MCAT words - psych_soc Flashcards
(176 cards)
1
Q
symbolic interactionism
A
(micro sociology/social psychology) - how we use symbols to interact/communicate with each other. Mead
2
Q
social constructionism
A
(macro sociology) - how we as a society construct abstract concepts and principles. (education, law, money) behaviros of ppl make up the society (not universal)
3
Q
conflict theory
A
class/ power struggle
4
Q
repertory grid test
A
nterviewing technique which uses nonparametric factor analysis to determine an idiographic measure of personality.
5
Q
weber test
A
screening test for hearing performed with a tuning fork. It can detect unilateral (one-sided) conductive hearing loss (middle ear hearing loss) and unilateral sensorineural hearing loss (inner ear hearing loss).
6
Q
cochrane review
A
medical research review
7
Q
power analysis
A
allows us to determine the sample size required to detect an effect of a given size with a given degree of confidence.
8
Q
demographic transition
A
changes in birth rate and death rate and consequently on the growth-rate of population. .
9
Q
epinephrine
A
more commonly known as adrenaline, is a hormone secreted by the medulla of the adrenal glands. Strong emotions such as fear or anger cause epinephrine to be released into the bloodstream, which causes an increase in heart rate, muscle strength, blood pressure, and sugar metabolism. (sympathetic)
10
Q
confirmation bias
A
tendency to go seek out the information confirming what you already believe.
11
Q
in group bias
A
tendency to think incorrectly about or towards people in your in-group, which is Groupthink
12
Q
atttibution bias
A
tendency to view your own behavior, a situation dependent in other people’s behavior as personality trait.
13
Q
self serving bias
A
tendency to explain the world around you in an ego-protective way
14
Q
5 personality traits
A
OCEAN (openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, aggreableness, neuroticism)
15
Q
neuroticism
A
tendency of the person to be in and respond with negative emotional states
16
Q
folkways
A
normal everyday interactions like shaking hands with your right hand. polite and rude
17
Q
edicts
A
a proclamation from an authority figure.
18
Q
mores
A
a moral or ethical behavior. right or wrong
19
Q
incidence
A
how many new cases per 1000
20
Q
prevalence
A
how many cases at the moment
21
Q
ear pathway
A
Cochlea > Organ of Corti > Medial Geniculate Nucleus > Auditory Cortex
22
Q
Weber’s Law
A
Just noticeable difference (10% or more difference)
23
Q
Piaget development
A
sensorimotor (0-2, baby, object permanence), pre-operational (2-7, symbolic thinking/imagination, grammar), concrete operational (7-11, concepts attached to real situation), formal operation (11+, hypothetical abstract logic, reasoning)
24
Q
fluid intelligence
A
adapt to new situation
25
cystalized intelligence
applying previously learned knowledge
26
erikson's stages of development
trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame/doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, and integrity vs. despair (Trust Auto Industry, Idenfity with Intimate Generous integrity)
27
kholberg's stages of development
pre-conventional (obedience/punishment/ self-interest), conventional (good boygood girl/ law order), post-conventional (social contract, universal ethics)
28
demographic transition model
4-5 stages. first stage high birth rate high death rate to stage 4 low brith rate and low death rate
29
proactive social movement
pushing for a change
30
reactive
opposing change
31
social captial
who you know
32
cultural capital
the resources that can help you determine your status in a society
33
transference
when you take feelings from one source to another
34
Oedipal complex
freudian theory of early psychosexual development that involves relationships with the mother
35
repression
trying to not think about unpleasant thought
36
universal emotions
facial expressions (happy, sad, surpirse, fear, contempt disgust anger
37
I
Autonomous sense of self that reacts to the attitudes taken in from society
38
ME
Collection of attitudes taken from society
39
Superego
rational part of your mind that is hyper moral and criticizes you for not following those moral codes
40
ego
realistic part that mediates between based desires and morals
41
meritocracy
a society in which advancement is based on merit, which means skills, credential, achievements, etc. You have to have done things to merit your advancement and position in that society.
42
Periphery nations
weaker nations with poorly functioning political structures, weaker economies and military and they depend on their neighbors
43
elaborate rehearsal
a memory technique that involves thinking about the meaning of the term to be remembered, as opposed to simply repeating the word to yourself over and over.
