Exam 1 P/S Solutions: Passage 1

1) First thing we’re going to do as we jump into this question is differentiate between the two conditions. The author tells us there were two different types of training conditions. “The participants in the simultaneous condition were presented with all the training objects all at once and were asked to study their locations simultaneously. The participants in the serial condition were presented with the training objects one at a time.” We’re focused on the serial condition and how it would differ from the simultaneous condition. Typically, a setup like the serial condition can lead to the serial-position effect, which is the tendency of a person to recall the first and last items in a series best, and the middle items worst.

1. a primacy effect. In free recall, there is often a primacy effect in which the items that were presented first are recalled well as they have already been encoded into long-term memory. This is consistent with the serial-position effect we mentioned in the breakdown. This is a strong answer. 
2. a state dependency effect. This is the phenomenon where people will learn something in a particular state, they will recall information better in that same state. For example, if you learn a behavior on a particular drug, you’ll perform that behavior better in the future on that same drug. Not what’s happening in the serial condition. 
3. a misinformation effect. The misinformation effect is an example of retroactive interference. Retroactive interference occurs when old memories are changed by new ones, sometimes so much that the original memory is forgotten. Misinformation effect happens when a person’s recall of memories becomes less accurate because of additional information following the event. This is not more likely in the serial condition of the experiment 
4. a dual-coding effect. Verbal and visual information are processed differently. By utilizing both while learning, information can be learned and internalized better. This is also not more likely in the serial condition of the experiment. We can stick with answer choice A as our best option. 

2) To answer this question, we want to make sure to visualize what is going on in the question stem. There’s a slight change to the experimental procedure where the participants now have to recall all the objects instead of placing them in a box. Let’s define spreading activation and give an example. Spreading activation is a theory proposed that relates storage of memories to the activation of a series of nodes. These nodes create an activation pattern of other related nodes and this is how singular events are remembered. For example, at the mention of the color red and the word “vehicle,” two nodes that may be activated at the same time to relate a personal memory of a car they owned, or a fire truck.

1. Making source monitoring errors regarding the location of the training objects A source-monitoring error is a memory error in which the source of a memory is incorrectly attributed to some specific recollected experience. This possible error is not relevant to this specific question or procedure.
2. Poorer memory for the training objects seen at the later points in the experiment Recency effect is when the items that were presented last are also recalled well as they are still being held in the working short-term memory. This is what we expect to happen here as well. We don’t expect poorer memory for the training object at the later points in the experiment.
3. Selective forgetting of the training objects that were placed in the center of the box Selective forgetting involves recalling things that are more consistent with the participant’s own thoughts and ideas. This is not relevant to this specific experiment. 
4. Recalling objects that were not presented but are from the same category as the training objects This is consistent with the spreading of activation theory. The participants might recall objects from the same category as the training objects because of the activation pattern in the participants’ minds. This is a likely memory error in this procedure, so we can stick with answer choice D as our best answer.

3) This is an open-ended question so we’ll dive right into the four answer choices in a second. We want to note the results of the experiment were found in Figure 1.

The central placement error was determined based on the errors participants made in placing objects from the same category nearer to the central point than their original locations. Looking at the serial condition, Adults made greater average central placement errors than the younger groups. 

1. is comparable to adults by nine years of age. We can look at Figure 1 and note that in the serial condition, adults had significantly greater average central placement error. Memory for locations is not comparable.
2. is influenced by categorical knowledge. This is consistent with what we read in the passage and what we saw in the results. Adults have greater categorical knowledge, and that ultimately influenced the memory for locations. Average central placement error was greater in adults.
3. becomes more accurate with age. This is the opposite of what we see in Figure 1. Adults made greater average central placement errors than the younger groups.
4. relies solely on recall of distances. The author explains that memory for locations was also influenced by categorical bias. If categorical bias didn’t exist, it’s possible adults would not have had central placement error. We can stick with answer choice B as the best answer choice. 

4) Piaget’s theory of cognitive development in childhood focused on four key stages from birth to young adulthood. It’s crucial you know these for test day and the corresponding ages and details. The concrete operational stage is characterized by the appropriate use of logic and when children learn the idea of conservation. This corresponds to ages 7-11 years old, so some of the children are at the later end of this range, while some are just entering this range. The liquid volume example is a classic one used by instructors. Younger children will not state that the water is the same volume because of the different shape of the beaker.

