MCAT Quicksheets Behavioral Sciences Flashcards
(195 cards)
1
Q
What are the three types of neurons in the nervous system?
A
Motor (efferent)
interneurons
sensory (afferent)
2
Q
What is the parasympathetic branch of the nervous system focused on?
A
Rest and digest
3
Q
What is the sympathetic branch of the nervous system focused on?
A
Fight or flight
4
Q
What are some of the effects from parasympathetic nervous system activation?
A
Constriction of pupils Stimulates saliva flow Constricts bronchi Slows heartbeat Stimulates peristalsis and secretion Stimulates bile production Contracts bladder
5
Q
What are some of the effects from sympathetic nervous system activation?
A
Dilates pupils inhibits salivation Relaxes bronchi Accelerates heartbeat Piloerection or sweating Inhibits peristalsis Stimulates glucose production and release Secretion of adrenaline and noradrenaline Inhibits bladder contraction Stimulates orgasm
6
Q
What is the organization of the hindbrain?
A
Contains the cerebellum, medulla oblongata, and reticular formation
7
Q
What is the organization of the midbrain?
A
contains inferior and superior colliculi
8
Q
What is the organization of the Forebrain?
A
contains the thalamus, hypothalamus, basal ganglia, limbic system, and cerebral cortex
9
Q
what is the purpose of the thalamus?
A
relay station for sensory information
10
Q
what is the purpose of the the hypothalamus?
A
maintains homeostasis and integrates with the endocrine system through the hypophyseal portal system that connects the anterior pituitary
11
Q
what is the purpose of the basal ganglia?
A
smoothens movements and helps maintain postural stability
12
Q
what is the purpose of the Limbic system?
A
controls emotion and memory
includes: Septal nuclei amygdala hippocampus fornix
13
Q
What do the Septal nuclei do in the Limbic system?
A
pleasure-seeking
14
Q
What does the amygdala control?
A
fear and aggression
15
Q
What does the hippocampus aid in?
A
memory
16
Q
What purpose does the fornix serve in the Limbic system?
A
Communication within the system
17
Q
What are the 4 lobes of the cerebral cortex?
A
Frontal, Parietal, Occipital, and Temporal
18
Q
What functions does the Frontal lobe serve?
A
Executive function Impulse Control Long-term planning Motor function Speech production
19
Q
Long term planning in the frontal lobe occurs in?
A
the prefrontal cortex
20
Q
Speech production in the frontal lobe occurs in?
A
Broca’s Area
21
Q
What functions does the Parietal lobes serve?
A
Sensation of touch, pressure, temp, and pain
Spatial processing, orientation, and manipulation
22
Q
What function does the Occipital lobe serve?
A
Visual Processing
23
Q
What function does the temporal lobe serve?
A
Sound processing, speech perception, memory, and emotion
24
Q
Sound processing occurs in what area of the temporal lobe?
A
auditory cortex
25
Speech perception occurs in what area of the temporal lobe?
Wernicke's area
26
What are the 7 main neurotransmitters?
```
Acetylcholine
Epinephrine and norepinephrine
Dopamine
Serotonin
GABA, Glycine
Glutamate
Endorpins
```
27
What is Acetylcholine responsible for?
Voluntary muscle control
Parasympathetic nervous system
attention
alertness
28
What is Epinephrine and Norepinephrine responsible for?
Fight or Flight respnses
Wakefulness
Alertness
29
What is serotonin responsible for?
