AAMC MCAT Science Outline – MCAT Content Checklist

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Biological & Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems 🦠

Content Category 1A: Structure and function of proteins and their constituent amino acids

Amino Acids

Description

Reactions

Protein Structure (BIO, BC, OC)

Structure

Conformational Stability

Separation Techniques

Read our comprehensive guide: Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins on the MCAT

Non-Enzymatic Protein Function (BIO, BC)

Enzyme Structure and Function (BIO, BC)

  • Cofactors
  • Coenzymes
  • Water-soluble vitamins

Control of Enzyme Activity (BIO, BC)

Content Category 1B:Transmission of genetic information from the gene to the protein

Nucleic Acid Structure and Function (BIO, BC)

DNA Replication (BIO)

Repair of DNA (BIO)

  • Repair during replication
  • Repair of mutations

Genetic Code (BIO)

Transcription (BIO)

Translation (BIO)

Eukaryotic Chromosome Organization (BIO)

Control of Gene Expression in Prokaryotes (BIO)

Control of Gene Expression in Eukaryotes (BIO)

Recombinant DNA and Biotechnology (BIO)

Content Category 1C: Transmission of heritable information from generation to generation and the processes that increase genetic diversity

Evidence that DNA is Genetic Material (BIO)

Mendelian Concepts (BIO)

Meiosis and Other Factors Affecting Genetic Variability (BIO)

Analytic Methods (BIO)

  • Hardy–Weinberg Principle
  • Testcross (Backcross; concepts of parental, F1, and F2 generations)
  • Gene mapping: crossover frequencies
  • Biometry: statistical methods

Evolution (BIO)

Content Category 1D: Principles of bioenergetics and fuel molecule metabolism

Principles of Bioenergetics (BC, GC)

  • Equilibrium constant
  • Relationship of the equilibrium constant and∆G°

Carbohydrates (BC, OC)

Glycolysis, Gluconeogenesis, and the Pentose Phosphate Pathway (BIO, BC)

Principles of Metabolic Regulation (BC)

  • Maintenance of a dynamic steady state

Citric Acid Cycle (BIO, BC)

Metabolism of Fatty Acids and Proteins (BIO, BC)

Oxidative Phosphorylation (BIO, BC)

Hormonal Regulation and Integration of Metabolism (BC)

Content Category 2A: Assemblies of molecules, cells, and groups of cells within single cellular andmulticelluar organisms

Plasma Membrane (BIO, BC)

Membrane-Bound Organelles and Defining Characteristics of Eukaryotic Cells (BIO)

  • Compartmentalization, storage of genetic information
  • Nucleolus: location and function
  • Nuclear envelope, nuclear pores
  • Golgi apparatus: general structure and role in packaging and secretion
  • Peroxisomes: organelles that collect peroxides

Cytoskeleton (BIO)

Tissues Formed From Eukaryotic Cells (BIO)

Content Category 2B: The structure, growth, physiology, and genetics of prokaryotes and viruses

Cell Theory (BIO)

Classification and Structure of Prokaryotic Cells (BIO)

Growth and Physiology of Prokaryotic Cells (BIO)

Genetics of Prokaryotic Cells (BIO)

Virus Structure (BIO)

Viral Life Cycle (BIO)

Content Category 2C: Processes of cell division, differentiation, and specialization

Mitosis (BIO)

Biosignaling (BC)

Reproductive System (BIO)

  • Reproductive sequence: fertilization; implantation; development; birth

Embryogenesis (BIO)

  • Fertilization
  • Cleavage
  • Blastula formation
  • Gastrulation
  • First cell movements
  • Formation of primary germ layers (endoderm, mesoderm, ectoderm)
  • Waxes
  • Neurulation
  • Major structures arising out of primary germ layers
  • Neural crest
  • Environment–gene interaction in development

Mechanisms of Development (BIO)

  • Cellspecialization
  • Determination
  • Differentiation
  • Tissue types
  • Cell–cell communication in development
  • Cell migration
  • Pluripotency: stem cells
  • Gene regulation in development
  • Programmed cell death
  • Existence of regenerative capacity in various species
  • Senescence and aging

Content Category 3A: Structure and functions of the nervous and endocrine systems and ways in which these systems coordinate the organ systems

Nervous System: Structure and Function (BIO)

  • Feedback loop, reflex arc
  • Role of spinal cord and supraspinalcircuits
  • Integration with endocrine system: feedback control

Nerve Cell (BIO)

  • Cell body: site of nucleus, organelles
  • Dendrites: branched extensions of cell body
  • Axon: structure and function
  • Myelin sheath, Schwann cells, insulation of axon
  • Nodes of Ranvier: propagation of nerve impulse along axon
  • Synapse: site of impulse propagation between cells
  • Synaptic activity: transmitter molecules
  • Resting potential: electrochemical gradient
  • Action potential
  • Threshold, all-or-none
  • Sodium/potassium pump
  • Excitatory and inhibitory nerve fibers: summation, frequency of firing
  • Glial cells, neuroglia

