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MCAT Psych/Soc > Vocab and Concepts > Flashcards

Vocab and Concepts Flashcards

(71 cards)

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1
Q

Absolute Poverty

A

Poverty wherein ppl don’t have enough $$ to buy basic necessities

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2
Q

Achieved Status

A

A status gained as result of direct individual action

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3
Q

Adaptive Value

A

The extent to which a trait benefits a species by influening the evolutionary fitness of species

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4
Q

Alcohol Myopia

A

The inability to think about consequences and possible outcomes of one’s actions due to alcohol intox

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5
Q

Aligning actions

A

impression management strategy in which one makes questionable behavior acceptable thru excuses

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6
Q

Alter-casting

A

An impression management strategy in which one imposes an identity onto another person

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7
Q

Anomie

A

state of normlessness – erode social solidarity by excessive individualism/social inequality/isolation

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8
Q

Appraisal model

A

biologically predetermined expressions once an emotion is experienced; accepts there is cogn. antecedent to emotional expression

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9
Q

Arousal theory

A

motivation-related, certain level of arousal rq’d in order to perform actions optimally – Yerkes Dodson law

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10
Q

Ascribed status

A

status one is given at birth (e.g. race, ethnicity, sex)

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11
Q

Assimilation

A

psych: process by which new info is interpreted in terms of existing schemata
soc: behavior/culture of group or individual begins to merge with that of other group

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12
Q

Attribute substitution

A

phenomenon observed when individuals have to make judgments that are complex, but instead sub a simper sol’n or perception

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13
Q

Attribution theory

A

focuses on tendency for indiv’s to infer causes of other ppl’s behavior

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14
Q

Authentic self

A

who someone actually is, including both positive and negative attributes

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15
Q

Availability Heuristic

A

shortcut in decision-making based on most readily available (not total info)

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16
Q

Back stage

A

dramaturgical approach – setting where player free from role req’s; ehaviors may not be appropriate or acceptable, kept invisible from audience

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17
Q

Biomedical approach

A

approach to psych disorders that only consider pathophysiological causes and offers pharmaceutical treatment

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18
Q

Biopsychosocial approach

A

approach to psych disorders that considers conditions and treatments to be dependent on bio, pscyh, and social causes

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19
Q

Broca’s aphasia

A

loss of motor fxn of speech, resulting in intact understanding w/ inability to correctly produce speech

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20
Q

Cannon-bard theory

A

theory of emotion: stimulus received, then simultaneously processed psych and cognitively, allowing for conscious emotion to be experienced

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21
Q

Cataplexy

A

loss of muscle control w/ intrusion of REM sleep, during waking hours, usually caused by emotional trigger

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22
Q

Characteristic institution

A

social structure or institution about which societies are organized

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23
Q

Circular reaction

A

repetitive action that achieves a desired response; seen during Piaget’s sensorimotor stage

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24
Q

Conduction aphasia

A

speech disorder: inability to repeat words with intact spontaneous speech production and comprehension (damage to arcuate fasciculus)

