Psychology and Sociology MCAT Discrete Question Review

framing

the way a question is stated before problem solving begins; a way of structuring or presenting a problem or an issue

expansion

restating, in a linguistically sophisticated form, what a child has said

Maslow's definition of self-actualization

the desire for self-fulfillment, namely the tendency for an individual to become actualized in what they are potentially

frame of reference

a complex set of assumptions and attitudes which we use to filter perceptions t create meaning; can include beliefs, schemas, preferences, values, culture, and other ways in which we bias our understanding and judgement

attention shifts

occurs when directing attention to a point to increase the efficiency of processing that point and includes inhibition to decrease attentional resources to unwanted or irrelevant inputs

perceptual constancy

the tendency of animals and humans to see familiar objects as having standard shape, size, color, or location regardless of changes in the angle of perspective, distance, or lighting

the Gestalt principle of similarity

states that things which share visual characteristics such as shape, size, color, texture, value, or orientation will be seen as belonging together

just-noticeable difference

the amount something must be changed in order for a difference to be detectable at least half the time

absolute threshold

the smallest level of energy required by an external stimulus to be detectable by the human senses, including vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch

subliminal threshold

any sensory stimuli below an individual's threshold for conscious perception

libido

the energy from life instincts that drives personality (according to Freud)

eros

our life force, the will to live; the desire to create life, and favors productivity and construction

feature detectors

brain cells that analyze incoming sensory information into lines, angles, shading, and movement

fixation

the inability to adopt any different or new perspective on a problem

divergent thinking

a thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions

synesthesia

the production of a sense impression relating to one sense or part of the body by stimulation of another sense or part of the body

3 techniques used for brainwashing identified by McConnell

isolation, dependency, and reward

subliminal perception (subception)

the perception of, or reaction to, a stimulus that occurs without awareness or consciousness by the subject

saccade

a quick jump of the eye from one position to another as it takes in visual stimuli

nociceptors

pain receptors, found in the greatest number in the skin

chemoreceptors

receptors for smell and taste

photoreceptors

receptors used by the eyes to detect light

limen

a threshold below which a stimulus is not perceived or is not distinguished from another

variable ratio

a schedule of reinforcement in which reinforcement is provided after an inconsistent number of responses

representativeness heuristic

a tendency to select wrong answers because they seem to be good examples of pre-existing mental categories

base rate fallacy

when a person judges that an outcome will occur without considering prior knowledge of the probability that it will occur. They focus on other information that isn't relevant instead.

attribution

the process by which individuals explain the causes of behavior and events

proxemics

the branch of knowledge that deals with the amount of space that people feel it necessary to set between themselves and others

kinesthesia

the sense that helps us detect weight, body position, and the relationship between movements in our body parts such as joints, muscles and tendons

upward comparison

when people compare themselves to people who are more skilled or have a higher status

downward comparison

when people compare themselves to those who are less proficient or have a lower status

social comparison theory

centers on the belief that there is a drive within individuals to gain accurate self-evaluations

trichromatic theory

the theory that states that there are three receptors in the retina that are responsible for the perception of color. One receptor is sensitive to the color green, another to the color blue and a third to the color red

double-blind experiments

neither the subjects nor the persons administering the experiment are aware of the critical aspects of the experiment; used to guard against experimenter bias and placebo effects

linear perspective

a depth cue that is related to both relative size and the next depth cue, texture gradient. parallel lines that recede into the distance appear to get closer together or converge

aerial perspective/atmospheric perspective

method of creating the illusion of depth, or recession, in a painting or drawing by modulating color to simulate changes effected by the atmosphere on the colors of things seen at a distance

psychosomatic disorder

a physical disease that is thought to be caused, or made worse, by mental factors

groupthink

occurs when a group makes faulty decisions because group pressures lead to deterioration of decision-making accuracy, reality testing, and moral judgement

the halo effect

type of cognitive bias in which our overall impression of a person influences how we feel and think about his or her character

expert power

power based upon employees' perception that a manager or some other member of an organization has a high level of knowledge or a specialized set of skills that other employees or members of the organization do not possess

effective punishment

immediate, consistent, and intense

observational learning/vicarious conditioning

learning by watching others acquire responses through classical or operant conditioning

fixed-interval

a schedule of reinforcement where the first response is rewarded only after a specified amount of time has elapsed; causes high amounts of responses near the end of the interval but much slower rates of responses immediately after the delivery of the reinforcer

low-ball technique

when you get an individual to agree to your request and then afterwards you increase the original terms to ask for more

decay theory

states that forgetting occurs as a a result of the automatic decay or fading of the memory trace; focuses on time and the limited duration of short-term memory

short-term memory efficiency

recoding, chunking and rehearsal are especially important for the improvement of

eidetic imagery

the ability to retain an accurate, detailed visual image of a complex scene or pattern... or see an image that is an exact copy of the original sensory experience

foot-in-the-door technique

assumes that agreeing to a small request increases the likelihood of agreeing to a second, larger request

the serial position effect

the tendency to recall the first and last items in a series best, and the middle items worst

consolidation

the processes of stabilizing a memory trace after the initial acquisition

implicit memory

a type of memory in which previous experiences aid the performance of a task without conscious awareness of those previous experiences or the ability to explain explicitly how a task is performed

reintegrative memories

memories that are reconstructed or expanded by starting with one memory and then following chains of association to related memories

recognition memory

a subcategory of declarative memory, is the ability to recognize previously encountered events, objects, or people.