Electrochemistry (GC)

  • Concentration cell: direction of electron flow, Nernst equation

Biosignalling (BC)

  • Gated ion channels
  • Voltage gated
  • Ligand gated
  • Receptor enzymes
  • G protein-coupled receptors

Lipids (BC, OC)

  • Description; structure
  • Steroids
  • Terpenes and terpenoids

Endocrine System: Hormones and Their Sources (BIO)

Endocrine System: Mechanisms of Hormone Action (BIO)

Content Category 3B: Structure and integrative functions of the main organ systems

Respiratory System(BIO)

  • Diffusion, differential partial pressure
  • Henry’s Law (GC)
  • pH control
  • Regulation by nervous control
  • CO2sensitivity

Circulatory System (BIO)

  • Functions: circulation of oxygen, nutrients, hormones, ions and fluids, removal of metabolic waste
  • Role in thermoregulation
  • Four-chambered heart: structure and function
  • Endothelial cells
  • Systolic and diastolic pressure
  • Pulmonary and systemic circulation
  • Arterial and venous systems (arteries, arterioles, venules, veins)
  • Structural and functional differences
  • Pressure and flow characteristics
  • Capillary beds
  • Mechanisms of gas and solute exchange
  • Mechanism of heat exchange
  • Source of peripheral resistance
  • Composition of blood
  • Plasma, chemicals, blood cells
  • Erythrocyte production and destruction; spleen, bone marrow
  • Regulation of plasma volume
  • Coagulation, clotting mechanisms
  • Oxygen transport by blood
  • Hemoglobin, hematocrit
  • Oxygen content
  • Oxygen affinity
  • Carbon dioxide transport and level in blood
  • Nervous and endocrine control

Lymphatic System (BIO)

  • Structure of lymphatic system
  • Major functions
  • Equalization of fluid distribution
  • Transport of proteins and large glycerides
  • Production of lymphocytes involved in immune reactions
  • Return of materials to the blood

Immune System (BIO)

Digestive System (BIO)

  • Storage and churning of food
  • Low pH, gastric juice, mucal protection against self-destruction
  • Production of digestive enzymes, site of digestion
  • Structure (gross)
  • Structural relationship of liver within gastrointestinal system
  • Production of bile
  • Role in blood glucose regulation, detoxification
  • Storage in gall bladder
  • Function
  • Production of enzymes
  • Transport of enzymes to small intestine
  • Absorption of food molecules and water
  • Function and structure of villi
  • Production of enzymes, site of digestion
  • Neutralization of stomach acid
  • Structure (anatomic subdivisions)
  • Absorption of water
  • Bacterial flora
  • Structure (gross)
  • Endocrine control
  • Hormones
  • Target tissues
  • Nervous control: the enteric nervous system

Excretory System (BIO)

  • Blood pressure
  • Osmoregulation
  • Acid–base balance
  • Removal of soluble nitrogenous waste
  • Formation of urine
  • Glomerular filtration
  • Secretion and reabsorption of solutes
  • Concentration of urine
  • Counter-current multiplier mechanism
  • Storage and elimination: ureter, bladder, urethra
  • Osmoregulation: capillary reabsorption ofH2O, amino acids, glucose, ions
  • Muscular control: sphincter muscle

Reproductive System (BIO)

  • Hormonal control of reproduction
  • Male and female sexual development
  • Female reproductive cycle
  • Pregnancy, parturition, lactation
  • Integration with nervous control

Muscle System (BIO)

  • Important functions
  • Support: mobility
  • Peripheral circulatory assistance
  • Thermoregulation (shivering reflex)
  • Structure of three basic muscle types: striated, smooth,cardiac
  • Muscle structure and control of contraction
  • T-tubule system
  • Contractile apparatus
  • Sarcoplasmic reticulum
  • Fiber type
  • Contractile velocity of different muscle types
  • Regulation of cardiac muscle contraction
  • Oxygen debt: fatigue
  • Nervous control
  • Motor neurons
  • Neuromuscular junction, motor end plates
  • Sympathetic and parasympathetic innervation
  • Voluntary and involuntary muscles

Specialized Cell-Muscle Cell (BIO)

  • Structural characteristics of striated, smooth, and cardiac muscle
  • Abundant mitochondria in red muscle cells: ATP source
  • Organization of contractile elements: actin and myosin filaments, cross bridges, sliding filament model
  • Sarcomeres: “I” and “A” bands, “M” and “Z” lines, “H” zone
  • Presence of troponin and tropomyosin
  • Calcium regulation of contraction

Skeletal System (BIO)

