Psychology MCAT Princeton Dashboard

main classical theories

- Marx: conflict theory - Durkheim: functionalism - Weber: symbolic interactions (interactionist's perspective

Which of the following correctly pairs each type of status with an accurate example of that status? I. Achieved status: medical student II. Ascribed status: female III. Ascribed status: African American

- all of them *An achieved status is one that is earned or chosen and reflects an individual's skills or abilities. *An ascribed status is one that is not earned, but rather one that is determined by society. Race and sex are examples of ascribed status.

which type of thirst is likely to be concerned with the unfair treatment of women with respect to men in society?

- feminist theorists - social constructionists - conflict theorists

five major functions of family

- reproduction and monitoring of sexual behaviors - social status - affection and companionship - socialization - protection

process of demographic transition

2 steps: 1) this process suggests that birth rates are highest in the least developed regions and lowest in the most developed regions. So developing countries are responsible for the greatest contributions to the global population 2) this process also suggests that birth rates decrease as an area becomes more and more industrial as a result of both economic and social changes

upon entering medical school, all of the following are culture shock issues you might experience, EXCEPT: A. discrimination B. language barriers (specific to medical jargon) C. information overload D. a gap in your skills

A. discrimination

Residential segregation contributes to health disparities because it has a direct effect on all of the following, except: A. disparities in health behaviors. B. disparities in environmental exposures. C. disparities in built environment. D. disparities in health care resources.

A. disparities in health behaviors.

In the United States, there are an estimated 13 million children living in poverty. This has a number of consequences for the children, including increased exposure to geographic locations with conditions that are hazardous to their health. For this reason, poor children experience greater rates of asthma, cancer, and lead poisoning, among other illnesses. This unfortunate situation is described as: A. environmental injustice. B. residential segregation. C. absolute poverty. D. global inequalities.

A. environmental injustice. Environmental injustice refers to the fact that those in poorer communities experience a disproportionate amount of negative environmental impacts on their health. Residential segregation is a related concept that refers to the separation of social groups into different neighborhoods, often due to racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic differences. However, this refers to the separation itself, as opposed to the consequences of the separation. Global inequalities, as a specific case of spatial inequalities, refer to the comparison of resources across the globe. These inequalities might include differences in exposure to dangerous environments. However, global stratification can also refer to economic, political, or social inequalities, as opposed to only the specific example provided. Absolute poverty refers to the inability to obtain the bare minimum of basic necessities, such as clean drinking water. While those living in absolute poverty are at a greater risk of environmental hazards, this is again a less specific description.

Which of the following is not an element of socioeconomic status? A. Popularity B. Privilege C. Wealth D. Power

A. popularity

Demographically, what refers to the number of live births per 1,000 women of childbearing age each year? A. Replacement level fertility B. General fertility rate C. Crude birth rate D. Fertility

B. General fertility rate General fertility rate refers to the annual number of live births for every 1,000 women of childbearing age. In demographics, fertility is defined as a women's ability to give birth to children. Crude birth rate is the annual number of live births per 1,000 people in a given population as opposed to specifically women of childbearing age. Replacement level fertility is the number of offspring that must be produced in order to replace people who have died in a given population; the term measures a different demographic.

Which of the following are all social institutions? A. Economy, family, language, and medicine. B. Medicine, religion, education, and family. Correct Answer C. Government, language, religion, and economy. D. Family, divorce, religion, and education.

B. Medicine, religion, education, and family. Social institutions are founded on roles and norms within society that create a sense of order and stability. Some of the most widely-recognized social institutions include family, education, religion, government, economy, and medicine. Divorce and language are not considered social institutions.