Mood
sleep
eating
dreaming
30
What is GABA, Glycine responsible for
brain "stablization"
31
What is glutamate responsible for?
brain "excitation"
32
What are endorphins responsible for?
natural painkillers
33
What is sensation?
the conversion of physical stimuli into neurological signals
34
What is perception?
the processing of sensory information to make sense of it's significance
35
What do sensory receptors do?
respond to stimuli and trigger electrical signals
36
Sensory neurons do what?
transmit information from sensory receptors to the CNS
37
Where are sensory stimuli transmitted to?
projection areas in the brain which further analyze the sensory input
38
What is threshold?
the minimum stimulus that causes a change in signal transduction
39
What is Weber's law?
states that the just-noticeable difference for a stimulus is proportional to the magnitude of the stimulus, and this proportion is constant over most of the range of possible stimuli
40
What is signal detection theory?
studies the effects of nonsensory factors, such as experiences, motives, and expectations on perception of stimuli
41
Adaptation in regards to behavioral sciences is?
a decrease in response t a stimulus over time
42
What is the visual pathway of the eye?
retina->optic nerve->optic chiasm->optic tracts->lateral geniculate nucleus of thalamus->visual radiations->visual cortex
Really nice cats that totally remember class.
43
What does the cochlea do?
detects sound
44
What does the utricle and saccule do?
detect LINEAR acceleration
45
What do the semicircular canals do?
detect ROTATIONAL acceleration
46
What is the auditory pathway?
Cochlea->vestibulocochear nerve->medial geniculate nucleus (MGN) of thalamus->auditory cortex
Could very nice tall cats audit?
47
Smell is?
detection of volatile or aerosolized chemicals by olfactory chemoreceptors
48
Taste is?
detection of dissolved compounds by taste buds in papillae
49
What is somatosensation?
four touch modalities
| pressure, vibration, pain, and temperature
50
What is kinesthetic sense (proprioception)
Ability to tell where one's body is in space
51
What is Bottoms up (data driven) processing?
recognition of objects by parallel processing and feature detection.
Slower, but less prone to mistakes
52
What is Top down (conceptually driven processing)?
recognition of objects by memories and expectations with little attention to detail.
Faster but more prone to mistakes
53
What are the Gestalt principles?
ways that the brain can infer missing parts of an image when it is incomplete
54
Habituation is?
the process of becoming used to a stimulus
55
Dishabituation is?
occurs when a second stimulus intervenes, causing a resensitization to original stimulus
56
What is observational learning?
the acquisition of behavior by watching others
57
What is associative learning?
pairing together stimuli and responses, behavior and consequences
58
What is classical conditioning?
a form of associative learning in which a neutral stimulus becomes associated with an unconditioned stimulus. This stimulus then becomes the conditioned stimulus
*think pavlov
59
What is operant conditioning?
a form of associate learning in which the frequency pf a bahvior is modifed using reinforcement (increasing behavior) or punishment (decreasing behavior)
60
What is encoding (in behavioral sciences)?
the process of putting new information to memory
61
Where are memory facts stored?
via semantic networks
62
What is retrival of information based on?
Priming
63
What type of information retrevial is stronger?
Recognition of information is stronger than recall
64
What are the EEG waves and features of the awake stage of consciousness?
Beta and alpha waves
Able to perceive, process, access, and express information
65
What are the EEG waves and features of the 1 stage of consciousness?
Theta
Light sleep
66
What are the EEG waves and features of the 2 stage of consciousness?
Theta
Sleep spindles and K complexes
67
What are the EEG waves and features of the 3/4 stage of consciousness?
Delta
Slow-wave sleep, dreams, declarative memory, memory consolidation, some sleep disorders
68
What are the EEG waves and features of the REM stage of consciousness?
Mostly Beta
Appears awake physiologically, dreams, paralyzed, procedural memory consolidation, some sleep disorders
69
What are dyssomnias?
```
(amount of time sleeping)
Include:
insomnia
narcolepsy
sleep apnea
sleep deprivation
```
70
What are parasomnias?
(odd behavior during sleep)
night terrors
sleepwalking
71
What is drug addiction mediated by?
The mesolimbic system
72
what is the main neurotransmitter involved in drug addiction?
dopamine
73
Examples of depressants are?
alcohol, barbituates and benzodiazopines
74
What are the functions of depressants?
sense of relaxation and reduced anxiety
75
What are some examples of stimulants?
amphetamines, cocaine, ecstasy
76
What are the functions of stimulants?
