Psychology MCAT

• The hippocampus plays an important role in memory formation, particularly episodic memories.
• The amygdala is involved in the processing of emotional information.
• The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is responsible for higher-order cognitive functions such as decision making, planning, and working memory.
• Paternalism centers around the idea that people with authority or high status have better information and more right to make decisions than other people.
• Socioeconomic status (SES) is defined by income, occupation, and education.
• In-group bias is the tendency to favor one's own group and to be less likely to consider the views of out-groups
• Out-group bias is the tendency to view members of the outgroup as less intelligent, less moral, and less attractive.
• Primary group ties include people with close ties and shared interests, such as family, friends, and neighbors.
• Secondary group ties are often temporary and involve impersonal and goal-oriented relationships.
• The self-serving bias involves taking credit for successes while blaming failures on external factors.
• Serotonin, a neurotransmitter that sends messages between nerve cells, influences sleep, mood, and appetite.
• Observational learning refers to learning that occurs through mimicking the behavior of others.
• Mating behavior is a social behavior that aims at improving chances of mating
• Humanistic perspective is centered on the use of free will
• Biological perspective is based on the idea that behaviour is influenced by biological factors such as genes and hormones
• The behaviorist perspective is a scientific approach that focuses on observable behavior and ignores internal mental processes
• The Social Cognitive perspective is a theory that suggests that the social environment influences our thoughts and behaviors.
• Meritocracy is the belief that people are rewarded based on their own efforts and abilities.
• It is a principle of memory that relearning a concept is always faster than learning the first time.
• The nativist theory of language acquisition is the idea that language is innate and that children are born with the ability to learn language
• Classical conditioning occurs when a previously neutral stimulus comes to elicit a learned response due to its association with another stimulus that already produces that response.
• the basal ganglia play an important role in controlling moovement and posture
• The frontal lobe is responsible for voluntary movement, planning, and decision making.
• The brainstem is responsible for vital life functions such as breathing and cardiac contraction.
• The hippocampus is responsible for memory consolidation and spatial navigation.
• Impression Management refers to how individuals control the information they present about themselves to influence how they are perceived.
• Social Loafing is a phenomenon in which an individual puts in less effort when working in a group than when working alone.
• Deindividuation is the idea that people may lose their sense of self within groups and act very differently than they would normally.
• Peer pressure is the social influence placed on an individual by others who are considered equals.
• Extrinsic motivation is motivation by external rewards or punishments.
• Intrinsic motivation comes from within the individual and is driven by the desire to achieve something for oneself.
• Operant conditioning subject learns behavior by associating with consequences of behavior
• Is time for food I should press the lever is an example of Operant Conditioning.
• There goes the bell its time for food is an example of classical conditioning
• The prefrontal cortex is involved in processing and displaying negative emotions
• the cerebellum primarily coordinates and regulates muscular activity
• The pons is primarily involved with arousal, controlling autonomic functions, and sleep
• The medulla oblongata is primarily involved in vital process like your heartbeat, breathing and blood pressure
• The brainstem is comprised of the midbrain, pons, and medulla oblongata
• Piaget's four stages of cognitive development are sensorimotor (0- 2), Preoperational (2-7), Concrete Operational (7-11), and Formal Operational (11- adulthood).