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MCAT Preparation Summer 2017 > Psychology/Sociology Terms > Flashcards

Psychology/Sociology Terms Flashcards

1
Q

What is kin selection?

A

Idea that people will help their relatives even when it is costly to them

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2
Q

What is reciprocal altruism?

A

Idea that you will help someone based on the expectation that they will in turn help you

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3
Q

What is empathy altruism?

A

Idea that you are more likely to help people you feel more empathy towards

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4
Q

What is resocialization?

A

Process of removing the behaviors and roles we have developed over time and replacing them with newly learned behaviors and roles

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5
Q

What is anticipatory socialization?

A

Process of preparing for future life roles

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6
Q

What is socialization?

A

Process of understanding norms, expectations, beliefs and values

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7
Q

What is non-material culture?

A

Refers to ideas, beliefs and attitudes of a society

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8
Q

What is a cultural universal?

A

Pattern or trait that is shared by all cultures throughout the world

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9
Q

What is material culture?

A

Physical objects or belongings of individuals within a society

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10
Q

What is a counterculture?

A

A small group within a culture that challenges or rejects the norms and values of the majority from the larger culture

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11
Q

What sociological thinker developed the concept of the “iron cage?”

A

Max Weber

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12
Q

Max Weber’s theories contribute to what sociological perspective?

A

Symbolic Interactionism

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13
Q

What is a “sense of agency?”

A

Sense that you are in control of your life. If you have

a sense of effective agency, you yourself can make choices freely and act independently with confidence.

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14
Q

What is deindividuation?

A

Tendency for people to abdicate self-awareness and responsibility in large anonymous groups (AKA “mob mentality”)

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15
Q

What is chain migration?

A

Tendency for people to follow family members and close friends to the same community in another country

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16
Q

What does our kinesthetic system focus on?

A

Balance and an individual’s sense of his body in the world

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17
Q

What is paraphilia?

A

Intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, situations, or individuals

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18
Q

What is gender dysphoria?

A

Feeling of stress or discomfort in which one’s sense of one’s gender does not align with the gender assigned at birth

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19
Q

What is androgyny?

A

Combination of masculine and feminine characteristics

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20
Q

What is general paresis?

A

General paralysis of the insane or paralytic dementia. Is a neuropsychiatric disorder affecting the brain, caused by late-stage syphilis.

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21
Q

What is delirium tremens?

A

Acute episode of delirium that is usually caused by withdrawal from alcohol

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22
Q

When is an independent samples t-test conducted?

A

When researchers wish to compare mean values of two groups

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23
Q

What is tactile perception?

A

Involves perceiving information related to touch, not an activity which requires observation and understanding of others

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24
Q

What is Theory of Mind?

A

Being able to take another person’s perspective

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25
Q

What is Vygotsky’s Social Learning Theory?

A

Describes the role of people and interactions in language acquisition, which would involve mirror neurons

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26
Q

What is stated by Chomsky’s Language Acquisition Theory?

A

Individuals have an innate language acquisition device

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27
Q

What are the “universal emotions?”

A

Anger, disgust, fear, surprise, happiness, and sadness

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28
Q

What is a moderating variable?

A

Variable which changes the relationship between two variables

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29
Q

What is a mediating variable?

A

Variable which explains the relationship between two other variables

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30
Q

What is an important characteristic of interaction variables?

A

They have effects that, when combined with the effects of other variables, are not additive

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31
Q

What is affect heuristic?

A

Process of making a judgment based on emotions that are evoked

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32
Q

What is anchoring?

A

Act of relying too much on the first information encountered

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33
Q

What are context effects? What is an example?

A

Refer to increased recall when the subject is in a similar environment as the one in which the original learning took place (i.e. deja vu)

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34
Q

In terms of recalling items on a list, what is a “miss?”

A

Occurs when stimulus was indeed present on the list, but the participant did not recognize it

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35
Q

What is the Humanist perspective centered on?

A

The use of free will and how to best apply it

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36
Q

What is a stimulus motive?

A

A motive that appears to be unlearned but causes an increase in stimulation, such as curiosity. These motives are not necessary for survival

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37
Q

What is the limbic system involved in?

A

Regulating emotions, which help guide behavior

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38
Q

What is intersectionality?

A

Analysis of how race, gender and class interact to create systems of disadvantage that are independent

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39
Q

What characterizes a variable ratio schedule of reinforcement?

A

Reinforcement is given after a variable number of responses

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40
Q

What characterizes a variable interval schedule of reinforcement?