44
depth of processing
memory recall of stimuli as a function of the depth of mental processing. Deeper levels of analysis produce more elaborate, longer-lasting, and stronger memory traces
45
discrimination
action -
46
prejudice
attitude
47
stereotype
cognitive thought
48
assimilation
adding new ideas to the framework
49
accomodation
restructuring the framework to allow for the incorporation of new ideas
50
class system
open soscial mobility is possible
51
caste
closed no social mobilitty
52
priming effect
implicit memory effect in which exposure to a stimulus influences response to a later stimulus.
53
heuristics
flawed cognitive process
54
familiarity heuristics
going with what's familiar
55
availability heuristics
going for whats readily available
56
representative heuristics
hen making judgments about the probability of an event under uncertainty ex. the probability that Steve is a librarian, for example, is assessed by the degree to which his is representative of, or similar to, the stereotype of a librarian,
57
speech shadowing
experimental technique in which subjects repeat speech immediately after hearing it
58
Verbal inputs pathway
the left ear, which first go to the auditory cortex in the right hemisphere, must be processed by the language areas of the left hemisphere
59
selective attention
process of focusing on a particular object in the environment for a certain period of time. Attention is a limited resource, so allows us to tune out unimportant details and focus on what really matters.
60
Divided attention
occurs when mental focus is on multiple tasks or ideas at once. Also known as multitasking,
61
Proximal stimuli
is the stimulus registered by the sensory receptor... the physical neural transduction of signal that allows perception. It's usually contrasted to distal stimuli, which is the actual signal source.. A lightbulb (distal stimuli) sends out photons that induces a neuronal signal that we perceive to be light (proximal).
62
The four primary types of encoding
are visual, acoustic, elaborative, and semantic.
63
semantic encoding
specific type of encoding in which the meaning of something (a word, phrase, picture, event, whatever) is encoded as opposed to the sound or vision of it.
64
p value
P< 0.05 statistically significant reject null hypothesis
65
IQ, the Wechsler Scales of Intelligence (WISC) scores are “normalized” to
a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15.
66
dopamine
neurotransmitter—a chemical released by neurons (nerve cells) to send signals to other nerve cells. The brain includes several distinct dopamine pathways, one of which plays a major role in the motivational component of reward-motivated behavior.
67
cocaine
stimulant (inc. glucose metabolism
68
heroin
depressant pain relieving sensation
69
neurotransmitters are made in
neurons
70
neurotransmitters mechanism
are exocytosed from presynaptic neurons into a synaptic cleft.
71
instinctual drift
the phenomenon whereby established habits, learned using operant techniques, eventually are replaced by innate food-related behaviors. So the learned behavior “drifts” to the organism’s species-specific (instinctual) behavior.
72
memory unaffected by aging.
the capacity for retrieving general information (i.e., semantic memory, crystallized intelligence)
73
episodic information
consists of the declarative information people have of specific experiences.
74
agents of socialization
refer to parts of society that are important for socialization (the process of learning the norms and values in a society).
75
front stage" and "back stage"
As the term/concept implies, "front stage" actions are visible to the audience and are part of the performance. People engage in "back stage" behaviors when no audience is present.
76
cultural lag
refers to the notion that culture takes time to catch up with technological innovations, and that social problems and conflicts are caused by this lag.
77
frontal lobe
executive functioning
78
cerebellum
balance fine motor functions
79
hypothalamus
homeostasis
80
thalamus
concisouness and sleep
81
hippocampus
memory, learning, emotions
82
amygdala
aggression
83
Broca's area
speech production
84
Wernicke's area
comprehension of language
85
Gestalt psychology
the theoretical approach that emphasized the idea that the ways in which people’s perceptual experience is organized result from how human brains are organized.
86
top down processing
(i.e., context effects) how our brains make use of information that has already been brought into the brain by one or more of the sensory systems.
87
flashbulb memory
when they found that people claimed to remember detail of what they were doing when they received news about an emotionally arousing event.
88
false memories
can be observed both in real-world and laboratory settings, and they are generally given with high confidence.
89
In operant conditioning studies, the subject’s motivational state is most typically operationally defined by
depriving the subject of some desirable stimulus item for a period of time.
90
life course approach
a holistic perspective that calls attention to developmental processes and other experiences across a person’s life
91
sensitive period
(also referred to as a critical period), which identifies a point in early development that can have a significant influence on physiological or behavioral functioning in later life.
