Psych/Soc: AAMC Sample Test Flashcards
False memories of words that are semantically or associatively related to studied words is consistent with:
A. spreading activation.
B. depth of processing.
C. the serial position effect.
D. the existence of visuospatial sketchpad.
A. spreading activation.
This term refers to the type of attention applied to words during encoding:
A. spreading activation.
B. depth of processing.
C. the serial position effect.
D. the existence of visuospatial sketchpad.
B. depth of processing.
This term refers to improved memory for words at the beginning and at the end of a list:
A. spreading activation.
B. depth of processing.
C. the serial position effect.
D. the existence of visuospatial sketchpad.
C. the serial position effect.
Which term is proposed as a subcomponent of working memory?
A. spreading activation.
B. depth of processing.
C. the serial position effect.
D. the existence of visuospatial sketchpad.
D. the existence of visuospatial sketchpad.
Which term refers to irrelevant information interfering with recall?
A. primacy effect.
B. recency effect.
C. interference effect.
D. continuity effect.
C. interference effect.
What is proactive interference?
Information previously stored in long term memory can interfere with the learning of new information
Born to a poor family in the rural Southeastern United States, Alice walked five miles of dirt road everyday to attend a one-room school as a child. Alice would eventually become the CEO of a large corporation, earning over a million dollars in income each year. Raised in a working-class family in an urban Midwestern city, Bill grew up with little knowledge of higher education. With similar success as Alice, Bill became the president of a major private university.
Which concept is LEAST applicable to the stories of Alice and Bill?
A. Meritocracy
B. Intergenerational mobility
C. Social reproduction
D. Relative poverty
C. Social reproduction
This refers to the perpetuation of inequalities through social institutions (such as education or the economy).
Alices and Bills stories contradict social reproduction
Which statement is from an internal locus of control?
A. I worked very hard because I came from a poor family.
B. I did well in school because I had excellent teachers.
C. I got my first job because I was very lucky.
D. I am successful because I am a responsible person.
D. I am successful because I am a responsible person.
An internal locus of control is when someone attributes an outcome or behavior due to their personal traits.
An external locus of control is when something occurs that is not in the control of the person (Options A B and C are external)
The finding that incidence rates cut across demographic groups contradicts the perception that child maltreatment is subject to:
A. social reproduction.
B. institutional discrimination.
C. social stratification.
D. cultural relativism.
C. social stratification.
Social stratification refers to the hierarchy in a society (often class-based).
Which piece of information is LEAST relevant for determining the possible Physician influence of confirmation bias on child abuse diagnosis?
A. Parental concealment of child abuse from physicians
B. Physician attention to evidence of child abuse
C. Challenges posed by interpreting child abuse symptoms
D. Emotional sensitivities around child abuse as a subject
A. Parental concealment of child abuse from physicians
Confirmation bias is when someone favors information that confirms pre-existing beliefs. It can also involve biases in the search for evidence and in the interpretation of evidence
Four students, all of whom oppose a university policy to ban alcohol on campus, are placed in a room and asked to discuss their views on this policy for an hour. Which outcome is most likely?
A. The students’ views will be unchanged.
B. The students will oppose the campus policy more strongly.
C. The students will no longer oppose the campus policy.
D. The students’ views will become more moderate.
B. The students will oppose the campus policy more strongly.
This is an example of GROUP POLARIZATION
From the perspective of conflict theory, which pair of factors would be assumed to have the greatest impact on patients’ relationships with their doctors?
A. Norms and rituals
B. Power and status
C. Aggression and attachment
D. Conformity and assimilation
B. Power and status: Conflict theory emphasizes social relations of capital, power, and status as the driving forces of society.
Norms and rituations: symbolic interactionism
Aggression and attachment: Social psych or behavior
Which statement best illustrates the concept of anomie?
A. A group promotes polarized thinking among its members.
B. An individual feels disconnected from the larger community.
C. A group overemphasizes consensus among its members.
D. An individual feels too influenced by the larger community.
B. An individual feels disconnected from the larger community.
Which idea would predict that some aspects of intelligence would be impaired by a disorder while others remain intact.
A. Spearman’s idea of general intelligence
B. Gardner’s idea of eight intelligence
C. Galton’s idea of hereditary genius
D. Binet’s idea of mental age
B. Gardner’s idea of eight intelligence
Spearman’s idea of a general intelligence wouldn’t predict that some aspects of intelligence would be impaired by a disorder while others remain intact.
To make judgment regarding Galton’s idea of hereditary genius, one would need to have a more detailed account of the intelligence history of the participants’ families.
Binet’s idea of mental age does not produce any predictions that might or might not be supported by data on AS individuals.
Which intervention designed to increase the emotional processing of children makes use of extrinsic motivators?
