Session 231

Paul and I have tackled 3 passages in the Psych/Soc section. We discuss how to tackle these “mini passages” before trying the 1st set of discretes on our own.

If you haven’t yet, check out Blueprint MCAT. Sign up for a free account and get access to a half-length diagnostic, a full-length one that we’ve been covering here on the podcast now for several months, as well as an amazing study planner tool, free MCAT flashcards and much more. If you would like to follow along on YouTube, go to premed.tv.

Listen to this podcast episode with the player above, or keep reading for the highlights and takeaway points.

[02:18] General Tips in Handling Discretes in Psych/Soc

A lot of times, Psych/Soc section gives you huge question stems, so it’s almost like a mini passage. Treat them similarly as you would a passage-based question. And so, you don’t really have to change your mindset from passage to discrete for Psych/Soc.

Whereas in Chem/ Physics and Bio/Biochem you need to change your mindset going into those discretes.

[03:15] Question 14

A teenage boy believes strongly that success in playing football makes him more “manly” and he judges his male peers by their knowledge of, enthusiasm for, and skill with football. Whenever the boy calls his friend a sissy for not liking football, his dad laughs. The boy most likely developed this view as a result of which of the following forms of feedback from his environment?

1. Viewing many television programs that associate successful males with football
2. Failing to earn membership on a football team at school

III. Operant conditioning

1. Gender schemata
2. I only
3. II only
4. I and IV only
5. I, III and IV only

Thought Process:

Operant conditioning seems to give the answer away based on the mini-passage where the dad laughs whenever the boy calls his friend sissy for not liking football. And so, he’s getting that positive feedback, which is what operant conditioning is. Therefore, III is potentially correct, and III is only found in answer choice D.

Correct Answer: D

[06:33] Question 15

A social constructionism critique of gender would most likely assert which of the following?

1. A single female living in a totally isolated system would construct the same knowledge about what is acceptable behavior as would a female living in a society comprised of tight-knit clan units with matrilineal inheritance.
2. The near-universal dominance of males in war and combat situations across time and in various cultures is mere coincidence, unlinked to any underlying biological phenomena.
3. The association of the color blue with the clothing and bedrooms of baby boys results in increased testosterone production in the adrenal cortices of infant boys.
4. The tendency for women in the workplace to use consensus-building as the best problem-solving approach is a consequence of females being told that it’s important to “be a good girl” while growing up.

Thought Process:

C – We could throw it out since blue is not the color for boys based on outside knowledge. And C talks about biology when we’re looking for something social. So this doesn’t make sense.

A and D talk more about social stuff, and B talks about war so we can get rid of B. Then we’re down to 50-50.

Now, A doesn’t make sense because it’s not possible when you’re living alone and you come up with the same construct as living with other people.

Correct Answer: D

[10:48] Question 16

When asked to describe the image below, a small child says “a smiley face!”

Which of the following is the Gestalt principle of perception that the child is demonstrating by perceiving the image as a smiling face rather than as a series of disconnected dots?

1. Law of Closure
2. Law of Symmetry
3. Law of Similarity
4. Law of Proximity

Thought Process:

Study Gestalt principles, and their definitions,. There are pictures you can find that go along with them and it is makes it way more easy to understand than just reading the words. If anyone’s like struggling with these principles, go look up some pictures that explain a good examples of these.

Correct Answer: A

[13:24] Question 17

Which of the following interactions would be a negative consequence of ethnocentrism?

1. A mother teaches her daughter only about her own cultural and religious traditions.
2. An employer gives his employees days off for cultural holidays of his own culture.
3. A father discourages his son from playing with children who are not members of their culture.
4. An older brother beats up his younger brother for mispronouncing words associated with their own religious traditions.

Thought Process:

First, you need to know what ethnocentrism is. And it’s that belief that your culture is superior to others.

A – This doesn’t seem to be a negative consequence. The mother is not forbidding her daughter to learn about these other traditions. She’s just not teaching other traditions to her daughter, which is pretty normal.

D – There’s nothing in D that talks about that religious tradition being better or more superior to others. This is obviously negative because you’re beaten up, but it doesn’t really tie up with ethnocentrism.

Right here, we’re left with B and C.

B – The employer isn’t stopping his employees from taking off days for their own culture. The employer is giving off his important days so the employees now have bonus days on top of the holidays they’re getting that are important to their culture. And it doesn’t explicitly say that the employer is stopping employees from taking their days off.

C – The father is explicitly discouraging the son from doing something they may want to do.

Correct Answer: C

Links:

Meded Media

Blueprint MCAT