MCAT P/S HIGH YIELD

Baby Boomers

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

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

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

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

Selectively forgetting distracting elements of his/her life. Frequently associated with trauma. Other symptoms include feeling of detachment or out-of-body

Conversion Disorder

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

Operant conditioning - it includes a change in behavior due to past outcomes

Latent Learning

Learned behavior is not expressed until required

Observational Learning

Bandura - particularly imp. during childhood. Learned through watching and imitating others - modeling actions of another

Social Cognitive Theory

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

State of poverty when a person lacks a stable employment

Memory Schemas

Organized clusters of knowledge; The speed with which memory schemas are activated is presumed to indicate the participant's implicit bias

Interference Theory

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

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

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

Hallucinogens

This theory is most often associated with class based conceptions of society

Conflict Theory

Racialization

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

The arrangement or classification of people into socioeconomic strata

Increase of this creates euphoria

dopamine

Prejudice vs. Discrimination

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

If participants are equally likely to be in either group, then that is random assignment; otherwise potential bias

Social Loafing

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

For example, when participants take the same survey before and after a stimulus; they are their own control here

Medulla Oblongata

Helps regulate breathing, heart and blood vessel function, digestion, sneezing, swallowing, etc.

Groupthink

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

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

+ve events to their own character, but -ve events to external factors

Hindsight Bias

"knew it all along"

Response Bias

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

Build up of AB (beta amyloid) and NFT (neurofibrillary Tangle) proteins in certain brain areas like amygdala, hippocampus, etc.

Double Blind Research

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)

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

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

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

the alteration of behavior by the subjects of a study due to their awareness of being observed.

The Thomas theorem

"If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences."

In other words, the interpretation of a situation causes the action. This interpretation is not objective. Actions are affected by subjective perceptions of situations. Whether there even is an objectively correct interpretation is not important for the purposes of helping guide individuals' behavior.

Horizontal Mobility

When an individual changes some aspect of social status (eg. employed to unemployed) but still maintains the same relative status (same income)

Absolute Threshold of Sensation

MIn. to detect 50% of the time; Can be influenced by expectations, experience, motivation, alertness

Otolithic Organs

Help detect linear acceleration

Gestalt Principles

Principles of perception;

Similarity - similar items grouped together

pragnanz - organized into simplest (ex. olympic rings)

continuity;

closure

Photoreceptors

Normally rod is turned on, but when light hits - turns off. When off, it turns on bipolar cell which turns on retinal ganglion cell, which goes into optic nerve and enters brain. Rods are more sensitive to light, and have slower recovery time

Visual Field Processing

All right visual field goes to the left side of the brain, and vice versa

Parallel Processing

the brain simultaneously processes incoming stimuli of differing quality. This is most important in vision, as the brain divides what it sees into four components: color, motion, shape, and depth. These are individually analyzed and then compared to stored memories, which helps the brain identify what you are viewing. The brain then combines all four components into the field of view that you see and comprehend. This is a continual and seamless operation.

Basilar Tuning

Hair cells @ the base of the cochlea - activated by high frequency, and at the apex - by low frequency

Auditory Processing

From cochlea, hair cells send action potential to (finally) primary auditory cortex. Has tonotypical mapping

Proprioception vs. Kinaesthasia

Kinaesthasia does not include balance

5 main tastes

bitter, salty, sweet, sour, umami (ability to taste glutamate)

Brain Waves

Beta Waves (13-30Hz) - awake, concentration

Alpha Waves (8-13Hz) - daydreaming. Disappear in drowsiness, but appear in deep sleep

Theta Waves (7Hz) - Drowsiness, right after u fall asleep

Delta Waves (.5-3Hz) - Deep Sleep or coma

Sleep Stages

N1->N2->N3->N2->REM

Sleep Stages Waves

N1: theta, hearing/seeing things that aren't there (hypnagonic hallucinations)

N2: theta, sleep spindles & K complexes (suppress cortical arousal)

N3: delta waves, where walking/talking in sleep happens

REM: muscles paralyzed; dreaming happens. Memory consolidation happens. alpha, beta, and desychronous waves

Circadian Rhythms Control

By melatonin produced by the pineal gland

Dreaming - Why?

Activity in prefrontal cortex is decreased, which is partly responsible for logic

Dream Theories

Freud - Manifest content (monster chasing u) and Latent (means job pushing you out)

Activation Synthesis - lots of neural impulses in brainstem (activation), which can sometimes be interpreted in frontal cortex (synthesis)

Sleep Apnea

1 in 20; Stop breathing while sleeping - body realizes not getting enough oxygen and wake up gasping then fall back asleep. Can happen 100x a night Don't get enough N3 (slow-wave) sleep. Snoring is an indication, or fatigue in the morning

Cheyne Stokes Breathing

in lungs or chest, hyperventilation can occur (high pCO2, low pO2). Caused by medication/obesity Chronically elevated pCO2 can lead to right side heart failure

Hypnosis Theories

Dissociation Theory - extreme form of divided consciousness

Social Influence Theory - people do what's expected of them

Depressants

lower neural activity; think more slowly, disrupt REM sleep, remove inhibitions. E.g. alcohol

Barbiturates

Depress your CNS, used to induce sleep or reduce anxiety

Benzodiazepines

Most common suppressant. Enhance response to GABA.

