Your overall knowledge of scientific concepts and principles will be challenged as you take the new MCAT exam. Questions asking you to demonstrate your knowledge of scientific concepts and principles can be found in all 10 foundational concepts within the MCAT. You must be able to recognize, recall or define basic concepts in natural, behavioral and social sciences along with their relationships with each other when answering these questions.
Displaying Your Knowledge of Scientific Concepts and Principles
As you work your way through the MCAT exam, you will be asked to demonstrate your knowledge of scientific concepts and principles by doing the following:
- Recognize Proper Scientific Principles
- Identify the Relationship Among Similar Concepts
- Identify the Relationship Between Different Types of Concepts
- Find Examples of Observations that Illustrate Specific Scientific Principles
- Solve Problems by Using Mathematical Equations
In addition, you may need to prove your knowledge of scientific concepts and principles by doing the following:
- Identifying the Principle(s) of Retroactive Interference
- Recognizing Physical Differences that are Detectable through Weber’s Law
- Recognizing When Extinction Will Occur When a Learned Response Isn’t Followed by a Reinforcer
- Recognizing the Relationship Between Operant and Classical Conditioning
- Recognizing a Graph That Shows the Relationship Between Life Expectancy and Educational Attainment
- Identifying the Conditions that Lead to Learned Helplessness
- Identifying Demographics that are Represented in Population Pyramids
Concepts and scientific principles throughout specific portions of the MCAT may be represented by formulas, words, tables, graphs and diagrams.