Increased arousal
77
What are some examples of opiates?
heroin, morphine, opium, pain pills
78
What are the function of opiates?
Decreased reaction to pain and euphoria
79
What are some examples of hallucinogenes?
LSD, peyote, mescaline, ketamine, psilocybin-containing mushrooms
80
What are the function of hallucinogenes?
Distortion of reality and fantasy; introspection
81
What are Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development?
Sensorimotor stage
Preoperational stage
Concrete operational stage
Formal operation state
82
The Sensorimotor stage of Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development focuses?
on manipulating the environment to meet physical needs through circular reactions, object permanence ends this stage
83
The Preoperational stage of Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development focuses?
Focuses on symbolic thinking,egocentrism (inability to imagine what another person is thinking or feeling) and centration (focusing only on one aspect of a phenomena)
84
The Concrete Operational stage of Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development focuses?
focuses on understanding the feelings of others and manipulating physical (concrete) objects
85
The Formal Operational stage of Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development focuses?
focuses on abstract thought an problem solving
86
What is selective attention?
allows one to pay attention to a particular stimulus while determining if additional stimulus require attention in the background
87
What is divided attention?
uses automatic processing to pay attention to multiple activities at one time
88
What is Wernicke's area?
launguage comprehension, damage here results in Wernicke's aphasia
89
What is arcuate fasciculus?
connects Wernicke's area to Broca's are
damage here results in conduction aphasia (inability to repeat words despite intact speech generation and comprehesion
90
What is motivation?
driving force or motivation behind our actions
91
What is extrinsic motivation?
motivation based on external circumstances
92
What is intrinsic motivation?
motivation based on internal drive or perception
93
What is instinct theory?
innate, fixed patterns of behavior in response to stimuli
94
What is Arousal theory?
The state of being awake and reactive to stimuli; aim for optimual levels of arousal for a given task
95
What is drive reduction theory?
individuals act to relieve internal states of tension
96
What is Maslow's hierarch of needs?
```
prioritizes needs into five categories:
physiological needs highest priority
safety and security
Love and belonging
Self-esteem
Self-actualization (lowest priority)
```
97
What are the 7 universal emotions?
happiness, sadness, contempt, surprise, fear, disgust, anger
98
What is the physiological and cognitive responses to challenges or life changes?
Stress
99
What is primary appraisal?
classifying a potential stressor as irrelevant, benign-positive, or stressful
100
What is secondary appraisal?
directed at evaluating whether the organism can cope with the stress, based on harm, threat and challenge
101
A stressor is classified as something that?
leads to a stress response; can include enviromental, social, psychological, chemical and biological stressors
102
What are the 3 stages of general adaptation syndrome?
alarm, resistance and exhaustion
103
What is self-concept?
The sum of ways in which we describe ourselves, in the present, who we used to be, and who we might be in the future
104
What is Identities?
individual components of ourself concept related to groups to which we belong
105
What is self-esteem?
our evaluation of ourselves
106
What is self-efficacy?
the degree to which we see ourselves as being capable of a given skill in a given situation
107
What is the locus of control?
a self-evaluation that refers to the way we characterize the influences in our lives.
Can be either internal or external
108
What is schizophrenia?
a psychotic disorder characterized by distortions of reality and disturbances in content and form of thought, perception and behavior
109
What are the positive symptoms of schizophrenia?
hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thought and behavior
110
What are the negative symptoms of schizophrenia?
disturbance of affect and avolition
111
What is major depressive disorder?
contains at least on major depressive episode
112
What is Persistent depressive disorder?
a depressed mood for at least two years
113
What is Seasonal affective disorder?
The colloquial name for major depressive disorder with seasonal onset, with depression occuring during winter months
114
What is Bipolar I?
contains at least one manic episode
115
What is Bipolar II
contains at least one hypomanic episode and at least one major depressive episode
116
What is Cyclothymic disorder?
contains hypomanic episodes with dysthymia
117
A patient showing constant disproportionate and persistent worry would be diagnosed with?
