Deck 15: Attention and Higher Cognition

Question 1

The overall level of alertness of an individual is called _______, as distinguished from the process by which we select and focus on one or more stimuli, which is called _______.

A) attention; vigilance
B) vigilance; attention
C) arousal; scanning
D) scanning; arousal

Answer 1

B

Question 2

A person credited with having "eyes in the back of their head" more probably is skilled at

A) covert attention.
B) overt attention.
C) selective tuning.
D) the cocktail party effect.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

A viewer closely focused on a complex task, such as being asked to count how many times a group of people throw a ball back and forth, may miss other nonattended stimuli such as dancers moving through the group of people. This is due to an attentional phenomenon called

A) shadowing.
B) inattentional blindness.
C) filter failure.
D) differential blindness.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

In the shadowing experiment, subjects are presented simultaneously with different stimuli to each ear and asked to focus their attention only on one ear. The result is that subjects are unable to report much about the content in the unattended ear. Which form of attentional processing accounts for this difficulty?

A) Early selection
B) Late selection
C) Attentional spotlight
D) Attentional blindness

Question 5

In early-selection models of attention, when is information filtered out?

A) Prior to sensory input
B) At the level of sensory input
C) At the level of semantic meaning
D) After conscious awareness

Question 6

Despite high levels of background noise, you are able to selectively tune in to what your friend is saying in a crowded cafe. This selective enhancement is referred to as the _______ effect.

A) covert attention
B) perceptual load
C) cocktail party
D) early-selection

Question 7

The _______ bottleneck refers to a filter that results from the limits of our attentional capacity.

A) attentional
B) perceptual
C) early-selection
D) shadowing

Question 8

When we focus on simple tasks or objects, our relatively light _______ allows for the processing of additional stimuli (i.e., multi-tasking).

A) covert attention
B) shadowing
C) divided-attention
D) perceptual load

Question 9

Male frogs seeking mates vocalize among birds, insects, and the chorus of other species of frogs. That females are able to locate male frogs of their species among all the ambient noise provides an example of the _______ effect.

A) shadowing
B) vigilance
C) cocktail party
D) screening

Question 10

An example of the evolutionary significance of the attentional spotlight is the ability to

A) equally focus our attention on two or more important stimuli simultaneously.
B) seemingly focus most of our attention on one task, while covertly attending to another.
C) fix our attention on one stimuli, without being able focusing on anything else.
D) shifting our attention around the environment, highlighting important stimuli for enhanced processing.

Question 11

The _______ likely evolved because it prevents reflexive attention from settling on unimportant stimuli for more than an instant, a reaction that would be adaptive in animals foraging for food and/or scanning for predators.

A) inhibition of return
B) point of no return
C) attentional bottleneck
D) reflexive bottleneck

Question 12

The delay, measured in milliseconds, between presentation of a stimulus and an individual's response to it is called _______ time.

A) lag
B) gap
C) reaction
D) cuing

Question 13

Which cue will typically elicit the fastest reaction time to the target in the symbolic cuing task?

A) Invalid
B) Neutral
C) Valid
D) Colorful

Question 14

Which type of attention can be sustained over the longest period of time?

A) Voluntary
B) Reflexive
C) Nonconscious
D) Covert

Question 15

The average reaction time in an uncomplicated choice reaction time test (i.e., the time it takes from the initial visual signal until the subject pushes the choice button) is approximately _______ ms.

A) 35
B) 110
C) 175
D) 250

Question 16

Which of the following represents the correct sequence of the brain events that determine reaction time on a choice reaction time test?

A) Retina, LGN, V1, V2, V4, primary motor cortex, premotor cortex, prefrontal lobe, inferior temporal lobe, spinal cord, finger muscle
B) Retina, LGN, V1, V2, V4, inferior temporal lobe, premotor cortex, prefrontal cortex, primary motor cortex, spinal cord, finger muscle
C) Retina, LGN, V1, V2, V4, inferior temporal lobe, prefrontal cortex, premotor cortex, primary motor cortex, spinal cord, finger muscle
D) Retina, LGN, V1, V2, V4, primary motor cortex, inferior temporal lobe, prefrontal cortex, premotor cortex, spinal cord, finger muscle

Question 17

Reaction time is slower for the processing of complex versus simple stimuli because the processing of complex stimuli

A) causes breakdown of neural connections.
B) requires more blood flow through the circulatory system.
C) involvement of novel neural pathways.
D) participation of more brain pathways.