  • Functions
  • Structural rigidity and support
  • Calcium storage
  • Physical protection
  • Skeletal structure
  • Specialization of bone types, structures
  • Joint structures
  • Endoskeleton vs. exoskeleton
  • Bone structure
  • Calcium/protein matrix
  • Cellular composition of bone
  • Cartilage: structure and function
  • Ligaments, tendons
  • Endocrine control

Skin System (BIO)

  • Structure
  • Layer differentiation, cell types
  • Relative impermeability to water
  • Functions in homeostasis and osmoregulation
  • Functions in thermoregulation
  • Hair, erectile musculature
  • Fat layer for insulation
  • Sweat glands, location in dermis
  • Vasoconstriction and vasodilation in surface capillaries
  • Physical protection
  • Nails, calluses, hair
  • Protection against abrasion, disease organisms
  • Hormonal control: sweating, vasodilation, and vasoconstriction

Chemical & Physical Foundations of Biological Systems ⚛

Content Category 4A: Translational motion, forces, work, energy, and equilibrium in living systems

MATH

  • Logs
  • Exponents
  • trig

Translational Motion (PHY)

  • Units and dimensions
  • Vectors, components
  • Vector addition
  • Speed, velocity (average and instantaneous)
  • Acceleration

Force (PHY)

  • Newton’s First Law, inertia
  • Newton’s Second Law (F=ma)
  • Newton’s Third Law, forces equal and opposite
  • Friction, static and kinetic
  • Center of mass

Equilibrium (PHY)

  • Vector analysis of forces acting on a point object
  • Torques, lever arms

Work (PHY)

Energy of Point Object Systems (PHY)

  • PE =mgh(gravitational, local)
  • PE = ½kx2(spring)

Periodic Motion (PHY)

  • Amplitude, frequency, phase
  • Transverse and longitudinal waves: wavelength and propagation speed

Content Category 4B: Importance offluids for the circulation of blood, gas movement, and gas exchange

Fluids (PHY)

  • Pascal’s Law
  • Hydrostatic pressure; P=qgh (pressure vs. depth)

Circulatory System (BIO)

  • Arterial and venous systems; pressure and flow characteristics

Gas Phase (GC, PHY)

  • Absolute temperature, (K) Kelvin Scale
  • Pressure, simple mercury barometer
  • Molar volume at 0°C and 1 atm = 22.4 L/mol
  • Ideal gas
  • Definition
  • Ideal Gas Law:PV=nRT
  • Boyle’s Law:PV= constant
  • Charles’ Law:V/T= constant
  • Avogadro’s Law:V/n= constant
  • Heat capacity at constant volume and at constant pressure (PHY)
  • Boltzmann’s Constant (PHY)
  • Deviation of real gas behavior from Ideal Gas Law
  • Qualitative
  • Quantitative (Van der Waals’ Equation)
  • Partial pressure, mole fraction
  • Dalton’s Law relating partial pressure to composition

Content Category 4C: Electrochemistry and electrical circuits and their elements

Electrostatics (PHY)

  • Field lines
  • Field due to charge distribution

Circuit Elements (PHY)

  • Current I = 6Q/6t, sign conventions, units
  • Electromotive force, voltage
  • Resistance
  • Ohm’s Law: I = V/R
  • Resistors in series
  • Resistors in parallel
  • Resistivity: q = R•A / L
  • Capacitance
  • Parallel plate capacitor
  • Energy of charged capacitor
  • Capacitors in series
  • Capacitors in parallel
  • Dielectric
  • Conductivity
  • Metallic
  • Electrolytic
  • Meters

Magnetism (PHY)

  • Definition of magnetic field B
  • Motion of charged particles in magnetic fields; Lorentz force

Electrochemistry (GC)

  • Electrolysis
  • Anode, cathode
  • Electrolyte
  • Faraday’s Law relating amount of elements deposited (or gas liberated) at an electrode to current
  • Electron flow; oxidation, and reduction at the electrodes
  • Half-reactions
  • Reduction potentials; cell potential
  • Direction of electron flow
  • Concentration cell
  • Batteries
  • Electromotive force, Voltage
  • Lead-storage batteries
  • Nickel-cadmium batteries

Specialized Cell-Nerve Cell (BIO)

  • Myelin sheath, Schwann cells, insulation of axon
  • Nodes of Ranvier: propagation of nerve impulse along axon

Content Category 4D: How light and sound interact with matter

Sound (PHY)

Light, Electromagnetic Radiation (PHY)

  • Velocity equals constant c,in vacuo
  • Electromagnetic radiation consists of perpendicularly oscillating electric andmagnetic fields; direction of propagation is perpendicular to both
  • Classification of electromagnetic spectrum, photon energy E=hf
  • Visual spectrum, color

Molecular Structure and Absorption Spectra (OC)