General Anxiety Disorder
118
Specific phobias refer to?
irrational fears of specific objects
119
A patient with anxiety due to social or performance situations would be diagnosed with?
Social anxiety disorder
120
Agoraphobia is?
fear of places or situations where it is hard for an individual to escape
121
A patient with a recurrent attacks of intense, overwhelming fear and sympathetic nervous system activity with no clear stimulus would be diagnosed with a?
panic disorder
122
What is obsessive-compulsive disorder?
obsessions: persistent, intrusive thoughts and impulses
compulsions: repetitive tasks that relieve tension but cause significant impairment
123
What is body dismorphic disorder?
unrealistic negative evaluation of one's appearance or specific body part
124
What is dissociative amnesia?
inability to recall past experience
-may involve dissociative fugue
125
What is dissociative fugue?
Sudden changes in location that can involve the assumption of a new identity
126
What is dissociative identity disorder?
two or more personalities that can take control of behavior
127
What is depersonalization/derealization disorder?
feelings of detachment from the mind and body, or from the enviroment
128
In Freud's stages of psychosexual development:
| Based on tensions caused by the ___________ failure at any given stage can lead to ______________.
Based on tensions caused by the Libido failure at any given stage can lead to fixation.
129
Erickson's stages of psychosocial development:
| What are the stages?
```
Trust vs. Mistrust
autonomy vs. shame and doubt
initiative vs. guilt
industry vs. inferiority
identity vs. role confusion
intimacy vs. isolation
generativity vs. stagnation
integrity vs. despair
```
130
Kohlberg's theory of moral reasoning development describes? and what are the stage?
approaches individuals take to resolve moral dilemmas
preconventional
conventional
postconventional
131
Vygotsky's theory of cultural and biosocial development describes?
the development of language, culture and skills
132
Psychoanalytic perspective is what?
the thought that personality results from unconscious urges and desires
133
the id, superego and ego are which psychologists name for psychoanalytic perspective?
Freud
134
the collective, unconscious, and archetypes are which psychologists name for psychoanalytic perspective?
Jung
135
What perspective emphasized internal feelings of healthy individuals as they strive toward happiness and self-realization?
Humanistic perspective
136
What are the two most famous humanistic perspective theories?
Maslow: hierarchy of needs
Rogers:unconditional positive regard
137
Type and trait theory can be described as?
a number of identifiable traits that carry characteristic behaviors
138
INFJ, ENTP and ESTP are all examples of?
Myers-Briggs Type inventory
139
What is somatic symptom disorder?
at least one somatic system, which may or may not be linked to an underlying medical condition that causes disproportionate concern
140
What is Illness anxiety disorder?
preoccupation with having or coming down with a serious medical condition
141
What is conversion disorder?
unexplained symptoms affecting motor or sensory function
142
Cluster A of personality disorders can be called "odd or eccentric" and include?
paranoid, schizotypal, and schizoid
143
Cluster B of personality disorders can be referred to as "dramatic, emotional, erratic or wild" and include?
antisocial, borderline, histeonic, narcissistic
144
Cluster C of personality disorders can be referred to as "anxious, fearful, or worried" and include?
avoidant, dependent, and obsessive-compulsive
145
What is the Group psychology behind social facilitation?
Social facilitation is the ability to perform at a different level (better or worse) when others are around
146
What is the Group psychology behind deindividuation?
Deindividation is the loss of self awareness in large groups, which can lead to drastic changes in behavior
147
What is the Group psychology behind the bystander effect?
The bystander effect is that in a group, individuals are less likely to respond to a person in need
148
What is the Group psychology behind peer pressure?
Peer pressure is social influence placed on an individual by other individuals they consider equals
149
What is the Group psychology behind group polarization?
tendency towards making decisions in a group that are more extreme than the thoughts of the individual group members
150
What is the Group psychology behind group think?