A

Reinforcement is given after a variable amount of time

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41
Q

What characterizes a fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement?

A

Reinforcer is given after a certain number of responses that remains fixed/constant

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42
Q

What characterizes a fixed interval schedule of reinforcement?

A

Reinforcer is given after a certain amount of time has passed (amount of time remains fixed/constant)

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43
Q

What is the dependency ratio?

A

Ratio of the number of economically dependent individuals in a population to the number of economically productive individuals in a population

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44
Q

What is the social gradient in health?

A

Refers to the fact that inequalities in population health status are related to inequalities in social status

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45
Q

What are examples of absolute factors that contribute to the social gradient in health?

A

Having no education, having no money, etc.

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46
Q

What are examples of relative factors that contribute to the social gradient in health?

A

Having poor education, having an unstable employment, etc.

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47
Q

What are the nine social determinants of health according to the World Health Organization?

A

Stress, early life, social exclusion, work, employment, social support, food, addiction, transport

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48
Q

What is the linguistic relativity hypothesis?

A

Idea that the structure of human language affects the ways in which an individuals conceptualize their world

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49
Q

When are source monitoring errors made?

A

When a specific recalled experience is falsely attributed to be the source of a particular memory. Example: incorrectly recalling a conversation that occurred in a dream to be reality

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50
Q

What is latent learning?

A

Learning that occurs but is not exhibited until there is some incentive/need to demonstrate it (i.e. friend drives you to school every day so you learned the route, but you never needed to demonstrate that learning until you had to drive yourself some day in the future)

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51
Q

What is the Hawthorne Effect?

A

Idea that research participants will modify their behaviors based on their awareness that they are being studied (i.e. factory workers were more productive when they were observed)

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52
Q

What is the Thomas Theorem?

A

Idea that if an individual believes something to be real, it will be real in its consequences

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53
Q

What were the two categories of “modes of production” according to Karl Marx?

A

Forces of production and relations of production

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54
Q

What are forces of production? What are relations of production?

A

Forces- technological and material elements of society. Relations- organization of people around labor (i.e. trade).

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55
Q

According to Karl Marx, the proletariat must sell ___________ because they do not have access to ______________________, which the bourgeoisie own.

A

their labor; means of production

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56
Q

According to Karl Marx, the bourgeoisie have control of the __________ of production, and the proletariat want a change in the __________ of production.

A

Relations; forces

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57
Q

What is hegemonic culture?

A

A dominant set of ideas that are all-pervasive and taken for granted in a society

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58
Q

What are some of the subsets of conflict theory that were created using Marxist ideas?

A

Race-conflict theory, gender-conflict theory, intersectional theory

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59
Q

What is self-monitoring?

A

A long-term strategy for behavioral change that usually involves self-reflection and taking regular notes on your behaviors, thoughts and attitudes over time

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60
Q

What are examples of relapse prevention strategies in behavioral/cognitive therapies?

A

Peer support and coping strategies

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61
Q

What are the three general types of sociological organizations?

A

Coercive, normative and utilitarian

62
Q

What is characteristic of a coercive organization?

A

Members are forced to join (i.e. prison)

63
Q

What is characteristic of a utilitarian organization?

A

Members are compensated for their involvement (i.e. employees of a company)

64
Q

What is characteristic of a normative organization?

A

Members are volunteers that share a common goal or interests

65
Q

What are the different defense mechanisms in psychodynamic theory?

A

Denial, repression, displacement, projection, reaction formation, regression, sublimation, rationalization, intellectualization, compensation

66
Q

What is reaction formation?

A

A defense mechanism in which you prevent dangerous impulses from being expressed in behavior by exaggerating opposite behavior

67
Q

What is regression?

A

A defense mechanism in which you retreat to an earlier level of development or to earlier, less demanding habits or situations (i.e. acting childish)

68
Q

What is rationalization?

A

A defense mechanism in which you justify your behavior by giving reasonable and “rational.” but false reasons for it

69
Q

What is sublimation?

A

A defense mechanism in which you work off unmet desires or unacceptable impulses in activities that are constructive (i.e. jogging to relief anger)

70
Q

What is intellectualization?

A

A defense mechanism in which you use cognitive processes to separate from real problem and avoid emotions and impulses that may arise

71
Q

What is “regression to the mean” in statistics?

A

Refers to the idea that participant responses become less extreme when the individuals are assessed again; they tend to move closer to the mean

72
Q

In George Mead’s theory of the nature of the self, what are “I” and “me”?