  • Infrared region
  • Intramolecular vibrations and rotations
  • Recognizing common characteristic group absorptions, fingerprint region
  • Visible region (GC)
  • Absorption in visible region gives complementary color (e.g., carotene)
  • Effect of structural changes on absorption (e.g., indicators)
  • Ultraviolet region
  • π-Electron and non-bonding electron transitions
  • Conjugated systems
  • NMR spectroscopy
  • Protons in a magnetic field; equivalentprotons
  • Spin-spin splitting

Geometrical Optics (PHY)

  • Reflection from plane surface: angle of incidence equals angle of reflection
  • Refraction, refractive index n; Snell’s law: n1 sin Δ1 = n2 sin Δ2
  • Dispersion, change of index of refraction with wavelength
  • Conditions for total internal reflection
  • Spherical mirrors
  • Center of curvature
  • Focal length
  • Real and virtual images
  • Thin lenses
  • Converging and diverging lenses
  • Use of formula 1/p+ 1/q= 1/f, with sign conventions
  • Lens strength, diopters
  • Combination of lenses
  • Lens aberration
  • Optical Instruments, including the human eye

Content Category 4E: Atoms, nuclear decay, electronic structure, and atomic chemical behavior

Atomic Nucleus (PHY, GC)

  • ⍺, β,γ decay
  • Half-life, exponential decay, semi-log plots
  • Mass spectrometer

Electronic Structure (PHY, GC)

  • Orbital structure of hydrogen atom, principal quantum number n, number of electrons per orbital (GC)
  • Ground state, excited states
  • Absorption and emission line spectra
  • Use of Pauli Exclusion Principle
  • Paramagnetism and diamagnetism
  • Conventional notation for electronic structure (GC)
  • Bohr atom
  • Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
  • Effective nuclear charge (GC)
  • Photoelectric effect

The Periodic Table-Classification of Elements into Groups by Electronic Structure (GC)

The Periodic Table-Variations of Chemical Properties with Group and Row (GC)

  • Valence electrons
  • First and second ionization energy
  • Definition
  • Prediction from electronic structure for elements in different groups or rows
  • Electron affinity
  • Definition
  • Variation with group and row
  • Electronegativity
  • Definition
  • Comparative values for some representative elements and important groups
  • Electron shells and the sizes of atoms
  • Electron shells and the sizes of ions

Stoichiometry (GC)

  • Molecular weight
  • Empirical versus molecular formula
  • Metric units commonly used in the context of chemistry
  • Description of composition by percent mass
  • Mole concept, Avogadro’s number NA
  • Definition of density
  • Oxidation number
  • Common oxidizing and reducing agents
  • Disproportionation reactions
  • Description of reactions by chemical equations
  • Conventions for writing chemical equations
  • Balancing equations, including redox equations
  • Limiting reactants
  • Theoretical yields

Content Category 5A: Unique nature of water and its solutions

Acid/Base Equilibria (GC, BC)

  • Brønsted–Lowry definition of acid, base
  • Ionization of water
  • Kw, its approximate value (Kw= [H+][OH–] = 10–14at 25°C, 1 atm)
  • Definition of pH: pH of pure water
  • Conjugate acids and bases (e.g., NH4+and NH3)
  • Strong acids and bases (e.g., nitric, sulfuric)
  • Weak acids and bases (e.g., acetic, benzoic)
  • Dissociation of weak acids and bases with or without added salt
  • Hydrolysis of salts of weak acids or bases
  • Calculation of pH of solutions of salts of weak acids or bases
  • Equilibrium constants Ka and Kb: pKa, pKb
  • Buffers
  • Definition and concepts (common buffer systems)
  • Influence on titration curves

Ions in Solutions (GC, BC)

  • Anion, cation: common names, formulas and charges for familiar ions (e.g., NH4+ammonium,PO43–phosphate, SO42–sulfate)
  • Hydration, the hydronium ion

Solubility (GC)

  • Units of concentration (e.g., molarity)
  • Solubility product constant; the equilibrium expression Ksp
  • Common-ion effect, its use in laboratory separations
  • Complex ion formation
  • Complex ions and solubility
  • Solubility and pH

Titration (GC)

  • Indicators
  • Neutralization
  • Interpretation of the titration curves
  • Redox titration

Content Category 5B: Nature of molecules and intermolecular interactions

Titration (GC)

  • Lewis Electron Dot formulas
  • Resonance structures
  • Formal charge
  • Lewis acids and bases
  • Partial ionic character
  • Role of electronegativity in determining charge distribution
  • Dipole Moment
  • o and n bonds
  • Hybrid orbitals: sp3, sp2, sp and respective geometries
  • Valence shell electron pair repulsion and the prediction of shapes of molecules (e.g.,NH3, H2O, CO2)
  • Structural formulas for molecules involving H, C, N, O, F, S, P, Si, Cl
  • Delocalized electrons and resonance in ions and molecules
  • Multiple bonding
  • Effect on bond length and bond energies
  • Rigidity in molecular structure
  • Stereochemistry of covalently bonded molecules(OC)
  • Isomers
  • Structural isomers
  • Stereoisomers (e.g., diastereomers, enantiomers, cis/trans isomers)
  • Conformational isomers
  • Polarization of light, specific rotation
  • Absolute and relative configuration
  • Conventions for writing R and S forms
  • Conventions for writing E and Z forms

