Katie has grown up sleeping with a fan running in her room since she was an infant. This provides white noise to drown out the television programs being watched by other family members who were still awake. In an effort to save electricity, her mother has started coming into her room and turning her fan off after she thinks Katie is asleep. However, each time Katie wakes up and asks for the fan to be turned back on. Katie is selectively attending to certain kinds of information in her surroundings has been linked to the __________ part of the brain.
A) reticular formation
B) pons
C) cerebellum
D) medulla

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The reticular formation is responsible for regulating arousal and attention, and it filters and sorts incoming information from the senses. Katie's ability to selectively attend to the white noise of her fan while ignoring other stimuli (like the TV) suggests that her reticular formation is functioning properly.

Katie Has Grown Up Sleeping with a Fan Running in Her