A

“I” is the autonomous sense of self that reacts to the “me”, which is the collection of attitudes taken from society

73
Q

Who is noted for the first empirical study on the genetics of personality in 1951, which investigated the trait of neuroticism in identical and fraternal twins?

A

Hans Eysenck

74
Q

Who is known for the idea that three key traits, (cardinal, central and secondary) contribute to personality?

A

Gordon Allport

75
Q

A person with narcissistic personality disorder would have an incongruence between what two things?

A

Self-concept and reality

76
Q

What are the terms “prescriptive” and “descriptive” referring to in sociology?

A

Prescriptive refers to what an individual believes should happen; descriptive refers to what an individual perceives to be actually happening

77
Q

What is transference?

A

The inappropriate transferring of feelings about one relationship to another (i.e. childhood feelings are told to a therapist)

78
Q

What is a core nation, according to the world systems theory?

A

Dominant capitalist country which exploits the peripheral countries for labor and raw materials (i.e. United States)

79
Q

What is a semi-peripheral nation, according to the world systems theory?

A

Country that shares characteristics of both core and peripheral countries (i.e. India)

80
Q

What is a peripheral country, according to the world systems theory?

A

Country dependent on core countries for capital and that have an underdeveloped industry

81
Q

What are personal constructs?

A

Beliefs about which attributes are most important in making judgments about people

82
Q

What is anomie?

A

A breakdown of social norms that involves discarding usual ethical and moral standards; leads to widespread sense of alienation between individuals and their society

83
Q

What is autonomy in healthcare?

A

The idea that people have the right to choose what is best for their health

84
Q

What is beneficence in healthcare? What is non-beneficence?

A

Doing something for the good of your patient; doing something harmful towards your patience

85
Q

What is justice in healthcare?

A

Fairly choosing what is right for your patient, who should receive a certain treatment, etc.

86
Q

What is morbidity?

A

The relative incidence of a disease

87
Q

What is mortality?

A

The number of people who die from the disease

88
Q

How does social construction theory view human activity?

A

Views it as consisting of human creations are made through countless individual human choices and through interactions, primarily mediated through language

89
Q

Weak social constructionism consists of what two things?

A

Brute facts and institutional facts

90
Q

Strong social constructionism consists of what two things?

A

Language and habits/actions

91
Q

What is characteristic of a cross-sectional study design?

A

A group is measured at a particular point in time (as opposed to a long period of time)

92
Q

What are the two levels of social groups in psychology?

A

Primary and secondary

93
Q

What are primary social groups?

A

Relationships that are more stable, often lifelong (i.e. family or childhood friends)

94
Q

What are secondary social groups?

A

Relationships that are unlikely to last (i.e. coworkers, neighbors at a temporary home)

95
Q

What is bottom-up processing?

A

Process by which features are detected and that information is processed in parallel in order to build a more general concept of the object being perceived (stimulus influences our perception)

96
Q

What is color constancy?

A

Refers to feature of human color perception system that explains why the perceived color of an object remains constant despite various conditions

97
Q

What is racial formation?

A

Process through which social, political and economic forces influences how a society defines racial categories

98
Q

What were three factors in Max Weber’s definition of rationality?

A

Calculability, methodical behavior, reflexivity

99
Q

According to Max Weber, the transition from traditionalism to modernity began with the ________________________.

A

Protestant Reformation

100
Q

How did Max Weber define bureaucracy?

A

A hierarchy made up of many very specialized roles that is held together by formal, written communications

101
Q

According to Max Weber, what is legal-rational legitimacy?

A

A belief in the system; “you follow the rules because they are the rules”

102
Q

According to Max Weber, what is charismatic legitimacy?

A

A belief in a leader; “you follow the commands of a charismatic leader because of the extraordinary characteristics of that leader”

103
Q

What is social stratification?

A

The way that people in society are divided according to the power they hold

104
Q

According to Max Weber, social stratification is composed of what three things?

A

Class, political parties (power) and status groups (status)

105
Q

According to Max Weber, capitalism was created by which religion?

A

Calvinism (Protestantism)

106
Q

Define culture.

A

The way that non-material objects (thoughts, actions, language and values) come together with material objects to form a way of life

107
Q

What is the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis?

A

Argues that a person’s thoughts and actions are influenced by the cultural lens created by the language they speak

108
Q

Western countries tend to value _______________, while eastern countries tend to value _________________.

A

Individualism; collectivism

109
Q

What are folkways?

A

Informal rules that “go without saying”

110
Q

What are mores?

