation - when a person in a group loses awareness of their individuality and act in a different way

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22
Q

What are the three core components of emotion?

A

Three core components of emotion - physiological arousal, expressive displays, and subjective experiences

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23
Q

What is the Schachter-Singer theory of emotion?

A

Emotion processing: physiological arousal, cognitive interpretation of the situation, and the experience of emotion (in that order)

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24
Q

What is the definition of cognitive dissonance?

A

Cognitive dissonance - the unpleasant feeling a person experiences when holding two contradictory beliefs at the same time

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25
Q

What is the most effective reinforcement schedule?

A

Variable-ratio is the most effective reinforcement schedule (most resistant to extinction)

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26
Q

What is the Stroop effect?

A

Stroop effect - harder for an individual to reconcile the different pieces of information relating to colors than to reconcile similar pieces of information (word spelling “yellow” in blue ink)

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27
Q

What is the definition of construct validity?

A

Construct validity - the manner in which the terms of the study are defined

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28
Q

What is the definition of symbolic interactionism?

A

Symbolic interactionism - the view that an individual’s experiences influence his or her perceptions

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29
Q

What is the definition of absolute mobility?

A

Absolute mobility - living standards are increasing; you are better off than your parents and your children will be better of than you

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30
Q

What is the difference between prejudice and discrimination?

A

Prejudice (preconceived opinions or attitudes that are usually negative) is an attitude, while discrimination (unfair treatment and harmful actions against others based on their social group) is actually acting on that feeling

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31
Q

What is the limitation on studies that use surveys?

A

Self-reported information is always vulnerable to subjective bias

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32
Q

What is the difference between baroreceptors and nociceptors?

A

Nociceptors are pain receptors, while baroreceptors measure pressure

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33
Q

What is the difference between discrimination and stereotyping?

A

Discrimination is a change in behavior based on race/gender, while stereotyping is a cognitive action (not a behavior)

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34
Q

What is social facilitation?

A

Social facilitation - the tendency for people to perform better when in the presence of others

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35
Q

What are the types of memory?

A

Semantic - facts and information, Episodic - personal experiences, Procedural - actions or behaviors (placing an IV, suturing a wound), Conditioned - based on association (bell ring- class over)

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36
Q

What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation?

A

Intrinsic - inner motivation to succeed, Extrinsic - external reward (money, fame)

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37
Q

Through what form of social influence are new ideas most likely spread?

A

When a new idea arises, it is automatically a minority opinion. This idea can then be spread through the influence of the minority on others accepting this view

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38
Q

What are the types of conflict?

A

Approach-Approach: two options are both appealing, Avoidant-Avoidant: two options are both unappealing, Double Approach-Avoidant: two options, both of which have positive and negative characteristics

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39
Q

What was the main takeaway from Asch’s line experiment study of conformity?

A

Studied the extent to which social pressure from a majority group could influence a person to conform. They never provided an explanation for their choices

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40
Q

What is the relationship between atttribution theory and fundamental attribution error?

A

Attribution theory - the ways in which people attempt to explain various events by assigning causes. Fundamental attribution error - when a person assigns too much weight to internal causes rather than external factors

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41
Q

What is the definition of meritocracy?

A

Meritocracy - a system in which individuals are rewarded on the basis of individual skill, talent, or achievement

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42
Q

What is the serial position effect?

A

The serial position effect says that items at the beginning (primacy) and items at the end (recency) of a list or string of info are more easily recalled than items from the middle

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43
Q

What is spreading activation theory?

A

Spreading activation: when a concept is activated, the activation spreads to concepts that are semantically or associatively related to it. People often retrieve unpresented members of a category when tested on their memory for a series of presented concepts from that category

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44
Q

At what Piaget stage will the amount of water in a beaker be correctly judged?

A

Conservation tasks are mastered during the concrete operations stage, which starts at ~7 and ends at 11-12 years. The majority of 11 year olds have completed this stage.

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45
Q

Classical conditioning (creating conditioned responses from unconditioned stimuli, etc.) falls under which approach?

A

Classical conditioning is most closely related to the behaviorist approach

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46
Q

What is a cognitive process?

A

Cognitive appraisal is a person’s interpretation of sensation

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47
Q

What is the outermost layer of the eyeball?

A

The cornea is the outermost layer of the eyeball and is in direct contact with the eyelid

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48
Q

What is actor-observer bias?

A

Actor-observer bias: actors attribute their own behavior to situational factors (not feeling well), while observers attribute actors’ behavior to dispositional factors (social awkwardness)

49
Q

What is optimal arousal theory?

A

Optimal arousal theory states that optimal performance requires optimal arousal and that arousal levels that are too high or too low will impede performance

50
Q

What is the effect of ethnic identity being a central part of a person’s self-concept?

A

People whose ethnic identity is a central part of their self-concept would be more prone to the effects of stereotype threat regarding their ethnic identity

51
Q

What happens to the skin when there is increased anxiety (increased sympathetic arousal)?

