MCAT CARS + Behavioral Sciences (Kaplan)

Rhetoric

is the art of effective communication through writing and speaking

Rhetorical analysis

is the examination of a particular work for the sake of identifying its rhetorical elements (the components of rhetorical knowledge)

The author is the individual or group writing the piece:

• authors who are experts in a topic and are writing for knowledgeable audiences may use jargon, which is vocabulary specific to a particular field

• Authors may use more opinionated words if they are passionate about the topic at hand. Authors may use more neutral words if they are less invested or knowledgeable

Tone

is a reflection of how the author feels about the subject matter. Identifying the tone can be done by noticing the author’s word choice and phrasing

Audience

refers to the person or persons the author intended to read or hear the work and is closely related to the genre

Genre

is the category to which the written work belongs, such as a book, article, essay, letter, and so on

Goal is the reason why the author wrote the work:

• The goal many passages on the MCAT is to be persuasive, that is, to convince the reader to adopt new beliefs or to take action

• Other passages may have a goal to evoking an emotional response

• Authors may write with more than one goal in mind

At a minimum, arguments contain three parts:

A conclusion, its evidence, and the one-way path of support between them.

Inferences

are unstated parts of arguments. They are claims that must be true given what else is said in the argument.

Assumptions

are unstated pieces of evidence

Implications

are unstated conclusions

Three main ways of strengthening an argument:

• Provide a new piece of evidence that supports the conclusion

• Further support evidence that already exists to support the conclusion

• Challenge refutations against the conclusion

Three main ways of weakening an argument:

• Provide a new refutation that challenges the conclusion

• Further support (find new evidence for) an existing counterargument

• Directly challenge evidence for the conclusion

Counterarguments (refutations, objections, or challenges)

are the opposite of evidence because they go against the conclusion

Author, tone, and goal should be considered ______ while reading the passages; the intended audience should be considered only when _____ by a question.

consistently; demanded

Rhetorical clues can be used to:

anticipate what is coming up in a passage

Conclusions and counterarguments should always be

explicitly identified because they are highest yield for questions.

Evidence should be:

located and connected to particular conclusions.

Inferences and strengthening and weakening should only:

be considered as prompted by questions

Neuropsychology

is the study of the connection between the nervous system and behavior. It most often focuses on the functions of various brain regions

Three types of neurons in the the nervous system:

Sensory (afferent), Motor (Efferent), and interneurons

Sensory (afferent)

are responsible for transmitting sensory information from the body to the brain, allowing us to perceive stimuli like touch, sound, and light.

Motor (Efferent)

carry signals from the brain to muscles, enabling movement and coordination

Interneurons

act as connectors between sensory and motor neurons, processing information and facilitating communication within the nervous system

Reflex arcs

use the ability of interneurons in the cord to relay information to the source of stimuli while simultaneously routing it to the brain

Central nervous system (CNS)

consists of the brain and spinal cord. It is responsible for processing information and coordinating activities throughout the body.

The brain is the control center, handling thoughts, emotions, and sensory processing, while the spinal cord acts as a communication highway, transmitting signals between the brain and the rest of the body

Peripheral nervous system (PNS)

includes all the nerves outside the central nervous system. It connects the CNS to the limbs and organs, allowing the brain to communicate with the rest of the body.

Somatic Nervous System

This part controls voluntary movements by sending signals to skeletal muscles

Autonomic Nervous System

regulates involuntary functions, such as heart rate and digestion, and is further divided into the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, which manage the body’s responses to stress and relation, respectively

The brain has three subdivisons:

hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain

Hindbrain

contains the cerebellum, medullas oblongata, and reticular formation

Midbrain

contains the inferior and superior colliculi

Forebrain

contains the thalamus, hypothalamus, basal ganglia, limbic system and cerebral cortex

Methods of studying the brain include

studying humans and animals with lesions, electrical stimulation and activity recording (including electroencephalography (EEG)), and regional cerebral blood flow

Thalamus

is a relay station for sensory information

Hypothalamus

maintains homeostasis and integrates with the endocrine system through the hypophyseal portal system that connects it to the anterior pituitary

Basal ganglia

Smoothen movements and help maintain postural stability

Limbic system

contains the septal nuclei, amygdala, and hippocampus, controls emotion and memory

Septal nuclei

involved with feeling of pleasure, pleasure-seeking behavior, and addiction

Amygdala

controls fear and aggression

Hippocampus

consolidates memories and communicates with other parts of the limbic system through an extension called the fornix

Cerebral cortex is divided into four lobes:

Frontal, parietal, occipital and temporal

Frontal lobe

controls executive function, impulse control, long-term planning, motor function and speech production

Parietal lobe

controls sensations of touch, pressure, temperature, and pain; spatial processing; orientation; and manipulation

Occipital lobe

controls visual processing

Temporal lobe

controls sound processing, speech perception, memory, and emotion

The brain is divided into two cerebral hemispheres:

left and right. In most individuals, the left hemisphere is the dominant hemisphere for language.

