MCAT Pscyh/Soc Exams

Piaget’s Stages

1. Sensorimotor (birth-2 years) - infants learn about the world primarily through their senses and motor activities 

2. Preproportional (2-7 years) - children begin to use symbols, such as words and images, to represent objects and ideas

3. Concrete Operational (7-11 years) - children develop the ability to think logically about concrete events and objects. 

4. Formal Operational (12-beyond) - adolescents and adults develop the ability to think abstractly, reason about hypothetical problems, and use deductive logic and systematic scientific reasoning

Kohlberg’s stages

The stages of moral development outline six stages of moral reasoning: 

1. Pre-conventional morality - moral reasoning based on consequences of actions and the individual’s self-interest 

2. Conventional morality - moral reasoning based on internalizing the norms, rules, and expectations of society or one’s social group 

3. Post-Conventional Morality - moral reasoning based on abstract, universal principles that may conflict with the law

Freudian defense mechanisms

1. Repression

2. Denial

3. Projection

4. Displacement

5. Rationalization

6. Reaction Formation

7. Regression

8. Sublimation

9. Intellectualization

self-efficacy

an individual’s belief in their own capacity to do what is necessary to produce specific performance attainments or achieve desired goals

self-esteem

an external, conditional evaluation of your self-worth. It is the subjective measure of your overall opinion of yourself

self-worth

an internal, unconditional sense of value. It is the deep-seated belief that you are inherently valuable and deserving of respect, belongings, and love simply because you exist

cultural capital 

non-financial social assets that promote social mobility, like accumulated knowledge, skills, behaviors, and cultural preferences that are valued by a particular social group 

social capital

The value derived from social networks and relationships that bring trust, reciprocity, and cooperation

exchange mobility

a type of social mobility that occurs when people change places in the social hierarchy, but the overall structure and ratio of different social classes remain unchanged

Depersonalization

a symptom of serious mental illness in which a person feels like she has stepped outside of herself and is watching herself act, with no sense of control over her behavior

Stigmatization

extreme disapproval of a person based on some behavior or quality of that person

ambient stressors

chronic, low-level, and pervasive elements of an environment

acute stressors 

discrete, intense events that trigger an immediate and strong "fight-or-flight" response from the body

self-actualization

the process of realizing one’s full potential

mesolimbic pathway

a pathway in the brain connecting the midbrain to the forebrain. It releases dopamine in response to rewarding stimuli, thus reinforcing behaviors that are perceived as pleasurable

Wernicke’s area

located in the left temporal lobe, this area is involved in the understanding of written and spoken language

basal ganglia 

part of the brain that is closely associated with the control and regulation of the motor and premotor cortical areas

deindividuation

a phenomenon in which an individual loses self-awareness in groups

conformity

is defined as the adjusting of one’s behavior or thoughts to coincide with a group standard.

groupthink

occurs when the desire for harmony or conformity within a group results in irrational or dysfunctional decision-making

adrenal glands 

glands that sit on top of the kidney and release epinephrine (adrenaline). These glands also release corticosteroids, including the stress hormone cortisol.

protectionism

refers to a country rejecting trade with others and being isolative, which is inversely proportional to globalization.

serial position effect

a psychological phenomenon describing the tendency for a person to recall the first and last items in a series

Functionalism

views society and social institutions as interdependent, interacting parts of a whole.

mediating variable

a variable that explains the process or mechanism through which an independent variable affects a dependent variable

confounding variable

an additional variable that is often not taken into account during analysis

companionship support

involves giving someone a sense of social belonging, shared experience, and fun

emotional support

the expression of empathy, love, trust, and caring

Instrumental support 

the provision of concrete, material, or physical assistance to help an individual manage tasks or challenges.

Informational support

the provision of advice, guidance, suggestions, or useful facts that can help someone problem-solve or make informed decisions

Homophily

the tendency of individuals to associate and bond with others similar to themselves.

heterophily

is the tendency of individuals to collect in diverse groups.

implicit bias

the attitudes or stereotypes that affect an individual’s understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner. These biases, which can encompass both favorable and unfavorable assessments, are activated involuntarily and without an individual’s awareness.

Retrograde memory

refers to memories before an event

anterograde memory

the ability to form new long-term memories of events and information that occur after a particular point in time

the reticular formation

a set of connected nuclei in the brain stem that is responsible for regulating arousal and sleep-wake transitions. It also helps mediate transitions from relaxed wakefulness to periods of high attention

Broca’s area

located in the frontal lobe, this is one of the main areas of the cerebral cortex responsible for speech production, facial neuron control, and language processing

Self-awareness

the ability to recognize oneself as an individual separate from the environment and other individuals

Weber’s law

states that the change in a stimulus that will be just noticeable is a constant ratio of the original stimulus

k=∆I/I

where I is the intensity of the original stimulus

∆I is the just noticeable difference - the minimum change in the stimulus intensity required to be noticed

and k is a constant that is specific to each sense

negative reinforcement

Involves removing an undesirable stimulus after a behavior, making the behavior more likely to occur again

positive reinforcement 

involves adding a desirable stimulus after a behavior, making the behavior more likely to occur again 

aversive conditioning

a behavioral conditioning technique in which noxious stimuli are associated with undesirable or unwanted behaviors