Question 18

Reflexive attention is

A) fairly easy to consciously repress.
B) based on conscious processing.
C) oriented on the basis of sensory events.
D) always followed by a period of voluntary attention directed at the same target.

Question 19

You are at a train station and hear an extremely loud crash. You, and everyone else, immediately orient their attention to the location of the sound. This is an example of _______ attention.

A) voluntary
B) directed
C) reflexive
D) warning

Question 20

In a symbolic cuing task, _______ attention is shown to enhance processing, reducing reaction time to the stimulus, and _______ cues decrease reaction time the most.

A) voluntary; neutral
B) voluntary; valid
C) reflexive; neutral
D) reflexive: valid

Question 21

You are looking for your friend at a hockey game. She is easy to find as she is wearing a purple sweater, while everyone else is wearing blue and white. Your behavior is an example of a

A) feature search.
B) perceptual load.
C) conjunction search.
D) binding problem.

Question 22

"Where's Waldo?" is a puzzle in which one must find the right combination of features to identify Waldo in a busy scene. Which type of attentional process does this refer to?

A) Feature search
B) Conjunction search
C) Binding analysis
D) "Pop-out"

Question 23

Which concept accounts for the fact that conjunction searches involving sequential shifts of attention take a long time to perform?

A) The binding problem
B) Conjunction search theory
C) "Pop-out"
D) Conscious perception and selection theory

Question 24

The method of measuring averaged brain activity, called _______, tracks regional changes in brain activity faster than other brain-imaging techniques.

A) fMRI
B) event-related potential (ERP)
C) X ray
D) CT scan

Question 25

How do researchers obtain an ERP (event-related potential) reading?

A) They take EEGs of participants doing a task repeatedly, and then average those readings.
B) They take EEGs of participants doing different tasks and then take the average of those readings.
C) They take EEGs of participants doing a task repeatedly and only use readings that show brain activity above a certain threshold.
D) They take EEGs of participants doing a task repeatedly and only use readings that show brain activity in specific areas.

Question 26

Which component of an averaged-out ERP waveform is believed to reflect auditory attention?

A) P1
B) N2
C) P3
D) N1

Question 27

The P3 component of auditory processing is associated with

A) impaired sensory processing.
B) recognized visual stimuli.
C) higher-order cognitive processing of stimuli.
D) early sensory processing.

Question 28

Auditory attention produces an enhancement of the _______ ERP component, whereas visual attention produces enhancement of the _______ component.

A) P2; N2
B) N1; P1
C) N2; P3
D) P1; N3

Question 29

If we are directing attention in order to find a specific target in an array and ignore distracters, a subcomponent of N1, called _______, is triggered at occipitotemporal sites contralateral to the target.

A) N2pc
B) N12
C) P3
D) V5

Question 30

Anthony is an accomplished gamer, playing all the popular video games. There is some evidence to support the claim that upon analysis of his brain there would be

A) a decrease in his visual attention capacity.
B) longer-latency ERP components compared to nongamers.
C) cumulative attentional deficits as he ages.
D) ongoing improvements in sustained attention tasks.

Question 31

What was the important discovery in Moran and Desimone's study on attention, which involved recording the activity of individual neurons in the monkey visual cortex while attention was shifted within each cell's receptive field?

A) It showed that if attention was focused on the preferred stimulus the cell produced a variable number of action potentials, depending on what the stimulus was.
B) It showed that when attention was focused on the preferred stimulus the cell produced few action potentials but when attention (not gaze) was shifted, the stimulus provoked far more action potentials.
C) It showed that when attention was focused on the preferred stimulus the cell produced many action potentials, but when attention (not gaze) was shifted, the stimulus provoked far fewer action potentials.
D) It showed that the cell produced few action potentials regardless of whether the attention was on the preferred or ineffective stimulus.

Question 32

When focusing attention on an, for example, an image of a tree (not simply gazing at it) which part of the brain shows enhanced activity?

A) Lateral inferior pulvinar
B) Intraparietal sulcus
C) Lateral intraparietal area
D) Intrasylvian perimeter

Question 33

You feel a splinter in your hand and look down to examine it. Which brain area controls the movement of your eyes toward the object of your attention (the splinter)?