Liquid Phase-Intermolecular Forces (GC)

  • Hydrogen bonding
  • Dipole Interactions
  • Van der Waals’ Forces (London dispersion forces)

Content Category 5C: Separation and purification methods

Separations and Purifications (OC, BC)

  • Extraction: distribution of solute between two immiscible solvents
  • Distillation
  • Chromatography
  • Basic principles involved in separation process
  • Column chromatography, gas-liquid chromatography
  • High pressure liquid chromatography
  • Paper chromatography
  • Thin-layer chromatography
  • Separation and purification of peptides and proteins (BC)
  • Electrophoresis
  • Quantitative analysis
  • Chromatography
  • Size-exclusion
  • Ion-exchange
  • Affinity
  • Racemic mixtures, separation of enantiomers (OC)

Content Category 5D: Structure, function, and reactivity of biologically-relevant molecules

Nucleotides and Nucleic Acids (BC, BIO)

  • Nucleotides and nucleosides: composition
  • Sugar phosphate backbone
  • Pyrimidine, purine residues
  • Deoxyribonucleic acid: DNA; double helix
  • Chemistry (BC)
  • Other functions (BC)

Amino Acids, Peptides, Proteins (OC, BC)

  • Amino acids: description
  • Absolute configuration at the aposition
  • Dipolar ions
  • Classification
  • Acidic or basic
  • Hydrophilic or hydrophobic
  • Synthesis of a-amino acids (OC)
  • Strecker Synthesis
  • Gabriel Synthesis
  • Peptides and proteins: reactions
  • Sulfur linkage for cysteine and cystine
  • Peptide linkage: polypeptides and proteins
  • Hydrolysis (BC)
  • General Principles
  • Primary structure of proteins
  • Secondary structure of proteins
  • Tertiary structure of proteins
  • Isoelectric point

The Three-Dimensional Protein Structure (BC)

  • Conformational stability
  • Hydrophobic interactions
  • Solvation layer (entropy)
  • Quaternary structure
  • Denaturing and Folding

Non-Enzymatic Protein Function (BC)

  • Binding
  • Immune system
  • Motor

Lipids (BC, OC)

  • Description, Types
  • Storage
  • Triacylglycerols
  • Free fatty acids: saponification
  • Structural
  • Phospholipids and phosphatids
  • Sphingolipids (BC)
  • Waxes
  • Signals/cofactors
  • Fat-soluble vitamins
  • Steroids
  • Prostaglandins (BC)

Carbohydrates (OC)

  • Description
  • Nomenclature and classification, common names
  • Absolute configuration
  • Cyclic structure and conformations of hexoses
  • Epimers and anomers
  • Hydrolysis of the glycoside linkage
  • Keto-enol tautomerism of monosaccharides
  • Disaccharides (BC)
  • Polysaccharides (BC)

Aldehydes and Ketones (OC)

  • Description
  • Nomenclature
  • Physical properties
  • Important reactions
  • Nucleophilic addition reactions at C=O bond
  • Acetal, hemiacetal
  • Imine, enamine
  • Hydride reagents
  • Cyanohydrin
  • Oxidation of aldehydes
  • Reactions at adjacent positions: enolate chemistry
  • Keto-enol tautomerism (a-racemization)
  • Aldol condensation, retro-aldol
  • Kinetic versus thermodynamicenolate
  • General principles
  • Effect of substituents on reactivity of C=O; steric hindrance
  • Acidity of a-H; carbanions

Alcohols (OC)

  • Description
  • Nomenclature
  • Physical properties (acidity, hydrogen bonding)
  • Important reactions
  • Oxidation
  • Substitution reactions: SN1 or SN2
  • Protection of alcohols
  • Preparation of mesylates and tosylates

Carboxylic Acids (OC)

  • Description
  • Nomenclature
  • Physical properties
  • Important reactions
  • Carboxyl group reactions
  • Amides (and lactam), esters (and lactone), anhydride formation
  • Reduction
  • Decarboxylation
  • Reactions at 2-position, substitution

Acid Derivatives (Anhydrides, Amides, Esters) (OC)

  • Description
  • Nomenclature
  • Physical properties
  • Important reactions
  • Nucleophilic substitution
  • Transesterification
  • Hydrolysis of amides
  • General principles
  • Relative reactivity of acid derivatives
  • Steric effects
  • Electronic effects
  • Strain (e.g., þ-lactams)

Phenols (OC, BC)

  • Oxidation and reduction (e.g., hydroquinones, ubiquinones): biological 2e–redox centers

Polycyclic and Heterocyclic Aromatic Compounds (OC, BC)