92
incentive theory
motivation-- calls attention to how factors outside of individuals, including community values and other aspects of culture, can motivate behavior.
93
proactive interference
when old memories disrupt new memories
94
retroactive intereference
when new memories disrupt old memories
95
DSM -V 10 categories of diseases
3s 2p MANED (sleep, somatoform, substance/ psychotic, personality, mood, anxiety, neurocognitive, eating, dissociative)
96
Self-serving bias
is the tendency to attribute good outcomes with internal factors (for example, hard work), and ascribe bad outcomes to external factors (boss not giving a raise).
97
Ecological validity
refers to how findings from an experimental setting can be generalized to the environmental considerations in the real world.
98
Construct validity
refers to whether measures actually do assess the variables that they are intended to assess. For example, issues with how verbal abuse was defined in this study might pertain to construct validity.
99
Researcher bias
involves the researchers interjecting their own views into the experiment and biasing it.
100
Reliability
refers to the likelihood that results could be replicated.
101
subjective assessments
patients project their own subjective feelings, perceptions, and thoughts onto the assessment stimuli, yielding results that are open for inaccuracy. For example, physicians may reach a different conclusion despite seeing the same patient who says the same thing.
102
Projective personality assessments
require the participant to respond, and then their response is assessed for meaning.
103
objective personality assessment
measures specific personality characteristics based on a set of discrete options, such as in the Meyers-Briggs personality assessment.
104
Parkinson's disease,
caused by insufficient dopamine transmission in the substantia nigra. Therefore, treatments include medications designed to increase dopamine levels. Too large a dose and/or administration of such medications to a susceptible individuals might therefore increase the risk of experiencing symptoms of schizophrenia.
105
Major depressive disorder
is thought to be linked to serotonin dysregulation, not dopamine levels.
106
Convergence theory
has its roots in the functionalist perspective, which assumes that societies have certain requirements that must be met if they are to survive and operate effectively. This is not a trait among creative individuals.
107
differential association theory
individuals engage in criminal choices because they are exposed to it, while individuals who don’t commit crimes have not been exposed to this type of behavior. Thus, a child going from an area in which he is likely to be exposed to crime to an area where he is not likely to be exposed will reduce the likelihood of this individual committing a crime.
108
p-value <0.05
indicates that there is a <5% chance of the observed relationship being due to chance, and this is the most commonly used threshold for deeming a result statistically significant. The power of a study refers to the ability of a study design to detect a real statistically significant effect, and it is primarily affected by the size of the study (larger samples have more power) and the size of the effect (larger effects are easier to identify).
109
bases of power model,
an individual with referent power exerts control by appealing to others' desire to belong to a group. This type of control is most likely to appeal to individuals through external factors, such as appearing desirable or feeling included and not knowledge or logic or evidence.
110
confabulation
Korsakoff’s syndrome symptom – making up memories to fill in gaps and then believing that those memories are true.
111
Korsakoff's syndrome
is a neurological disorder that is most often seen in people who have severe prolonged alcoholism, as a result of which they experience severe thiamine deficiency.
112
absolute refractory period
Na+ channels are inactivated, and K+ channels are activated. lasts nearly the entire duration of an action potential, during which time a second action potential cannot be generated. During this time, voltage-gated sodium channels are "inactivated." If this term is not familiar, note that voltage-gated sodium channels have two gates that must be open for sodium to flow inward and depolarize the cell membrane. If the "inactivation gate" is closed, the channels are inactivated. If the inactivation gate is open but the activation gate is closed, the channel is "de-inactivated" — it isn't inactivated, but it is not yet open either.
113
relative refractory period
Na+ channels are de-inactivated, and K+ channels are activated.
This "de-inactivation" occurs once the action potential nears its end and the membrane voltage becomes sufficiently low (generally during the hyperpolarization phase). At this time, the inactivation gate opens and the activation gate closes. Since the channel is not inactivated, a stimulus could theoretically produce an action potential, but since the cell is hyperpolarized, this stimulus would need to be larger than normal
114
Sperm production
Sperm is produced by the Sertoli cells of the seminiferous tubules, not the Leydig cells
115
Role of estrogen and progesterone
together cause the endometrium to thicken. Estrogen produced from the developing follicles stimulate endometrial growth, and progesterone is responsible for converting the estrogen-primed endometrium into a receptive state.
