MCAT Content in Sociology and Psychology, Study Guides, Projects, Research of Educational Psychology

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Association of

A Road Map to MCAT

Content in

Sociology and Psychology Textbooks

2020 Update

Association of

Contents

Introduction......................................................................................................................... 1

Textbooks Included in This Road Map ............................................................................... 2

Foundational Concept 6: Biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors

influence the ways that individuals perceive, think about, and react to the world. .... 3

Content Category 6A: Sensing the environment ................................................................ 4 Content Category 6B: Making sense of the environment ................................................... 6 Content Category 6C: Responding to the world ................................................................ 9

Foundational Concept 7: Biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors

influence behavior and behavior change. ...................................................................... 11

Content Category 7A: Individual influences on behavior .................................................. 12 Content Category 7B: Social processes that influence human behavior ............................ 16

Content Category 7C: Attitude and behavior change ...................................................... 18

Foundational Concept 8: Psychological, sociocultural, and biological factors

influence the way we think about ourselves and others, as well as how

we interact with others. ................................................................................................... 20

Content Category 8A: Self Identity ................................................................................. 21 Content Category 8B: Social thinking ............................................................................. 22 Content Category 8C: Social interactions ........................................................................ 23

Foundational Concept 9: Cultural and social differences influence well-being ........... 25

Content Category 9A: Understanding social structure...................................................... 26 Content Category 9B: Demographic characteristics and processes ................................... 28

Foundational Concept 10: Social stratification and access to resources influence

well-being.......................................................................................................................... 30

Content Category 10A: Social inequality.......................................................................... 31

Association of

Textbooks Included in This Road Map

Textbook Link

Mapping included in this road map

Ballantine JH, Roberts KA, Korgen KO. Our Social World. 7th ed. Thousand

Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.; 2020.

https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/our-social-world/book

Cragun RT, Cragun DL, Konieczny P. Introduction to Sociology. Wikibooks;

Free and open access:

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Introduction_to_Sociology

Myers DG, DeWall CN. Exploring Psychology. 11th ed. New York, NY:

Worth Publishers; 2019.

https://www.macmillanlearning.com/college/us/product/Exploring-

Psychology/p/

Newman DM. Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life.

13th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.; 2021.

https://edge.sagepub.com/newman13e

Mapping coming soon

Spielman RM, et al. Psychology. Open Stax. Rice University; 2014.

Free and open access:

https://openstax.org/details/books/psychology

Griffiths H, et al. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Open Stax. Rice University;

Free and open access:

https://openstax.org/details/books/introduction-sociology-2e

Association of

Foundational Concept 6: Biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors

influence the ways that individuals perceive, think about, and react to the world.

The ways we sense, perceive, think about, and react to stimuli affect our experiences. Foundational concept 6 focuses on these components of

experience, starting with the initial detection and perception of stimuli through cognition and continuing to emotion and stress.

Content Categories:

- Category 6A focuses on the detection and perception of sensory information. - Category 6B focuses on cognition, including our ability to attend to the environment, think about and remember what we experience, and

use language to communicate with others.

- Category 6C focuses on how we process and experience emotion and stress.

With these building blocks, medical students will be able to learn about the ways cognitive and perceptual processes influence their

understanding of health and illness.

Association of

Topic Our Social World

Introduction to Sociology

Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life Exploring Psychology

Other Senses (PSY, BIO)

• Somatosensation (e.g., pain perception)
• Taste (e.g., taste buds (chemoreceptors) that detect specific chemicals)
• Smell › Olfactory cells (chemoreceptors) that detect specific chemicals › Pheromones (BIO) › Olfactory pathways in the brain (BIO)
• Kinesthetic sense (PSY)
• Vestibular sense

Ch. 6, pp. 220-

Perception (PSY)

• Bottom-up/top-down processing
• Perceptual organization (e.g., depth, form, motion, constancy)
• Gestalt principles

Ch. 6, pp. 189-

Association of

Content Category 6B: Making sense of the environment

The way we think about the world depends on our awareness, thoughts, knowledge, and memories. It is also influenced by our ability to solve

problems, make decisions, form judgments, and communicate. Psychological, sociocultural, and biological influences determine the development

and use of these different yet convergent processes.

Biological factors underlie the mental processes that create our reality, shape our perception of the world, and influence the way we perceive and

react to every aspect of our lives.