  • Biological aromatic heterocycles

Content Category 5E: Principles of chemical thermodynamics and kinetics

Enzymes (BC, BIO)

  • Classification by reaction type
  • Mechanism
  • Substrates and enzyme specificity
  • Active site model
  • Induced-fit model
  • Cofactors, coenzymes, and vitamins
  • Kinetics
  • General (catalysis)
  • Michaelis–Menten
  • Cooperativity
  • Effects of local conditions on enzyme activity
  • Inhibition
  • Regulatory enzymes
  • Allosteric
  • Covalently modified

Principles of Bioenergetics (BC)

  • Bioenergetics/thermodynamics
  • Free energy/Keq
  • Concentration
  • Phosphorylation/ATP
  • ATP hydrolysis ∆G<< 0
  • ATP group transfers
  • Biological oxidation–reduction
  • Half-reactions
  • Soluble electron carriers
  • Flavoproteins

Energy Changes in Chemical Reactions – Thermochemistry, Thermodynamics (GC, PHY)

  • Thermodynamic system–state function
  • Zeroth Law–concept of temperature
  • First Law−conservation of energy in thermodynamic processes
  • PV diagram: work done = area under or enclosed by curve (PHY)
  • Second Law–concept of entropy
  • Entropy as a measure of “disorder”
  • Relative entropy for gas, liquid, and crystal states
  • Measurement of heat changes (calorimetry), heat capacity, specific heat
  • Heat transfer–conduction, convection, radiation (PHY)
  • Endothermic/exothermic reactions(GC)
  • Enthalpy, H, and standard heats of reaction and formation
  • Hess’ Law of Heat Summation
  • Bond dissociation energy as related to heats of formation (GC)
  • Free energy:G(GC)
  • Spontaneous reactions and ∆G° (GC)
  • Coefficient of expansion (PHY)
  • Heat of fusion, heat of vaporization
  • Phase diagram: pressure and temperature

Rate Processes in Chemical Reactions-Kinetics and Equilibrium (GC)

  • Reaction rate
  • Dependence of reaction rate on concentration of reactants
  • Rate law, rate constant
  • Reaction order
  • Rate-determining step
  • Dependence of reaction rate upon temperature
  • Activation energy
  • Activated complex or transition state
  • Interpretation of energy profiles showing energies of reactants, products, activation energy, and 6Hfor the reaction
  • Use of the Arrhenius Equation
  • Kinetic control versus thermodynamic control of a reaction
  • Catalysts
  • Equilibrium in reversible chemical reactions
  • Law of Mass Action
  • Equilibrium Constant
  • Application of Le Châtelier’s Principle
  • Relationship of the equilibrium constant and ΔG°

Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior

Content Category 6A: Sensing the environment

Sensory Processing (PSY, BIO)

  • Sensation
  • Threshold
  • Weber’s Law (PSY)
  • Signal detection theory (PSY)
  • Sensory adaptation
  • Psychophysics
  • Sensory receptors
  • Sensory pathways
  • Types of sensory receptor

Vision (PSY, BIO)

  • Structure and function of the eye
  • Visual processing
  • Visual pathways in the brain
  • Parallel processing (PSY)
  • Feature detection (PSY)

Hearing (PSY, BIO)

  • Structure and function of the ear
  • Auditory processing (e.g., auditory pathways in the brain)
  • Sensory reception by hair cells

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

Perception (PSY)

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

Content Category 6B: Making sense of the environment

Attention (PSY)

  • Selective attention
  • Divided attention

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

Consciousness (PSY)

  • States of consciousness
  • Alertness (PSY, BIO)
  • Sleep
  • Stages of sleep
  • Sleep cycles and changes to sleep cycles
  • Sleep and circadian rhythms (PSY, BIO)
  • Dreaming
  • Sleep–wake disorders
  • Hypnosis and meditation
  • Consciousness-altering drugs
  • Types of consciousness-altering drugs and their effects on the nervous systemandbehavior
  • Drug addiction and the reward pathway in the brain

Memory (PSY)

  • Encoding
  • Process of encoding information
  • Processes that aid in encoding memories
  • Storage
  • Types of memory storage (e.g., sensory, working, long-term)
  • Semantic networks and spreading activation
  • Retrieval
  • Recall, recognition, and relearning
  • Retrieval cues
  • The role of emotion in retrieving memories (PSY, BIO)
  • Processes that aid retrieval
  • Forgetting
  • Aging and memory
  • Memory dysfunctions (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease, Korsakoff’s syndrome)
  • Decay
  • Interference
  • Memory construction and source monitoring
  • Changes in synaptic connections underlie memory and learning (PSY, BIO)
  • Neural plasticity
  • Memory and learning
  • Long-term potentiation

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)

Content Category 6C: Responding to the world

Emotion (PSY)

