MCAT Psychology 4

Question 1

A patient with damage to the right parietal lobe fails to eat food on the left side of their plate and shaves only the right side of their face. This is best described as:

Accepted Answer

Hemispatial neglect

Answer

Hemispatial neglect, most commonly following right parietal damage, causes the patient to ignore the contralateral (left) side of space.

Question 2

According to Kohlberg's theory of moral development, a person who follows laws because they recognize they were created by mutual agreement to maintain social order is operating at which level?

Accepted Answer

Conventional — Stage 4 (Social system and conscience)

Answer

Stage 4 (conventional morality) involves upholding laws and social order as ends in themselves, because society functions better when rules are followed.

Question 3

The bystander effect occurs because as the number of witnesses to an emergency increases, each individual feels:

Accepted Answer

Reduced personal responsibility and relies on others to act

Answer

Diffusion of responsibility in larger groups leads each bystander to assume someone else will help, reducing individual likelihood of intervention.

Question 4

A researcher finds that children who watch aggressive TV shows become more aggressive. A critic argues that aggressive children simply prefer aggressive shows. This critique raises concerns about:

Accepted Answer

Directionality (reverse causation) in correlational research

Answer

The directionality problem in correlational studies means we cannot determine from the association alone whether TV causes aggression or aggression causes TV preference.

Question 5

Which of the following best describes the concept of 'priming' in cognitive psychology?

Accepted Answer

Exposure to one stimulus increasing the speed or accuracy of response to a related stimulus

Answer

Priming is an implicit memory effect where prior exposure to a stimulus (prime) facilitates faster or more accurate processing of a related target stimulus.

MCAT - Medical College Admission Test Practice Test

MCAT - Medical College Admission Test Practice Test

MCAT Psychology 4