Aaliyah 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 Aaliyah is asleep. However, each time Aaliyah wakes up and asks for the fan to be turned back on. Aaliyah is selectively attending to certain kinds of information in her surroundings, which 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 in the brain is responsible for selective attention, meaning it filters out irrelevant information and focuses on important stimuli. In this case, Aaliyah is selectively attending to the sound of the fan and ignoring other stimuli in her environment, such as the television programs.

Aaliyah Has Grown Up Sleeping with a Fan Running in Her