116
testosterone production
Leydig cells
117
Estrogen and bone
inhibit bone resorption; in fact, this is the reason why post-menopausal women experience significant declines in bone density.
118
External validity
describes the generalizability of the study, or the extent to which results can be applied to a wider population.
119
Internal consistency
refers to how well the items of a test that assess a certain construct of interest correlate with each other. It is not directly relevant for whether findings can be generalized to a different population.
120
Explicit attitudes
are conscious attitudes
121
Learned helplessness
describes a situation in which a person makes many attempts to solve a problem and they are not effective. Over time, this leads to a feeling of helplessness
122
identity moratorium
describes a person who is in the midst of an identity crisis, considering changing their identity, and is actively seeking alternative identities.
123
Moral hypocrisy
is a situation in which a person appears to be a moral person but doesn’t actually try to pursue moral behavior.
124
Status quo bias
is the tendency to avoid situations or actions that may produce change, instead preferring to choose action that will keep normalcy, or the status quo.
125
Socialization
is the process of internalizing the social norms and values expected in one’s society, and mass media (such as popular music) is one source of normal socialization.
126
Mores
are norms that are deemed highly necessary to the welfare of a society and have consequences if violated. Health behaviors (like seeking help for an acute medical illness) are standards of behavior that are necessary for the well-being of everyone; if a person does not seek help, they may be shunned by family members or friends.
127
Folkways
are norms that govern everyday behavior (like holding a door open).
128
Taboos
are considered unacceptable by almost every culture (like cannibalism or incest).
129
Laws
are established standards of behavior that are written down and have very clear consequences.
130
kinship of affinity
is one in which individuals are related by choice, such as through marriage, rather than through blood, such as the other choices.
131
anomie cased by
I. Rapid changes in society II. Low levels of income III. High heterogeneity
132
Negativity bias
is when the negative aspects of a situation are focused upon, not the good aspects.
133
Internal validity
refers to the degree to which causal conclusions can be drawn from a study, which can include accounting for potential confounding variables.
134
External validity
describes the degree to which the findings of a study are generalizable to the population as a whole. Typically, this involves issues regarding the size and representativeness of the sample.
135
Face validity
describes the extent to which a study appears to assess what it is intended to assess—that is, more or less, the degree to which it “seems right” to participants and researchers.
136
Content validity
refers to whether a study comprehensively accounts for all the relevant facets of the phenomenon it is intended to investigate.
137
moderating variable
is one that either decreases or increases the strength of an association. In this case, perceived stigma moderates the relationship between taking Truvada and using condoms.
138
mediating variable
is one that provides a causal link between two variables that show a statistical relationship.
139
Impression management
involves the control of information about oneself and is characterized by flattery, boasting, and ingratiation.
140
Inclusive fitness
involves an animal behaving in ways that ensures the propagation of its genes. An animal alerting its brood that there is a predator puts that animal at risk, but ensures that its genes may survive via its offspring.
141
Kübler-Ross model
Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance (Death Always Brings Definite Acceptance.)
142
Primary aging
describes the aging of biological factors and the physical body.
143
Within-subjects design
controls for individual variations in a measurement by comparing the scores of a subject in one condition to the scores of the same subject in other conditions. Thus, each subject serves as his or her own control. In this experiment, all subjects were compared to the same type of control - themselves.
144
General adaptation syndrome
is a term created by Hans Selye to describe the body's short-term and long-term reactions to stress. Selye thought that the general adaptation syndrome involved two major systems of the body, the nervous system and the endocrine system. He then went on to outline what he considered as three distinctive stages in the syndrome's evolution. He called these stages the alarm reaction (AR), the stage of resistance (SR), and the stage of exhaustion (SE).
145
house money effect
Thaler and Johnson have found that individual risk-taking behavior is affected by prior gains and losses. They found that after a prior gain, people become more open to assuming risk since the new money is not treated as one's own.
146
gambler's fallacy
is the mistaken belief that, if something happens more frequently than normal during some period, it will happen less frequently in the future, or vice versa.
147
prisoner's dilemma
is a standard example from psychological game theory that shows why two completely "rational" individuals might not cooperate, even if it appears that it is in their best interests to do so.
