MCAT MCAT Certifications MCAT-TEST Questions & Answers

• Question 11:

  What is the relationship between suicide rates and social change according to the sociologist Emile Durkheim?

  A. A higher suicide rate leads to more social change.

  B. A higher suicide rate leads to less social change.

  C. Social change leads to suicide rates going up.

  D. Social change leads to suicide rates going down.

  Correct Answer: C

  C is correct. In association with his observational study, Durkheim developed a typology of suicide that ascribed this behavior to the unsettling effects of social change. That is, for him, social change caused suicide. The greater social change was; the higher suicide rates were. A. This is incorrect. According to Durkheim, a change in suicide rates has no effect on social change. B. This is incorrect. According to Durkheim, suicide has no effect on social change. D. This is incorrect. According to Durkheim, social change leads to suicide rates going up, rather than going down.

• Question 12:

  Family violence, such as domestic violence, child abuse, and elder abuse, are serious and pervasive problems in the United States. On an annual basis, the National Crime Survey has found domestic violence results in 21000 hospitalizations, 99800 days of hospitalization, 28700 emergency department visits, and 39900 visits to physicians.

  Currently there is little consensus about the definitions of intimate violence. Even the terms employed are varied; for example, domestic violence, conjugal violence, intimate abuse, and partner abuse. Similarly, there are a range of causal explanations, and these are contingent upon the theoretical perspective employed. There is also controversy whether the term "violence," "abuse," or "aggression" should be used. Finally, within the terms adopted, there is no consensus about the victim-perpetrator relationship. For example, do the terms refer to a married co-habiting couple? Two heterosexual individuals who do not reside together but are dating? All this has implications for research, practice, and policy.

  The National Violence Against Women Survey was one of the largest studies sponsored by the National Institute of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It systematically analyzed crime against women in the United States. A total of 8000 men and 8000 women in the United States were interviewed on the phone using a closed-ended survey. Table 1 displays the breakdown of figures when examining life time victimization by racial groups.

  Table 1 Percentage of people victimized by an intimate partner in lifetime, by victim gender, type of victimization, and victim race

  

  Source: Adapted from P Tjaden and N. Thoennes, "Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey." How would a scholar utilizing social control theory explain domestic violence?

  A. Domestic violence is modeled and learned.

  B. Domestic violence is triggered by the lack of regulations and cohesive networks in society.

  C. Labelling as deviant the reactions of both the perpetuator and the victim of intimate violence reinforces such behaviors.

  D. Domestic violence is caused by an interaction of factors from the micro, meso, and macro-levels causing a feedback loop that then results in a loss of systems control.

  Correct Answer: B

  B is correct. Social control theory maintains that social networks and social control mechanisms must be in place in society to regulate its members. These connections and their control mechanisms promote pro- social behaviors and reduce anti-social behaviors. Someone adopting this perspective would claim that lack cohesive social bonds and associated social control mechanisms would be responsive for violence. Thus, an intensification of social bonds and associated control mechanisms would diminish aspects such as domestic violence.

  A. This is incorrect. Social learning theory posits that all behaviors are learned through modeling. In this case, violence is learned by observing violent acts such as on the media. This is unrelated to social control theory. C. This is incorrect. According to labeling theory, society defines and creates deviance. Social units define (i.e., label) what is and is not normative, and what it means to be deviant. This act provokes a reaction at different levels (individual, institutional, and macrosocial). Under this perspective, deviance is not an intrinsic aspect of an act or person, but the result of the application of a label by someone to someone else. Changing labels would change reactions and likely decrease the performance of such "deviant" acts. Although labeling is an act of control, they recommend against it, unlike those in favor of social control theory. D. This is incorrect. Systems theory examines a problem like violence as a social interaction stemming from the micro-level (i.e., individual level), the meso-level (e.g., family, neighborhoods, schools, etc.) and macro-level (e.g., government, culture, institutions, etc.). This is unrelated to social control theory.

• Question 13:

  Family violence, such as domestic violence, child abuse, and elder abuse, are serious and pervasive problems in the United States. On an annual basis, the National Crime Survey has found domestic violence results in 21000 hospitalizations, 99800 days of hospitalization, 28700 emergency department visits, and 39900 visits to physicians.

  Currently there is little consensus about the definitions of intimate violence. Even the terms employed are varied; for example, domestic violence, conjugal violence, intimate abuse, and partner abuse. Similarly, there are a range of causal explanations, and these are contingent upon the theoretical perspective employed. There is also controversy whether the term "violence," "abuse," or "aggression" should be used. Finally, within the terms adopted, there is no consensus about the victim-perpetrator relationship. For example, do the terms refer to a married co-habiting couple? Two heterosexual individuals who do not reside together but are dating? All this has implications for research, practice, and policy.

  The National Violence Against Women Survey was one of the largest studies sponsored by the National Institute of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It systematically analyzed crime against women in the United States. A total of 8000 men and 8000 women in the United States were interviewed on the phone using a closed-ended survey. Table 1 displays the breakdown of figures when examining life time victimization by racial groups.