A) Superior colliculus
B) Intraparietal sulcus
C) Orbitofrontal cortex
D) Lateral geniculate nucleus

Question 34

You are talking to a friend while waiting for a bus, and while you converse you are also aware of passing vehicles so you are sure not to miss your bus. Which structure is responsible for filtering out distracting stimuli while you talk to your friend and wait for the bus?

A) Superior colliculus
B) Lateral geniculate nucleus
C) Pulvinar
D) Intraparietal sulcus

Question 35

In humans, the _______ occupies the posterior quarter of the _______ and is involved in the orienting and shifting of attention.

A) superior colliculus; midbrain
B) claustrum; basal ganglia
C) pulvinar; thalamus
D) frontal eye field; frontal lobe

Question 36

The _______ is (are) critically important for establishing gaze in accordance with _______ processes and cognitive goals.

A) frontal eye fields; top-down
B) pulvinar; bottom-up
C) colliculi; temporal
D) claustrum; spatial

Question 37

You are walking on a calm but drizzly evening when an unexpected lightning bolt suddenly flashes in front of you. Your involuntary reaction to move your attention to the flash relies on the _______ system.

A) dorsal frontoparietal
B) temporoparietal
C) ventral frontal cortical
D) medial orbitoparietal

Question 38

The primary symptom of hemispatial neglect is

A) forgetfulness.
B) difficulty steering visual gaze.
C) distractibility, impulsivity, and hyperactivity.
D) failure to pay any attention to anything to the left of the midline of the body.

Question 39

Which symptom is not associated with Balint's syndrome?

A) Oculomotor apraxia
B) Optic ataxia
C) Hemispatial neglect
D) Simultagnosia

Question 40

A patient is shown a hammer and a wrench but can only attend to and identify one of these objects at a time. This condition is called _______ and is associated with _______.

A) simultagnosia; Balint's syndrome
B) singletagnosia; hemispatial neglect
C) anosmia; ADHD
D) amnesia; progressive supranuclear palsy

Question 41

An inability to reach for objects using visual guidance is referred to as _______. This phenomenon is typically seen in _______.

A) oculomotor apraxia; hemispatial neglect
B) optic ataxia; Balint's syndrome
C) simultagnosia; ADHD
D) frontal eye field failure; comatose states

Question 42

Hemispatial neglect may lead to a person's inability to notice stimuli on one half of the body, even if both halves have been stimulated simultaneously. This phenomenon is referred to as

A) default mode network.
B) theory of mind.
C) simultagnosia.
D) simultaneous extinction.

Question 43

Which type of drugs have been found to improve the symptoms of ADHD?

A) Stimulants
B) SSRIs
C) Benzodiazepines
D) Neuroleptics

Question 44

Which intervention has been shown to reduce the symptoms of ADHD and improve task performance in affected children?

A) Group therapy, in which children with ADHD can talk about their diagnoses and discuss impulse control strategies
B) Allowing children to fidget and engage in more intense physical activity
C) Drug interventions that slow the central nervous system
D) A combination of group therapy and drug interventions

Question 45

Metacognition has thus far been identified in all of the following species except

A) humans.
B) elephants.
C) nonhuman primates.
D) dolphins.

Question 46

Which state is the deepest degree of unconsciousness?

A) Coma
B) Persistent vegetative state
C) Sleeping
D) General anesthesia

Question 47

The "easy problem of consciousness" refers to understanding

A) how particular patterns of neural activity create specific conscious experiences.
B) the brain processes that result in a person's unique subjective experience.
C) the effects of quantum particles on the pineal gland.
D) the neural correlates of free will and agency.

Question 48

The "hard problem of consciousness" refers to understanding

A) the neural processes that result in a person's unique subjective experience.
B) the effects of quantum particles on the pineal gland.
C) how particular patterns of activity create specific conscious experiences.
D) the neural correlates of free will and agency.

Question 49

You and your friend are both looking at the cover of a green book. You both agree that the book is green but your personal experience of the green color may be different than your friend's. The purely subjective experiences of seeing the color is/are called

A) theory of mind.
B) the default mode.
C) free will.
D) qualia.

Question 50

Which research finding is inconsistent with the notion of free will?

A) Chimps have been shown to have a theory of mind.
B) Exogenous attention can be mapped in the brain.
C) Brain activity associated with making a decision appears to be evident well before consciousness is aware of it
D) The ERP N1 effect.

Question 51

The study by Soon et al. showed that brain activity associated with making a decision appeared in fMRI scans up to _______ seconds before subjects were consciously aware of making the decision.