A

Increased electrical conductivity of the skin is a physiological indication of increased sympathetic arousal, which is associated with anxiety

52
Q

What is Selye’s general adaptation syndrome?

A

Selye’s general adaptation syndrome: people’s responses to various different stressors is similar

53
Q

What is the cerebellum’s main role?

A

The cerebellum is involved in the execution of a coordinated skeletal muscle motor task

54
Q

What is social network analysis?

A

Social network analysis involves the mapping of social relationships among individuals

55
Q

What does group polarization refer to?

A

Group polarization: refers to the fact that people’s attitudes become more extreme after interacting with each other

56
Q

What is behaviorist theory?

A

Behaviorist theory: focuses on the role of reinforcement and punishment in shaping behavior

57
Q

What is a “valid” measure?

A

A valid measure is one that actually measures what it is intended to assess (validity - scientific acceptability)

58
Q

What is the concept of linguistic relativity?

A

Linguistic relativity (Sapir-Whorf hypothesis) states that the structure of a language affects its speakers’ world view or cognition

59
Q

What does social support refer to?

A

Social support refers to network ties (friends, family, and other relationships) that provide an individual with various types of assisstance

60
Q

What is the working memory capacity (which numbers)?

A

The capacity of working memory is believed to be between 5 and 9 items (magic number 7 +/- 2)

61
Q

What does chunking refer to?

A

Chunking: organizing single units into larger groups to help hold more info in working memory (requires effortful processing and therefore involves selective attention and conscious effort)

62
Q

Which form of memory is activated first when dealing with watching something?

A

Sensory memory is activated before working memory (when dealing with senses)

63
Q

What is the reference group?

A

Reference group: the group that individuals emulate the attitudes and behaviors of (because they admire and would like to join before assimilation)

64
Q

What type of memory is riding a bike?

A

Procedural memory: memory for the performance of particular types of action (eg. riding a bike)

65
Q

What is the difference between role strain and role conflict?

A

Role strain: the tension that results from competing demands within the context of a single role. Role conflict: tension between different toles that a single individual holds

66
Q

What are the difference between groups of different size in regard to group dynamics?

A

Larger groups are generally considered more stable but less intimate, while smaller groups are considered less stable but more intimate. Triads (three people) are more stable than dyads (two people)

67
Q

What is a mixed-methods study?

A

Mixed methods: bringing together quantitative methods and qualitative methods

68
Q

What is the definition of ethnographic methods?

A

Ethnographic methods: the extended, systematic observation of a complete social environment

69
Q

What is spreading activation theory?

A

Spreading activation: false memories of words that are semantically or associatively related to studied words (when a concept is activated, the activation spreads to related concepts

70
Q

What is recency effect?

A

Recency effect: better recall for items at the end of a list

71
Q

What supports the theory of a difference between short -term and long-term memory?

A

When there is a clear separation between the primacy effects and recency effects - supports the difference between long term and short term memory

72
Q

What is proactive interference?

A

Proactive interference: the interference of information from long term memory with new information

73
Q

What are personality disorders?

A

Mainly disorders such as borderline personality disorder (mood disorders - anxiety, depression, maybe bipolar)

74
Q

What is cultural relativism?

A

Cultural relativism - the evaluation of another culture based on that culture’s standards (eg. giving the middle finger)

75
Q

What is the conflict theory perspective?

A

Conflict theory perspective emphasizes social relations of capital, power, and status as the driving forces in society

76
Q

What is anomie?

A

Anomie refers to a lack of social norms, which leads to a breakdown in the connection between an individual and their community

77
Q

What is Gardner’s idea of eight intelligences?

A

People have different types of intelligences

78
Q

What is Kohlberg’s preconventional stage of moral development?

A

Pre-adolescence (kids): in this stage, morality is determined by what is punished or rewarded

79
Q

What are the differences between the different theories of emotion?

A

James-Lange (physiological arousal precedes experiencing emotions), Canon-Bard (physiological arousal and emotions are experienced simultaneously), Schachter-Singer (???)

80
Q

How would 5-6 year olds and 8-9 year olds differ according to PIaget?

A

5-6 year olds (preoperational) and 8-9 year olds (concrete operational) differ in conservation according to Piaget. The 8-9 year old can decide if the quantity of a liquid changes in diff container (REVIEW PIAGET)

81
Q

How does the World Systems Theory describe countries?

A

Core nation (more economically developed with strong gov) vs. periphery nation (less economically developed with weak gov) according to World Systems Theory

82
Q

What are universally recognized across cultures?

A

Facial expressions are universally recognized, independent of cultural influences (not postures and gestures)

83
Q

What is Mead’s theory of identity?

A

Mead: “I” is the spontaneous and autonomous part of the unified self, while the “me” is the part of the self that is formed in interaction with others and the social environment

84
Q

What does cortisol cause?

A

The stress hormone cortisol causes increased heartbeat and feelings of panic and anxiety

85
Q

What is operant conditioning?

