1. Jack accidentally touches a hot stove. Such a strong stimulus:
A. increases the intensity of a neuron’s action potential.
B. affects the speed that a neuron fires.
C. triggers more neurons to fire.
D. does not affect how often a neuron fires.
Answer: C

2. The peripheral nervous system consists of:
A. association areas.
B. the spinal chord.
C. the reticular formation.
D. sensory and motor neurons.
Answer: D

3. What disease is related to degeneration of the neuron’s myelin sheath?
A. parkinson’s disease.
B. Multiple sclerosis.
C. Alzheimer’s disease.
D. schizophrenia.
Answer: B

4. Antidepressants such as Prozac target which neurotransmitter?
A. serotonin.
B. glutamate.
C. GABA.
D. acetylcholine.
Answer: A

5. Which region of the brain appears to have the oldest evolutionary history?
A. frontal lobes
B. limbic system
C. brainstem
D. corpus callosum
Answer: C

6. Following massive damage to his frontal lobes, Phineas Gage was most strikingly debilitated by:
A. irritability
B. memory loss
C. auditory hallucinations
D. a reward deficiency syndrome
Answer: A

7. A visit to a phrenologist would have resulted in an analysis of the person’s:
A. heart beats.
B. skull bumps.
C. neurotransmitter function.
D. endocrine system.
Answer: B

8. Which technique is most useful for seeing which regions of the brain are most active while a person reads a poem?
A. EEG
B. fMRI
C. EKG
D. PET
Answer: D

9. Which of the following activities is NOT primarily a function of the left hemisphere?
A. listening to a piano concerto
B. reading your psychology book
C. reading junk mail
D. listening to a poetry reading
Answer: A

10. If Dr. Barnes wanted to cause a cat to take on an attack posture, which of the cat’s brain structures should he electrically stimulate?
A. amygdala
B. hypothalamus
C. hippocampus
D. cerebellum
Answer: A

11. A split-brain patient’s right hemisphere is presented with a key
A split-brain patient’s right hemisphere is presented with a key. How is he most likely to respond?
A. say the word “key”
B. select a key from a group of objects presented to his left hand
C. select a key from a group of objects presented to his right hand
D. he will not be able to say “key” or to pick out a key from a group of objects with either hand
Answer: B

12. While out for a bike ride, you can think about what you’ll make for dinner rather than concentrate on how to operate the bicycle. This illustrates:
A. dual processing.
B. Sigmund Freud’s concept of the unconscious.
C. the function of delta waves.
D. somnambulism.
Answer: A

13. After suffering an accidental brain injury, Kira has difficulty walking in a smooth and coordinated manner. It is most probable that she has suffered damage to her:
A. amygdala.
B. angular gyrus.
C. cerebellum.
D. corpus callosum.
Answer: C

14. In which of the following parts of the brain would a lesion most likely result in a disruption in understanding of language?
A. corpus callosum
B. amygdala
C. hypothalamus
D. Wernicke’s area
Answer: D

15. Adoptive parents are least likely to influence the ________ of their adopted children.
A. personality traits
B. religious beliefs
C. political attitudes
D. moral values
Answer: A

16. You and the President of the United States share __________ of your DNA.
A. very little
B. one fourth
C. half
D. nearly all
Answer: D

17. Critical Thinking Questions

18. A. frontal lobe B. amygdala C. reticular formation D. occipital lobe
A new superhero emerges on the scene. This superhero is able to stay awake and vigilant for extended amounts of time. He helps the intelligence community by being able to stay in surveillance for extended amounts of time without losing concentration and can always be paying attention to what is happening. A study of this superhero’s brain might show that the ____________ is more advanced and developed than a non-superhero’s.
A. frontal lobe
B. amygdala
C. reticular formation
D. occipital lobe
Answer: C

19. A. Not much decline in memory or intelligence B. Poor judgment
You are a neurologist in a large hospital. The wife of a construction worker visits you and describes that her husband has experienced a serious injury to his frontal lobe. She is perplexed by his behavior. Which of the following would you tell her is “normal behavior” for a person with frontal lobe damage?
A. Not much decline in memory or intelligence
B. Poor judgment
C. Irritability and other personality changes
D. All of these are commonly seen in frontal lobe damage.
Answer: D

20. Due to an automobile accident, Jenny suffered damage to Broca's area
Due to an automobile accident, Jenny suffered damage to Broca's area. Jenny is most likely to experience:
A. auditory hallucinations.
B. a disruption in speaking.
C. memory loss.
D. paralysis of her left limbs.
Answer: B

21. The similarity between the intelligence test scores of biological siblings reared together is:
A. greater than that between identical twins reared apart.
B. equal to that between fraternal twins reared together.
C. greater than that between unrelated adoptive siblings reared together.
D. less than that between children and their biological parents.
Answer: C

22. Little Bethany loves new faces and stimuli, and laughs easily
Little Bethany loves new faces and stimuli, and laughs easily. People respond to her with playful smiles and tickles, which makes her giggle and ask for more. This represents ___________ between genetic predispositions and environments.
A. an interaction
B. natural selection
C. heritability
D. gender typing
Answer: A

23. If weight were 50 percent heritable, it would be most accurate to say that:
A. your weight is equally influenced by nature and by nurture.
B. your mother’s genes are responsible for half of your weight, and your father’s genes explain the other half.
C. nature explains about half of the differences we observe among people.
D. there is very little you can do to override the power of your genes in influencing your weight.
Answer: C

24. A. sympathetic nervous system B. somatic nervous system
As Allison reaches for a box in her garage, out jumps a big spider. Her heart immediately begins to race as she withdraws her hand, but soon she realizes that the spider is harmless, and she begins to calm down. Which part of her nervous system is responsible for bringing her back to a normal state of arousal?
A. sympathetic nervous system
B. somatic nervous system
C. parasympathetic nervous system
D. skeletal nervous system
Answer: C