Psychology Flashcards
7 cards from real MCAT practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Psychology flashcards as text
The phenomenon where people perform better on well-practiced tasks in the presence of others but worse on novel or complex tasks is called:
Answer: Social facilitation
Social facilitation (Zajonc) describes increased arousal in the presence of others that enhances dominant (well-learned) responses but impairs non-dominant (complex) responses.
A doctor notices that patients in a clinical trial who received a sugar pill improved as much as those on the active drug. This improvement in the placebo group is best attributed to:
Answer: Placebo effect driven by expectancy and conditioning
The placebo effect involves expectancy (patients anticipate improvement) and classical conditioning (treatment context triggers learned healing responses).
Which of the following is an example of a negative reinforcement schedule?
Answer: Removing a loud alarm when a driver buckles their seatbelt
Negative reinforcement increases a behavior by removing an aversive stimulus; buckling the seatbelt (behavior) is reinforced by stopping the alarm (removal of aversive stimulus).
According to the gate control theory of pain, which neural mechanism can reduce the perception of pain?
Answer: Stimulation of large-diameter A-beta fibers that activate inhibitory interneurons
Large-diameter A-beta fibers activate inhibitory interneurons in the dorsal horn that 'close the gate,' reducing transmission of pain signals to the brain.
A person who has experienced a traumatic car accident now feels intense anxiety whenever they hear screeching brakes, even in safe contexts. From a behavioral perspective, this anxiety represents:
Answer: A classically conditioned fear response (CR) to a conditioned stimulus (CS)
The screeching brakes (CS) were paired with the trauma (UCS), producing a conditioned fear response (CR) through classical conditioning.
The concept of 'stereotype threat,' introduced by Steele and Aronson, refers to:
Answer: Performance impairment arising from awareness of a negative stereotype about one's group
Stereotype threat occurs when individuals fear confirming a negative group stereotype, creating anxiety and cognitive load that impairs performance on relevant tasks.
Broca's area and Wernicke's area are connected by which white matter tract, and damage to this tract produces which language disorder?
Answer: Arcuate fasciculus; conduction aphasia
The arcuate fasciculus connects Broca's and Wernicke's areas; damage causes conduction aphasia, marked by poor repetition but relatively preserved comprehension and fluency.