Neurotransmitters

are releases by neurons and carry a signal to another neuron or effector (a muscle fiber or a gland)

Acetylcholine

is used by the somatic nervous system (to move muscles), the parasympathetic nervous system, and the central nervous system (for alertness)

Dopamine

maintains smooth movements and steady posture

Endorphins and enkephalins

act as natural painkillers

Epinephrine and norepinephrine maintain what?

maintain wakefulness and alertness ands mediate fight-or-flight responses. Epinephrine tends to act as a hormone, and norepinephrine tends to act more classically as a neurotransmitter

γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glycine act as what?

brain “stabilizers”

Glutamate acts as a what?

an excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain

Serotonin

modulates mood, sleep patterns, eating patterns and dreaming

The endocrine system is tied to the nervous system through what?

the hypothalamus and the anterior pituitary, as well as a few other hormones

Cortisol

is a stress hormone released by the adrenal cortex

Testosterone and estrogen

mediate libido; testosterone also increases aggressive behavior. Both are released by the adrenal cortex. In males, the testes also produce testosterone. In females, the ovaries also produce estrogen

Nature v. nurture

is a classic debate regarding the relative contributions of genetics (nature) and environment (nurture) to an individual’s traits. For most traits, both nature and nurture play a role. The relative effects of each can be studied.

Family studies look at what?

at the relative frequency of a trait within a family compared to the general population

Twin studies

compare concordance rates between monozygotic (identical) and dizygotic (fraternal) twins,

Adoption studies

compare similarities between children who were adopted and their adoptive parents, relative to similarities with their biological parents

The nervous system develops through what?

neurulation, in which the notochord stimulates overlying ectoderm to fold over, creating a neural tube topped with neural crest cells.

Neural tube

becomes the central nervous system

Neural crest cells

spread out throughout the body, differentiating into many different tissues

Primitive reflexes

exist in infants and should disappear with age. Most primitive reflexes serve (or served, in earlier times) a protective role. They can reappear in certain nervous system disorders

In the rooting reflex

infants turn their heads toward anything that brushes the cheek

In the Moro reflex

the infant extends the arms, then slowly retracts them and cries in response to a sensation of falling

In the Babinski reflex

the big toe is extended and the other toes fan in response to the brushing of the sole of the foot.

In the grasping reflex

infants grab anything put into their hands

Development milestone give an indication of

what skills and abilities a child should have at a given age. Most children adhere closely to these milestones, deviating by only one or two months

Gross and fine motor abilities

progress head to toe and core to periphery

Social skills shift

from parent-oriented to self-oriented to other-oriented

Language skills become what?

become increasingly complex

From most deep to most superficial, the structures surrounding the brain are

the meninges, bone, periosteum, and skin

The temporal lobes have many functions, but motor skills are not associated with this area.

The temporal lobes contain Wernicke’s area, which is esponsible for language comprehension, (A). The temporal lobes also unction in memory and emotion, (B) and (C), because they contain the hippocampus and amygdala. Motor skills are associated with the frontal lobe primary motor cortex), basal ganglia (smooth movements), and cerebellum coordination).

Sense of direction is an ability of the ______ hemisphere

nondominant

Catecholamines

are the hormones produced by the adrenal glands during the fight-or-flight response, and include epinephrine, norepinephrine, and dopamine.

Low levels of Acetylcholine would result in

weakness or paralysis of muscles.

Sensation

is the conversion, or transduction, of physical, electromagnetic, auditory, and other information from the internal and external environment into electrical signals in the nervous system.

Perception

is the processing of sensory information to make sense of its significance

Sensory receptors

are nerves that respond to stimuli and trigger electrical signals

Sensory neurons are associated with

sensory ganglia-collections of cell bodies outside the central nervous system

Sensory stimuli are transmitted to

projection area in the brain, which further analyze the sensory input

Common sensory receptors include

photoreceptors, hair cells, nociceptors, thermoreceptors, osmoreceptors, olfactory receptors, and taste receptors

Photoreceptors

These cells in the eyes that detect Light. They allow use to see by converting light into electrical signals that the brain can interpret as images

Hair cells

Found in the inner ear, hair cells are responsible for hearing and balance. They move in response to sound waves or head movements, sending signals to the brain about what we hear and our position in space

Nociceptors

These receptors detect pain. They respond to potentially harmful stimuli, such as extreme heat or pressure, alerting the body to injury or danger

Thermoreceptors

These receptors sense temperature changes. They help use feel hot or cold by detecting changes in the environment and sending that information to the brain

Osmoreceptors

Located in the hypothalamus, these receptors monitor the body’s fluid balance by detecting changes in the concentration of solutes in the blood. They help regulate thirst and water retention

Olfactory receptors

These receptors are located in the nasal cavity and are responsible for the sense of smell. They detect airborne chemical and send signals to the brain to identify different odors.

Taste receptors

Found on the tongue, taste receptors allow us to perceive different flavors (Sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami). They respond to chemicals in food and send signals to the brain about what we are tasting.

Threshold

is the minimum stimulus that causes a change in signal transduction

Absolute threshold

is the minimum of stimulus energy that is needed to activate a sensory system

Threshold of conscious perception

is the minimum of stimulus energy that will create a signal large enough in size and long enough in duration to be brought into awareness

Difference threshold (or just-noticeable difference (jnd))

is the minimum difference in magnitude between two stimuli before one can perceive this difference

Weber’s law

states that the jnd for a stimulus is proportional to the magnitude of the stimulus, and that this proportion is constant over most of the range of possible stimuli

Signal detection theory

refers to the effects of non-sensory factors, such as experiences, motives, and expectations, on perception of stimuli

Signal detention experiments allow?

allow us to look at response bias. A stimulus may or may not be given, and the subject is asked to state whether or not the stimulus was given. 

There four possible outcomes: hits, misses, false alarms, or correct negatives

Adaptation

refers to a decrease in response to a stimulus over time