UWorld MCAT QBank

racialization

one group designates another group with a racial identity, often based on shared group qualities, such as physical attributes (eg, skin pigmentation) or behaviors (eg, religious practices)

designating group has more social power (dominant group) and exerts social control over the designated group, which has less social power (subordinate group).

stereotype threat

a self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype

example: awareness of the stereotype "women are bad at math" before a math task hinders women's performance

cultural transmission

the process by which one generation passes culture to the next

normative organization

an organization where membership is based on morally relevant goals (volunteers)

false consciousness

situation in which people in the lower classes come to accept a belief system that harms them; the primary means by which powerful classes in society prevent protest and revolution

hidden curriculum

informal and unofficial aspects of culture that children are taught in school

humanistic psychotherapy

a type of therapy that focuses upon the more POSITIVE aspects of human beings in general and rejects the medical model

emphasis upon maladaptive personality traits, and the labeling of individuals as pathological

According to the early theory of emotion described in the second paragraph, which of the following brain structures is most critical to the experience of emotion?

hypothalamus

responsible primarily for the physiological component of emotion, such as changes in heart or respiration rate

cingulate gyrus

emotional processing/memory

escape learning vs avoidance learning

escape learning seeks to reduce the unpleasantness of something that already exists

avoidance learning is meant to prevent the unpleasantness of something that hasn't happened yet

Habituation vs. Sensitization

habituation: decreased response to a stimulus over time

sensitization: increased response to a stimulus over time

secondary reinforcer

neutral object that becomes associated with a primary reinforcer

top-down processing

guided by information, beliefs, or ideas already stored in our brain

bottom-up processing

often sensory information

95% confidence intervals for the two experimental groups are shown to overlap,

implying that the difference may or may not be statistically significant

left hemisphere of brain

controls touch and movement on the right side of the body

urea

induces UNFOLDING of proteins

average weight of single amino acid

110 Da

statistically significant

if p < .05

glycosidic bond

carbohydrate binds to another group, which could also be a carbohydrate. A glycosidic bond is found between the two glucose molecules in maltose.

sphingolipid

one fatty acid

structural

Acetylation of lysine residues in histones increases gene expression because:

the salt bridges between charged amino acids and phosphate groups are disrupted

DNA unwinds and becomes more accessible to transcription machinery

muscle tissue

not connective

Which of the following sequences accurately describes the pathway of communication between neurons?

Axon, synapse, dendrite, soma

prostaglandin

produce a localized inflammatory response

coordination number

number of ions of opposite charge that surround each ion in a crystal

atria

pump blood intro ventricles

left ventricle

pumps oxygenated blood into the aorta

heart circulation

vena cava -> RA -> RV -> pulmonary valve -->pulmonary artery to lungs (become oxygenated)

pulmonary veins -> LA -> LV -> aorta -> body

Which series depicts the order in which the precursors of steroid hormones are synthesized?

Isoprene → monoterpene → squalene → cholesterol

Michaelis-Menten equation

v = (vmax [S])/ (Km+[S])

higher Km

lower affinity for substrate

Amino acid catabolism releases nitrogen in the form of ammonia. In the liver, the urea cycle prepares ammonia for excretion. Which amino acid could undergo deamidation to produce ammonia for the urea cycle?

Glutamine

confounding variable

a factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect in an experiment

gene duplication

genes with similar sequences, or high sequence similarity

evolutionarily related

mosaic phenotype

heterozygous

cells express only one allele

bacteriophage

exclusively infect bacteria but do not enter host cells to replicate their genetic material

reverse transcriptase

enzyme encoded by some certain viruses (retroviruses) that uses RNA as a template for DNA synthesis

increased osmotic pressure of filtrate

increases urine output

pathway of sperm

spermatogonium, spermatocyte, spermatid, spermatozoon

kinesin

to periphery of cell

dynein

to nucleus

desmosome

anchor the cytoskeletons, specifically the intermediate filaments, of two cells together

in areas of high stress

B lymphocyte

antibody production

cytokine

Any of a group of proteins secreted by a number of cell types, including macrophages and helper T cells, that regulate the function of lymphocytes and other cells of the immune system

stereotype boost

enhancement in an individual's performance that may occur when one is made aware of a positive stereotype regarding the group that he or she belongs to

master status

dominates in social situations

dramaturgical approach

a view of social interaction in which people are seen as theatrical performers

elaboration likelihood model

theory identifying two ways to persuade: a central route and a peripheral route

most persuasive strategy for people who have low motivation and/or ability to process the message is to use the peripheral route of processing

Heuristic

a problem solving approach (algorithm) to find a satisfactory solution where finding an optimal or exact solution is impractical or impossible

