psychology/sociology MCAT

Operational definition

Operational definition

specification of precisely what they mean by each variable

Placebo effect

believing that treatment is being administered can lead to a measurable result

Double blind

neither the person administering treatment nor the participants truly know if they are assigned to the treatment of control groups

What is the double blind used for?

Counter the placebo effect

Randomized block technique

Where participants fall along the variables they wish to homogenize, then randomly assign individuals from these groups so the variable of interest is similar between control and experiment

reliable

They measure what they’re supposed to and repeated measurements lead to similar results

null hypothesis

assume that there is no causal relationship between the variables and any measured effect

significant difference

measured difference between two groups that is large enough that it is probably not due to chance

External validity application

Makes it difficult to apply our conclusion to the real world

Examples of external validity

Experiment does not reflect real world

Selection criteria is too inclusive/exclusive

Situational effects

Lack of power

Internal validity application

If the experiment is considered well done and we can be sure that the conclusion is just and makes sense

Examples of internal validity

Responses based on social norms

Confounding variables

Lack of reliability

Sampling bias

Attrition effects

Non-experiment study types

Correlational studies

Ethnographic studies

Twin studies

Longitudinal studies

Case studies

Phenomenological studies

Correlational studies

Relationship between two quantitative variables

What is the most common type of correlation

Pearson correlation

Ethnographic studies

researchers immerse themselves completely in the lives of the people they are studying

What do twin studies test

Relationship between nature and nurture + measure heritability

Longitudinal studies

Intervallic measurements of a dependent variable over long time frames

Case studies

in-depth exploration of one individual or case

Phenomenological studies

using the introspective method to explore research questions (aka studying yourself)

Society

collection of individuals who share a culture

Sociology

understand the behavior of societies

What is the oldest theory of sociology

Functionalism

Functionalism

Conceptualizes society as a living organism with many different parts and organs, each of which have a distinct purpose

Dynamic equilibrium

structure of society is constantly changing, but also evolving in a way that maintains its health and stability

Social facts

Type of rules that help society function

Social facts examples

Laws, morals, values, religions, customs, rituals, and rules

Manifest functions

intended and obvious consequences of a social structure

Latent functions

Unintended or less recognizable consequences

Conflict theory

Views society as a competition for limited resources

Symbolic interactionism

Focuses on exchange of information through language and symbols

Dramaturgical approach

people are theatrical performers and everyday life is a stage

Social constructionism

People actively shape their reality through social interactions, thus, reality socially constructed and not inherent

Social construct

Everybody in society agreeing to treat a certain aspect a certain way regardless of its inherent value

Rational choice theory

The reason for a choice is that it provides the greatest reward at the lowest cost

Social exchange theory

There are costs and benefits to interactions and relationship, in which we prefer thee greatest personal benefit

Religiosity

Extent of influence of religion in a person’s life

Fundamentalists

Individuals who adhere strictly to religious beliefs

Rational-legal authority

Legal rules and regulations are stipulated in a document

Traditional authority

Power due to custom, tradition, or accepted practice

Charismatic authority

Individuales acquire power via persuasion

Capitalism

resources and production are mainly privately owned and goods/services are produced for a profit

Socialism

resources and production are collectively owned

Welfare capitalism

Most of the economy is private with the exception of extensive social welfare programs to serve certain needs within society

State capitalism

companies are privately run, but work closely with the government in forming laws and regulations

Food desert

fresh food is difficult to find typically in a highly populated lower-income urban environment

Culture

shared way of life, including the beliefs and practices that a social group shares

Symbolic culture

symbols that are recognized by people of the same culture

Material culture

physical objects or artifacts

Non-material culture

Thoughts, ideas, and values in a society

Popular culture

features of culture that appeal to the masses, often communicated through mass media (like TV or radio)

High culture

Describes those features held in high esteem as exemplary

Cultural universals

patterns or traits that are common to all people across different societies

Sociobiology

Study of how biology and evolution have affected human social behavior

Cultural diffusion

transfer of elements of culture from one social group to another

Cultural transmission

Elements of culture is spread across generations

Social change

societies experience a change in state

Transition shock

Period of adjustment when experiencing social change

Culture shock

Disorientation from being subjected to alternative cultures and foreign environments

Reverse culture shock

Disorientation from being subjected to your initial culture and environment after returning from a foreign environment

Sociocultural evolution

Set of theories describing the processes through which societies and cultures have progressed over time

Population

Collection of people in a defined geographical area

Crude birth rate

Annual number of births per 1000 people in a population

Crude death rate

Annual number of deaths per 1000 persons in a population

Rate of population change

Difference between crude birth rate and crude death rate

Fertility

Ability of an individual to reproduce

Fecundity

Actual measured reproductive rate of an individual or population

General/total fertility rate

Predicts the total number births per single women in a population

Replacement fertility rate

Fertility rate at which the population will remain balanced

Sub-replacement fertility

Birth rate is less than the death rate, thus, population will not be sustained

Population-lag effect

changes in total fertility rates are not reflected in the birth rate for several generations

Population momentum

Children produced during periods of higher fertility rates reproduce

Mortality

death rate in a population

Morbidity

nature and extent of disease in a population

Prevalence rate

Number of individuals experiencing a diseaseI

incidence rate

Number of new cases of a disease

Case fatality rate

measures deaths as the result of a set diagnosis or procedure

Infant mortality rate

annual number of deaths per 1000 infants under one year of age

Life expectnacy

Number of years that an individual at a given age can expect to live at present mortality rates

Migration

geographical movement of individuals

Nomadism

traditional method of continuous travel in search of natural resources as a method of sustenance

External migration

Migration to another nation

Internal migration

Migration to another region of the same nation

Voluntary migration

Internal factors (personal decision) to migrate

Involuntary migration

External factors that pose a threat to the individual in their initial environments

Immigration

entering a new area

Emigration

leaving an old area

Reverse migration

return of individuals to their former homes

Push factors

things that are unattractive about an area and may influence people to leave

Genocide

mass execution with the intention of eliminating a specific social group

Pull factors

things that are attractive about an area and may attract people

Social geography

spatial distribution of individuals and social groups

Urbanization

growth of urban areas as the result of global change

Industrialization

societies transform from agrarian to industrial in nature

Rural flight

migration from rural areas to urban areas from the other perspective

Suburbanization

population growth on the fringes of urban areas

Suburbs

Residential satellite communities located in the peripheral regions of major urban centers that are connected to the cities in some fashion

White flight

migration of whites from cities to more racially homogenous suburbs

Urban sprawl

migration of people from urban areas to otherwise remote areas

Urban blight

less functioning areas of large cities degrade as a result of urban decline