A) 1-2
B) 3-8
C) 4-9
D) 5-10

Question 52

_______ neural processing operations cannot be experienced through introspection and are therefore unconscious.

A) Endogenous attention
B) Exogenous attention
C) Cognitively impenetrable
D) Hemispatial

Question 53

The so-called _______ problem of consciousness refers to the difficulty of understanding the brain processes that produce a person's subjective experience.

A) easy
B) hard
C) impenetrable
D) voxel

Question 54

Diminished social insight, distractibility, and emotional lability are associated with injuries to the _______ cortex.

A) premotor
B) orbitofrontal
C) intraparietal
D) dorsolateral prefrontal

Question 55

The historical account of the effects of Phineas Gage's brain injury provided early information about the functional role of

A) the parietal cortex.
B) the premotor areas.
C) the frontal lobes.
D) Wernicke's area.

Question 56

As a result of an industrial accident, Phineas Gage suffered bilateral damage to the _______ cortex.

A) temporoparietal
B) orbitofrontal
C) intraparietal
D) superior temporal

Question 57

The _______ is an area of gray matter within the white matter of the of the forebrain, and is thought to play an important role in generating the experience of being conscious.

A) claustrum
B) pulvinar
C) IPS
D) LIP

Question 58

The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test is used to test executive function. A subject doing the test is asked to

A) read from cards as many words as possible that start with a specific letter in 60 seconds.
B) say aloud color names that are printed on cards in a congruent or incongruent color as quickly as possible.
C) sort cards into piles according to the number, color, or shape of symbols on card, and every 10 cards the sorting rule changes.
D) create a pile of card as fast as possible in descending numerical order within 60 seconds.

Question 59

Patients with _______ lobe lesions struggle with task shifting and tend to _______ (continue beyond a reasonable degree in any activity).

A) occipital; be disinhibited
B) parietal; show apraxia
C) frontal; perseverate
D) temporal; shadow

Question 60

One of the revealing finds of neuroeconomics is that

A) humans are risk-averse.
B) humans weigh risk and reward equally.
C) the neural basis of human decision-making is largely impossible to access.
D) feelings of regret surprisingly do not activate the amygdala.

Question 61

The study of brain mechanisms at work during economic decision making is called

A) symbolic cuing.
B) conjunction searches.
C) free will.
D) neuroeconomics.

Question 62

Failure to consciously perceive nonattended stimuli is a form of _______ blindness.

Question 63

When you search a computer screen for one blue square amidst many blue circles, yellow squares, and yellow circles you are conducting a _______ search.

Question 64

The _______ component of the ERP waveform is associated with higher-order auditory stimulus processing and late attentional selection.

Question 65

During ERPs in which the subject's attention is directed to find a particular target in an array and ignore distracters, a_______ is triggered at occipitotemporal sites contralateral to the visual target.

Question 66

Researchers use _______ tasks to confirm that attention enhances activity in brain regions that process key aspects of the target stimulus.

Question 67

The _______ is linked to the orienting and shifting of attention and to the filtering of stimuli in attention tasks.

Question 68

You are focused on listening to your neuroscience professor lecture about consciousness. The neural attention network that directs this form of attention is the _______ system.

Question 69

An fMRI of a person sitting staring out the window deep in thought and introspection would show activation of a circuit of brain regions called the _______ network.

Question 70

Some people in minimally conscious states have considerable _______ with little or no overt behavior.

Question 71

An area of the brain called _______ cortex has been shown to be important in goal-directed behaviors, such as seeking pleasant experiences.

Question 72

What is the attentional spotlight and how is it related to divided-attention tasks?

Question 73

Explain how attention might confer an advantage in terms of survival for a person or other animal.

Question 74

Create a paragraph using the following terms: Feature search, conjunction search, binding problem, pop out and feature(s)

Question 75

What are ERPs and why are they essential for the study the neural basis of attention?

Question 76

What are the two subcortical structures that guide shifts in attention and what do they do?

Question 77

What is the primary role of the dorsal frontoparietal system?

Question 78

Describe the dorsal frontoparietal and the temporoparietal systems as they relate to attention.

Question 79

What are qualia and how are they related to consciousness?

Question 80

Who was Phineas Gage, and what happened to him as a result of his accident? How has he contributed to our understanding of the role of the frontal lobes in executive function?