Group think is the tendency to make decisions based on ideas and solutions that arise within the group without considering outside ideas
151
What is assimilation?
when one culture begins to melt into another
152
What is multiculturalism?
encouragement of multiple cultures within a community to enhance diversity
153
What is subculture?
a group that distinguishes itself from the primary culture to which it belongs
154
What is socialization?
the process of developing and spreading norms, customs, and beliefs
155
What are norms?
boundaries of acceptable behavior within society
156
What are stigmas?
extreme disapproval or dislike of a person or group based on perceived differences
157
What is deviance?
any violation of norms, rules, or expectations within a society
158
What is conformity?
changing beliefs or behaviors in order to fit into a group or society
159
What is compliance?
individuals change behavior based on the request of others
160
What is obediance?
change in behavior based on a command from someone seen as an authority figure
161
What is status?
a position in society used to calssify indivuals
162
What are Roles?
a set of beliefs, values, and norms that define the expectations of a certain stimulus
163
What are Groups?
two or more individuals with similar characteristics who share a sense of unity
164
What is a Network?
observable patterns of social relationships between individuals or groups
165
What is an organization?
group with a structure and culture designed to achieve specific goals; exists outside of each individuals's membership within organization
166
What are display rules?
unspoken rules that govern the expression of emotion
167
What is Impression management?
Maintenance of a public image through various strategies
168
What is Dramaturgical approach?
individuals create images of themselves in the same way that actors perform a role infront of an audience
169
What is interpersonal attraction influenced by?
physical, social and psychological factors
170
What is aggression?
behavior with the intention to cause harm or increase social dominance
171
What is attachment?
an emotional bond to another person, usually refers to the bond between a child and caregiver
172
What is altruism?
helping behavior in which the person's intent is to benefit someone else at personal cost
173
Attribution Theory?
focuses on the tendency for individuals to infer the causes of other's behavior
174
Attribution Theory:
| Dispositional (internal) causes?
causes relate to the features of the person who is being considered
ex: if a person is smiling and laughing one might attribute that to being happy
175
Attribution Theory:
| Situational (external) causes?
Causes relate to features of the surroundings or social context
ex: A person is crying due to their dog dying, you can attribute them being sad due to dog dying
176
Attribution Theory:
| Correspondent inference theory describes?
attributions that are made by observing the intentional behaviors performed by another person
177
Attribution Theory:
| Fundamental attribution error is?
a bias toward making dispositional attributions rather than situational attributions
ex: you diagnose a patient with depression however, the patient has not informed you that symptoms began when their dog died
178
A Stereotype is?
attitudes and impressions that are made based on limited and superficial information
179
A self-fulfilling prophecy is?
the phenomenon of a stereotype creating an expectation of a particular group, which creates conditions that lead to the confirmation of this stereotype
180
Prejudice is?
an irrationally based attitude prior to actual experience
181
Ethnocentrism is?
the practice of making judgments about other cultures based on the values and beliefs of one's own culture (in group vs. out group)
182
Cultural relativism is?
studying social groups and cultures on their own terms
183
Discrimination is when?
Prejudicial attitudes cause difference in treatment of groups
184
What is Functionalism?
focuses on the function and relationships of each component of society
185
What is Conflict theory?
focuses on how power differentials are created and how they maintain order
186
What is Symbolic interactionism?
the study of how individuals interact through a shard understanding of words, gestures, and other symbols
187
What is Social constructionism?
Explores how individuals and groups make decisions to agree upon a given social reality
188
What are demographics?
the statistical arm of sociology
189
What is migration referred to in sociology?
the movement of people into or out of a geographical location
190
What is Demographic transition?
a model used to represent drops in birth and death rates as a result of industrilization
191
A class (in social stratification) is?
a category of people with shared socioeconomic status
192
Power is?
the capacity to influence people through real or perceived rewards and punishments
193
Social capital is?
The investment people make in society in return for economic or collective rewards
194
Social reproduction is?
the passing on of social inequality, especially poverty to other generations
195
Poverty is?
low Socioeconomic status
-in the US the poverty line is the goverment's calculation of the minimum income requirements to acquire the minimum necessities of life
