Mcat Behavioral Science

Front 1

myasthenia gravis

Back 1

muscle weakness characterized by antibodies binding to acetylcholine receptors, preventing acetylcholine from binding

Front 2

Alzheimer's disease is characterized by a loss of what neurotransmitter?

Back 2

acetylcholine

Front 3

Theory of mind

Back 3

Understanding the perspective of others and that they have their own thoughts separate from yours (we don't all think the same way!)

Front 4

T/F: Correlation = Causation

Back 4

FALSE

Front 5

What do neobehaviorists believe?

Back 5

behavior can be modified by punishments or rewards

Front 6

Parkinson's disease is to low dopamine as ______ is to excess dopamine

Back 6

Schizophrenia

Front 7

hallucinogens include

functions?

Back 7

LSD, peyote, ketamine, psilocybin-containing mushrooms

distortions of reality and fantasy, enhancement of sensory experiences, introspection

Front 8

marijuana can act as

Back 8

depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogens (at high doses) - all 3

Front 9

Like alcohol, barbiturates and benzodiazepines

Back 9

decrease GABA activity and increase relaxation

Front 10

drug stimulants include?

functions?

Back 10

amphetamines, ecstasy (designer amphetamine), and cocaine

increase arousal

Front 11

depressants include?

functions?

Back 11

alcohol, benzodiazepines, and barbiturates

reduce anxiety, increase relaxation

Front 12

opiates/opioids include?

functions?

Back 12

morphine, codeine, heroin (opioid), pain pills

reduce reaction to pain, relaxation

Front 13

Learned helplessness

Back 13

repeated failure discourages further effort even when circumstances change

Front 14

Huntington's Disease

Back 14

Autosomal Dominant Disorder (as is early onset familial AD)

Front 15

What are Kohlberg's three phases of moral development ?

What does each entail?

Back 15

Front 16

What are Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development?

What do they entail?

Back 16

Front 17

What are the stages in Erikson's theory of psychological development?

What do they entail?

Back 17

Front 18

Normative social influence

Back 18

A situation where a person's behavior conforms or changes to be liked by others

Front 19

Depth-of-processing model

Back 19

information is transferred from short-term memory to long-term memory when it is processed at deeper levels of analysis

Front 20

Experiment designed to study in-group favoritism?

Back 20

The Robbers Cave Experiment

Front 21

Social Identity research indicates that strong in-group identification often leads to

Back 21

stronger in-group bias

Front 22

What is the difference between racial stereotyping, racial prejudice, and racial discrimination?

Back 22

racial stereotyping is making oversimplified ideas about people based on race

racial prejudice is attitude/feelings attached to a stereotype

discrimination is an action (such as those against minorities)

Front 23

Skinner believes that punishment is not an ideal form of behavior modification because

Back 23

he believes it is only effective as long as the punishment is present

Front 24

Primary reinforcers

Back 24

things that humans/animals do not need to learn are satisfying (i.e. basic needs)

Front 25

Secondary reinforcers

Back 25

acquire ability to reinforce behavior based on being paired with a primary reinforcer or conditioned (i.e. money, good grades, stickers)

Front 26

Bandura's "Bobo Doll" experiment demonstrated what phenomenon?

Back 26

Observational learning

(watched an adult play nice or aggressively and were likely to repeat, or if adult was punished, unlikely to repeat)

Front 27

Karl Marx is most associated with which theory?

Back 27

Conflict Theory

Front 28

Conflict Theory

Back 28

Front 29

Functionalism (William James)

Back 29

in psychology, studied how mental process help individuals adapt to their environments

Front 30

Functionalism

Back 30

in sociology, the study of structure and function of each part of society;

"all parts of society must fulfill their function to be in a normal state"

being ill is "deviant" (against social norm) from society and an unproductive member of society

Front 31

social constructionism

Back 31

how individuals create their social reality through communication and working together

(i.e. how we define justice, honor, work ethic, gender roles, dress, give value to paper money)

Front 32

Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Back 32

Front 33

Normal distribution

Back 33

Mean, median, and mode at the center of distribution

68.3% within one standard deviation, 95.44% within two, 99.74% within one

Front 34

Elevated cortisol levels correspond to an increase or decrease in depression?

Back 34

increase in depression (decrease in serotonin)

Front 35

Speech is controlled by which side of the brain

Back 35

Left hemisphere

Front 36

Gestalt principles

Back 36

Front 37

Working memory

Back 37

allows us to process and manipulate information held in short-term memory

Front 38

Positive symptoms of schizophrenia

Back 38

Front 39

Social loafing

Back 39

occurs when individuals exert less effort when performing a group task than when they perform the same task independently

Front 40

Social interference

Back 40

reduction in performance due to the presence of others

Front 41

Social facilitation

Back 41

presence of others improves an individual's performance