  • Three components of emotion (i.e., cognitive, physiological, behavioral)
  • Universal emotions (i.e., fear, anger, happiness, surprise, joy, disgust, and 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)

Stress (PSY)

  • The nature of stress
  • Appraisal
  • Different types of stressors (e.g., cataclysmic events, personal)
  • Effects of stress on psychological functions
  • Stress outcomes/response to stressors
  • Physiological (PSY, BIO)
  • Emotional
  • Managing stress (e.g., exercise, relaxation, spirituality)

Content Category 7A: Individual influences on behavior

Biological Bases of Behavior (PSY, BIO)

  • The nervous system
  • Neurons (e.g., the reflex arc)
  • Neurotransmitters
  • Structure and function of the peripheral nervous system
  • Structure and function of the central nervous system
  • The brain
  • Forebrain
  • Midbrain
  • Hindbrain
  • Lateralization of cortical functions
  • Methods used in studying the brain
  • The spinal cord
  • Neuronal communication and its influence on behavior (PSY)
  • Influence of neurotransmitters on behavior (PSY)
  • The endocrine system
  • Components of the endocrine system
  • Effects of the endocrine system on behavior
  • Behavioral genetics
  • Genes, temperament, and heredity
  • Adaptive value of traits and behaviors
  • Interaction between heredity and environmental influences
  • Influence of genetic and environmental factors on the development of behaviors
  • Experience and behavior (PSY)
  • Regulatory genes and behavior (BIO)
  • Genetically based behavioral variation in natural populations
  • Human physiological development (PSY)
  • Prenatal development
  • Motor development
  • Developmental changes in adolescence

Personality (PSY)

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

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)

Motivation (PSY)

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

Attitudes (PSY)

  • Components of attitudes (i.e., cognitive, affective, and 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

Content Category 7B: Social processes that influence human behavior

How the Presence of Others Affects Individual Behavior (PSY)

  • Social facilitation
  • Deindividuation
  • Bystander effect
  • Social loafing
  • Social control (SOC)
  • Peer pressure (PSY, SOC)
  • Conformity (PSY, SOC)
  • Obedience (PSY, SOC)

Group Decision-making Processes (PSY, SOC)

  • Group polarization (PSY)
  • Groupthink

Normative and Non-normative Behavior (SOC)

  • Social norms (PSY, SOC)
  • Sanctions (SOC)
  • Folkways, mores, and taboos (SOC)
  • Anomie (SOC)
  • Deviance
  • Perspectives on deviance (e.g., differential association, labeling theory, strain theory)
  • Aspects of collective behavior (e.g., fads, mass hysteria, riots)

Socialization (PSY, SOC)

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

Content Category 7C: Attitude and behavior change

Habituation and Dishabituation (PSY)

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)

Observational Learning (PSY)

  • Modeling
  • Biological processes that affect observational learning
  • Mirror neurons
  • Role of the brain in experiencing vicarious emotions
  • Applications of observational learning to explain individual behavior

Theories of Attitude and Behavior Change (PSY)

  • Elaboration likelihood model
  • Social cognitive theory
  • Factors that affect attitude change (e.g., changing behavior, characteristics of themessage andtarget, social factors)

Content Category 8A: Self-identity

Self-Concept, Self-identity, and Social Identity (PSY, SOC)

  • The role of self-esteem, self-efficacy, and locus of control in self-concept and self-identity (PSY)
  • Different types of identities(e.g., race/ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, class)

Formation of Identity (PSY, SOC)

  • Theories of identity development (e.g., gender, moral, psychosexual, social)
  • Influence of social factors on identity formation
  • Influence of individuals (e.g., imitation, looking-glass self, role-taking)
  • Influence of groups (e.g., reference group)
  • Influence of culture and socialization on identity formation

Content Category 8B: Social thinking

Attributing Behavior to Persons or Situations (PSY)

  • Attributional processes(e.g., fundamental attribution error, role of culture in attributions)
  • How self-perceptions shape our perceptions of others
  • How perceptions of the environment shape our perceptions of others

Prejudice and Bias (PSY, SOC)

  • Processes that contribute to prejudice
  • Power, prestige, and class (SOC)
  • The role of emotion in prejudice (PSY)
  • The role of cognition in prejudice (PSY)
  • Stereotypes
  • Ethnocentrism (SOC)
  • Ethnocentrism vs. cultural relativism

Processes Related to Stereotypes (PSY)

  • Self-fulfilling prophecy
  • Stereotype threat

Content Category 8C: Social interactions

Elements of Social Interaction (PSY, SOC)

  • Status (SOC)
  • Types of status (e.g., achieved, ascribed)
  • Role
  • Role conflict and role strain
  • Role exit (SOC)
  • Groups
  • Primary and secondary groups (SOC)
  • In-group vs. out-group
  • Group size (e.g., dyads, triads) (SOC)
  • Networks (SOC)
  • Organizations (SOC)
  • Formal organization
  • Bureaucracy
  • Characteristics of an ideal bureaucracy
  • Perspectives on bureaucracy (e.g., iron law of oligarchy, McDonaldization)

