Psych/Soc: AAMC Sample Test

Question 1

False memories of words that are semantically or associatively related to studied words is consistent with:

A. spreading activation.

B. depth of processing.

C. the serial position effect.

D. the existence of visuospatial sketchpad.

Answer 1

A. spreading activation.

Question 2

This term refers to the type of attention applied to words during encoding:

A. spreading activation.

B. depth of processing.

C. the serial position effect.

D. the existence of visuospatial sketchpad.

Answer 2

B. depth of processing.

Question 3

This term refers to improved memory for words at the beginning and at the end of a list:

A. spreading activation.

B. depth of processing.

C. the serial position effect.

D. the existence of visuospatial sketchpad.

Answer 3

C. the serial position effect.

Question 4

Which term is proposed as a subcomponent of working memory?

A. spreading activation.

B. depth of processing.

C. the serial position effect.

D. the existence of visuospatial sketchpad.

Answer 4

D. the existence of visuospatial sketchpad.

Question 5

Which term refers to irrelevant information interfering with recall?

A. primacy effect.

B. recency effect.

C. interference effect.

D. continuity effect.

Answer 5

C. interference effect.

Question 6

What is proactive interference?

Answer 6

Information previously stored in long term memory can interfere with the learning of new information

Question 7

Born to a poor family in the rural Southeastern United States, Alice walked five miles of dirt road everyday to attend a one-room school as a child. Alice would eventually become the CEO of a large corporation, earning over a million dollars in income each year. Raised in a working-class family in an urban Midwestern city, Bill grew up with little knowledge of higher education. With similar success as Alice, Bill became the president of a major private university.

Which concept is LEAST applicable to the stories of Alice and Bill?

A. Meritocracy

B. Intergenerational mobility

C. Social reproduction

D. Relative poverty

Answer 7

C. Social reproduction

This refers to the perpetuation of inequalities through social institutions (such as education or the economy).

Alices and Bills stories contradict social reproduction

Question 8

Which statement is from an internal locus of control?

A. I worked very hard because I came from a poor family.

B. I did well in school because I had excellent teachers.

C. I got my first job because I was very lucky.

D. I am successful because I am a responsible person.

Answer 8

D. I am successful because I am a responsible person.

An internal locus of control is when someone attributes an outcome or behavior due to their personal traits.

An external locus of control is when something occurs that is not in the control of the person (Options A B and C are external)

Question 9

The finding that incidence rates cut across demographic groups contradicts the perception that child maltreatment is subject to:

A. social reproduction.

B. institutional discrimination.

C. social stratification.

D. cultural relativism.

Answer 9

C. social stratification.

Social stratification refers to the hierarchy in a society (often class-based).

Question 10

Which piece of information is LEAST relevant for determining the possible Physician influence of confirmation bias on child abuse diagnosis?

A. Parental concealment of child abuse from physicians

B. Physician attention to evidence of child abuse

C. Challenges posed by interpreting child abuse symptoms

D. Emotional sensitivities around child abuse as a subject

Answer 10

A. Parental concealment of child abuse from physicians

Confirmation bias is when someone favors information that confirms pre-existing beliefs. It can also involve biases in the search for evidence and in the interpretation of evidence

Question 11

Four students, all of whom oppose a university policy to ban alcohol on campus, are placed in a room and asked to discuss their views on this policy for an hour. Which outcome is most likely?

A. The students’ views will be unchanged.

B. The students will oppose the campus policy more strongly.

C. The students will no longer oppose the campus policy.

D. The students’ views will become more moderate.

Answer 11

B. The students will oppose the campus policy more strongly.

This is an example of GROUP POLARIZATION

Question 12

From the perspective of conflict theory, which pair of factors would be assumed to have the greatest impact on patients’ relationships with their doctors?

A. Norms and rituals

B. Power and status

C. Aggression and attachment

D. Conformity and assimilation

Answer 12

B. Power and status: Conflict theory emphasizes social relations of capital, power, and status as the driving forces of society.

Norms and rituations: symbolic interactionism

Aggression and attachment: Social psych or behavior

Question 13

Which statement best illustrates the concept of anomie?

A. A group promotes polarized thinking among its members.

B. An individual feels disconnected from the larger community.

C. A group overemphasizes consensus among its members.

D. An individual feels too influenced by the larger community.

Answer 13

B. An individual feels disconnected from the larger community.

Question 14

Which idea would predict that some aspects of intelligence would be impaired by a disorder while others remain intact.

A. Spearman’s idea of general intelligence

B. Gardner’s idea of eight intelligence

C. Galton’s idea of hereditary genius

D. Binet’s idea of mental age

Answer 14

B. Gardner’s idea of eight intelligence

Spearman’s idea of a general intelligence wouldn’t predict that some aspects of intelligence would be impaired by a disorder while others remain intact.

To make judgment regarding Galton’s idea of hereditary genius, one would need to have a more detailed account of the intelligence history of the participants’ families.

Binet’s idea of mental age does not produce any predictions that might or might not be supported by data on AS individuals.