A. Playing pleasant music while engaging the children in a task that requires recognizing emotional expressions
B. Putting emotionally expressive faces on the toys that the children play with
C. Giving the children ten minutes of play time every time they correctly name an emotional expression
D. Having the children play a memory game that requires matching emotional expressions with labels
C. Giving the children ten minutes of play time every time they correctly name an emotional expression
External motivators are introduced as an outcome of a response, as described in C, where the child is given and incentive (play time) for producing the correct response
Considering the stage that the participants are in according to Kohlberg’s theory of moral development (ages 5–6 years and 8–9 years), what changes to the study design are most likely to result in decreased aggression?
A. Lengthening the videos the participants viewed to one hour, with a 10-minute play break in between each 6-minute segment
B. The addition of a segment to the violent video that portrays the actors being put in prison for their illegal violent behaviors
C. The addition of a segment to the violent video that portrays the negative impact of violence on the victims
D. Having the participants work on an interactive task with other children before and after watching the video
B. The addition of a segment to the violent video that portrays the actors being put in prison for their illegal violent behaviors
The participants are in Kohlberg’s preconventional stage of moral development (since they are pre-adolescents). In this stage, morality is determined by what is punished or rewarded.
How would the James–Lange theory of emotion explain the aggressive emotions experienced by the participants in the experimental condition? Participants experience physiological arousal from watching violent programs and:
A. this arousal is followed by aggressive emotions.
B. they simultaneously experience aggressive emotions.
C. they interpret their arousal, which results in aggressive emotions.
D. this leads to fight-or-flight responses that are perceived as aggressive emotions.
A. this arousal is followed by aggressive emotions.
How would the Canon-Bard theory of emotion explain the aggressive emotions experienced by the participants in the experimental condition? Participants experience physiological arousal from watching violent programs and:
A. this arousal is followed by aggressive emotions.
B. they simultaneously experience aggressive emotions.
C. they interpret their arousal, which results in aggressive emotions.
D. this leads to fight-or-flight responses that are perceived as aggressive emotions.
B. they simultaneously experience aggressive emotions.
How would the two-factor theory of emotion explain the aggressive emotions experienced by the participants in the experimental condition? Participants experience physiological arousal from watching violent programs and:
A. this arousal is followed by aggressive emotions.
B. they simultaneously experience aggressive emotions.
C. they interpret their arousal, which results in aggressive emotions.
D. this leads to fight-or-flight responses that are perceived as aggressive emotions.
C. they interpret their arousal, which results in aggressive emotions.
The two age groups that participated in Study 1 (ages 5–6 years and 8–9 years) are most likely to perform differently in which task developed by Piaget?
A. Looking for an object that the researcher hides from the participant’s sight
B. Using accommodation to acquire knowledge about novel experiences
C. Deciding whether a given quantity of a liquid changes if it is poured from a narrow container to a wide container
D. Reasoning about how the end result of a story might have changed if the main character had acted differently
C. Deciding whether a given quantity of a liquid changes if it is poured from a narrow container to a wide container
The 5-to-6-year-olds are in the preoperational period and
the 8-to-9-year-olds are in the concrete operational period.
In the preoperational period, children have not typically mastered concepts of conservation, but these concepts are mastered through concrete operational period. So, the two groups are most likely to differ on a conservation task.
According to Piaget, both groups will have mastered A (object permanence) and B, and therefore do not differ on these tasks.
D requires hypothetical reasoning, which neither group has mastered yet.
Country A has a relatively weak economy, a weak political infrastructure, and competes poorly in the globalized economy. Country A is also dependent on Country B, which has a much stronger economy. According to world systems theory, Country A is a:
A. core nation.
B. semi-periphery nation.
C. periphery nation.
D. developed nation.
C. periphery nation.
World Systems Theory, which characterizes global inequalities in terms of core nations (more economically developed with strong governments and institutions) and periphery nations (less economically developed with weak governments and institutions).
Some nonverbal behaviors are interpreted similarly across cultures, while other nonverbal behaviors show cultural variation. People in different cultures are most likely to vary in their interpretations of:
A. adults’ facial expressions.
B. children’s facial expressions.
C. postures and gestures.
D. frowns and smiles.
C. postures and gestures.
Researchers surveyed participants on how frequently they help others in order to study the effect of age on altruistic behavior. Compared to older participants, younger participants reported engaging in altruistic behavior more frequently. Given the research design, which statement is NOT supported?
A. Participants’ concerns about impression management could influence their survey responses.
B. The researchers could determine whether age is directly responsible for altruistic behaviors.
C. Variables such as gender and socioeconomic status could affect participants’ responses.
D. Altruism was operationalized as the participants’ responses on the survey.
B. The researchers could determine whether age is directly responsible for altruistic behaviors.
According to Mead, the spontaneous and autonomous part of our unified self is the:
A. id.
B. ego.
C. I.
D. me.
C. I.
“I” is the spontaneous and autonomous part of the self, according to Mead’s theory of identity
“me” is the part of the self that is formed in interaction with others and with the general social environment.