  Table 1 Percentage of people victimized by an intimate partner in lifetime, by victim gender, type of victimization, and victim race

  

  Source: Adapted from P Tjaden and N. Thoennes, "Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey."

  Counselors who experience the cumulative effects of strain and exhaustion from hearing the stories of violence of victims of domestic violence over time are suffering from a phenomenon named:

  A. learned helplessness.

  B. acute stress.

  C. compassion fatigue.

  D. post-traumatic stress syndrome.

  Correct Answer: C

  C is correct. Compassion fatigue (or secondary victimization, or secondary traumatic stress disorder) refers to the emotional disruption caused in helpers by listening repeatedly to clients' narratives about horrific and traumatic events. The accumulation of secondary distress generates a state that resembles post-traumatic stress disorder. Its symptoms include: cognitive intrusion, avoidance, negative affect, anhedonia, anxious arousal, and dysphoric arousal. Although it was not identified as a separate disorder in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), research about it is ongoing and regards such experience as an occupational hazard with psychological and functional consequences. A. This is incorrect. Learned helpless was a concept developed by Martin Seligman. It refers to a cognitive state whereby one views a situation as beyond their control. It was studied with animals that were being shocked no matter what they did. After some time under such harsh conditions they tended to stop moving, not even trying to escape the shock, as if having given up on resolving their problem. B. This is incorrect. Acute stress is a DSM disorder that is characterized by severe anxiety-related symptoms that occurs after a direct exposure to a traumatic event. It is thus not the phenomenon caused by listening to traumatic stories, or "second-hand" trauma.

  D. This is incorrect. Post-traumatic stress disorder is a stress disorder that is characterized by flashbacks, nightmares, and other symptoms of anxiety. It is caused by direct rather than secondary exposure to a traumatic stimulus. It is more severe than acute stress.

• Question 14:

  A police officer carries out hundreds of traffic stops every year. When his supervisor is reviewing the officer's records for the past year, he notices that the officer is equally likely to stop people of various genders, ages, and races. However, he is significantly more likely to write tickets for middle-aged white males with dark hair and eyes. When confronted with this fact, the officer truthfully states that he has no idea why that is, and that it must simply be a coincidence. Unbeknownst to the officer, this behavior is tied to the fact that these men look like his father, with whom he had an abusive relationship as a child. What psychological framework would directly address the unconscious bias in his behavior?

  A. Behaviorist

  B. Psychoanalytic

  C. Cognitive behavioral

  D. Humanistic

  Correct Answer: B

  Freud's psychoanalytic framework deals with the interactions between the conscious and unconscious mind. Through talk therapy, free association, dream analysis, etc. patients are helped to see how their early childhood experiences shape their unconscious mind and how that then affects their adult lives. Thus choice B, psychoanalytic framework, would directly address this unconscious component of the officer's behavior.

• Question 15:

  A local politician starts a task force to reduce prejudice and hate crimes, and the task force provides recommendations for increased access to education, paid community improvement projects open to people from different, possibly conflicted, groups, and stricter anti-hate ordinances to be passed at the local level. These recommendations are based on:

  I. Self-esteem hypothesis

  II. Contact hypothesis

  III. Hypothesis

  IV.

  Legal hypothesis

  A.

  I, II, and III

  B.

  II, III, and IV

  C.

  I, III, and IV

  D.

  I, II, and IV

  Correct Answer: D

  Four main hypotheses are speculated to reduce prejudice. The self-esteem hypothesis states that when people have access to education and greater self-esteem, prejudices will go away. The contact hypothesis states that when members of different groups are brought together in order to appreciate their common experiences, prejudices will go away. Similarly, the cooperation hypothesis (not an answer choice) suggests that when conflicting groups work together towards shared goals, prejudices will go away. Finally, the legal hypothesis suggests that when laws are enforced against discriminatory behavior, prejudices will go away. There is no assimilation hypothesis, assimilation refers to blending of minority groups into the dominant society. In this question, the task-force has recommended increased access to education (I. Self-esteem hypothesis), paid community improvement projects open to people from varied backgrounds (II. Contact hypothesis, and would include Cooperation hypothesis if this were a choice), and stricter anti-hate ordinances (IV. Legal hypothesis). All choices are correct except for III.

• Question 16:

  A young adult man begins seeing a therapist and tells the therapist that he has homosexual feelings, and that he self-identifies as gay. He is plagued by feelings of worthlessness and fears that he will be subject to what his religion terms "eternal damnation". He feels alienated from his family and friends, as he knows of no other homosexuals in his peer group or family. In the course of working with the man, the therapist helps him see that his feelings are exceptionally common among people who have recently discovered their same-sex feelings, and encourages him to attend a support group for newly "out" gay men. The therapist's approach demonstrates which of the following phenomena?

  A. Stereotype threat

  B. Groupthink

  C. Universalization

  D. Spatial discrimination

  Correct Answer: C

  Universalization is a form of supportive intervention in which the client is made to understand that others share similar feelings and experiences. This process helps the client see that his feelings are normal, and this normalization process helps reduce distress. That is what the therapist has done for his client in the scenario presented.

