MCAT Psychology Practice Questions |
Latest Update | 2024/2025 | Rated A+
What is the function of the prefrontal cortex in decision-making?
✔✔The prefrontal cortex is involved in complex cognitive functions, including decision-making,
problem-solving, and impulse control.
Explain the concept of operant conditioning in behavioral psychology.
✔✔Operant conditioning is a learning process in which behaviors are influenced by the
consequences that follow, such as rewards or punishments.
Describe the role of the hippocampus in memory formation.
✔✔The hippocampus is critical for forming new long-term memories, particularly declarative
memories related to facts and events.
What is the significance of the "Big Five" personality traits in psychology?
1
,✔✔The "Big Five" personality traits—openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness,
and neuroticism—are a widely accepted model for describing human personality.
How does cognitive dissonance theory explain changes in attitudes or behavior?
✔✔Cognitive dissonance theory suggests that individuals experience discomfort when their
beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors are inconsistent, leading them to change one to reduce the
dissonance.
What is the role of mirror neurons in social cognition?
✔✔Mirror neurons are brain cells that fire both when an individual performs an action and when
they observe the same action performed by another, playing a key role in imitation, empathy, and
understanding others' intentions.
Explain the concept of learned helplessness.
2
, ✔✔Learned helplessness occurs when an individual repeatedly faces uncontrollable, negative
situations and eventually gives up trying to change the outcome, leading to a sense of
powerlessness.
What is the purpose of the Stroop effect in cognitive psychology?
✔✔The Stroop effect demonstrates the interference of conflicting information in a task,
illustrating the automaticity of reading and the difficulty of overriding it with controlled
processing.
Describe the influence of social identity theory on group behavior.
✔✔Social identity theory posits that individuals derive part of their identity from the social
groups they belong to, leading to in-group favoritism and out-group discrimination.
What is the function of the amygdala in emotional processing?
✔✔The amygdala is involved in processing emotions, particularly fear and aggression, and plays
a crucial role in forming emotional memories.
3
Latest Update | 2024/2025 | Rated A+
What is the function of the prefrontal cortex in decision-making?
✔✔The prefrontal cortex is involved in complex cognitive functions, including decision-making,
problem-solving, and impulse control.
Explain the concept of operant conditioning in behavioral psychology.
✔✔Operant conditioning is a learning process in which behaviors are influenced by the
consequences that follow, such as rewards or punishments.
Describe the role of the hippocampus in memory formation.
✔✔The hippocampus is critical for forming new long-term memories, particularly declarative
memories related to facts and events.
What is the significance of the "Big Five" personality traits in psychology?
1
,✔✔The "Big Five" personality traits—openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness,
and neuroticism—are a widely accepted model for describing human personality.
How does cognitive dissonance theory explain changes in attitudes or behavior?
✔✔Cognitive dissonance theory suggests that individuals experience discomfort when their
beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors are inconsistent, leading them to change one to reduce the
dissonance.
What is the role of mirror neurons in social cognition?
✔✔Mirror neurons are brain cells that fire both when an individual performs an action and when
they observe the same action performed by another, playing a key role in imitation, empathy, and
understanding others' intentions.
Explain the concept of learned helplessness.
2
, ✔✔Learned helplessness occurs when an individual repeatedly faces uncontrollable, negative
situations and eventually gives up trying to change the outcome, leading to a sense of
powerlessness.
What is the purpose of the Stroop effect in cognitive psychology?
✔✔The Stroop effect demonstrates the interference of conflicting information in a task,
illustrating the automaticity of reading and the difficulty of overriding it with controlled
processing.
Describe the influence of social identity theory on group behavior.
✔✔Social identity theory posits that individuals derive part of their identity from the social
groups they belong to, leading to in-group favoritism and out-group discrimination.
What is the function of the amygdala in emotional processing?
✔✔The amygdala is involved in processing emotions, particularly fear and aggression, and plays
a crucial role in forming emotional memories.
3