semantic memory

general world knowledge that we have accumulated throughout our lives; factual information

episodic memory

the memory of autobiographical events (times, places, associated emotions, and other contextual who, what, when, where, why knowledge) that can be explicitly stated or conjured

beta waves

waves associated with day to day wakefulness, desynchronous

alpha waves

waves that occur during periods of relaxation but while we are still awake, more synchronous

theta waves

occur in the first stage of sleep

sleep spindles

a sudden increase in wave frequency, occurs in the first two stages of sleep

k complexes

a sudden increase in wave amplitude, occurs in the first two stages of sleep

delta waves

the slowest and highest amplitude brain waves, occur during stage three and four; when sleep walking and sleep talking is most likely to occur

hypnic jerk/hypnagogic jerk

an involuntary twitch which occurs just as a person is beginning to fall asleep, often causing them to awaken suddenly for a moment

semantics

refers to the meanings of words and phrases in a particular context

morphemes

a meaningful morphological unit of a language that cannot be further divided (e.g., in, come, -ing, forming incoming

phoneme

any of the perceptually distinct units of sound in a specified language that distinguish one word from another, for example p, b, d, and t in the English words pad, pat, bad, and bat.

second-order motion perception

occurs through examining the changes in an object's position over time through feature tracking in the retina

panic disorder

a psychiatric disorder in which debilitating anxiety and fear arise frequently and without reasonable cause

agoraphobia

characterized by anxiety symptoms in reaction to situation where the sufferer perceives the environment to be dangerous, uncomfortable, or unsafe; most often involve wide-open spaces and uncontrollable social situations

ego

operates according to the reality principle, working out realistic ways of satisfying demands, often postponing satisfaction to avoid negative consequences of society; considers social realities and norms, etiquette, and rules in deciding how to behave

brainstorming

characterized by fluency, flexibility, and originality

convergent thinking

the ability to give the "correct" answer to standard questions that do not require significant creativity, for instance in most tasks in school and on standardized multiple-choice tests for intelligence

hypochondriasis

abnormal anxiety about one's health, especially with an unwarranted fear that one has a serious disease.

transduction

any process by which a biological cell converts one kind of signal or stimulus into another

a trace

some form of physical and/or chemical change in the nervous system that corresponds to memory

cannon-bard theory

suggests that emotions result when the thalamus sends a message to the brain in response to a stimulus, resulting in a physiological reaction (we feel emotions and physiological reactions simultaneously)

sensory conflict theory

a discontinuity between either visual, proprioceptive, and somatosensory input, or semicircular canal and otolith input that may result in motion sickness

social statics

those aspects of social life that have to do with order, stability, and social organization that allow societies and groups to hold together and endure

social dynamics

focuses on how society changes over time

value-free sociology

the view that sociologists must not allow their personal biases to affect the conduct of their research

verstehen

empathetic understanding of human behavior

contemporary sociology

postmodernism, feminism and critical theory

manifest function

the recognized and intended consequences of any social pattern

latent function

the unrecognized and unintended consequences of any social pattern

steps of the scientific method

ask a question, do background research, construct a hypothesis, test the hypothesis via experiment, analyze the data/draw conclusions, and communicate results

feminist research methodology

an approach to research which emphasizes inclusion, fairness, and humaneness

archival research

a type of primary research which involved seeking out and extracting evidence from original records

conformity

social influence involving a change in belief or behavior in order to fit in with a group; in response to real or imagined group pressure

positivism

the theory that laws are best understood as social rules, valid because they are enacted by authority or derive logically from existing decisions

social facilitation

the tendency for people to perform differently when in the presence of others than when alone

division of labor

the range of tasks within a social system; it is through this that social life actually occurs

achieved status

a concept denoting a social position that a person can acquire on the basis of merit; it is a position that is earned or chosen

ascribed status

he social status a person is assigned at birth or assumed involuntarily later in life; it is a position that is neither earned nor chosen but assigned.

urban centers

typically have increased rates of poverty and crime and larger and more varied minority populations

suburban population centers

typically have higher middle and upper class populations, lower rates of crime, lower rates of poverty and smaller ethnic minority populations

medicare

a federal program to provide medical care to the elderly and disabled

medicaid

a joint state and federal program to provide medical care to those living in poverty

incidence

a measure of disease that allows us to determine a person's probability of being diagnosed with a disease during a given period of time; the number of newly diagnosed cases of a disease

morbidity

a synonym for illness; a person have have several simultaneously

social reproduction

refers to the emphasis on structures and activities that transmit social inequality from one generation to the next

nonmaleficence

non-harming or inflicting the least harm possible to reach a beneficial outcome