MCAT (Psychological, Social, and Biological) 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Conformity experiments by Solomon Asch demonstrated that individuals often conform to group judgments even when those judgments are clearly incorrect. Which factor most increases conformity in these situations?
- Increased group size beyond three members (Correct answer)
- Presence of at least one other dissenter
- High individual self-esteem
- Anonymous response format
Correct answer: Increased group size beyond three members
Asch found that conformity increased with group size up to about 3–5 members, after which additional members provided diminishing increases in conformity pressure.
Question 2: A patient with damage to Wernicke's area would most likely present with:
- Inability to produce speech (Broca's aphasia)
- Fluent but nonsensical speech with poor comprehension (Correct answer)
- Complete mutism
- Loss of reading ability only
Correct answer: Fluent but nonsensical speech with poor comprehension
Wernicke's aphasia results in fluent, grammatically intact but semantically incoherent speech and impaired language comprehension.
Question 3: Which of the following is an example of negative reinforcement?
- Receiving a trophy for winning a competition
- Taking ibuprofen to relieve a headache, increasing the likelihood of future ibuprofen use (Correct answer)
- Getting a speeding ticket to reduce fast driving
- Being praised for completing homework
Correct answer: Taking ibuprofen to relieve a headache, increasing the likelihood of future ibuprofen use
Negative reinforcement involves removing an aversive stimulus (pain) following a behavior (taking ibuprofen), which increases the probability of that behavior recurring.
Question 4: The diathesis-stress model of mental illness proposes that:
- Stress alone causes all mental disorders
- Genetic factors fully determine psychological disorders
- A biological predisposition combined with environmental stressors leads to mental illness (Correct answer)
- Psychological disorders are purely learned behaviors
Correct answer: A biological predisposition combined with environmental stressors leads to mental illness
The diathesis-stress model posits that a genetic or biological vulnerability (diathesis) interacts with environmental stressors to produce psychological disorders.
Question 5: According to the James-Lange theory of emotion, emotions arise from:
- Cognitive appraisal of a situation followed by physiological arousal
- Simultaneous physiological arousal and emotional experience
- Awareness of one's own physiological responses to stimuli (Correct answer)
- Subcortical brain activation independent of conscious awareness
Correct answer: Awareness of one's own physiological responses to stimuli
The James-Lange theory holds that we experience emotion by perceiving our bodily physiological responses (e.g., 'I am afraid because I am trembling').
Question 6: Which of the following best characterizes an institutional review board's (IRB) primary concern in research with human subjects?
- Maximizing statistical power of the study
- Ensuring participant welfare, informed consent, and ethical treatment (Correct answer)
- Guaranteeing publication of all research findings
- Minimizing research costs
Correct answer: Ensuring participant welfare, informed consent, and ethical treatment
IRBs exist to protect human research participants by reviewing studies for ethical standards, including informed consent, risk minimization, and voluntary participation.
Question 7: A health disparity is observed where Black Americans have significantly higher rates of hypertension than white Americans. Which social determinant most directly explains this difference?
- Biological inability to metabolize antihypertensives
- Chronic stress from racial discrimination and socioeconomic inequality (Correct answer)
- Genetic predisposition unrelated to environment
- Lack of interest in healthcare among Black communities
Correct answer: Chronic stress from racial discrimination and socioeconomic inequality
Chronic psychosocial stress from racism, discrimination, and socioeconomic disadvantage is a major driver of hypertension disparities in Black Americans.
MCAT (Psychological, Social, and Biological) 4
Conformity experiments by Solomon Asch demonstrated that individuals often conform to group judgments even when those judgments are clearly incorrect.
Which factor most increases conformity in these situations?