AAMC Psych/Soc Flashcards

Psychological and Cognitive Concepts

• Speech Shadowing: An experimental method where subjects repeat speech immediately after hearing it, assessing auditory processing and comprehension.
• Brain Hemisphere Lateralization: Linguistic production and comprehension are primarily located in the left hemisphere of the brain.
• Continuous Reinforcement in Operant Conditioning: This schedule is optimal during the acquisition phase as it clearly indicates correct behavior to the subject.
• Instinctual Drift: A phenomenon where trained behaviors are overridden by inherent instincts, particularly in animal training scenarios.

Memory and Aging

• Cognitive Aging Research: Indicates that aging does not negatively affect the ability to retrieve general information, reflecting preserved semantic memory and crystallized intelligence.
• Proximal and Distal Stimuli: Proximal stimulus refers to the sensory information received, while distal stimulus is the actual object or event in the environment.
• Memory Processes: Negative priming relies on implicit memory, demonstrating how earlier exposure to a stimulus can affect response to a related subsequent stimulus.

Personality Theories

• Psychoanalytic Theory: Focuses on unconscious motives as drivers of personality, emphasizing hidden influences on behavior.
• Humanistic Perspective: Highlights the growth potential of self-actualized individuals, emphasizing personal development.
• Behaviorist Approach: Suggests personality is formed through interactions with the environment, underlining the impact of conditioning.
• Social-Cognitive Perspective: Considers behavior as influenced by both personal traits and the surrounding social context.
• Trait Perspective: Defines personality in terms of stable behavior patterns that are consistent over time.
• Biological Perspective: Attributes personality traits to genetic factors and brain function.

Sleep Stages

• Stage 1 Sleep: Associated with theta waves, marking the transition into sleep.
• Stage 2 Sleep: Characterized by sleep spindles and K-complexes; indicates deeper sleep.
• Stages 3 and 4: Represent deep sleep characterized by delta waves, crucial for restorative processes.
• REM Sleep: Exhibits brain activity similar to beta waves, essential for dreaming and cognitive functioning.

Motivation and Behavior

• Incentive Theory: Focuses on external factors from culture and community that drive behavior and motivation.
• Evolutionary Perspective: Explores how behaviors evolve and assist in species survival through natural selection.

Research Methods and Validity

• Functional MRI (fMRI): A brain imaging technique revealing brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow and oxygenation.
• Validity and Reliability: Validity refers to a test's ability to measure its intended concept, while reliability indicates consistency of scores over multiple administrations.
• Standardization: Establishes uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores based on comparisons with pretested groups.

Social and Cultural Concepts

• Social Stratification: Describes the hierarchical ranking of different social categories within a society.
• Cultural Capital: Comprises skills, knowledge, and cultural competencies that enhance an individual's social mobility.
• Intersectionality: An analytical framework assessing how identity categories interact to shape individual experiences and societal patterns.
• Cultural Transmission: The process in which cultural values and norms are passed from one generation to another.

Psychological Effects and Memory

• Recency and Primacy Effects: Focus on how items at the beginning and the end of a list are remembered better than those in the middle.
• Flashbulb Memory: Refers to vivid and detailed recollections of emotionally significant events.
• Reconstructive Nature of Memory: Suggests that memory is often formed by piecing together information, making it susceptible to errors.

Social Dynamics

• Cognitive Dissonance: A phenomenon where individuals may adapt their attitudes to align with their behaviors to reduce discomfort from holding conflicting views.
• Looking-Glass Self: Describes how one's self-image is shaped by perceptions of how others view them.
• Self-Verification: The tendency for individuals to seek information that confirms their preexisting self-concept.

Other Key Concepts

• Gestalt Principles: Explain how perceptual organization occurs in different ways, including closure, similarity, proximity, and symmetry.
• Arousal Theory (Easterbrook Hypothesis): Posits that increased emotional arousal narrows attention, focusing on specific stimuli while potentially ignoring others.
• Self-Serving Bias: Reflects the tendency to attribute successes to oneself and failures to external factors.
• Self-Efficacy: The belief in one's ability to achieve specific tasks or goals, crucial for motivation and performance.

These notes encapsulate essential concepts across various fields of psychology and sociology, providing a comprehensive overview for study and review.