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MCAT Psychology Exam Questions And Answers
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MCAT Psycholo gy Exam Qu estions And Ans wers Absolute threshold - Answer The minimum stimulus intensity required to activate a sensory receptor 50% of the time. Difference threshold (JND) - Answer The minimum noticeable difference between two sensory stimuli 50% of the time. Weber's law - Answer States that two stimuli must differ by a constant prop ortion for difference to be perceptible. Spotlight model - Answer Visual attention can shift within the visual field but can only b e focused on a single target. Phonological loop - Answer A component of working memory that allows us to repe at semantic verbal or written information to help us remember it. Visuospatial sketchpad - Answer A component of working memory that allows us to use mental imagery to help us remember semantic visual information. Episodic buffer - Answer A component of working memory that interacts with information in long term memory. Assimilation - Answer The conformation of experiences into existing schemas. Accommodation - Answer The adjustment of a schema to take into account n ew experiences. Confirmation bias - Answer The tendency to search for information that confir ms preconceived thinking. Fixation - Answer Inability to see a problem from a fresh perspective. Mental set - Answer A tendency to fixate on solutions that have worked in the past but may not apply to the current situation. Functional fixedness - Answer A tendency to perceive the functions of objects a s fixed and unchanging. Representativeness heuristic - Answer A tendency to judge the likelihoods of an eve nt occurring as based on our typical mental representations of those events. Availability heuristic - Answer A tendency to make judgments based on how rea dily available information is in our memories. Belief bias - Answer The tendency to judge arguments based on what one believes about their conclusions rather than the use of sound logic. Belief perseverance - Answer A tendency to cling to beliefs despite the presen ce of contrary evidence. Awake - Answer Alpha/beta (relaxed) waves, low amplitude, 8-12 Hz. Stage 1 - Answer Theta waves, low amplitude, 3-7 Hz. Stage 2 - Answer K-complexes/sleep spindles, moderate amplitude, 12-14Hz bursts. Stage 3 - Answer Delta waves (slow wave sleep), high amplitude, 0.5- 3 Hz. REM sleep - Answer Sawtooth waves, bursts of quick eye movements, low skeletal muscle movement = "paradoxical sleep" Activation synthesis theory - Answer A theory that suggests that dreams are byproducts of brain activation during REM sleep. Dyssomnias - Answer Abnormalities in the amount, quality, or timing of sleep. Parasomnias - Answer Abnormal behaviors that occur during sleep, usually occurring during Stage 3. Social influence theory - Answer A theory that suggests that people do and repo rt what is expected of them. Yerkes-Dodson Law - Answer A law that states that the correlation between performance and emotional arousal is U-shaped. James-Lange theory - Answer Stimulus → physical condition → emotion Cannon-Bard Theory - Answer Stimulus → emotion + physical condition (independent) Schacter-Singer Theory - Answer Stimulus → physical response → cognitive appraisal to label the emotion Lazarus Theory - Answer Stimulus → cognitive appraisal to label the emotion → physical response Nativism (universalism) - Answer Humans have a language acquisition device (LAD) that allows the mind to gain mastery of language in early childhood - huma ns have an innate ability to learn language; thought determines language. Social interactionism - Answer Human social processes play a major role in language acquisition in conjunction with operant conditioning - Vygotsky Linguistic relativism - Answer (Strong) Cognition and perception are determined by the language one speaks. (Weak) Linguistic structure *influences* cognition and perception. Nonassociative learning - Answer A type of learning in which an organism is repeatedly exposed to one type of stimulus. Habituation - Answer A decrease in responsiveness to a stimulus due to repeated exposure. Dishabituation - Answer A process that occurs when a previously habituated stimulus is removed: response recovery occurs. Sensitization - Answer An increase in responsiveness to a stimulus due to either repeated application of a stimulus or a particularly aversive stimulus. Associative learning - Answer A process of learning in which one event, object, or action is directly connected with another. Acquisition - Answer The process of learning the conditioned response. Generalization - Answer The process by which stimuli other than the original conditioned stimulus elicit the conditioned response. Shaping - Answer Reinforcing of smaller intermediate behaviors necessary t o achieve the final desired behavior. Escape - Answer An individual learns how to get away from an aversive stimulus by engaging in a particular behavior. Avoidance - Answer Operant conditioning: a person performs a behavior to ensure an aversive stimulus is not presented. Latent learning - Answer Something is learned but not expressed as an observable behavior until it is required.The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
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