MCAT P/S HIGH YIELD EXAM AND
ANSWERS.
Baby Boomers - Answers-The increasing share of the population over the age of 65
primarily stems from the baby boomers - the post World War II generation in the United
States and Canada; Those born between 1946 and 1964
Conflict Theory - Answers-Theory by Karl Marx that states that society is in a permanent
state of conflict due to competition for limited resources. Social order is maintained by
domination and power. Has thesis and antithesis. Causes synthesis of new state.
e.g. "how exposure to environmental pollution and hazards is shaped by race and class;
how words play a role in reproducing and justifying conflict;"
Functionalism - Answers-Emile Durkheim - approach that emphasizes the contributions
made by each part of society. E.g. grow from simple to complex (e.g. human body)
Life Course Theory - Answers-Aging is a social, psychological, and biological process
that begins from the time you are born till the time you die. Age-based expectations no
longer apply as they used to, as people now live longer.
Dissociative Disorder - Answers-Selectively forgetting distracting elements of his/her
life. Frequently associated with trauma. Other symptoms include feeling of detachment
or out-of-body
Conversion Disorder - Answers-You show psychological stress in physical ways. For
e.g. your leg may become paralyzed after you fall from a horse, even though there was
no real injury
Learning associated with reward-seeking motivation - Answers-Operant conditioning - it
includes a change in behavior due to past outcomes
Latent Learning - Answers-Learned behavior is not expressed until required
Observational Learning - Answers-Bandura - particularly imp. during childhood. Learned
through watching and imitating others - modeling actions of another
Social Cognitive Theory - Answers-Theory of behavior change that emphasizes
interactions between people and the environment. Unlike behaviorism, where
environment controls entirely, cognition is also important.
Bandura.
Marginal Poverty - Answers-State of poverty when a person lacks a stable employment
,Memory Schemas - Answers-Organized clusters of knowledge; The speed with which
memory schemas are activated is presumed to indicate the participant's implicit bias
Interference Theory - Answers-Regarding human memory; when there is an interaction
between the new material and transfer effects of past learned behavior (memory or
thoughts that have a -ve influence on the comprehending of new material)
Components of attitude - Answers-ABC model of attitude -
Affective (emotional - I love yoga)
Behavioral (how we act or behave towards subject/object - I will go to yoga each week)
Cognitive (form thoughts/beliefs/ideas, and knowledge - yoga makes me relax)
Observational Study - Answers-Draws inferences from a sample of a population where
the independent variable is not under control of the researcher because of ethical or
logical constraints`
Drug with lowest risk of dependence - Answers-Hallucinogens
This theory is most often associated with class based conceptions of society - Answers-
Conflict Theory
Racialization - Answers-i.e. ethnicization - process of ascribing ethnic or racial identities
to a relationship, social practice, or group that did not identify itself as such
Social Stratification - Answers-The arrangement or classification of people into
socioeconomic strata
Increase of this creates euphoria - Answers-dopamine
Prejudice vs. Discrimination - Answers-Prejudice are attitudes that prejudge a group
and are typically negative, not based on fact (e.g. sexist CEO thinks women can't run
companies).
Discrimination is ACTION (if CEO doesn't promote woman)
Random Assignment in studies - Answers-If participants are equally likely to be in either
group, then that is random assignment; otherwise potential bias
Social Loafing - Answers-People are more productive alone than in a group. Research
also suggests that individuals are less critical and creative in a group
Example of when participants act as their own control - Answers-For example, when
participants take the same survey before and after a stimulus; they are their own control
here
Medulla Oblongata - Answers-Helps regulate breathing, heart and blood vessel
function, digestion, sneezing, swallowing, etc.
, Groupthink - Answers-Occurs when situational pressures hinder groups from critically
evaluating relevant information. Power leader makes it more likely. Groups affected
wrongly believe that they have followed a sound decision making process
Confirmation Bias - Answers-As with groupthink, conf. bias causes an individual to seek
and attend to only that information that confirms his or her existing point of view
Self Serving Bias - Answers-+ve events to their own character, but -ve events to
external factors
Hindsight Bias - Answers-"knew it all along"
Response Bias - Answers-also called survey bias; tendency to answer questions on a
survey untruthfully or misleadingly. For e.g. they may feel pressure to give answers that
are socially acceptable
Alzheimer's Biological Systems - Answers-Build up of AB (beta amyloid) and NFT
(neurofibrillary Tangle) proteins in certain brain areas like amygdala, hippocampus, etc.
Double Blind Research - Answers-A double-blind study is one in which neither the
participants nor the experimenters know who is receiving a particular treatment.
Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) - Answers-Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a
short-term, goal-oriented psychotherapy treatment that takes a hands-on, practical
approach to problem-solving. Its goal is to change patterns of thinking or behavior that
are behind people's difficulties, and so change the way they feel
Structural Functionalism - Answers-Structural Functionalism is a sociological theory that
attempts to explain why society functions the way it does by focusing on the
relationships between the various social institutions that make up society (e.g.,
government, law, education, religion, etc. The sociological paradigm of functionalism
makes a distinction between manifest (intended) and latent (unintended) functions of
social activities. From the functionailist perspective, almost all social actions have both
manifest and latent functions, both of which are connected to overall stability.
Medicalization - Answers-refers to the taken-for-granted process in which a problem
comes to be defined and treated by the social institution of medicine. A behavior
undergoes medicalization when both the definition of the problem and the therapy
intended to improve it are couched in medical terms.
The Hawthorne Effect - Answers-the alteration of behavior by the subjects of a study
due to their awareness of being observed.
The Thomas theorem - Answers-"If men define situations as real, they are real in their
consequences."