A

Contingencies (punishment, reinforcement) follow a behavior to increase/decrease the behavior

86
Q

What is the result of application of positive reinforcement (even if variable)

A

The behavior will increase the whole time

87
Q

STUDY THE DIFFERENT FORMS OF MEMORY

A

STUDY THE DIFFERENT FORMS OF MEMORY

88
Q

What are some effects of sympathetic nervous system activation?

A

Sympathetic activation: inc skin conductance, inc blood sugar through gluconeogenesis, inc dilation of the pupils, dec peristalsis (dec digestion)

89
Q

What is Gestalt’s law of proximity?

A

When a group of symbols is seen as sets (6 units of two instead of 12 separate units) due to their spatial contiguity with one anothers

90
Q

What are the differences between brain hemispheres?

A

When a stimulus is presented to the left half of the visual field, it is sent to the right hemisphere (left hemisphere - linguistic abilities, REVIEW DIFFERENCES)

91
Q

What are the differences between rods and cones?

A

Cones (very dense in fovea, phototopic, higher light levels, color vision, high spatial acuity), Rods (very dense in periphery, scototopic, lower light levels, no color vision, low spatial acuity)

92
Q

What is the difference between discrimination and prejudice?

A

Discrimination is an action, Prejudice is an attitude (institutional discrimination - different treatment between social groups at the system level that generally results from subtle/unintentional practices rather than blatant/intentional discriminatory actions)

93
Q

What is a methodological limitation?

A

The exclusion of 10% of cases from a sample is significant enough to weaken a study

94
Q

What is the difference between social capital and cultural capital?

A

Social capital (using one’s social networks for gain), Cultural capital (class based cultural practices)

95
Q

Why does looking at a dimly lit object with peripheral vision at night result in the clearest image of the object?

A

The periphery of the retina contains a higher density of light-sensitive rods, which results in a clearer image in the dark

96
Q

Which eye structure is most important for color perception?

A

The fovea is directly involved with color sensation and its distribution of receptors varies across different species

97
Q

What is a dissociative disorder?

A

Dissociative disorder cann be indicated by selectively forgetting distracting elements of his/her life

98
Q

What is the definition of relative poverty?

A

Relative poverty: the condition in which people lack the minimum amount of income needed to maintain the average standard of living in the society in which they live

99
Q

What is the difference between a primary group and a secondary group?

A

Primary group (small social group with close, personal, enduring relationships - family/childhood friends) vs. Secondary group (less personal level, temporary, established to perform functions)

100
Q

What does brainstorming generally lead to in comparison with working alone?

A

Brainstorming: on average, participants produce more alternatives alone than in a group (because of social loafing) (also, individuals are less critical and less creative in groups)

101
Q

What are the definitions of dependent and independent variable??

A

Dependent variable is what is measured (changes depending on IV), the independent variable is changed/controlled to test effects on dependent variable

102
Q

Review Piaget’s stages

A

Review Piaget’s stages

103
Q

Review Erikson’s stages

A

Review Erikson’s stages

104
Q

Review Freud’s stages

A

Review Freud’s stages

105
Q

What is confirmation bias?

A

Confirmation bias: causes the person to seek, and attend to, only information that confirms his/her existing point of view

106
Q

What functions are only in the left brain or right brain?

A

Left brain: vocabulary skills, Right brain: visuospatial skills, music perception and emotion processing (LOOK UP OTHERS)

107
Q

What is emotional intelligence and what is characteristic of emotionally intelligent people?

A

Emotional intelligence: the ability to perceive, express, understand and manage one’s emotions. Emotionally intelligent people are self-aware and can delay gratification in pursuit of long-term rewards (not impulsive)

108
Q

What is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)?

A

CBT first addresses maladaptive behaviors through behavior therapy to systematically modify a person’s behavior, followed by sessions to foster cognitive change through self-assessments

109
Q

What is structural functionalism?

A

Functionalism makes a distinction between manifest (intended) and unintended (latent) functions of social activities. From the functionalist perspective, almost all social actions have both manifest functions and latent functions

110
Q

What is the Hawthorne effect?

A

Hawthorne effect: describes changes in research participants as a result of their awareness that they are being observed

111
Q

What is proximity’s affect on interpersonal attraction?

A

Proximity: the closer someone is geographically, the more we like them

112
Q

Symptom of depressive disorder

A

Internalizing problems is a symptom of a depressive disorder (what are the others?)

113
Q

What are some measures of validity (or ways to increase the validity of a study)?

A

When two independent measures converge, that increases validity (what are some others?)

114
Q

What are the different uses for brain diagnostic modalities?

A

??? CT vs. MRI vs. EEG vs. PET

115
Q

What is the difference between an in-group and a primary group?

A

in-group vs. primary group ???

116
Q

What is NMDA receptor?

A

NMDA receptor is a glutamate receptor

117
Q

What does intragenerational mean?

A

Intragenerational - moving from one social class to another over the course of a lifetime

118
Q

What is Serotonin’s function in the body?

A

Serotonin is involved with regulation of mood and appetite

119
Q

What is sensory interaction?

A

Sensory interaction - the idea that one sensory modality (eg. vision) may influence another (eg. balance)

Bobby's MCAT Flashcards (4 decks)

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