AAMC MCAT 2026 TEST PAPER QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
GUARANTEE A+
✔✔The key details assessed in Study 2 were examples of which type of memory?
A.Episodic
B.Semantic
C.Procedural
D.Iconic - ✔✔Episodic memory. studies were asking specific information about what
people were doing. Personal information and recall is episodic memory!
✔✔eidetic memory - ✔✔photographic memory
✔✔Which statement is the most reasonable explanation for the observation of intrusion
errors in Study 2?
A.False information was encoded.
B.Memory is prospective.
C.Memory is reconstructive.
D.Repressed information was retrieved. - ✔✔the reason for intrusion errors is because
memory is reconstructive.
✔✔Which critique of laboratory research on memory for emotional events is concerned
with generalizability?
A.Potential confounding variables are not always controlled in laboratory studies.
B.Retention tests employed in laboratory studies are usually concerned with factual
information rather than emotions.
C.The intensity of emotional responses is more accurately measured after the event in
laboratory studies.
D. Memories and emotional experiences in real life are very different from those
generated in laboratory studies. - ✔✔D. Memories and emotional experiences in real life
are very different from those generated in laboratory studies.
generalizability---> refers to external validity.
out of all of these d makes the most sense. also don't be stupid. look for the critique!
✔✔external validity - ✔✔extent to which we can generalize findings to real-world
settings
,✔✔The finding from Study 3 regarding the differential effect of emotional arousal on
memory for central and peripheral details is best explained by which mechanism?
Increasing emotional arousal:
A.causes a restriction of the focus of attention.
B.improves memory, but only up to an optimal level of arousal.
C.impairs the encoding of peripheral details.
D.enhances the retrieval of encoded central details. - ✔✔the key point of this question is
that it wants the effect of emotional arousal on memory for central AND peripheral
DETAILS.
A. causes a restriction of the focus of attention.
When in doubt, go with the most general answer choice.
b----> this is involved in performing a task. NOT memory.
The hypothesis (Easterbrook, 1959) that a person will notice information that elicits
arousal, but fail to process other information, has been supported by studies in which
memory for an (emotional) event's "central" aspects (directly tied to the emotion elicitor)
is compared to memory for "peripheral" aspects (removed from the source of the
emotional arousal). Thus, memory for the fundamental gist of the emotional event is
retained, whereas memory for details (if they are encoded at all) either fades or
undergoes changes.
✔✔Individuals with impaired color perception, such as an inability to distinguish
between red and green, are most likely to show improper functioning of which part of
the visual system?
A.Cones
B.Cornea
C.Rods
D.Sclera - ✔✔color= cones
✔✔The data indicate that:
A.the feeding behavior of monkeys was not affected by either prior diet type.
B.prior protein insufficiency was a stronger predictor of future feeding behavior than
prior protein sufficiency.
C.prior feeding history influenced future feeding behavior in monkeys raised on a high-
quality protein diet only.
D.the feeding behavior was solely determined by both prior diet types. - ✔✔So for this
question you look at error bars. You see for the low quality group the error bars overlap
and would therefore not be significant. However, there is no overlap in the error bars for
, the high quality food group, which would indicate that there is a significant correlation.
this would make c the right answer choice.
✔✔A 45-year-old man presents himself at a hospital emergency room. Symptoms
include a pounding heart, chest pain, shortness of breath, sweating, and feeling dizzy.
Medical tests reveal that the man did not have a heart attack. Which psychiatric
diagnosis provides the most likely explanation for the man's symptoms?
A.Generalized anxiety disorder
B.Panic disorder
C.Illness anxiety disorder
D.Somatic symptom disorder - ✔✔Panic disorder.
these are all symptoms of a panic disorder.
heart attack feeling= panic disorder.
✔✔panic disorder - ✔✔An anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable minutes-long
episodes of intense dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying
chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations.
✔✔somatic symptom disorder - ✔✔this would be talking about symptoms that can't be
explained.
✔✔Every time a volunteer in a sleep study begins to exhibit rapid eye movements
(REM), the experimenter wakes the person up. On the following night, when his or her
sleep is uninterrupted, the person will most likely:
A.have difficulty falling asleep.
B.have more REM sleep than usual.
C.have less REM sleep than usual.
D.have the same sleep pattern as before the study. - ✔✔have more REM! this would be
REM rebound.
✔✔Based on Figure 1, the best conclusion is that:
A.all therapies are equally effective 6 months after treatment.
B.CT has the most promising immediate effects.
C.both BT and CT are as effective individually as CBT.
D.CT is effective only at the 6-month follow-up. - ✔✔a is the only logical answer
because there is no significance between any of the 6 month follow up treatments.
