MCAT Psychology and Sociology (copy)

Micro-level sociology

A level of sociology that looks from a bottom-up view - from one-to-one interactions to the smaller blocks of society.

Macro-level sociology

A level of sociology that looks at society top-down - from looking at society as a whole to the larger-scale social structures.

Functionalism

The idea of society functioning as a living organism - macro-level - individual parts work together as a whole.

Emile Durkheim

Founder of sociology #1 and added on to functionalism.

Manifest functions

The intended and main point of the job/reason to do what you do.

Latent functions

The side-effects or extra things that are not seen as main but come with the manifest function.

Dynamic equilibrium

Homeostasis on a functional level in society - everyone works as a whole to keep society running.

Common Consciousness

The idea that people who live in the same society have the same ideals and beliefs and need for stability.

Anomie

Societal dysfunctions when some people from smaller groups of a society do not have the same common consciousness as the larger groups.

Conflict theory

Society is a competition for power, money, and wealth - groups compete for this power and society is the resource.

Class Consciousness

Members of a lower social class are aware of the exploitation happening to them as a group.

False consciousness

Lack of awareness of the exploitation happening to the group, only as individuals.

Max Weber

Founder #3 of sociology and was a conflict theorist but disagreed with Marx - said conflict comes from more than just money.

Rationalism

Increasing rules to increase more effective ways of how a society works.

Bureaucracies

Those who create the rules and enforce them - administer the laws of society.

Symbolic Interactionism

People act towards things based on meaning - 1-1 interactions, micro-level.

George Herbert Mead

Brought the idea of a generalized attitude of a large group - me vs I - founder of social psychology.

Looking glass-self

The self is made from the interaction and perception of others; involves 3 stages.

Social constructionism

Reality is not inherent but socially constructed, can be both micro or macro level.

Socialization

The process of how people internalize values, norms, and beliefs of their society.

Feminist theory

Treatment of women vs. men - equal rights movements - 3 waves.

Intersectionality

How different social identities interact.

Glass escalator

How men usually get faster into jobs and higher positions than women.

Glass ceiling

Metaphor for the invisible ceiling that prevents certain people from rising above a level.

Rational choice theory

Goals are chosen rationally by seeing both the costs and benefits to make decisions.

Exchange theory

Individuals respond to rewards and punishments and the goal is to maximize rewards.

Research methods

Valid conclusions from the experiment, study design, flaws in design, making predictions.

Quantitative study

Numerical statistical analysis.

Qualitative study

Descriptive; describing what was done or how a participant reacted.

Mixed methods

Using two or more methods, including qualitative and quantitative measures.

Internal validity

Does the study measure what it says it measures?

External validity

Can the study be applied to the real world, the general population?

Social institutions

A set form that governs people's behaviour by setting values, norms, and values for them.

Iron law of Oligarchy

All forms of organization develop oligarchic ways - rule by a small group.

Weber’s ideal bureaucracy

Bureaucracy with a hierarchical structure, division of labour, and officials hired based on performance.

McDonaldization

Principles of the ideal bureaucracy applied to the private sector.

Medicalization

The process through which human conditions are defined and treated as medical conditions.

Sick Role

Those who are ill have rights and obligations to perform.

Availability vs. Accessibility

Availability is the resource available; accessibility is the support to obtain the resource.

Institutional discrimination

When a social structure engages in discriminatory practices against a group/individual.

Social epidemiology

Study of social determinants of health and use of social concepts to explain patterns in health.

Demographics

Major factors are age, immigration status, gender, and race.

Social stratification

The idea that some things don’t change based on the family you are born into.

Caste system

Based on status by birth.

Class system

Status by birth and merit.

Social mobility

Determined by your physical capital, social capital, and cultural capital.

Master status

Dominant social position in a hierarchy.

Ascribed status

Assigned to you by society regardless of your efforts.

Achieved status

One that you have earned.

Role conflict

Conflict in multiple roles with different expectations.

Role strain

Tension in the expectations of a single role.

Primary group

Who you are close to; usually small.

Secondary group

The goal-oriented type; usually bigger.

In-group

Who you belong to.

Out-group

Who you don’t identify with.

Reference group

Who a group compares themselves to.

OCEAN

Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism.

Life-course perspective

Early stages of life can influence outcomes during our later life.

Psychoanalytic perspective

Personality largely shaped by our unconscious, often stemming from childhood.

Freud’s Psychosexual Stages

Stages children go through in personality development according to Freud.

Erik Erikson

Continued Freud’s ideas and introduced psychosocial stages of development.

Behaviourist Perspective

Learned behaviours make up personality through observable and measurable behaviours.

Humanist Personality

Driven by highest potential; conflicts arise when deviated from this potential.

Social Cognitive Personality

Personality shaped by behaviours, cognition, and environment.

Trait Personality

Stable patterns of behavior, thought, and emotion.

Biological Perspective

Personality differences linked to brain structures.

Motivation

The driving force that causes us to do what we do.

Emotion

Physiological, cognitive, and behavioral responses to stimuli.

Stress

Things that pose a threat to our physical and mental well-being.

General Adaptation Syndrome

Selye's model of the body's response to stress over time.

Cognitive Dissonance

Feelings of tension when holding incompatible thoughts or beliefs.

Mental disorder

Psychological symptoms not kept with norms, and are diagnosable and treatable.

Anxiety

Excessive fear and avoidance behaviours.

Depressive disorder

Sad, empty, or irritable mood not associated with normal grief.

Bipolar disorder

Mood disorder with alternating depressive and manic phases.

Schizophrenia

Inability to distinguish reality from unreality, often with hallucinations and delusions.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Response to trauma characterized by symptoms like flashbacks and avoidance.

Personality disorders

Patterns of inflexible behaviors that cause social or personal issues.

Neurodevelopmental disorders

Disorders typically diagnosed in childhood characterized by deficits.

Neurocognitive disorders

Cognitive decline interfering with daily tasks.

Substance-related disorders

Psychological conditions arising from substance use.

Memory

Encoding, storage, and retrieval of information.

Limbic system

Emotional brain structure involved in memory and learning.

Sensation vs. Perception

Sensation is the encoding of physical stimuli; perception is the decoding of sensations into understandable information.

Attention

The process of selectively concentrating on one aspect of the environment.

Cognitive schemas

Mental frameworks that help organize and interpret information.

Heuristic

A mental shortcut for problem-solving.

Language development stages

Universal developmental stages of language acquisition in children.

Broca’s area

Brain region for language production; damage results in non-fluent aphasia.

Wernicke’s area

Brain region for language comprehension; damage results in fluent aphasia.

Linguistic relativity hypothesis

Structure and vocabulary of a language affects thoughts of its speakers.