Exam 3 Psychology/Sociology Section Passage 1 1) The P/S section on the MCAT doesn’t get much love. Students often brush it to the side and assume they can brute force their way through it. One of the most common statements I’ve heard students make about this section has been “Oh, I just need to sit down and memorize more information.” While this is more true than other sections, critical thinking and reasoning are still very much at play in this section, and like we’ll see, this question. The question is asking us to identify a limitation specific to a 5 year old that will negatively impact the child’s ability to do well in the studies regarding perspective-taking and empathy. What would prevent a child from being empathic and taking on others’ perspectives?
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6) The second paragraph simply mentions that the participants were asked about key details regarding how they heard about a disaster. If you decide you need to, ahem, refresh your memory after going through the following explanations, check out https://jackwestin.com/resources/mcat-content/memory/storage
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8) Recall that generalizability refers to the ability to extrapolate and apply the results of a study or research to “real life” or other places, people and scenarios.
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11) Note: while results may be statistically significant even if the error bars overlap, for the purposes of the MCAT, assume that overlapping error bars or confidence intervals mean no statistically significant difference unless indicated otherwise.
12) The 45 year-old man in the question stem arrived at the hospital with an acute presentation of symptoms that appeared to mimic a heart attack. Let’s look for an answer choice that would support a psychiatric explanation for symptoms mimicking a heart attack.
Medical school bonus tip: when you start learning about different possible diagnoses in medical school, you’ll learn to create what’s called a differential diagnosis which includes a list of possible medical explanations for a patient’s clinical presentation. You’ll then go through each possible diagnosis and explain why it is more or less likely given the patient’s presentation/signs and symptoms, and what you know about the conditions you listed. Well, you just started doing that with this question! Take a moment to enjoy working through this differential diagnosis and let’s keep tackling the remaining questions together! A brief overview of some of the psychological disorders you might encounter on test day can be found at https://jackwestin.com/resources/mcat-content/psychological-disorders/types-of-psychological-disorders 13) The person in the question stem is awoken every time they show rapid eye movements which are specific to REM sleep. This means they are not getting REM sleep and therefore deep sleep.
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15) According to the figure, the diagnostic criteria is noted by a threshold severity of 14 required for diagnosis.
16) If the researchers chose to use individual instead of group therapy to avoid the influence of something, then that influence must be related to or dependent on the presence of another individual (not the researcher but another participant). A. Classical conditioning does not involve the presence of another participant meaning it is not the right answer. Classical conditioning involves the pairing of an unconditioned stimulus with a neutral stimulus to generate a conditioned stimulus that results in a predictable conditioned response. https://jackwestin.com/resources/mcat-content/associative-learning/classical-conditioning B. Observational learning requires the presence of another person making it a promising answer and in fact, the correct answer. Observational learning is very much as the name implies: the learning or acquisition of a behavior by watching or observing others model a behavior. This type of learning in group therapy could influence the results via a mechanism other than the type of therapy used. C. Operant conditioning does not require the presence of another individual receiving treatment to occur so this answer is incorrect. Operant conditioning uses punishments and rewards to increase the frequency of desired behaviors and decrease the frequency of undesired behaviors. Below you will find an example of operant conditioning. https://jackwestin.com/resources/mcat-content/associative-learning/operant-conditioning D. The elaboration likelihood model is concerned with how a message is delivered. The merits of the message itself constitute the central route of processing and while processing these components require more effort, they produce lasting change with respect to persuasion. On the other hand, cues that are associated with the message but not a part of the message, such as attractiveness or notoriety of the person delivering the message, require much less effort to process but are also more likely to result in a temporary attitude change. This model does not require the presence of a second study participant so answer choice B remains the best answer. 17) The cycle alluded to in the question stem is the cycle of worrying about sleepiness, that worry causing sleepiness, and then worrying even more about sleepiness which will continue worsening sleepiness… The concern is causing the object of concern to occur which worsens the initial concern.
Exam 3 Psychology/Sociology Section Passage 4 18) The question is asking us to identify a factor that is not a component of SES, or socioeconomic status.
19) According to the passage, individuals with a lower SES are disproportionately exposed to stress. This means that as SES decreases, stress increases and that the two measures are negatively correlated.
20) Looking at this question, you might be tempted to start digging around in the passage for mention of heart disease or start racking your brain for the statistics on depression you may have read when reviewing the psychological disorders for the P/S section. The reality is that the answer is like objects in a car mirror, “closer than they appear.” We will anchor ourselves in the last sentence of the passage that notes that the disproportionate exposure of people in lower socioeconomic positions to stressors can explain differences in mental and physical health. Combining that information from the passage with the question stem specifying anger and hostility, let’s find an answer choice that is a logical mental or physical health disparity that could result from stressors associated with anger and hostility.