GUARANTEE A+
✔✔The key details assessed in Study 2 were examples of which type of memory?
A.Episodic
B.Semantic
C.Procedural
D.Iconic - ✔✔Episodic memory. studies were asking specific information about what
people were doing. Personal information and recall is episodic memory!
✔✔eidetic memory - ✔✔photographic memory
✔✔Which statement is the most reasonable explanation for the observation of intrusion
errors in Study 2?
A.False information was encoded.
B.Memory is prospective.
C.Memory is reconstructive.
D.Repressed information was retrieved. - ✔✔the reason for intrusion errors is because
memory is reconstructive.
✔✔Which critique of laboratory research on memory for emotional events is concerned
with generalizability?
A.Potential confounding variables are not always controlled in laboratory studies.
B.Retention tests employed in laboratory studies are usually concerned with factual
information rather than emotions.
C.The intensity of emotional responses is more accurately measured after the event in
laboratory studies.
D. Memories and emotional experiences in real life are very different from those
generated in laboratory studies. - ✔✔D. Memories and emotional experiences in real life
are very different from those generated in laboratory studies.
generalizability---> refers to external validity.
out of all of these d makes the most sense. also don't be stupid. look for the critique!
✔✔external validity - ✔✔extent to which we can generalize findings to real-world
settings
,✔✔The finding from Study 3 regarding the differential effect of emotional arousal on
memory for central and peripheral details is best explained by which mechanism?
Increasing emotional arousal:
A.causes a restriction of the focus of attention.
B.improves memory, but only up to an optimal level of arousal.
C.impairs the encoding of peripheral details.
D.enhances the retrieval of encoded central details. - ✔✔the key point of this question is
that it wants the effect of emotional arousal on memory for central AND peripheral
DETAILS.
A. causes a restriction of the focus of attention.
When in doubt, go with the most general answer choice.
b----> this is involved in performing a task. NOT memory.
The hypothesis (Easterbrook, 1959) that a person will notice information that elicits
arousal, but fail to process other information, has been supported by studies in which
memory for an (emotional) event's "central" aspects (directly tied to the emotion elicitor)
is compared to memory for "peripheral" aspects (removed from the source of the
emotional arousal). Thus, memory for the fundamental gist of the emotional event is
retained, whereas memory for details (if they are encoded at all) either fades or
undergoes changes.
✔✔Individuals with impaired color perception, such as an inability to distinguish
between red and green, are most likely to show improper functioning of which part of
the visual system?
A.Cones
B.Cornea
C.Rods
D.Sclera - ✔✔color= cones
✔✔The data indicate that:
A.the feeding behavior of monkeys was not affected by either prior diet type.
B.prior protein insufficiency was a stronger predictor of future feeding behavior than
prior protein sufficiency.
C.prior feeding history influenced future feeding behavior in monkeys raised on a high-
quality protein diet only.
D.the feeding behavior was solely determined by both prior diet types. - ✔✔So for this
question you look at error bars. You see for the low quality group the error bars overlap
and would therefore not be significant. However, there is no overlap in the error bars for
, the high quality food group, which would indicate that there is a significant correlation.
this would make c the right answer choice.
✔✔A 45-year-old man presents himself at a hospital emergency room. Symptoms
include a pounding heart, chest pain, shortness of breath, sweating, and feeling dizzy.
Medical tests reveal that the man did not have a heart attack. Which psychiatric
diagnosis provides the most likely explanation for the man's symptoms?
A.Generalized anxiety disorder
B.Panic disorder
C.Illness anxiety disorder
D.Somatic symptom disorder - ✔✔Panic disorder.
these are all symptoms of a panic disorder.
heart attack feeling= panic disorder.
✔✔panic disorder - ✔✔An anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable minutes-long
episodes of intense dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying
chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations.
✔✔somatic symptom disorder - ✔✔this would be talking about symptoms that can't be
explained.
✔✔Every time a volunteer in a sleep study begins to exhibit rapid eye movements
(REM), the experimenter wakes the person up. On the following night, when his or her
sleep is uninterrupted, the person will most likely:
A.have difficulty falling asleep.
B.have more REM sleep than usual.
C.have less REM sleep than usual.
D.have the same sleep pattern as before the study. - ✔✔have more REM! this would be
REM rebound.
✔✔Based on Figure 1, the best conclusion is that:
A.all therapies are equally effective 6 months after treatment.
B.CT has the most promising immediate effects.
C.both BT and CT are as effective individually as CBT.
D.CT is effective only at the 6-month follow-up. - ✔✔a is the only logical answer
because there is no significance between any of the 6 month follow up treatments.
