Summary MCAT Psych/Soc – Simplified Notes for Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior

MCAT Section 4: Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior


Simple Notes (Printable Sheet Format)



Purpose of Psych/Soc Section - Tests understanding of behavior and social structures - Focus on mental
processes, identity, culture, and health disparities - Ties psychology and sociology with biology



Structure of the Section - 95 minutes - 59 questions - Mix of passage-based and discrete questions



1. Psychology Topics


• Sensation and Perception
• Sensory organs and stimuli
• Thresholds (absolute, difference)

• Signal detection theory


• Learning and Memory


• Classical and operant conditioning
• Reinforcement vs punishment
• Memory types: sensory, working, long-term

• Encoding and retrieval


• Cognition and Language


• Problem-solving, decision-making
• Piaget’s stages of development

• Language acquisition theories


• Consciousness and Sleep


• Sleep stages and cycles
• Sleep disorders (e.g. insomnia, narcolepsy)

• Effects of drugs on consciousness


• Emotion and Stress


• Theories of emotion (James-Lange, Cannon-Bard, Schachter-Singer)

• Stress response and coping



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