Algorithm

a step-by-step procedure for solving a problem

incentive theory

organisms are motivated to act in order to obtain external rewards

exchange-rational choice theory

rational individuals choose the course of action that is likely to give them the greatest satisfaction

semantic memory

memory for knowledge about the world

stable with age

recalling vocabulary words

flashbulb memory

Individuals feel extremely confident about the memory, even after a long time has elapsed (may not be completely accurate)

Individuals are able to vividly recall specific details surrounding the event, including ones of seeming insignificance, such as what one was wearing or doing at the time of the event

instinctive drift

an animal's innate behaviors overshadowing a learned behavior

Animals trained to perform a specific behavior will often lose that behavior in favor of innate behaviors, even when reinforcement is present.

fixed-interval schedule

not an optimal way to train an animal to perform a new behavior because it is more difficult for the animal to associate the desired behavior with the reward

Sociological Paradigm

a set of assumptions about how society works and influences people

social constructionism

deals with social interactions

"reality" is created through interactions, resulting in an agreed-on shared meaning.

Symbolic Interactionism

meaning and value attached to symbols

individual interactions based on these symbols

buffers

weak acid and the salt of its conjugate base

CH3COOH(aq) and CH3COONa(aq)

conjugate acid

one more proton

When aqueous solutions of the various anions and cations were mixed, precipitates formed because:

the solubility product of a compound was exceeded.

pH at the equivalence point in any titration

pH of the salt solution formed

alpha decay

top number down four

bottom number down two

B- decay

up one on periodic table

B+ decay (positron emission)

one down on periodic table

Gamma decay

no change in protons or neutrons

Which gas would occupy more volume at a constant temperature and pressure, 1.5 g of N2 gas or 1.5 g of O2 gas?

Both gases occupy equal volumes.

power vs authority

power: the ability to exercise one's will over others

authority: the socially approved use of power

ethnography

study people in their natural environments (within their own communities) and provide descriptive information about the cultures, behaviors, norms, and values in a given geographic location.

dependency ratio

number of people under age 15 and over age 64 compared to the number of people active in the labor force

total fertility rate

average number of children born to a woman during her childbearing years

mechanoreceptor

sensitive to mechanical stimulation caused by pressure, vibration, or movement

includes sound

central executive system

controls deployment of attention

visuospatial sketchpad

component of working memory where we create mental images to remember visual information

phonological loop

that holds and processes verbal and auditory information

employed when manipulating spoken and written information (eg, reading a book

cocktail party effect

ability to attend to only one voice among many

speech shadowing

experimental technique in which subjects repeat speech immediately after hearing it (usually through earphones)

survey

observational

Acetyl CoA

higher ETC activity

higher ATP production

less oxygen (it is reduced to water in the last step)

PDH

pyruvate dehydrogenase

part of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex

irreversible (cannot get pyruvate or glucose from acetyl CoA)

inhibited by its product - acetyl CoA

Beta oxidation

lipoic acid

cofactor for mitochondrial enzymes needed for oxidative phosphorylation especially pyruvate dehydrogenase

tertiary structure

stabilized by interactions between R groups

including hydrogen bonding, ionic, and hydrophobic interactions and disulfide bonds

epitope

the part of an antigen molecule to which an antibody non-covalently attaches itself

negatively charged amino acids

Asp, Glu

positively charged amino acids

arginine, histidine, lysine

Scientists could confirm that an allosteric effector increases the catalytic efficiency of an enzyme if it has what effect on kcat and Km?

kcat increases, Km decreases

lyase

removal of atoms without hydrolysis

pyruvate structure

decoupling

protons that enter the mitochondrial matrix will not interact with ATP synthase

positive cooperativity

the first substrate changes the shape of the enzyme allowing other substrates to bind more easily

more than one active site

sigmoidal curve

Which experimental procedure(s) must scientists use to determine Vmax and Km of an enzymatic reaction using the Michaelis-Menten model? They must ensure that:

they only measure the initial reaction rate for each substrate concentration.

each initial substrate concentration tested is much greater than enzyme concentration.

randomized controlled trial

researchers randomly assign individuals to either an experimental or a control group and expose the experimental group to the manipulated variable of interest

sick role theory

a term associated with the functionalist Talcott Parsons to describe the patterns of behavior that a sick person adopts in order to minimize the disruptive impact of his illness on others

Rights:

1. Exemption from normal social roles & responsibilities

2. Lack of accountability for illness

Obligations:

1. Must attempt to get well

2. Must seek & comply with treatment

biomedical approach to health and illness

physiological causes (abnormal brain chemistry) result in psychological symptoms, and therefore medical treatment is advised to fix the underlying problem

emphasizes diagnosis and treatment

availability heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common

consanguineal kin

relatives by blood

fictive kin

someone who becomes accepted as part of a family to which he or she has no blood relation (adoption)