MCAT (Psychological, Social, and Biological) 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A researcher studies how repeated exposure to a neutral stimulus paired with a fear-inducing stimulus eventually causes the neutral stimulus alone to elicit fear. Which learning paradigm best describes this?
- Operant conditioning
- Classical conditioning (Correct answer)
- Observational learning
- Habituation
Correct answer: Classical conditioning
Classical conditioning pairs a neutral conditioned stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus until the neutral stimulus alone elicits a conditioned response.
Question 2: Which brain structure is most critically involved in the formation of new declarative memories?
- Amygdala
- Cerebellum
- Hippocampus (Correct answer)
- Basal ganglia
Correct answer: Hippocampus
The hippocampus is essential for consolidating new declarative (explicit) memories, including episodic and semantic information.
Question 3: According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which level must generally be satisfied before an individual can focus on esteem needs?
- Cognitive needs
- Belongingness and love needs (Correct answer)
- Transcendence needs
- Aesthetic needs
Correct answer: Belongingness and love needs
In Maslow's hierarchy, belongingness and love needs (social needs) fall below esteem needs and must be reasonably met first.
Question 4: A patient cannot recognize faces even though visual acuity is intact. This condition is called:
- Prosopagnosia (Correct answer)
- Hemianopia
- Agnosia for objects
- Achromatopsia
Correct answer: Prosopagnosia
Prosopagnosia is the selective inability to recognize familiar faces, typically associated with damage to the fusiform face area.
Question 5: Which neurotransmitter is primarily depleted in Parkinson's disease, leading to motor deficits?
- Serotonin
- Acetylcholine
- Dopamine (Correct answer)
- GABA
Correct answer: Dopamine
Parkinson's disease results from loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, disrupting the motor control circuit.
Question 6: A child watches an adult punch a doll and later imitates this behavior. This best demonstrates:
- Operant conditioning
- Insight learning
- Observational (social) learning (Correct answer)
- Classical conditioning
Correct answer: Observational (social) learning
Bandura's Bobo doll experiments showed that children learn aggressive behaviors by observing and imitating models, illustrating observational learning.
Question 7: In Piaget's theory, the process of modifying an existing schema to incorporate new information that doesn't fit is called:
- Assimilation
- Equilibration
- Accommodation (Correct answer)
- Object permanence
Correct answer: Accommodation
Accommodation involves changing or creating new schemas when new information cannot be assimilated into existing cognitive structures.
MCAT (Psychological, Social, and Biological) 2
A researcher studies how repeated exposure to a neutral stimulus paired with a fear-inducing stimulus eventually causes the neutral stimulus alone to elicit fear.
Which learning paradigm best describes this?