21) A. The hippocampus is a part of the limbic system and is involved in the formation of memories, not the hormonal response to stress. B. The medulla oblongata is the part of the brainstem responsible for respiratory muscle control as well as associated reflexes (sneezing, coughing, swallowing and vomiting). It does not initiate or begin the hormonal response to stress. C. This is correct; the hypothalamus is the first component of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis responsible for the hormonal response to stress. The hypothalamus secretes corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) which signals to the pituitary to secrete adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) which then stimulates the release of cortisol (also known as the “stress hormone”) from the adrenal cortex. D. The pons, like the medulla oblongata, plays a role in ventilation but does not initiate the endocrine response to stress. Specifically, the pons sets the ventilatory rate via control of the tidal volume. For more information on nervous system control of the respiratory system, check out https://jackwestin.com/resources/mcat-content/respiratory-system/regulation-by-nervous-control Exam 3 Psychology/Sociology Section Passage 5 22)
23) Recall that a self-fulling prophecy involves an initial expectation influencing the outcome to match the expectation. Something about the expectation changes the situation in a way that makes the expected outcome more likely.
24) We have already seen the fundamental attribution error in this section; it describes the idea that we as individuals are more likely to attribute someone else’s behavior and actions to who they are as a person, and less likely to consider environmental or external factors influencing their actions.
25) Validity refers to the ability to approximate the true value of a measure and the ability to draw conclusions from the data obtained. In order to REDUCE CONCERN about validity, researchers should be able to replicate results and values obtained by different related measures.
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27) This question stem suggests that the teacher used operant conditioning and was using positive reinforcement to encourage students to complete problems.
28) The question stem is focused on a longitudinal perspective that takes into account different life stages. Let’s see what the answer choices say.
29) In order to challenge the theory that race and ethnicity are social constructs, the answer choice and hypothetical finding would have to present a biological or non-social explanation or data.
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31) According to the animal model described at the beginning of the passage, alcohol-dependent rats self-administered more alcohol than the nondependent rats following exposure to vapors. It also states that this response could be blocked by R121919.
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41) Be careful here! The last question asked us to identify a statement that was not supported by one of the tables, while this question asks us to identify a statement that is supported by the other table. Keep the tables and “is” versus “is not” clear when answering these questions.
42) A conflict theoretical analysis is another way of saying that it aligns with conflict theory. Conflict theory focuses on the unequal distribution of resources and power differentials across society, the struggle for power, and the creation and maintenance of social order. This theory is rooted in the works of Karl Marx. If you read “conflict theory” on test day, think “class conflict.” If you’re still, ahem, conflicted about how to approach conflict theory, take advantage of the resource that follows: https://jackwestin.com/resources/mcat-content/theoretical-approaches/conflict-theory
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Exam 3 Psychology/Sociology Section Passage 9 48) The two personality traits mentioned in Study 2 are conscientiousness and neuroticism. For more on the theories or personality, take a look at the associated content page and browse the table below. Now onto the answer choices! Content page: https://jackwestin.com/resources/mcat-content/personality/theories-of-personality
49) The question stem is sending us back to Study 1 where the author notes that aggression and oppositional behaviors were associated with hunger. The correct answer and neurotransmitter will have a known relationship with aggression and hunger.
50) The two personality traits mentioned in Study 2 are conscientiousness and neuroticism. Conscientiousness refers to planning and responsibility while neuroticism relates to anxiety and insecurity.
51) Referring back to the paragraph on Study 1, we see that the researchers believe that disruption of homeostasis is the underlying motivation.
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Exam 3 Psychology/Sociology Section Passage 10 53) An easy way to determine independent and dependent variables in a study is that the general format for describing the two is to note the effect OF the independent variable ON the dependent variable. Other words to look for are “explanation for” and what follows is usually the dependent variable, and “contributes to” followed by the dependent variable.
54) The researchers suggest looking at the effect of inequitable access to healthcare on cardiac deaths so the correct answer should have a clear effect on access to healthcare facilities.
55) Symbolic interactionism studies the way individuals interact with one another through words, actions, symbols, etc. These symbols have shared meanings and are the result of social interactions.
56) Because this is a LEAST question and the researchers want to study the effect of emotions on cardiac mortality, the correct answer will be the one that does not have an emotional component.
Exam 3 Psychology/Sociology Section Discretes 57) Ah, the hidden curriculum, this is a term you will hear again in medical school. The hidden curriculum is the set of ideas, lessons and norms that are reinforced but not acknowledged as such by an academic institution. For example, the school will pair you with a mentoring physician or preceptor; if your preceptor rewards you for muddling through a cold while in clinic or on rotations, they are teaching you that work comes before your own health. This is an unintended or unacknowledged consequence of the school intentionally pairing you with a physician mentor.
58) If people need to have their eyes open to balance on one foot, there must be some interaction between visual cues and balance.
59) For a review of the different Gestalt principles, head over to the corresponding content page: https://jackwestin.com/resources/mcat-content/perception/gestalt-principles A. The law of similarity states that we will perceive objects or elements that resemble each other or are similar as being grouped. For example, when we see the grey circles and black circles in the figure below, our mind will group the circles into alternating lines. You might be saying “hey, but a C and an O sure do look similar to me!” In fact they do, but the question stem notes that the C is read as an O, so the result is not their visual grouping as would be the case if they were side-by-side, but the seeming conversion of one into the other. B. The law of closure states that when we see incomplete objects, we perceive them as completed. When we compare the letters C and O, the C might look like an O if our minds perceive the C as incomplete and then fills in the remaining part to look like an O. Below is another example; our minds will fill in the lines of the IBM logo: C. The proximity Gestalt principle states that if objects are close to one another, they will be perceived as part of a group. D. The law of symmetry explains that when we see symmetrical objects, they are likely to be seen as a unified grouping. |