MCAT Behavioral Sciences Questions
and Answers | Latest Update | 2024/2025
| 100% Pass
What is the concept of "identity foreclosure" in Erikson’s theory?
✔✔Identity foreclosure occurs when individuals commit to an identity or values without
undergoing a period of exploration or self-discovery, often based on external expectations.
Describe the "bystander effect" and its impact on helping behavior.
✔✔The bystander effect refers to the phenomenon where individuals are less likely to help in an
emergency when others are present, due to the diffusion of responsibility.
What does "role conflict" refer to in the context of social psychology?
✔✔Role conflict occurs when an individual faces conflicting demands or expectations from
different roles they occupy, leading to stress and difficulty in fulfilling those roles.
1
,Explain the concept of "self-perception theory" in understanding attitudes.
✔✔Self-perception theory suggests that people infer their own attitudes and beliefs by observing
their behavior and the context in which it occurs, rather than having pre-existing attitudes.
What is "stereotype threat" and how does it affect performance?
✔✔Stereotype threat is the risk of confirming negative stereotypes about one's social group,
which can impair performance and exacerbate anxiety in individuals facing such stereotypes.
How does "cognitive restructuring" help in managing anxiety?
✔✔Cognitive restructuring involves identifying and challenging irrational or maladaptive
thoughts and replacing them with more realistic and balanced ones to reduce anxiety.
What is the role of "attachment theory" in understanding parent-child relationships?
✔✔Attachment theory examines the bonds between children and their caregivers, emphasizing
how early relationships influence emotional and social development throughout life.
2
,Describe the concept of "emotional intelligence" and its components.
✔✔Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize, understand, and manage one's own
emotions and the emotions of others, encompassing skills such as emotional awareness,
empathy, and effective communication.
What is "social loafing" and how does it impact group work?
✔✔Social loafing is the tendency for individuals to exert less effort in a group setting compared
to working alone, often due to reduced accountability and diffusion of responsibility.
How does "confirmation bias" influence decision-making processes?
✔✔Confirmation bias leads individuals to favor information that confirms their pre-existing
beliefs and ignore or undervalue evidence that contradicts those beliefs, affecting decision-
making and judgment.
3
, just noticeable difference jnd ✔✔minimum difference in magnitude between two stimuli before
one can perceive this difference
Weber's law ✔✔there is a constant ratio between the change in stimulus magnitude needed to
produce a jnd (higher stimulus will need a larger difference to produce a jnd)
Signal detection theory ✔✔changes in out perception of the sam stimuli depending on both
internal and external context (how loud would someone need to yell your name in a crowd for
you to hear their name?)
response bias ✔✔subjects respond in a certain way due to non sensory factors
duplexity (duplicity theory of vision) ✔✔retina contain two kinds of photoreceptores: those
specialized for light and dark detection and those specialized for color section
cones ✔✔used for color vision and sense fine details- most effective in bright light and comes in
3 forms (blue, red, green)
4
and Answers | Latest Update | 2024/2025
| 100% Pass
What is the concept of "identity foreclosure" in Erikson’s theory?
✔✔Identity foreclosure occurs when individuals commit to an identity or values without
undergoing a period of exploration or self-discovery, often based on external expectations.
Describe the "bystander effect" and its impact on helping behavior.
✔✔The bystander effect refers to the phenomenon where individuals are less likely to help in an
emergency when others are present, due to the diffusion of responsibility.
What does "role conflict" refer to in the context of social psychology?
✔✔Role conflict occurs when an individual faces conflicting demands or expectations from
different roles they occupy, leading to stress and difficulty in fulfilling those roles.
1
,Explain the concept of "self-perception theory" in understanding attitudes.
✔✔Self-perception theory suggests that people infer their own attitudes and beliefs by observing
their behavior and the context in which it occurs, rather than having pre-existing attitudes.
What is "stereotype threat" and how does it affect performance?
✔✔Stereotype threat is the risk of confirming negative stereotypes about one's social group,
which can impair performance and exacerbate anxiety in individuals facing such stereotypes.
How does "cognitive restructuring" help in managing anxiety?
✔✔Cognitive restructuring involves identifying and challenging irrational or maladaptive
thoughts and replacing them with more realistic and balanced ones to reduce anxiety.
What is the role of "attachment theory" in understanding parent-child relationships?
✔✔Attachment theory examines the bonds between children and their caregivers, emphasizing
how early relationships influence emotional and social development throughout life.
2
,Describe the concept of "emotional intelligence" and its components.
✔✔Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize, understand, and manage one's own
emotions and the emotions of others, encompassing skills such as emotional awareness,
empathy, and effective communication.
What is "social loafing" and how does it impact group work?
✔✔Social loafing is the tendency for individuals to exert less effort in a group setting compared
to working alone, often due to reduced accountability and diffusion of responsibility.
How does "confirmation bias" influence decision-making processes?
✔✔Confirmation bias leads individuals to favor information that confirms their pre-existing
beliefs and ignore or undervalue evidence that contradicts those beliefs, affecting decision-
making and judgment.
3
, just noticeable difference jnd ✔✔minimum difference in magnitude between two stimuli before
one can perceive this difference
Weber's law ✔✔there is a constant ratio between the change in stimulus magnitude needed to
produce a jnd (higher stimulus will need a larger difference to produce a jnd)
Signal detection theory ✔✔changes in out perception of the sam stimuli depending on both
internal and external context (how loud would someone need to yell your name in a crowd for
you to hear their name?)
response bias ✔✔subjects respond in a certain way due to non sensory factors
duplexity (duplicity theory of vision) ✔✔retina contain two kinds of photoreceptores: those
specialized for light and dark detection and those specialized for color section
cones ✔✔used for color vision and sense fine details- most effective in bright light and comes in
3 forms (blue, red, green)
4