Question 15

Which intervention designed to increase the emotional processing of children makes use of extrinsic motivators?

A. Playing pleasant music while engaging the children in a task that requires recognizing emotional expressions

B. Putting emotionally expressive faces on the toys that the children play with

C. Giving the children ten minutes of play time every time they correctly name an emotional expression

D. Having the children play a memory game that requires matching emotional expressions with labels

Answer 15

C. Giving the children ten minutes of play time every time they correctly name an emotional expression

External motivators are introduced as an outcome of a response, as described in C, where the child is given and incentive (play time) for producing the correct response

Question 16

Considering the stage that the participants are in according to Kohlberg’s theory of moral development (ages 5–6 years and 8–9 years), what changes to the study design are most likely to result in decreased aggression?

A. Lengthening the videos the participants viewed to one hour, with a 10-minute play break in between each 6-minute segment

B. The addition of a segment to the violent video that portrays the actors being put in prison for their illegal violent behaviors

C. The addition of a segment to the violent video that portrays the negative impact of violence on the victims

D. Having the participants work on an interactive task with other children before and after watching the video

Answer 16

B. The addition of a segment to the violent video that portrays the actors being put in prison for their illegal violent behaviors

The participants are in Kohlberg’s preconventional stage of moral development (since they are pre-adolescents). In this stage, morality is determined by what is punished or rewarded.

Question 17

How would the James–Lange theory of emotion explain the aggressive emotions experienced by the participants in the experimental condition? Participants experience physiological arousal from watching violent programs and:

A. this arousal is followed by aggressive emotions.

B. they simultaneously experience aggressive emotions.

C. they interpret their arousal, which results in aggressive emotions.

D. this leads to fight-or-flight responses that are perceived as aggressive emotions.

Answer 17

A. this arousal is followed by aggressive emotions.

Question 18

How would the Canon-Bard theory of emotion explain the aggressive emotions experienced by the participants in the experimental condition? Participants experience physiological arousal from watching violent programs and:

A. this arousal is followed by aggressive emotions.

B. they simultaneously experience aggressive emotions.

C. they interpret their arousal, which results in aggressive emotions.

D. this leads to fight-or-flight responses that are perceived as aggressive emotions.

Answer 18

B. they simultaneously experience aggressive emotions.

Question 19

How would the two-factor theory of emotion explain the aggressive emotions experienced by the participants in the experimental condition? Participants experience physiological arousal from watching violent programs and:

A. this arousal is followed by aggressive emotions.

B. they simultaneously experience aggressive emotions.

C. they interpret their arousal, which results in aggressive emotions.

D. this leads to fight-or-flight responses that are perceived as aggressive emotions.

Answer 19

C. they interpret their arousal, which results in aggressive emotions.

Question 20

The two age groups that participated in Study 1 (ages 5–6 years and 8–9 years) are most likely to perform differently in which task developed by Piaget?

A. Looking for an object that the researcher hides from the participant’s sight

B. Using accommodation to acquire knowledge about novel experiences

C. Deciding whether a given quantity of a liquid changes if it is poured from a narrow container to a wide container

D. Reasoning about how the end result of a story might have changed if the main character had acted differently

Answer 20

C. Deciding whether a given quantity of a liquid changes if it is poured from a narrow container to a wide container

The 5-to-6-year-olds are in the preoperational period and

the 8-to-9-year-olds are in the concrete operational period.

In the preoperational period, children have not typically mastered concepts of conservation, but these concepts are mastered through concrete operational period. So, the two groups are most likely to differ on a conservation task.

According to Piaget, both groups will have mastered A (object permanence) and B, and therefore do not differ on these tasks.

D requires hypothetical reasoning, which neither group has mastered yet.

Question 21

Country A has a relatively weak economy, a weak political infrastructure, and competes poorly in the globalized economy. Country A is also dependent on Country B, which has a much stronger economy. According to world systems theory, Country A is a:

A. core nation.

B. semi-periphery nation.

C. periphery nation.

D. developed nation.

Answer 21

C. periphery nation.

World Systems Theory, which characterizes global inequalities in terms of core nations (more economically developed with strong governments and institutions) and periphery nations (less economically developed with weak governments and institutions).

Question 22

Some nonverbal behaviors are interpreted similarly across cultures, while other nonverbal behaviors show cultural variation. People in different cultures are most likely to vary in their interpretations of:

A. adults’ facial expressions.

B. children’s facial expressions.

C. postures and gestures.

D. frowns and smiles.

Answer 22

C. postures and gestures.

Question 23

Researchers surveyed participants on how frequently they help others in order to study the effect of age on altruistic behavior. Compared to older participants, younger participants reported engaging in altruistic behavior more frequently. Given the research design, which statement is NOT supported?