1. All three age groups will state that the water in the taller beaker is greater in quantity. This is not expected. The concrete operational stage corresponds to ages 7-11 years old. As we mentioned, some of the children are at the later end of this range, while some are just entering this range. It’s expected the older children will realize the amount of water in both beakers is the same and only the shape of the beakers is different.
2. The majority of the 11-year-olds will state that the amount of water in the taller beaker is the same as in the original beaker. This is consistent with our breakdown and what we know about the concrete operational stage. 11-year olds are at the later end of the 7-11 year old range, so they are likely to understand the amount of water in both beakers is the same. 
3. The majority of the 9- and 11-year-olds will state that the amount of water in the taller beaker is greater in quantity. This is inconsistent with what we know about the concrete operational stage. The older kids will understand the amount of water in both beakers is the same. 
4. The majority of the 7-year-olds will state that the amount of water in the taller beaker is the same as in the original beaker. This is more likely to happen with the majority of the 11-year olds. The 7-year olds are just entering the concrete operational stage, so they will believe the amount of water in the taller beaker is greater in quantity. Answer choice B is going to remain our best answer. 

 

Exam 1 P/S Solutions: Passage 2

5) To answer this question, we can go back to the passage and note what the author mentions about Maintenance Factor 1. Then, we’ll go through the four answer choices and define each option to find the best answer choice.

We’re dealing with classical conditioning here. Classical conditioning is a form of learning whereby a conditioned stimulus becomes associated with an unrelated unconditioned stimulus to produce a behavioral response known as a conditioned response. 

1. Psychodynamic. Psychodynamic theory relates childhood events to our adult lives. These events will shape our personalities. This is not what we’re seeing in Maintenance Factor 1.
2. Behaviorist. A behaviorist considers actions as being responses to external stimuli. The change in bodily sensation produces a behavioral response in this situation: that’s the fear being experienced by these patients.  
3. Trait. Trait theorists believe personality can be conceptualized as a set of common traits, or characteristic ways of behaving that every individual exhibits to some degree. This is also out of scope here. Answer choice B remains the superior answer.
4. Humanistic. Humanistic perspective argues that an individual’s subjective free will is the most important determinant of behavior. The conditioned fear is not consistent with this approach. Answer choice B is going to be our best answer.

6) This question ties into our previous question. Diving into every passage and knowing the significance of everything the author presents us is key to really understanding the passage. We looked at Maintenance Factor 1, which was conditioned fear in response to changes in bodily sensations. We said we’re dealing with classical conditioning here. Classical conditioning is a form of learning whereby a conditioned stimulus becomes associated with an unrelated unconditioned stimulus to produce a behavioral response known as a conditioned response. The change in bodily sensation (conditioned stimulus) produces fear and panic (conditioned response) in this situation.

1. unconditioned stimuli. An unconditioned stimulus will automatically trigger a response. For example, the smell of a pizza may make someone hungry.
2. conditioned stimuli. This is exactly what the change in bodily sensations act as. Once the patients associated mild changes in bodily sensation with a panic attack, these changes eventually stimulated the panic attack. The mild changes in bodily sensations act as conditioned stimuli and elicit the conditioned fear and panic response.
3. unconditioned responses. The unconditioned response is the panic attack. It is the natural, unlearned behavior to a given stimulus.
4. conditioned responses. The conditioned response is the fear and panic that comes along with panic attacks. Answer choice B is going to be the best answer choice to describe the mild changes in bodily sensations.

7) To answer this question, we can go back to the passage. We can pull up the response of Patient 2 to the question, “Do you worry about the panic attacks that you experience?”

Patient 2 is so terrified of having a panic attack that they avoid meetings altogether. They are worried about others noticing their nervousness as well. We can dive into the four key words listed as answer choices and find the one that best describes the panic attacks of Patient 2.

1. discriminatory stimuli. This seems like a distractor. A discriminative stimulus is used to get a specific response consistently in the presence of a stimulus. For example, a dog might sit as soon as it sees its owner because the dog knows that the owner often gives it treats. Alternatively, stimulus discrimination involves being able to differentiate between a specific stimulus and similar stimuli. Neither one is applicable to Patient 2.
2. signaling stimuli. This is another distractor. A signaling stimulus is not something AAMC lists on the content outline. We are not going to pick this answer choice as it is out of scope.  
3. positive punishers. In the context of operant conditioning, whether you are reinforcing or punishing a behavior, “positive” always means you are adding a stimulus (not necessarily a good one). Positive punishments add an aversive stimulus to decrease a behavior or response. In this case, the worry and dread are being added, while the punishment is not going to meetings any longer.
4. negative punishers. This ties into answer choice C as “negative” always means you are removing a stimulus (not necessarily a bad one). Negative reinforcers remove an aversive or unpleasant stimulus to increase or maintain the frequency of a behavior. We are not removing a stimulus in this case, we’re actually seeing the addition of worry and dread. Answer choice C is going to be our best answer.

