AAMC Free MCAT Full Length Exam P/S

Which is a plausible reason why participants with the attachment style investigated are less likely to seek support from others in times of stress?

A.

Participants think that others are reluctant to get close to them.

B.

Participants find it difficult to trust and depend on others.

C.

Participants do not worry that they will be abandoned by others.

D.

Participants want to merge completely with others and this desire pushes people away.

Answer B

B is correct because when people display an avoidant behavior, they are in a fragile mindset in which they try to avoid contact in any manner, because they are feeling insecure. Insecurity is a result of difficulty to trust.

As infants, what type of parent-infant interaction most likely occurred for the participants?

A.

A confused infant-parent bond that is characterized by mixed separation anxiety and a tendency for the infant to resist and have a dazed behavior

B.

An infant-parent bond that is characterized by some separation anxiety and a tendency for the infant to seek contact with the parent after separation

C.

An infant-parent bond that is characterized by strong separation anxiety and a tendency for the infant to resist contact with the parent after separation

D.

An insecure infant-parent bond that is characterized by little separation anxiety and a tendency for the infant to resist contact with the parent

Answer D

The results from the passage showed avoidant attachment. This is very close with the definition in choice D because avoidant attachment has little separation anxiety and prefers to be isolated.

Assume that participants in the study were divided into high and low avoidant attachment groups. The graph represents the percentage of ambulance workers with high and low avoidant attachment styles by the time to recover from social withdrawal following a critical incident.

Which conclusion is accurate based on the results of the graph?

A.

The largest percentage difference of social withdrawal between levels of avoidant attachment occurred one week following exposure to a critical incident.

B.

More than half of the ambulance workers with low avoidant attachment withdrew from social contacts immediately following exposure to a critical incident.

C.

Ambulance workers with high avoidant attachment were more likely than those with low avoidant attachment to report greater occurrence of social withdrawal following exposure to a critical incident.

D.

Social withdrawal was the same for high and low avoidant attachment one month following exposure to a critical incident.

Answer C

Look at the graph and be able to identify the one that is for sure proven correct.

The internal working model that sets expectations about self and others described in the study is an example of:

A.

an insight.

B.

a critical period.

C.

a cognitive schema.

D.

a heuristic.

Answer C

A. Incorrect. Insight is referred to having a thought about the solution to a problem.

B. Incorrect. Critical period is referred to the period at which one is learning and gaining insight about something.

C. Correct. Cognitive schema is referred to as basing thoughts off of ones own interpretations of the environment and self instead of true facts.

D. Incorrect. Heuristic refers to taking short cuts to find the solution of a problem.

Assume that the researchers wanted to measure a behavioral component of ambulance workers' emotion regulation following exposure to a critical incident. Based on the study, which component is most likely to be assessed?

A.

Journal entries of ambulance workers' emotional reactions following the critical incident

B.

Ambulance workers' heart rates following the critical incident

C.

Ratings of likeability from coworkers following the critical incident

D.

Observations of workers' social interactions with others following the critical incident

Answer D

A. This is more of the emotional side of the ambulance workers rather than their behavioral.

B. This is a physiological response, not behavioral response.

C. This is related to their attitude towards their coworked, and not their attitude towards the incident.

D. The question asks us to find the behavioral changes. Behavioral often refers to social interactions and habits when surrounded by people. So the closest to this is choice D.

Which brain region will be LEAST activated when participants are completing the tasks in the study?

A.

Parietal lobe

B.

Hippocampus

C.

Prefrontal cortex

D.

Amygdala

Answer A

This study requires participants to answer questions while making quick decisions, which requires the prefrontal cortex, tests their emotions, which requires the amygdala, and recall information which requires the hippocampus.

Which statement is NOT a plausible application of psychodynamic theory to explain psychological responses to upward comparison?

A.

The superego demands that the individual should either match or surpass the partner on the dimension of comparison.

B.

The ego fails to satisfy the demands of the superego, and the individual experiences anxiety.

C.

The id attempts to use the pleasure principle to resolve the subconscious conflict caused by the superego.

D.

The ego uses rationalization by suggesting that the dimension of comparison is unimportant.

The patient described in the passage is most likely using which defense mechanism?

A.

Projection

B.

Rationalization

C.

Reaction formation

D.

Emotional displacement

Answer C

A. Incorrect. Projection is when ones throws their attitudes onto someone else when they are actually the one having those thoughts, but this is not the case here because the person is accepting himself having these thoughts, but says that he is happy for the girlfriend.

B. Incorrect. Rationalization occurs when someone knows they are at fault but they cover that up and justify with false reasoning that they are not faulty.

C. Correct. The person complains that he is having these bad feelings because of his girlfriend, but he also states that his girlfriend makes him happy and he is admiring this relationship. This reverse agreement to satisfy everyone is reaction formaiton.

Was the independent variable in the study manipulated by the researchers?

A.

Yes; the researchers obtained specific measures of the actual self and the ideal self from the participants.

B.

Yes; the researchers controlled the similarity of the potential date to the participant's ratings of themselves.

C.

No; the researchers have no control over whether or not the participants prefer dates who are similar to them.

D.

No; the researchers cannot manipulate the difference between the participants' actual selves and their ideal selves.

Answer B

Researcher controlled the same score.

Which statement best explains the patient's behavior in terms of operant conditioning?

A.

Feelings of inferiority function as a positive reinforcer for attending social events with partner.

B.

Feelings of inferiority function as a negative reinforcer for attending social events with partner.

C.

Feelings of inferiority function as a positive punisher for attending social events with partner.

D.

Feelings of inferiority function as a negative punisher for attending social events with partner.

Answer C

We know that the operant conditioning should be positive because he GAINS a feeling of inferiority. And we know that it should be a punishment because it caused him to decrease the behavior of attending places with her.

Weber's characteristics of an ideal bureaucracy suggest that most formal organizations will:

A.

train employees to conduct a variety of tasks.

B.

select employees based on technical qualifications.

C.

require employees to seek consensus in decisions.

D.

evaluate employees based on individualized criteria.

Answer B

Weber's characteristics of an ideal bureaucracy states that individuals are trained to do a specific task.

A. This is the opposite of Weber's theory

B. This is correct because their job is unique to the person.

C. This requires employees to work together, which is not stated by Weber.

D. Evaluation is not something with regards to Weber's criteria.

A 34-year-old man has had a series of brief relationships with several romantic partners, but has never established a close, intimate relationship with a partner. According to Erikson's theory of psychosocial development, which outcome best describes this example?

A.

Despair

B.

Isolation

C.

Role confusion

D.

Stagnation

Which statement best describes the sociological conceptualization of race and ethnicity?

Racial and ethnic identities are:

A.

consistent across time periods and geography

B.

composed of mutually exclusive categories.

C.

based primarily on physical characteristics.

D.

institutionalized in major social structures.

Answer D

An individual can be composed of several different races and ethnicities.

If participants in the study rated the administrator's attitude more inconsistently in the "Alone" condition than in the "With Others" condition, then:

A.

the mean in the "Alone" condition would be higher than in the "With Others" condition.

B.

the mode in the "Alone" condition would be higher than in the "With Others" condition.

C.

the median in the "Alone" condition would be higher than in the "With Others" condition.

D.

the standard deviation in the "Alone" condition would be higher than in the "With Others" condition.

Answer D

Inconsistent ratings correspond with a large range of responses, which means the standard deviation will be large.