Stanley Milgram's and Solomon Asch's famous experiments

Both employed the use of confederates in their famous experiments. Also both wanted to test how the presence of others has an impact on individual behavior Milgram was interested in the influence of authority figures on behavior while Asch was interested in testing the effects of peer pressure on behavior Milgram was interested in examing the impact of obedience on behavior while Asch was interested in examing the influence of conformity on behavior

Research has shown that poor children in the United States experience disproportionate exposure to living conditions with serious environmental hazards. This is referred to as environmental injustice. Which of the following describes environmental injustice? I. Enduring social patterns have helped to cause and maintain the separation of social groups into different neighborhoods as a result of socioeconomic differences, as well as racial and ethnic differences.II. Poorer communities in general experience greater negative environmental impacts, such as subjection to polluting industries, contaminated water and soil, and housing with deteriorating lead-based paint.III. Environmental injustice contributes to the perpetuation of health disparities, such as disparities in the prevalence of asthma, cancer, and other diseases in both childhood and adulthood.

II and III are the correct answers

educational segregation

an unequal distribution of academic resources that reinforces class differences

stereotypes

are over-simplified and often fixed image or idea about a particular type of person or social group

social constructionism

can either be a micro or macro-level theory of society that is interested in how individuals and groups participate in the construction of society and social reality argues that knowledge transfer and perception are heavily influenced by experiences and interactions among people

social cognitive perspective

concerned with social influence, cognition, and learning in relation to behaviors

what is likely to view the institution of marriage as a means for consolidating power and wealth?

conflict theory

prejudice

defined as thoughts, attitudes or feelings towards a certain individual or group based on actual perceived membership

social stratification

describes the categorization of people based on different characteristics this can contribute to social inequalities because those in top tiers of the stratification have the most resources while this in the bottom tiers have the least resources defines differences and therefore reinforces inequalities when modern societies continue to use hierarchical categories to ran people based on race, socioeconomic status, and other characteristics

the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion, the source characteristics:

include the person or organization delivering the message; messages from individuals or organizations of high repute are more likely to be persuasive than from less credible sources

discrimnation

involves action acting in a biased manner towards a certain individual or group based on actual or perceived membership in a certain social group or category

affirmative action

involves policies to benefit traditionally underrepresented and oppressed social groups

indoctrination

involves the teaching of a specific doctrine or ideology to an individual who is not supposed to question this point of view associated with negative connotations (as a coercive form of learning)

anomie

is a state of few to no moral or social guidelines is most likely to occur in societies in which individualism and autonomous decision-making predominate occurs when a society does not provide individuals with firm guidelines in relation to norms and values and there is little moral guidance or social ethic

ageism

is discrimination based on age

social epidemiology

is interested in the distribution of health and disease waiting a given population. It examines such factors as availability of and accessibility to healthcare among various groups within society

institutional discrimnation

refers to the unjust and discriminatory treatment committed by institutions as a whole

researches discovered that stimulation of certain serotonergic neurons in rats resulted in improved maze times. In this study:

stimulation is the independent variable and maze times is the dependent variable

doctors, as a group, would be considered a type of?

subculture

socialization

the process by which an individual acquires the norms, values, customs, ideologies, and behaviors of his or her society a more natural and unforced process of cultural learning

medicalization

the process by which problems or issues not traditionally seen as medical come to be framed as such

intersectionality

the study of how various oppressive institutions (like racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, classism, etc.) are interconnected, often compound one another, and cannot be examined separately

hidden curriculum

the unintentional lessons taught in school about norms, values, and beliefs. Example would be the boys are better at math and science than girls best explains why female students are called on less frequently in math and science classes than are male students, even by female teachers

Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

was an advocate of functionalism and argued that religion promotes social solidarity as well as a collective consciousness, making individuals feel a part of an entity greater than themselves

what is the major difference between prejudice and discrimination?

whether or not someone acts on their beliefs

Which of the following scenarios accurately describes an individual utilizing their social capital in order to obtain something? A. A young African American male college student participates in a special medical education program that specifically recruits underrepresented minorities to apply to medical and dental school. B. A young man who has inherited a large trust donates a substantial amount of money to a hospital, with the hopes that when he applies to medical school at the university affiliated with that hospital he will be accepted. C. A young woman interested in becoming a doctor asks her father, who is a surgeon, to call his colleague on the medical school admissions committee to see if he can help her prepare her application for medical school. D. A 30-year-old nurse decides that she wants to return to school to earn her MD; she is confident that her years of medical experience will help her do well in medical school.