8) To answer this question, we can go back to the passage and note what the author says about interoceptive awareness. High interoceptive awareness is a heightened ability to detect bodily sensations of arousal, such as increases in heartbeat or blood pressure. These are involuntary changes, so at first glance, I am thinking autonomic nervous system or sympathetic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system controls the workings of internal organs such as the heart, lungs, digestive system, and endocrine systems; it does so without conscious effort. The sympathetic nervous system controls the body’s automatic response to danger, increasing the heart rate, dilating the blood vessels, slowing digestion, and moving blood flow to the heart, muscles, and brain.

1. reticular activation system. The reticular activating system is a necessary part in the processing of emotion. It is believed to first arouse the cortex and then maintain its wakefulness so that sensory information and emotion can be interpreted more effectively. This is not relevant to the increased heartbeat and blood pressure.
2. autonomic nervous system. This is something I covered in the breakdown of the question. The autonomic nervous system controls the workings of internal organs such as the heart, lungs, digestive system, and endocrine systems; it does so without conscious effort. The increases in heartbeat and blood pressure are tied to the activity of the autonomic nervous system. This is going to be our best answer so far.
3. limbic system. The limbic system is the area of the brain most heavily implicated in emotion and memory. Its structures include the hypothalamus, thalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus. This is out of scope in this question as well.
4. somatic nervous system. The somatic nervous system is the part of the peripheral nervous system that transmits signals from the central nervous system to skeletal muscle, and from receptors of external stimuli to the central nervous system, thereby mediating sight, hearing, and touch. This does not include the increased heartbeat or blood pressure. Answer choice B remains the more relevant and correct answer. 

9) This is something we’ve touched on tangentially as we’ve gone through the other questions in this set. We can recall the details we were given about the two maintenance factors, then we can relate them to the answer choices. Maintenance Factor 1 is conditioned fear in response to changes in bodily sensations. Maintenance Factor 2 is the misappraisal of bodily sensations such as interpreting bodily sensations as signs of imminent death or loss of control. 

For Maintenance Factor 1, when we went through Question 6 we said we’re dealing with classical conditioning. Classical conditioning is a form of learning whereby a conditioned stimulus becomes associated with an unrelated unconditioned stimulus to produce a behavioral response known as a conditioned response. The change in bodily sensation (conditioned stimulus) produces fear and panic (conditioned response) in this situation. Right away, this narrows our possible answer choices down to either B or D. 

For Maintenance Factor 2, the misappraisal of bodily sensations is a cognitive process. Cognitive appraisal is the interpretation of a situation that influences the extent to which a situation is perceived as stressful. It’s subjective, so bodily sensations can be interpreted as signs of imminent death, loss of control, or even positives in some cases. We narrowed our answer choices down to B or D previously, now we can confirm answer choice D is going to be our best option.

1. Operant conditioning and top-down processes Operant conditioning is a type of associative learning process through which the strength of a behavior is modified by reinforcement or punishment. Top-down processing refers to how we interpret sensations due to influences from our available knowledge, our experiences, and our thoughts
2. Classical conditioning and affective processes Affective processes include feelings and responses to emotion-laden behavior.
3. Operant conditioning and physiological processes Physiological processes are physical and not cognitive.
4. Classical conditioning and cognitive processes This answer choice matches our breakdown. We’re sticking with answer choice D as our best answer.

10) To answer this question, we can break down what we know about Maintenance Factor 1. We’re told patients with high interoceptive awareness are likely to associate mild changes in bodily sensations (such as slightly heightened heartbeat) with the panic they experienced during panic attacks. This association leads to conditioned fear in response to changes in bodily sensations (Maintenance Factor 1). We’re going to describe and analyze our four answer choices. Three of them are types of research from which we can get data on the role of Maintenance Factor 1 on PD. Our correct answer is going to be the one from which this data is LEAST likely to come.

1. Correlational studies. Correlational research involves measuring variables and their relationship. These can be used to relate panic attacks, conditioned fear, and other factors. 
2. Case studies. A case study is used to analyze a principle or thesis. Detailed considerations is given to a specific situation or person over time. This would be helpful in determining the effects of panic attacks and the conditioned fear.
3. Longitudinal studies. Longitudinal research describes a research study that follows the population or group of interest at multiple time points. This would be helpful as the effects of the panic attacks and conditioned fear can be tracked.
4. Experimental studies. Experimental research is research in which scientists manipulate variables to test the difference between an experimental and control group. Experimental studies can be very helpful, but in a case like this, they would have to manipulate the physiological states of the participants in the studies which is not done simply and readily. Answer choice D is going to be our best answer.

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