GAMSAT flashcards

31 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Thesis contestability test

A thesis is exam-ready only if a reasonable person could disagree with it and the writer supplies a because-clause giving the supporting reason, rather than asserting vague importance.

Topic sentence function

The opening sentence of a body paragraph should name the sub-claim that the paragraph will prove, so the reader can predict the paragraph's content and track the argument's progression.

Concession and rebuttal

Stating an opposing view fairly, granting its valid part, then limiting it with a condition or outweighing value shows higher-order reasoning than ignoring the objection entirely.

Nominalisation overload

Stacking abstract nouns such as implementation of facilitation of assessment reduces clarity; converting them back to verbs restores agency and shortens the sentence.

Equivocation in essays

Using one ambiguous key term in two different senses across an essay weakens the argument; defining your usage once and holding it stable prevents this failure.

Cohesion versus coherence

Cohesion is surface linking through pronouns and connectives; coherence is the logical unity of ideas. Strong essays need both, and connectives cannot rescue an incoherent sequence.

Register and absolutes

Unqualified words such as always, never, and everyone invite easy counterexamples; hedging with typically or in most cases preserves the claim while surviving objection.

Essay time allocation

With roughly 30 minutes per essay, spending three to four minutes planning a thesis and paragraph order prevents mid-essay restructuring and leaves time for error checking.

Correlation and causation

An association supports a causal claim only with temporal precedence, a plausible mechanism, dose-response, and control of confounders such as reverse causation or common causes.

Internal versus external validity

Internal validity is whether the design supports the causal inference; external validity is whether findings generalise beyond the sample, setting, and measured variables.

Selection bias

Selection bias occurs when the sampled group differs systematically from the target population on factors related to the outcome, distorting estimates of effect.

Survivorship bias

Survivorship bias is the error of drawing conclusions from cases that remained observable, ignoring those that dropped out and may have differed systematically.

Structure versus agency

Structural explanations attribute outcomes to institutions, norms, and economic conditions; agency explanations attribute them to individual choice. Identifying which level an author privileges clarifies the argument.

Veil of ignorance test

Rawls proposes judging a rule as just only if you would accept it without knowing your own talents, wealth, or social position under that rule.

Framing effect

Logically equivalent descriptions, such as a 90 percent survival rate versus a 10 percent mortality rate, can produce different preferences, revealing a judgement bias.

Unstated premise

The assumption bridging evidence and conclusion; arguments fail when this hidden premise is false, and questions often ask you to identify or challenge it.

Ecological fallacy

Inferring individual-level relationships from group-level data is the ecological fallacy; aggregate correlations need not hold for the individuals composing the groups.

Opportunity cost

The value of the best forgone alternative; a choice is rational only when its benefit exceeds the opportunity cost, not merely when it produces some gain.

Dilution equation

C1V1 = C2V2 relates concentration and volume before and after dilution; moles of solute are conserved, so adding solvent lowers concentration without changing amount.

Henderson-Hasselbalch equation

pH = pKa + log([A-]/[HA]); buffering capacity is greatest within about one pH unit of the pKa, where the acid and conjugate base are comparable.

Ideal gas law

PV = nRT with R = 8.314 joules per mole-kelvin; at fixed temperature and amount, pressure and volume are inversely proportional, so P1V1 = P2V2.

Constant acceleration kinematics

v = u + at, s = ut + 0.5at squared, and v squared = u squared + 2as apply only when acceleration is constant, such as free fall near Earth's surface.

Newton's second law

Net force equals mass times acceleration; forces must be resolved into components, and on an incline the component mg sin theta drives motion down the slope.

Monohybrid cross ratio

Crossing two heterozygotes at one locus yields a 3:1 phenotypic ratio and a 1:2:1 genotypic ratio when alleles show complete dominance.

Dihybrid cross ratio

Crossing double heterozygotes yields a 9:3:3:1 phenotypic ratio only when the two genes assort independently; linkage distorts the ratio.

Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium

Allele frequencies p and q satisfy p + q = 1, and genotype frequencies are p squared, 2pq, and q squared, provided no selection, drift, migration, mutation, or non-random mating occurs.

Michaelis constant Km

Km is the substrate concentration giving half of Vmax; competitive inhibitors raise apparent Km without changing Vmax, while non-competitive inhibitors lower Vmax.

Tonicity and osmosis

Water crosses membranes toward higher solute concentration; cells shrink in hypertonic solutions, swell in hypotonic ones, and plant turgor depends on wall pressure opposing inflow.

pH and hydrogen ion concentration

pH equals the negative logarithm of hydrogen ion concentration; a fall of one pH unit means a tenfold rise in hydrogen ion concentration, not a doubling.

Conservation of mechanical energy

Without friction, gravitational potential energy mgh converts fully to kinetic energy one-half mv squared; with friction, the lost energy equals the friction force times distance.

Allele versus genotype frequency

Allele frequency counts copies of a variant in the gene pool; genotype frequency counts individuals carrying a given pair, and Hardy-Weinberg links the two.