MCAT Psychology & Sociology Review Exam Questions And Correct Answers
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Course
MCAT
Institution
MCAT
MCAT Psychology & Sociology Review
Exam Questions And Correct Answers
Name the three main parts of a neuron and the direction in which an action potential travels -
answerAxons, soma (cell body), and dendrites. Action potentials are received by dendrites
and travel from the cell body down the a...
MCAT Psychology & Sociology Review
Exam Questions And Correct Answers
Name the three main parts of a neuron and the direction in which an action potential travels -
answer✔✔Axons, soma (cell body), and dendrites. Action potentials are received by dendrites
and travel from the cell body down the axon
What determines the intensity of an electrical signal for an action potential? -
answer✔✔Frequency of action potentials
List 5 physiological changes that are associated with activation of the sympathetic nervous
system. - answer✔✔Inhibition of digestion, contraction of sphincters, inhibition of urination,
opening of airways, increased heart rate, increased blood flow to muscles, sweating,
vasoconstriction, emotional vasodilation (blushing), pupil dilation, release of epinephrine,
ejaculation/orgasm
What are the 4 lobes of the cerebral cortex and their primary functions? - answer✔✔Frontal
lobes: voluntary movement, higher order thinking
Parietal lobes: tactile sensations and gustation
Temporal lobes: audition, olfaction, short-term memory, language comprehension, emotion
Occipital lobes: vision
What are the mediums that sound vibrations travel through, from when they enter the ear to
when they are translated into an electrical signal in the auditory nerve? - answer✔✔air (sound
waves) → bone (malleus, incus, stapes) → fluid (perilymph and endolymph in the cochlea)
What is Weber's Law? - answer✔✔Weber's Law says that two stimuli must differ by some
constant proportion to be detected as unique from each other
How do peptide hormones and steroid hormones differ in the duration and immediacy of their
effects? - answer✔✔Peptide hormones tend to work rapidly and temporarily while steroid
hormones tend to work more slowly but have more permanent effects
In Baddeley's model, what are the four components of working memory? -
answer✔✔Phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, episodic buffer, central executive
Define 'confirmation bias' - answer✔✔A tendency to only seek information that supports a
preconceived conclusion and to ignore information that does not support it
What heuristic may lead an ER physician to overestimate the amount of violent crime in his/her
community? - answer✔✔Availability heuristic
Differentiate dyssomnias from parasomnias - answer✔✔Dyssomnias are abnormalities in the
amount, quality, or timing of sleep.
Parasomnias are abnormal behaviors that occur during sleep
Describe the role of cognition in the Schachter-Singer theory of emotion - answer✔✔In the
Schachter-Singer theory, cognition is the intermediary between physiological sensations and
behavioral response. It appraises, or interprets, the physiological response based on the context
which informs the behavioral response
What is the Language Acquisition Device? - answer✔✔The Language Acquisition Device is an
innate structure hypothesized by Noam Chomsky unique to the human mind that allows people
to gain mastery of language from limited exposure
Describe the speech of a patient with Wernicke's aphasia? - answer✔✔Speech will be fluent with
normal rhythm and syntax. However, the content would be unintelligible and meaningless
Differentiate between negative reinforcement and punishment. - answer✔✔Negative
reinforcement is when a negative stimulus is removed immediately following a behavior.
Punishment is either when a negative stimulus is introduced immediately following a behavior or
a positive stimulus is taken away
What are the three factors that interact with each other according to reciprocal determinism? -
answer✔✔The individual, behavior, and the environment
What is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis? - answer✔✔The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis asserts that
people understand their world through language and that language shapes how we experience our
world
What type of reinforcement schedule encourages a high frequency of responding and is most
resistant to extinction? Why? - answer✔✔The variable ratio schedule is the most resistant to
extinction because if the subject keeps responding, they will get the reinforcement after an
unpredictable amount of responses. There is more unpredictability than fixed schedules, which
string the subject along. They also respond frequently because reinforcement is based on the
number of responses rather than a time interval.
A slot machine is an example of variable-ration reinforcement
Define 'long-term potentiation' - answer✔✔Long term potentiation is when neurons that are
stimulated together develop an increased sensitivity to each other and have a stronger
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