MCAT Psychology and Sociology Flashcards: How to Learn the 99-Card P/S Deck
Learn MCAT Psych/Soc with 99 flashcards: 53 core terms, research methods and exam facts, plus the theories to add (conditioning, Piaget, Weber) and a p-value fix.
Studying. But it's also a video game. 🎮
Flashcards, quizzes and games that make you actually remember.
Posted by
FLIP IT TeamRelated reading
Master MCAT Physics: 146 Flashcards From Kinematics to Optics
Learn MCAT physics with 146 real flashcards: kinematics, fluids, circuits, magnetism and optics, plus the formula pairs to drill and the gaps to fill before test day.
Memorize MCAT Chemistry: 147 Flashcards for Gen Chem and Organic Chem
Master MCAT general and organic chemistry with 147 real flashcards: pH, Gibbs free energy, SN1 and SN2, hybridization, colligative properties and more.
MCAT Test Format, Scoring and History: 184 Flashcards Every Premed Should Know
Memorize how the MCAT works with 184 flashcards: four sections, 118-132 scoring, 472-528 range, percentiles, retake limits, prep statistics and the exam's history since 1928.
The MCAT Psychology & Sociology deck on Flip It (deck code IJ6440, 99 cards) splits into three blocks. Knowing where they start and end decides how you should use it:
Study this deck: MCAT Psychology & Sociology
1 / 10What is the MCAT?
Tap the card for the answer · swipe right if you knew it, left if not
- Cards 14-66, the core: 53 definitions of behavioral and social science terms.
- Cards 67-81, research methods: variables, controls, validity, correlation.
- Cards 1-13 and 82-99, exam logistics: score ranges, percentiles, fees, retake limits. These are mostly the same facts as the MCAT Biology & Biochemistry deck. Read them once and suspend them.
Representative cards
| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| How many questions are in the Psychology & Sociology section? | 59 questions (95 minutes) |
| What is self-efficacy? | Belief in one's capacity to execute behaviors necessary to achieve specific goals |
| What is the fundamental attribution error? | Overestimating internal factors and underestimating situational factors when explaining others' behavior |
| What is cognitive dissonance? | Mental discomfort from holding two contradictory beliefs, values, or attitudes |
| What is the sick role? | A social role that excuses sick people from normal obligations while expecting them to seek treatment |
| What is medicalization? | The process by which human conditions come to be defined and treated as medical conditions |
| What is the biopsychosocial model? | Considers biological, psychological, and social factors in health and illness |
| What is a confounding variable? | An outside influence that affects both the independent and dependent variables |
Vocabulary covered
Behavior change, perception, self-perception, social perception, culture, social stratification, socioeconomic status (SES), health disparity, social determinants of health, stress, coping, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, emotion, cognition, memory, learning, socialization, socialization agents, social norms, conformity, obedience, prejudice, discrimination, stereotypes, identity, self-concept, self-esteem, self-efficacy, attitudes, attribution theory, group dynamics, social support, social institutions, deviance, stigma, the biomedical model, health behavior, illness behavior, social epidemiology, population health, public health. The methods block adds independent and dependent variables, correlation vs. causation, control and experimental groups, validity, reliability and hypotheses.
How to study it
Turn near-synonyms into contrast triads. Many of these terms come in look-alike groups, and the exam tests the differences:
- Stereotype, prejudice and discrimination map to cognition, affect and behavior.
- Self-concept, self-esteem and self-efficacy are what you believe about yourself, how much you value yourself, and what you think you can do.
- Conformity and obedience: one follows a group, the other follows an authority. Add a compliance card, because the deck leaves it out.
- Health behavior is about prevention, while illness behavior is about interpreting symptoms and seeking care.
Put each triad on one card. Being able to define a term alone isn't enough.
Write the cards the deck never teaches. This is a glossary with no theories in it. There are no cards on classical or operant conditioning, Piaget, Erikson, Freud, Maslow, Weber's law, signal detection, the James-Lange, Cannon-Bard and Schachter-Singer theories of emotion, functionalism, conflict theory, symbolic interactionism, the bystander effect, groupthink, or demographic transition. Each one is a high-yield P/S topic, so add one card per theory, with its key claim and one example.
Fix card 75. A p-value is not "the likelihood that a result occurred by chance." It is the probability of getting data at least this extreme if the null hypothesis were true. MCAT data questions test exactly this distinction.
Find IJ6440 in the library at flip-it.app, and pair it with the MCAT Chemistry deck for a full content pass.
Ready to learn faster? 🚀
Join FLIP IT for free and turn studying into a game.