A. Participants’ concerns about impression management could influence their survey responses.

B. The researchers could determine whether age is directly responsible for altruistic behaviors.

C. Variables such as gender and socioeconomic status could affect participants’ responses.

D. Altruism was operationalized as the participants’ responses on the survey.

Answer 23

B. The researchers could determine whether age is directly responsible for altruistic behaviors.

Question 24

According to Mead, the spontaneous and autonomous part of our unified self is the:

A. id.

B. ego.

C. I.

D. me.

Answer 24

C. I.

“I” is the spontaneous and autonomous part of the self, according to Mead’s theory of identity

“me” is the part of the self that is formed in interaction with others and with the general social environment.

Question 25

During the third week, they received a prize in a random fashion, only on some of the occasions when they engaged in a learned coping strategy.

The schedule of reinforcement used in Week 3 of the follow-up study is:

A. variable ratio.

B. fixed ratio.

C. variable interval.

D. fixed interval.

Answer 25

A. variable ratio.

Question 26

XO XO XO XO XO XO

Perceiving the characters shown as 6 units rather than as 12 individual characters is best explained by the Gestalt principle of:

A. similarity.

B. proximity.

C. continuity.

D. common fate.

Answer 26

B. proximity.

Question 27

Which statement best explains meritocracy in terms of status? Meritocracy occurs when selections are made based on:

A. master status rather than achieved status.

B. achieved status rather than ascribed status.

C. ascribed status rather than social status.

D. social status rather than achieved status.

Answer 27

B. achieved status rather than ascribed status.

Question 28

Some studies find that the association between discrimination and health is stronger for U.S.-born members of certain ethnic minority groups than it is for immigrant members of the same ethnic minority group. This finding suggests that the possible effect of discrimination on health is most likely related to:

A. social segregation in the U.S.

B. length of residence in the U.S.

C. place of residence in the U.S.

D. social integration in the U.S.

Answer 28

D. social integration in the U.S.

Question 29

Study 1 is replicated with split-brain patients. Participants are presented with the target colors only in the left side of their visual field. This procedure would specifically allow the researchers to investigate whether:

A. the patients show CP in the absence of access to color names.

B. the corpus callosum plays a significant role in color processing.

C. the patients show CP in the absence of access to color perception.

D. the frontal lobe plays a significant role in the recognition of color.

Answer 29

A. the patients show CP in the absence of access to color names.

The correct answer is A because when a stimulus is presented to the left half of a split-brain patient’s visual field, the information will be sent out to the right hemisphere. The right hemisphere of a split-brain patient has no access to the left hemisphere, where linguistic abilities are lateralized. Thus, presenting the target colors to the left half of a split-brain patient’s visual field would allow the researchers to determine whether categorical perception occurs even in absence of linguistic information.

Question 30

Although many patients wait up to six weeks for an appointment at a busy clinic, an acquaintance of one of the clinic’s physicians is regularly seen with less than a week’s notice. This scenario best illustrates the use of:

A. social status.

B. social capital.

C. cultural capital.

D. charismatic authority.

Answer 30

B. social capital.

Using one’s social networks for gain is an example of social capital; thus, B is the correct answer. The other options are not applicable to the question scenario.

Social status (option A) is related to prestige among social groups.

Cultural capital (option C) is class-based cultural practices.

Finally, charismatic authority (option D) refers to a form of power that rests in the legitimacy of an individual.

Question 31

An employee is concerned with making a good impression at a new job. Struggling with feelings of being overly challenged by having to learn new office software, he repeatedly calls his computer “dumb” and “stupid.” According to psychoanalytic theory, this behavior results from:

A. projection.

B. reaction formation.

C. regression.

D. sublimation.

Answer 31

A. projection.

Question 32

Which statement about technology is most consistent with social constructionism?

A. Technology is the predictable application of knowledge.

B. Technology is built from the collective effort of innovators.

C. Technology is the human response to environmental pressures.

D. Technology is embedded with the values of groups who create it.

Answer 32

D. Technology is embedded with the values of groups who create it.

The correct answer is D, because the statement implies that technology is the product of groups/ individuals rather than of natural processes (in other words, technology is a social creation), which is consistent with social constructionism.

Option A is incorrect because social constructionist theories generally dispute the inevitable application of knowledge (such as with scientific knowledge as applied to technology).

Option B is incorrect because it does not describe how technology is itself a social product (rather than being produced with others).

Option C is incorrect because it implies that technology is simply a response to natural pressures, which understates the role of social forces in the development of technology.

Question 33

Which statement explains why looking at a dimly lit objectwith peripheral vision at night results in the clearest image of the object? When one looks to the side of an object:

A. two images of the object are sent to the brain, which results in a clearer image.

B. its image falls in the periphery of the retina, which is denser in rods.

C. its image falls on the fovea, which results in the clearest image.

D. a single image of the object is sent to the brain, which results in a clearer image.

Answer 33

B. its image falls in the periphery of the retina, which is denser in rods.

The periphery of the retina contains a higher density of light sensitive rods, which results in a clearer image in the dark. Option A is correct in stating that two images are sent to the brain of any object that is not focused on, however, this information does not aid clarity. Looking to the side of the object will hinder its image from forming on the fovea. Looking to the side of the object will result in two images (from either retina), not one.