A

More official rules (than folkways) that tend to be formalized as the stated rules/laws of a society

111
Q

What are taboos?

A

Norms that are crucial to a society’s moral center, involving behaviors that are always negatively sanctioned (i.e. cannibalism)

112
Q

What is low/popular culture?

A

The cultural behaviors and ideas that are popular with most people in a society

113
Q

What is high culture?

A

Cultural patterns that distinguish society’s elite

114
Q

What is mainstream culture?

A

Cultural patterns that are broadly in line with a society’s cultural ideals and values

115
Q

What is multiculturalism?

A

Perspective that, rather than seeing society as a homogenous culture, recognizes cultural diversity while advocating for equal standing for all cultural traditions

116
Q

What are counter-cultures?

A

Cultures that push back on mainstream culture in an attempt to change how a society functions

117
Q

What is cultural diffusion?

A

Method through which cultural traits spread from one culture to another

118
Q

According to Lenkin, what is sociocultural evolution?

A

Describes the changes that occur as a society gains new technology

119
Q

What are the stages of child psychosocial development according to George Herbert Mead?

A

Imitation stage, play stage, game stage

120
Q

What is socialization?

A

The social process through which we develop our personalities and human potential and learn about our society and culture

121
Q

What is primary socialization?

A

First experiences with language, values, beliefs, behaviors and norms of society (usually through parents/family)

122
Q

What is gender socialization?

A

Learning the psychological and social traits associated with a person’s sex

123
Q

What is race socialization?

A

Process through which children learn the behaviors, values and attitudes associated with racial groups

124
Q

What is class socialization?

A

Teaches the norms, values, traits and behaviors you develop based on social class

125
Q

What are three examples of anticipatory socialization?

A

Gender, racial and class socialization

126
Q

What is anticipatory socialization?

A

The social process whereby people learn to take on the values and standards of groups that they plan to join

127
Q

What is secondary socialization?

A

Process through which children become socialized outside the home, within society at large (often starts with school)

128
Q

What are total institutions?

A

Places where people are completely isolated from outside influences; residents undergo resocialization

129
Q

What is an ascribed status?

A

A status in which a person has no choice; they’re either assigned it at birth or assigned it involuntarily later in life

130
Q

What is an achieved status?

A

A status that is earned, accomplished or obtained with at least some effort on the person’s part

131
Q

What is a master status?

A

A status others are most likely to use to identify you

132
Q

A person __________ a status, but ___________ a role.

A

Holds; performs

133
Q

What is role conflict?

A

Occurs when roles attached to different statuses create clashing demands

134
Q

What is role strain?

A

Occurs when roles attached to a single status creates difficulty managing the requirements of that status

135
Q

What is role exit?

A

When you are forced to give up a role either voluntarily or involuntarily

136
Q

Who founded the dramaturgical analysis of social interaction?

A

Erving Goffman

137
Q

What are “sign vehicles”?

A

Things we use to help convey impressions to people we interact with

138
Q

What is the front-stage self?

A

What we are allowing the “audience” to see about us

139
Q

What is the back-stage self?

A

The self we adopt when we don’t need to present ourselves; we instead prepare for the front-stage self

140
Q

What is a primary group?

A

Small and tightly knit groups bound by a very strong sense of belonging (i.e. family and friends)

141
Q

What is a secondary group?

A

Large and impersonal groups whose members are bound primarily by a shared goal or activity rather than by strong emotional ties (i.e. company)

142
Q

How do authoritarian leaders lead?

A

By giving orders and setting down rules which they expect the group to follow

143
Q

How do democratic leaders lead?

A

By trying to reach a consensus; instead of issuing orders, they consider all viewpoints and try and reach a decision

144
Q

How do laissez-faire leaders lead?

A

By mostly leaving the group to function on its own; are extremely permissive

145
Q

What is groupthink?

A

The narrowing of thought in a group; members come to believe that there is only one possible correct answer

146
Q

What are formal organizations?

A

Groups that are organized to achieve goals efficiently

147
Q

What are utilitarian organizations?

A

Organizations that serve some function for their members

148
Q

What are normative organizations?

A

Organizations that people join as volunteers; sometimes called voluntary associations

149
Q

What are coercive organizations?

A

Organizations where you don’t have a say in whether you’re a member or not (i.e. prisons)

150
Q

What is bureaucratic inertia?

A

Situation where an organization’s ultimate goal becomes just to perpetuate itself (to keep existing)

MCAT Preparation Summer 2017 (3 decks)

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