Self-presentation and Interacting with Others (PSY, SOC)

  • Expressing and detecting emotion
  • The role of gender in the expression and detection of emotion
  • The role of culture in the expression and detection of emotion
  • Presentation of self
  • Impression management
  • Front stage vs. back stage self (Dramaturgical approach) (SOC)
  • Verbal and nonverbal communication
  • Animal signals and communication (PSY, BIO)

Social Behavior (PSY)

  • Attraction
  • Aggression
  • Attachment
  • Altruism
  • Social support (PSY, SOC)
  • Biological explanations of social behavior in animals (PSY, BIO)
  • Foraging behavior (BIO)
  • Mating behavior and mate choice
  • Applying game theory (BIO)
  • Altruism
  • Inclusive fitness (BIO)

Discrimination (PSY, SOC)

  • Individual vs. institutional discrimination (SOC)
  • The relationship between prejudice and discrimination
  • How power, prestige, and class facilitate discrimination (SOC)

Content Category 9A: Understanding social structure

Theoretical Approaches (SOC)

  • Microsociology vs. macrosociology
  • Functionalism
  • Conflict theory
  • Symbolic interactionism
  • Social constructionism
  • Exchange-rational choice
  • Feminist theory

Social Institutions (SOC)

  • Education
  • Hidden curriculum
  • Teacher expectancy
  • Educational segregation and stratification
  • Family (PSY, SOC)
  • Forms of kinship (SOC)
  • Diversity in family forms
  • Marriage and divorce
  • Violence in the family (e.g., child abuse, elder abuse, spousal abuse) (SOC)
  • Religion
  • Religiosity
  • Types of religious organizations (e.g., churches, sects, cults)
  • Religion and social change (e.g., modernization, secularization, fundamentalism)
  • Government and economy
  • Power and authority
  • Comparative economic and political systems
  • Division of labor
  • Health and medicine
  • Medicalization
  • The sick role
  • Delivery of health care
  • Illness experience
  • Social epidemiology

Culture (PSY, SOC)

  • Elements of culture (e.g., beliefs, language, rituals, symbols, values)
  • Material vs. symbolic culture (SOC)
  • Culture lag (SOC)
  • Culture shock (SOC)
  • Assimilation (SOC)
  • Multiculturalism (SOC)
  • Subcultures and countercultures (SOC)
  • Mass media and popular culture (SOC)
  • Evolution and human culture (PSY, BIO)
  • Transmission and diffusion (SOC)

Content Category 9B: Demographic characteristics and processes

Demographic Structure of Society (PSY, SOC)

  • Age
  • Aging and the life course
  • Age cohorts (SOC)
  • Social significance of aging
  • Gender
  • Sex versus gender
  • The social construction of gender (SOC)
  • Gender segregation (SOC)
  • Race and ethnicity (SOC)
  • The social construction of race
  • Racialization
  • Racial formation
  • Immigration status (SOC)
  • Patterns of immigration
  • Intersections with race and ethnicity
  • Sexual orientation

Demographic Shifts and Social Change (SOC)

  • Theories of demographic change (i.e., Malthusian theory and demographic transition)
  • Population growth and decline (e.g., population projections, population pyramids)
  • Fertility, migration, and mortality
  • Fertility and mortality rates (e.g., total, crude, age-specific)
  • Patterns in fertility and mortality
  • Push and pull factors in migration
  • Social movements
  • Relative deprivation
  • Organization of social movements
  • Movement strategies and tactics
  • Globalization
  • Factors contributing to globalization (e.g., communication technology, economic interdependence)
  • Perspectives on globalization
  • Social changes in globalization (e.g., civil unrest, terrorism)
  • Urbanization
  • Industrialization and urban growth
  • Suburbanization and urban decline
  • Gentrification and urban renewal

Content Category 10A: Social inequality

Spatial Inequality (SOC)

  • Residential segregation
  • Neighborhood safety and violence
  • Environmental justice (location and exposure to health risks)

Social Class (SOC)

  • Aspects of social stratification
  • Social class and socioeconomic status
  • Class consciousness and false consciousness
  • Cultural capital and social capital
  • Social reproduction
  • Power, privilege, and prestige
  • Intersectionality (e.g., race, gender, age)
  • Socioeconomic gradient in health
  • Global inequalities
  • Patterns of social mobility
  • Intergenerational and intragenerational mobility
  • Vertical and horizontal mobility
  • Meritocracy
  • Poverty
  • Relative and absolute poverty
  • Social exclusion (segregation andisolation)

Health Disparities (SOC) 

(e.g., class, gender, and race inequalities in health)

Healthcare Disparities (SOC)

(e.g., class, gender, and race inequalities in health care)

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