148
ratio level of measurement
is one in which there are a range of quantitative responses, ordered at equally-spaced intervals, and with it being possible to score 0 (complete absence of the quantity).
149
Relative deprivation theory
posits that individuals who perceive themselves as having less resources than others will often act in ways to obtain these resources.
150
General strain theory
holds that individuals who have experienced negative events feel negative emotions, which lead to negative behaviors.
151
parietal lobe
integrates multiple inputs of sensory information, from spatial sense and navigation (proprioception) to temperature (thermoreceptors) and touch (mechanoreceptors).
152
lateral geniculate nucleus
is a visual information relay center in the thalamus. The LGN detects and interprets information from the retina and passes it on to the primary visual cortex in the occipital lobe.
153
Reciprocal determinism
is the theory set forth by Albert Bandura that a person’s behavior both influences and is influenced by personal factors and the environment.
154
Subjective norms
an individual's perception about the particular behavior, which is influenced by the judgment of significant others (e.g., parents, spouse, friends, teachers).; refer to the perceived social pressure to engage or to not engage in a behavior.
155
theory of planned belief
attitude toward behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control, together shape an individual's behavioral intentions and behaviors.
156
normative belief
ndividual's perception of social normative pressures, or relevant others' beliefs that they should or should not perform such behavior.
157
Social cognitive theory
asserts that people learn by watching others, and if they see someone is rewarded for a behavior, they are more likely to behave that way too.
158
informal sanction
is an action by a peer or group of peers that is meant to make behavior more normative. It usually involves shaming or ridicule, which is considered a punishment. When the media shames people who engage in non-normative behavior (acting like a jerk while shopping), they are trying to enforce norms in an informal way.
159
formal positive sanction
is an official reward for an action or behavior. For example, individuals who help others in a crisis are often given a reward or a medal for doing so.
160
formal negative sanction
is an official punishment for an action or behavior; for example, a customer who was violent with others may be banned from a store for life – this is a consequence enforced by a group or organization, the business or store.
161
typical (or ideal) bureaucracy
has the following defining characteristics, which were first noted by the German sociologist and political economist Max Weber: it has a formal hierarchical structure; it is managed via a set of defined, specific rules and regulations; it is organized by functional specialty, with different workers performing different, specialized tasks; it has a unified mission that is either “up-focused,” that is, to serve shareholders, a board, or some other entity that empowers it, or “in-focused”, that is, to serve itself through maximizing profit or maximizing market share; it is purposefully impersonal; and employment is based on technical qualifications, either advanced degrees or training.
162
Parkinson's Law
Weber’s six, demonstrating that the management and professional staff of bureaucracies tend to grow at a steady, predictable rate, regardless of what the organization is actually doing.
163
Protectionism
refers to a country rejecting trade with others and being isolative, which is inversely proportional to globalization.
164
Five factor model
alos called Big Five (OCEAN) Openness, conscientiousness extroversion, agreeableness, neuroticism_)
165
Biopsychosocial Model
l is an interdisciplinary model that looks at the interconnection between biology, psychology, and socio-environmental factors. The model specifically examines how these aspects play a role in topics ranging from health and disease models to human development.
166
Self-verification
refers to the tendency to seek out (and agree with) information that is consistent with one’s self-concept.
167
Serotonin
is involved in the regulation of both mood (specifically, aggression) and appetite (it is also used to regulate intestinal movements).
168
Drive theory
people are motivated to take certain actions in order to reduce the internal tension that is caused by unmet needs. homeostasis
169
latent functions
(aspects of a social institution that may serve an unacknowledged purpose)
170
sensory interaction
is the idea that one sensory modality (e.g., vision) may influence another (e.g., balance).
171
vestibular system
, in most mammals, is the sensory system that provides the leading contribution to the sense of balance and spatial orientation for the purpose of coordinating movement with balance.
172
Motion parallax
is a monocular depth cue in which we view objects that are closer to us as moving faster than objects that are further away from us.
173
frontal lobes
initiate all voluntary movement and are involved in complex reasoning skills and problem solving.
174
parietal lobes
are involved in general sensations (such as touch, temperature, pressure, vibration, etc.) and in gustation (taste).
175
temporal lobes
process auditory and olfactory sensation and are involved in short-term memory, language comprehension, and emotion.
176
occipital lobes
visual processing