ANSWERS.
Baby Boomers - Answers-The increasing share of the population over the age of 65
primarily stems from the baby boomers - the post World War II generation in the United
States and Canada; Those born between 1946 and 1964
Conflict Theory - Answers-Theory by Karl Marx that states that society is in a permanent
state of conflict due to competition for limited resources. Social order is maintained by
domination and power. Has thesis and antithesis. Causes synthesis of new state.
e.g. "how exposure to environmental pollution and hazards is shaped by race and class;
how words play a role in reproducing and justifying conflict;"
Functionalism - Answers-Emile Durkheim - approach that emphasizes the contributions
made by each part of society. E.g. grow from simple to complex (e.g. human body)
Life Course Theory - Answers-Aging is a social, psychological, and biological process
that begins from the time you are born till the time you die. Age-based expectations no
longer apply as they used to, as people now live longer.
Dissociative Disorder - Answers-Selectively forgetting distracting elements of his/her
life. Frequently associated with trauma. Other symptoms include feeling of detachment
or out-of-body
Conversion Disorder - Answers-You show psychological stress in physical ways. For
e.g. your leg may become paralyzed after you fall from a horse, even though there was
no real injury
Learning associated with reward-seeking motivation - Answers-Operant conditioning - it
includes a change in behavior due to past outcomes
Latent Learning - Answers-Learned behavior is not expressed until required
Observational Learning - Answers-Bandura - particularly imp. during childhood. Learned
through watching and imitating others - modeling actions of another
Social Cognitive Theory - Answers-Theory of behavior change that emphasizes
interactions between people and the environment. Unlike behaviorism, where
environment controls entirely, cognition is also important.
Bandura.
Marginal Poverty - Answers-State of poverty when a person lacks a stable employment
,Memory Schemas - Answers-Organized clusters of knowledge; The speed with which
memory schemas are activated is presumed to indicate the participant's implicit bias
Interference Theory - Answers-Regarding human memory; when there is an interaction
between the new material and transfer effects of past learned behavior (memory or
thoughts that have a -ve influence on the comprehending of new material)
Components of attitude - Answers-ABC model of attitude -
Affective (emotional - I love yoga)
Behavioral (how we act or behave towards subject/object - I will go to yoga each week)
Cognitive (form thoughts/beliefs/ideas, and knowledge - yoga makes me relax)
Observational Study - Answers-Draws inferences from a sample of a population where
the independent variable is not under control of the researcher because of ethical or
logical constraints`
Drug with lowest risk of dependence - Answers-Hallucinogens
This theory is most often associated with class based conceptions of society - Answers-
Conflict Theory
Racialization - Answers-i.e. ethnicization - process of ascribing ethnic or racial identities
to a relationship, social practice, or group that did not identify itself as such
Social Stratification - Answers-The arrangement or classification of people into
socioeconomic strata
Increase of this creates euphoria - Answers-dopamine
Prejudice vs. Discrimination - Answers-Prejudice are attitudes that prejudge a group
and are typically negative, not based on fact (e.g. sexist CEO thinks women can't run
companies).
Discrimination is ACTION (if CEO doesn't promote woman)
Random Assignment in studies - Answers-If participants are equally likely to be in either
group, then that is random assignment; otherwise potential bias
Social Loafing - Answers-People are more productive alone than in a group. Research
also suggests that individuals are less critical and creative in a group
Example of when participants act as their own control - Answers-For example, when
participants take the same survey before and after a stimulus; they are their own control
here
Medulla Oblongata - Answers-Helps regulate breathing, heart and blood vessel
function, digestion, sneezing, swallowing, etc.
, Groupthink - Answers-Occurs when situational pressures hinder groups from critically
evaluating relevant information. Power leader makes it more likely. Groups affected
wrongly believe that they have followed a sound decision making process
Confirmation Bias - Answers-As with groupthink, conf. bias causes an individual to seek
and attend to only that information that confirms his or her existing point of view
Self Serving Bias - Answers-+ve events to their own character, but -ve events to
external factors
Hindsight Bias - Answers-"knew it all along"
Response Bias - Answers-also called survey bias; tendency to answer questions on a
survey untruthfully or misleadingly. For e.g. they may feel pressure to give answers that
are socially acceptable
Alzheimer's Biological Systems - Answers-Build up of AB (beta amyloid) and NFT
(neurofibrillary Tangle) proteins in certain brain areas like amygdala, hippocampus, etc.
Double Blind Research - Answers-A double-blind study is one in which neither the
participants nor the experimenters know who is receiving a particular treatment.
Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) - Answers-Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a
short-term, goal-oriented psychotherapy treatment that takes a hands-on, practical
approach to problem-solving. Its goal is to change patterns of thinking or behavior that
are behind people's difficulties, and so change the way they feel
Structural Functionalism - Answers-Structural Functionalism is a sociological theory that
attempts to explain why society functions the way it does by focusing on the
relationships between the various social institutions that make up society (e.g.,
government, law, education, religion, etc. The sociological paradigm of functionalism
makes a distinction between manifest (intended) and latent (unintended) functions of
social activities. From the functionailist perspective, almost all social actions have both
manifest and latent functions, both of which are connected to overall stability.
Medicalization - Answers-refers to the taken-for-granted process in which a problem
comes to be defined and treated by the social institution of medicine. A behavior
undergoes medicalization when both the definition of the problem and the therapy
intended to improve it are couched in medical terms.
The Hawthorne Effect - Answers-the alteration of behavior by the subjects of a study
due to their awareness of being observed.
The Thomas theorem - Answers-"If men define situations as real, they are real in their
consequences."