C. A young woman interested in becoming a doctor asks her father, who is a surgeon, to call his colleague on the medical school admissions committee to see if he can help her prepare her application for medical school. Social capital is best defined as the social contacts that can benefit an individual in some way.

the Kinsey scale outlines a continuum of: A. ethnicity B. gender identification C. sexual orientation D. race

C. sexual orientation

what is the purpose of a social institution? A. to maintain a dominant class B. to reduce class conflict C. to preserve a basic societal value D. to increase knowledge transmission between cultures

C. to preserve a basic societal value

Which of the following best describes a meritocracy? A. A society in which individual status is rigidly defined by birth; the class that one is born into is the class that they will remain in for life. B. A society where social mobility is rather limited and few people are capable of upward or downward social mobility. C. A society where individual accomplishment is important, but not as important as the class that one is born into, in terms of determining social status. D. A society in which individual status is based on ability and personal accomplishments, and any given individual is theoretically capable of upward (or downward) social mobility.

D. A society in which individual status is based on ability and personal accomplishments, and any given individual is theoretically capable of upward (or downward) social mobility. A caste system is described as a society in which individual status is rigidly defined by birth and the class that one is born into is the class that they will remain in for life. A class system best describes societies where individual accomplishment and the class that one is born into determine social status. A society where social mobility is rather limited and few people are capable of upward or downward social mobility might be a caste system or a class system, depending.

Which of the following scenarios most clearly demonstrates role conflict? A. A doctor who has been practicing for ten years has decided to quit her job to pursue her true passion: art. She feels a fair amount of tension as she leaves the medical world to pursue her artistic aspirations. B. A first year medical student is struggling with medical ethics and with anatomy. He knows he needs to study for both, but doesn't have enough time to adequately dedicate to either subject before the respective exams for each. He feels conflicted about how much time to spend studying for each subject. C. A college student believes she wants to become a doctor, but has gotten poor grades in most of her pre-medical courses; therefore, she decides she'll pursue a law degree instead. D. An aspiring medical student feels he should spend the evening studying for the MCAT. But his best friend's 21st birthday is also today. He feels conflicted about whether to stay home and study or go out and celebrate with his friend.

D. An aspiring medical student feels he should spend the evening studying for the MCAT. But his best friend's 21st birthday is also today. He feels conflicted about whether to stay home and study or go out and celebrate with his friend. Role conflict occurs when there is tension between two different statuses with contradictory roles; in other words, the expectations for two roles conflict. Role strain occurs when there are contradictory role expectations for a single status; in the example of the first year medical student, there are contradictory role expectations (to study for medical ethics and to study for anatomy) for a single status (that of medical student), so this example demonstrates role strain, not role conflict.

Demographic transition is defined as the transition from: A. lower to higher birth and death rates as a society becomes decreasingly based on manufacturing. B. lower to higher birth and death rates as a society becomes increasingly based on manufacturing. C. higher to lower birth and death rates as a society becomes decreasingly based on manufacturing. D. higher to lower birth and death rates as a society becomes increasingly based on manufacturing.

D. higher to lower birth and death rates as a society becomes increasingly based on manufacturing.

exploration of the latent functions of social institutions such as the media is most characteristic of the approach of

Emile Durkheim

Which of the following statements most accurately describes the relationship between values and beliefs? I. Values are the laws that people in a culture abide by, while beliefs are a culturally approved concept about what is right or wrong. II. Values are a culture's principles about how things should be, while beliefs are the ideas that people in a culture feel to be true. III. People within a given culture share similar values and beliefs; therefore, both terms are used interchangeably.

II only Values support beliefs (II only is correct). Though values can reflect what a culture considers to be morally good or bad, it does not necessarily mean that people within the culture will abide by these values; furthermore, values are not laws (I is wrong). Beliefs, in contrast, are the laws to which a society agrees to adhere. Although it is true that people within a given culture can share similar values and beliefs, values and beliefs are not used interchangeably since each term holds a different meaning (III is wrong).

dependent variable

The outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable.