MCAT psych/soc terms

neural crest

cells at leading edge of neural fold; cells migrate outward to form the peripheral nervous system throughout the body and form disparate tissues such as dorsal root ganglia, melanocytes, and calcitonin producing cells of the thyroid

lateral hypothalamus (LH)

hunger center containing special receptors that detect when the body needs more food or fluids

ventromedial hypothalamus (VH)

satiety center providing signals to stop eating

mnemonics

various techniques for the memorization of lists

clustering

memory trick that involves taking individual elements of a large list and grouping them together into groups of elements with related meanings

peg words

associates numbers with items that rhyme or resemble numbers

Method of Ioci

associating each item in the list with a location along a route through a building that has already been memorized

primitive reflexes in infants

reflexes that disappear with age; may have served an adaptive purpose in earlier evolution; but currently are used to assess neurological development

reflex

a behavior that occurs in response to a given stimulus without higher cognitive input; motor and startle reflexes occur in adults

moro reflex

infants react to abrupt movements of their heads by flinging out their arms and then slowly retracting them and crying; usually disappears after 4 months

Alzheimer’s disease

degenerative brain disorder thought to be linked to a loss of acetylcholine in neurons that link to the hippocampus - symptoms include amnesia, neurofibrillary tangles, beta amyloid plaques, enlarged cerebral ventricles, and sundowning

sundowning

symptom of middle to late stage Alzheimer’s where the individual has increasing dysfunction in the late afternoon and evening

Parkinson’s disease (symptoms)

disease characterized by bradykinesia, resting tremor, pill-rolling tremor, masklike facies, cogwheel rigidity, and a shuffling gait wit stooped posture

bradykinesia

slowness in movement

resting tremor

a tremor that appears when muscles are not being used

pill-rolling tremor

flexing and extending the fingers while moving the thumb back and forth as if rolling something in the fingers

masklike facies

a facial expression consisting of static and expressionless facial features, staring eyes, and a partially open mouth

cogwheel rigidity

muscle tension that intermittently halts movement as an examiner attempts to manipulate a limb

L-DOPA

medication used to treat Parkinson’s that increases dopamine in the brain

borderline personality disorder

involves instability in relationships, mood, and self-image; splitting is characteristic and there are recurrent suicide attempts

dissociative amnesia

inability to recall past experience without underlying neurological disorder; in severe forms, may involve dissociative fugue

dissociative fugue

sudden change in location that may involve assumption of new identity

dissociative identity disorder

occurrence of two or more personalities that take control of a person’s behavior

norepinephrine

controls alertness and fight or flight; hormone associated with manic episodes and bipolar disorder - symptoms of high amounts include inability to sleep, irritability, impulsivity

glucocorticoids

hormone associated with depression

serotonin

hormone associated with depression

acetylcholine

hormone associated with Alzheimer’s and memory loss

major depressive disorder

sadness meeting certain conditions of severity and duration (contains at least one major depressive episode)

persistent depressive disorder

dysthymia for at least two years that does not meet criteria for major depressive disorder

seasonal affective disorder

colloquial name for major depressive disorder with seasonal onset; depression occurs during winter months

bipolar I disorder

contains at least one manic episode

bipolar II disorder

contains at least one hypomanic episode and at least one major depressive episode

cyclothymic disorder

contains hypomanic episodes with dysthymia

associative learning

learning an association between a stimulus and a response (ex. classical conditioning)

latent learning

learning that occurs without a reward but that is spontaneously demonstrated once a reward is introduced

visual encoding

saving a mental image of object, places, and surroundings

visual recall

retrieving information from a mental image

antagonist

something that acts in opposition

dopamine

neurotransmitter involved in movement regulation, aid in learning, attention and emotional response - feeling of pleasure (also associated with addiction)

penetrance

how likely it is an individual with a trait will express the trait

heritability

the percent of variation in a population due to genetics

presynaptic cell

sending neuron - fires neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft

postsynaptic cell

receiving neuron - contains receptors which bind neurotransmitters that travel across the synapse

action potential

occurs after a membrane depolarizes to a certain threshold

axon hillock

origin at which an action potential is generated due to the density of voltage gated sodium channels

myelin sheaths

speed the transmission of the signal along the length of the axon

cerebellum

part of hindbrain; maintains posture and balance; coordinates body movements

parietal lobe

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

hypothalamus

maintains homeostasis; controls autonomic nervous system; control center for thirst, body temperature, hunger

prefrontal cortex

anterior portion of frontal lobes; associated with decision making and expressing personality

stage 1 sleep

light sleep; theta and slow alpha waves

awake

beta(awake and active) and alpha waves (awake but nonactive)

stage 2 sleep

slightly deeper sleep; theta waves, sleep spindles, and k complexes

stage 3 and 4 sleep

deep sleep; delta waves (most sleep disorders mess with)

REM

occurs between stages of sleep - the body appears awake but the individual is not conscious, dreaming and memory consolidation; individual is easily awoken

signal detection theory

theory that allows us to explore response bias which refers to the tendency of subjects to systematically respond to a stimulus in a particular way due to nonsensory factors - includes hits, misses, false alarms, and correct negatives

latent function

unexpected, unintended, or unrecognizable positive consequences of manifest functions

manifest function

deliberate actions that serve to help given system

functionalism

theory that society is developed as a complex system where every aspect of society has a function in fulfills to work together and promote solidarity and stability

otosclerosis

disease that causes rigidity of the ossicles (middle ear)

hair cells

structures in ear that amplify sound - responsible for high pitched frequencies

gate theory of pain

there is a gating mechanism that can turn pain signals on or off, thereby affecting whether or not pain is received - relies on sensation

free nerve endings

sensory receptor in dermis that detects pain

ruffini endings

sensory receptors in dermis that detect stretching of skin

thermoreceptors

sensory receptors that detect temperature

temporal lobes

contains auditory cortex and Wernicke’s area; functions in memory processing, emotion, and language

auditory cortex

located in the temporal lobe; primary site of most sound processing including speech, music, and other sound information

Wernicke’s area

located temporal lobe; associated with language reception and comprehension

concrete operational

third piaget stage; children learn how to understand the perspectives of others (7-11)

conservation

a concept seen in quantitative analysis performed by a child; develops when a child is able to identify the difference between quantity in number and actual amount

object permanence

knowledge that an object does not cease to exist even when the object cannot be seen; a milestone in cognitive development

symbolic thinking

refers to the ability to pretend, play make-believe, and have an imagination

impression bias

bias in the perception that we have of others due to the unfiltered cues from their environment

halo effect

cognitive bias in which judgements about specific aspect of individual can be affected by one’s overall impression of that individual

implicit personality theory

during impression formation, people tend to place other people in categories; have sets of assumptions how different people, their traits, and their behavior are just related (close to stereotyping)

primacy effect (impressions)

idea that first impressions are often more important than subsequent impressions; first date impression is formed within the first couple of minutes

recency effect (impressions)

occurs when most recent information that we have about person is most important in forming our impressions

reliance on central traits

idea that individuals tend to organize perception of others based on traits and personal characteristics of target that are most relevant to perceiver

persona

part of our personality that we present to the world (like a mask that we wear in public)

self

point of intersection between the collective unconscious, personal unconscious, and conscious mind

shadow

responsible for the appearance of unpleasant and socially reprehensible thought feelings, and actions in our consciousness

theory of mind

the ability to sense how another person’s mind works

false belief task

test that provides evidence that children understand that a person can be mistaken about something they themselves understand

modular view of the mind

a theory that different physical areas of the brain serve different functions (only very specific ones related to the particular area of damage/developmental abnormality)

confounding variable

factor other than independent variable that may cause or influence the result

socioeconomic status (SES)

defined as social standing or class of person or group which is determined as combination of education, income, and occupation

major depressive disorder

a mood disorder characterized by at least one major depressive episode over the course of two weeks

social inequality

characterized by the unequal distribution of power, money, resources, or prestige

environmental injustice

uneven distribution of environmental hazards in communities; lower income neighborhood may lack social and political clout to prevent placement of environmental hazards in their neighborhoods

geographical stratification

changes in SES across countries, states, cities, or even neighborhoods

social immobility

opposite of social mobility which indicates one’s movement up or down social class hierarchy; implies inability to move from one social class to another

spatial inequality

unequal amounts of resources depending on geographic location

groupthink

a social phenomenon where a desire for harmony or conformity results in a group of people arriving at an incorrect or poor decision

equipose

ethical principle that describes physicians obligation to give equal quality care to all patients

just-world hypothesis

in a so-called just world, good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people; noble actions are rewarded and evil actions are punished

self-serving bias

people will view their own success as based on internal factors while viewing their failures as based on external factors; notion that good things happen because of our good traits and bad things are situational (protect self esteem)

synaptic pruning

the process over time that the brain goes through to remove connections that are weak or unhelpful and strengthen connections that are helpful

cohort study

take a single group of patients and study them over time; most useful to see differences over time in the same patients

cross-sectional study

take a snapshot of time across different groups of patients; most useful to understand differences among patients

beneficence

act in the patient’s best interest