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25
Confirmation bias
cogn. bias where one focuses on info that supports a given sol'n, belief, hypothesis, ignores evidence against
26
Conflict theory
theoretical framework that emphasizes role of power differentials in producing social order
27
Conservation
during quantitative analysis of child -- develops ability to tell diff between number and amount (pizza slice ex.)
28
Context effect
retrieval cue by which mem is aided when person is in location where encoding took place
29
Correspondent inference theory
people pay closer attn to intentional behav than accidental behavior when making attributions, especially when behav is unexpected
30
Critical period
development period where exposure to language is essential for eventual development of the effective use of lang; 2yo to puberty
31
Crystallized intelligence
cog capacity to understand relationships or solve problems using info acquired during schooling and other experiences
32
Cultural relativism
social groups and cultures must be studied on their own terms to be understood
33
Cultural syndrome
shared set of beliefs/attitudes/values/etc organized around central theme and found among ppl who speak same lang and share geographic region
34
Deindividuation
people will lose sense of self awareness and can act dramatically differently based on influence of a group
35
Demographic transition
transition from high birth and mortality rates to lower birth and mortality rates (pre-industrial to industrial shift)
36
Disconfirmation principle
idea that states that if evidence obtained during testing does not confirm a hypothesis, then the hyp is discarded or revised
37
Displacement
defense mech by which undeired urges are transferred from one target to a more acceptable one
38
Display rules
cultural expectations for displaying emotion
39
Dramturgical approach
impression management: world = stage and ppl are actors
40
Drive reduction theory
explains motivation as being based on the goal of eliminating uncomfortable internal states
41
Drives
deficiencies that activate partic behav focused on a goal
42
Dyssomnia
sleep disorder in which one has trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or avoiding sleep
43
Elaboration likelihood model
attitudes are formed and changed through different routes of info processing based on degree of deep thought given to persuasive info
44
Errors of growth
misuse of grammar characterized by universal app of a rule, regardless of exceptions (e.g. catched)
45
Ethnocentrism
practice of making judgments about other cultures based on values and beliefs of ones own culture
46
Eustress
positive stress
47
Fluid intelligence
ability to quickly ID relationships/connections, then use relationships/connections to make correct decisions
48
Front stage
dramaturgical approach -- setting where players in front of audience, perform roles in keeping w/ image they hope to project of themselves
49
Functional fixedness
inability to ID uses of object beyond its usual purpose
50
Functionalism
theoretical framework that explains how parts of society fit together to create a cohesive whole
51
Game theory
model that explains social interaction and decision making as a game, including strategies, incentives, and punishments
52
Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft
theory that distinguishes between two major groups: communities (beliefs, ancestry, geo) vs. societies (work together towards common goal)
53
Group conformity
compliance w/ group goals, even w/ group goals in contrast to indiv goals
54
Group polarization
tendency to decisions more extreme than indiv inclinations of group members
55
Groupthink
tendency for groups to make decisions based on ideas/sol'ns that arise w/in group w/out considering outside ideas/ethics, based on pressure to conform, remain loyal (e.g. Bay of Pigs Invasion)
56
Halo effect
cog bias in which judgments of an indiv's character can be affected by the overall impression of indiv
57
Heuristic
rule of thumb or shortcut used to make decisions
58
Implicit Personality Theory
theory stating that ppl tend to assoc traits/behavs in others and that ppl have tendency to attribute their own beliefs/opinions/ideas onto others
59
Impression Management
behavs intended to influence perceptions of others about person/object/event
60
Inclusive Fitness
Measure of reproductive success, depends on # offspring indiv has, how well supported, and how well offspring support others
61
Ingratiation
impression mgmt strategy that uses flattery to increase social acceptance
62
Instinctive Drift
tendency of animals to resist learning when a conditioned behav conflicts w/ animal's instinctive behav's
63
Interaction Process Analysis
technique of observing + immediately classifying activities of small groups
64
James-Lange theory
stimulus results in physio arousal, then leads to secondary response in which emotion consciously experienced
65
Just world hypothesis
cog bias -- "good things happen to good ppl, bad things happen to bad ppl"
66
Language acquisition device
innate capacity for lang acquisition that is triggered by exposure to lang, part of nativist (bio) perspective of lang acquisition
67
Learning (behaviorist) theory
theory that attitudes developed through forms of learning (direct contact, interaction, instruction and conditioning)
68
Linguistic relativity hyp
hyp suggesting that one's perception of reality is largely determined by content, form, and structure of lang, aka Whorfian hypothesis
69
Managing appearances
impression mgmt strategy in which one uses props, appearance, emo expression, or assoc w/ others to create positive appearance
70
Master status
status w/ which person most ID'd
71
Material culture
physical items one assoc's w/ given cultural group

MCAT Psych/Soc (1 decks)

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