The content in this category covers critical aspects of cognition — including consciousness, cognitive development, problem-solving and decision-

making, intelligence, memory, and language.

Topic Our Social World

Introduction to Sociology

Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life Exploring Psychology

Attention (PSY)

• Selective attention
• Divided attention

Ch. 3, pp. 81-

Cognition (PSY)

• Information-processing model
• Cognitive development › Piaget’s stages of cognitive development › Cognitive changes in late adulthood › Role of culture in cognitive development › Influence of heredity and environment on cognitive development
• Biological factors that affect cognition (PSY, BIO)
• Problem-solving and decision-making › Types of problem-solving › Barriers to effective problem-solving › Approaches to problem-solving › Heuristics and biases (e.g., overconfidence, belief perseverance)
• Intellectual functioning › Theories of intelligence › Influence of heredity and environment on intelligence › Variations in intellectual ability

Ch. 1, pp. 16- Ch. 2, pp. 70- Ch. 4, pp. 119- Ch. 5, pp. 168- Ch. 8, pp. 268- Ch. 9, pp. 315-332, 336- Ch. 10, pp. 378- Ch. 13, pp. 489-

Association of

Topic Our Social World

Introduction to Sociology

Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life Exploring Psychology

Language (PSY)

• Theories of language development (e.g., learning, Nativist, Interactionist)
• Influence of language on cognition
• Brain areas that control language and speech (PSY, BIO)

Ch. 3, Building Reality: The Social Construction of Knowledge, pp. 50- (“Culture and language”)

Ch. 5, Building Identity: Socialization, pp. 113-118 (“The acquisition of self”)

Ch. 9, pp. 311-

Association of

Content Category 6C: Responding to the world

We experience a barrage of environmental stimuli throughout the course of our lives. In many cases, environmental stimuli trigger physiological

responses, such as an elevated heart rate, increased perspiration, or heightened feelings of anxiety. How we perceive and interpret these

physiological responses is complex and influenced by psychological, sociocultural, and biological factors.

Emotional responses, such as feelings of happiness, sadness, anger, or stress, are often born out of our interpretation of this interplay of

physiological responses. Our experience with emotions and stress not only affects our behavior, but also shapes our interactions with others.

The content in this category covers the basic components and theories of emotion and their underlying psychological, sociocultural, and

biological factors. It also addresses stress, stress outcomes, and stress management.

Topic Our Social World

Introduction to Sociology

Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life Exploring Psychology

Emotion (PSY)

• Three components of emotion (i.e., cognitive, physiological, behavioral)
• Universal emotions (i.e., fear, anger, happiness, surprise, joy, disgust, sadness)
• Adaptive role of emotion
• Theories of emotion › James-Lange theory › Cannon-Bard theory › Schachter-Singer theory
• The role of biological processes in perceiving emotion (PSY, BIO) › Brain regions involved in the generation and experience of emotions › The role of the limbic system in emotion › Emotion and the autonomic nervous system › Physiological markers of emotion (signatures of emotion)

Ch. 4, Building Order: Culture and History, pp. 95-96 (“Can Culture tell you what to feel?”

Ch. 2, pp. 55- Ch. 4, p. 142 Ch. 8, pp. 277- Ch. 10, pp. 367-

Association of

Foundational Concept 7: Biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors

influence behavior and behavior change.

Human behavior is complex and often surprising, differing across individuals in the same situation and within an individual across different

situations. A full understanding of human behavior requires knowledge of the interplay between psychological, sociocultural, and biological

factors related to behavior. This interplay has important implications for the way we behave and the likelihood of behavior change.

Foundational Concept 7 focuses on individual and social determinants of behavior and behavior change.

Content Categories:

- Category 7A focuses on the individual psychological and biological factors that affect behavior. - Category 7B focuses on how social factors, such as groups and social norms, affect behavior. - Category 7C focuses on how learning affects behavior, as well as the role of attitude theories in behavior and behavior change.

With these building blocks, medical students will be able to learn how behavior can either support health or increase risk for disease.

Association of

Content Category 7A: Individual influences on behavior

A complex interplay of psychological and biological factors shapes behavior. Biological structures and processes serve as the pathways by

which bodies carry out activities. They also affect predispositions to behave in certain ways, shape personalities, and influence the likelihood of

developing psychological disorders. Psychological factors also affect behavior and, consequently, health and well-being.