Opiates

NOT a depressant. Used to treat pain and anxiety. e.g. heroine and morphine. Act at receptors for endorphins. Lead to euphoria

Stimulants

Caffeine, cocaine, amphetamines, ecstasy, nicotine, etc. Disrupt sleep. Cocaine is strong - releases so much dopamine, serotonin, and norE that it depletes brain's supply.

Amphetamines and meth also trigger dopamine release, and euphoria can last for 8 hrs. Highly addictive

Hallucinogens

Ecstasy (stimulant & hallu), increases dopamine and serotonin

Some are used for PTSD treatment. Less addictive

Reward Pathway

Dopamine produced in VTA. VTA sends to Amygdala, Hippocampus, Nucleus Accumbens, Prefrontal Cortex. Dopamine goes up

Substance use disorders

1) tolerance

2) withdrawal

Motivational Interviewing

work w/ patients to find intrinsic motivation to change

Attention Cues

Exogenous (loud noise)

Endogenous(prior knowledge, cocktail party effect)

Inattentional Blindess

not aware of stuff in our visual field when attention is elsewhere in the field

Selective Attention Theories

Broadbent's Theory: Sensory register -> selective register -> higher lvl processing

Deutch&Deutch: Sensory-> higher lvl processing-> selective

Treisman Attenuation Theory: sensory -> attenuator...

Spotlight Model of Attention

Take in from all 5 senses, but don't pay attention to everything. Some are unconscious level. Priming - exposure to a stimulus affects response to another stimulus

Dual Coding Hypothesis

Easier to remember words associated with images than either one alone

Self Referencing

Way of learning by thinking of new info and how it relates to you personally. Also preparing to teach to someone else

Decay

Ebbinghaus first investigator. When we don't encode something well or retrieve for a while, we can't at all anymore. Relearning is faster

Interference

Retroactive Interference (new impairs old)

Proactive (old impairs new)

Memory with aging

Stable: implicit

Improve: semantic, crystallized IQ (ability to use knowledge/exp) & emotional intelligence

Decline: Fluidity, recall, episodic memories, prospective memory (remembering to do shit in the future)

Alzheimer's

Dementia; Symptoms are memory loss, attention, planning semantic memory loss, etc. Build up of amyloid plaques in the brain

Korsakoff's Theorem

lack of vitamin B1 or thiamine. First stage is Wernicke's encephalopathy

Conjunction Fallacy

occurs when it is assumed that multiple specific conditions are more probable than a single general one.

Availability vs. Representative Decision Making

Available = actual memories

Rep = prototype of idea; leads to conjunction fallacy

Theories of Language - Intro

Behaviorist - language is conditioned behavior

Nativist - language must be innate

Materialist - look at what happens in the brain when someone reads/writes

Interactionist - interplay between environmental cues and innate biology

More Language Theories

Universalism - thought determines language completely

Piaget - first children learnt to think a certain way, then developed language to describe thoughts

Vygotsky - language and thoughts were both independent, but converge through development

Strong Linguistic Determinism; Sapir Whorfian

the structure of a language determines a native speaker's perception and categorization of experience.

Nativist Language (Noam Chomsky)

born w/ ability to learn language

Behavior (Skinner)

Form of behavior learned through operant conditioning

Interactionist (Vygotsky)

biological + social -> language in children; Desire to communicate gives language

Broca's area

speech formation; frontal lobe

Wernicke's area

understanding; temporal lobe

Arcuate Fasciculus

Connects broca and wernicke. if damaged - conduction aphasia.

Limbic System Mnemonic

Hippo wearing a HAT

Components of Emotion

Phsyiological - > HR increases

Cognitive -> mental assessments. Result from emotions, and can cause emotions

Behavioral -> emotions may cause behavior

Theories of Emotion

James Lange: physiological -> emotion

Cannon Bard: physiological = emotion

Schacter Singer: physiological + cognitiion = emotion

Lazarus: Cognition -> emotion + physiological

Appraisal Theory of Stress

less from actual event, more from our cognitive interpretation of the event

Ambient Stressor

Perceivable but hard to control. E.g. noise, crowding

Tend and befriend

Good response to stress may be to have support system. Oxytocin -> peer bonding

Learned Helplessness

You learn from having control ripped out of hands that you don't have control;so you lose the ability to identify coping mechanisms because taking less control of outcome of yourlife

Stress Management

Perceived Control (taking back some)

Optimsim

Social Support

Cognitive Flexibility

Helps w/ Stress management; Perspective change. Work w/ counselor

Macrosociology Concepts

Functionalism

Conflict Theory

Microsociology Concepts

Symbolic Interaction

Hidden Curriculum

how to stand in line, how to treat peers, etc. learned at school. we internalize social inequalities, when boys /girls treated differently