  A: Stereotype threat refers to a phenomenon whereby those aware of a stereotype will alter their own behavior due to anxiety about living up to (or down to) the stereotype. It has most sharply been demonstrated in decreased performance on cognitive tasks by minorities, when those minorities are told in advance of the task that the task is an intelligence test.

  B: Groupthink is when a group's decision making process is hampered by an excessive focus on group cohesion and conformity, to the point of excluding any new data that might challenge the group's worldview.

  D: Spatial discrimination occurs when one group is subjected to different treatment based on geography. For example, if a new toxic waste dump is to be located in an area only occupied by disadvantaged minorities, then they are being subjected to a form of spatial discrimination.

• Question 17:

  Each of the following are aspects of the McDonaldization of Society EXCEPT:

  A. Rationalization of decisions into cost/benefit analysis structures and away from traditional modes of thinking

  B. Bureaucratic organization that formalizes well-establish division of labor and impersonal structures

  C. A dissolution of hierarchical modes of authority into collaborative team-based decision protocols

  D. An intense effort on achieving sameness across diverse markets

  Correct Answer: C

  Sociologist George Ritzer coined the term McDonaldization to describe the modern form of the social phenomenon of rationalization discussed by Max Weber at the end of the nineteenth century. The rationalization of society involves a shift in social structures towards rational means/ends tests (like choice A) a focus on efficiency and formal methods of social control. The classic example of a rational social structure is bureaucracy (as described in B) that aims to create a uniformity of outcomes (as described in D). The correct answer, (C) is not a part of McDonaldization, which would focus on strongly hierarchical methods of control.

• Question 18:

  The social phenomenon of groupthink is characterized by all of the following EXCEPT:

  A. A significant over-rating of the decision-making abilities of members of the ingroup.

  B. A decrease in the creativity of individual group members in contributing to solutions the ingroup wants to achieve.

  C. High loyalty and group cohesiveness causing members to feel safe raising controversial issues and proposing alternative solutions.

  D. An effort to minimize conflict and ensure consensus.

  Correct Answer: C

  Groupthink is a phenomenon that occurs when highly cohesive and loyal groups of people end up valuing consensus over clear decision-making and confronting ingroup conflicts. This high cohesiveness leads people to avoid raising controversial issues or propose alternatives to the group's desired solution. Thus, (C) is false and because this is an EXCEPT question, it's the right answer. The remaining choices are all apt descriptions of groupthink.

• Question 19:

  Walking down a street late at night, an adult male pedestrian notices a young female on the ground, not moving. The female is on the opposite side of the street. Crossing the street, the pedestrian notices that the young woman appears both much wealthier than he is and is of a different ethnicity. Seeing nobody else present, the pedestrian renders aid.

  According to the bystander effect, which of the following would change how the pedestrian reacts?

  A. The person requiring aid appearing to be of a lower socioeconomic class rather than a higher one

  B. The presence of another group of people one block up the street

  C. The person requiring aid appearing to be the same ethnicity rather than a different one

  D. The presence of one other person who is already approaching the girl

  Correct Answer: D

  The bystander effect indicates that people are less likely to take action when there are other people present and it seems as though the other people will take charge of the situation or will take direct action. Here, if another person is already heading towards the girl, the pedestrian may assume someone else is going to render aid, and will just move on, rather than rendering aid himself. Thus (D) is the correct answer. A, C: The bystander effect concerns itself with the presence of other people. B: While this choice indicates the presence of other people, their distance from the situation makes it less likely that the pedestrian will assume that others are helping.

• Question 20:

  A hedonic teenager of wayward morals, in one night, sequentially i) has consensual sexual intercourse with his sister, ii) leaves no tip at the bar, iii) has non-censual sexual relations with an unknown woman, and iv) vomits on the steps to the door of a local church.

  The teenager has violated society's norms sequentially (to the greatest degree) on the order of:

  A. mores, mores, the law, mores

  B. taboo, folkways, the law, and taboo

  C. the law, folkways, folkways, and folkways

  D. taboo, folkways, the law, and mores

  Correct Answer: D

  A society's norms are group held beliefs of how an individual should behave in context. To a rough approximation: folkways distinguish between "right and rude," mores distinguish between "right and wrong," taboos define behaviors too

  accursed for an ordinary individual to undertake, and laws are systems of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior. In the west, two common taboos are incest, sexual intercourse between close

  relatives, and pederasty, a homosexual relationship between an adult male and a pubescent or adolescent male. Laws regarding incest vary widely between jurisdictions. Pederasty violates the law if the younger male is not of the age of

  consent. In the west, non-consensual sex, murder, and theft are common violations of the law. a) ?incorrect. Intercourse with a sibling violates a taboo, failing to tip violates a folkway, non-consensual sex violates the law, and vomiting on a

  religious building violates a more (probably slightly more extreme than a violation of a folkway).

  b) ?incorrect. Although quite distasteful, vomiting on a religious building does not violate a cultural taboo. c) ?incorrect. Consensual sex with a sibling does not violate the law in all jurisdictions and is an example of violating a cultural taboo.

  Non-consensual sex is a violation of the law. Vomiting on a religious building is slightly more than rude, and would most likely be considered a violation of mores rather than folkways.

  d) ?correct.