The content in this category covers biological bases of behavior, including the effect of genetics and how the nervous and endocrine systems

affect behavior. It also addresses how personality, psychological disorders, motivation, and attitudes affect behavior. Some of these topics are

learned in the context of nonhuman animal species.

Association of

Topic Our Social World

Introduction to Sociology

Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life Exploring Psychology

Personality (PSY)

• Theories of personality › Psychoanalytic perspective › Humanistic perspective › Trait perspective › Social cognitive perspective › Biological perspective › Behaviorist perspective
• Situational approach to explaining behavior

Ch. 13, pp. 461-

Psychological Disorders (PSY)

• Understanding psychological disorders › Biomedical vs. biopsychosocial approaches › Classifying psychological disorders › Rates of psychological disorders
• Types of psychological disorders › Anxiety disorders › Obsessive-compulsive disorder › Trauma- and stressor-related disorders › Somatic symptom and related disorders › Bipolar and related disorders › Depressive disorders › Schizophrenia › Dissociative disorders › Personality disorders
• Biological bases of nervous system disorders (PSY, BIO) › Schizophrenia › Depression › Alzheimer’s disease › Parkinson’s disease › Stem cell-based therapy to regenerate neurons in the central nervous system (BIO)

Ch. 8, Constructing Difference: Social Deviance, pp. 236-241 (“The medicalization of deviance”)

Ch. 2, pp. 44, 64 Ch. 8, p. 279 Ch. 14, pp. 493-

Association of

Topic Our Social World

Introduction to Sociology

Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life Exploring Psychology

Motivation (PSY)

• Factors that influence motivation › Instinct › Arousal › Drives (e.g., negative-feedback systems) (PSY, BIO) › Needs
• Theories that explain how motivation affects human behavior › Drive reduction theory › Incentive theory › Other theories (e.g., cognitive, need-based)
• Biological and sociocultural motivators that regulate behavior (e.g., hunger, sex drive, substance addiction)

Ch. 3, pp. 101- Ch. 5, pp. 165- Ch. 10, pp. 348-

Attitudes (PSY)

• Components of attitudes (i.e., cognitive, affective, behavioral)
• The link between attitudes and behavior › Processes by which behavior influences attitudes (e.g., foot-in-the door phenomenon, role-playing effects) › Processes by which attitudes influence behavior › Cognitive dissonance theory

Ch. 12, pp. 415-

Association of

Topic Our Social World

Introduction to Sociology

Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life Exploring Psychology

Socialization (PSY, SOC)

• Agents of socialization (e.g., the family, mass media, peers, workplace)

Ch. 4: Socialization Ch. 9: Gender Stratification

Socialization Ch. 5, Building Identity: Socialization Ch. 4, pp. 132-140, 145- Ch. 5, pp. 168-171, 177- Ch. 10, pp. 352- Ch. 12, pp. 443-445, 455

Association of

Content Category 7C: Attitude and behavior change

Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior brought about by experience. There are a number of different types of learning, which

include habituation as well as associative, observational, and social learning.

Although people can learn new behaviors and change their attitudes, psychological, environmental, and biological factors influence whether

those changes will be short-term or long-term. Understanding how people learn new behaviors and change their attitudes and which conditions

affect learning helps us understand behavior and our interactions with others.

The content in this category covers learning and theories of attitude and behavior change. This includes the elaboration likelihood model and

social cognitive theory.

Topic Our Social World

Introduction to Sociology

Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life Exploring Psychology

Habituation and Dishabituation (PSY) Ch. 5, pp. 540-

Associative Learning (PSY)

• Classical conditioning (PSY, BIO) › Neutral, conditioned, and unconditioned stimuli › Conditioned and unconditioned response › Processes: acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, discrimination
• Operant conditioning (PSY, BIO) › Processes of shaping and extinction › Types of reinforcement: positive, negative, primary, conditional › Reinforcement schedules: fixed-ratio, variable-ratio, fixed-interval, variable-interval › Punishment › Escape and avoidance learning
• The role of cognitive processes in associative learning
• Biological processes that affect associative learning (e.g., biological predispositions, instinctive drift) (PSY, BIO)

Ch. 7, pp. 236- Ch. 11, pp. 396- Ch. 15, pp. 540-