Deck 4: Methods of Cognitive Neuroscience

Question 1

Research using ________ models sometimes involves "lesioning" the model to see if it adequately simulates the behavioral deficits observed in neurological patients.

A)symbolic
B)propositional
C)neural network
D)chronometric

Answer 1

C

Question 2

People are better at identifying a briefly presented letter on a computer screen if the letter is

A)a vowel rather than a consonant.
B)presented as part of a word.
C)processed serially.
D)printed in colored ink.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The term used by cognitive psychologists to describe the interval of time between two events in an experimental paradigm is

A)event-related chronometry (ERC).
B)event-related cognition (ERC).
C)stimulus onset analysis (SOA).
D)stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA).

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which of the following is a typical reason for using a dual-task paradigm?

A)To identify sources of interference and other constraints in information processing
B)To examine the acquisition of complex skills that involve multiple goals
C)To show that any given transformation of a representation can occur in multiple ways
D)To produce complex behavior in more than one medium

Question 5

________ is the science of simulating natural cognitive processes on computers.

A)Mental chronometry
B)Neuropsychology
C)Artificial intelligence
D)Cognitive psychology

Question 6

Which of the following types of topographic representation does NOT incorporate information about the location of a stimulus in space?

A)Retinotopic maps in the visual cortex
B)Motor maps in the motor cortex
C)Cochleotopic maps in the auditory cortex
D)Somatosensory maps in the somatosensory cortex

Question 7

You have isolated a neuron in the occipital lobes that you believe is responsible for processing information about color.What type of neurophysiological technique would allow you to assess this hypothesis in a living animal?

A)Single-cell recording
B)Histology
C)Electrical stimulation
D)Golgi stain

Question 8

One limitation of what we can learn through the single-cell recording technique is that

A)it is often difficult to determine the baseline activity level of a single neuron.
B)patterns of activity among groups of neurons may describe the function of a brain area better.
C)the receptive field of a single neuron changes as the brain develops.
D)single-cell recording is effective only in exploring the primary sensory cortex.

Question 9

The Sternberg paradigm illustrates that when a set of letters held in short-term memory is tested with a recognition task,the time needed to respond to a probe item is

A)unrelated to the number of items in the memory set and is unrelated to whether the probe item was part of the original list.
B)unrelated to the number of items in the memory set but is affected by whether the probe item was part of the original list.
C)related by a linear function to the number of items in the memory set,the slope of which is the same regardless of whether the probe item was part of the original list.
D)related by a linear function to the number of items in the memory set,the slope of which is steeper when the probe item was not part of the original list.

Question 10

The region of space in which a stimulus must be presented to evoke a response from a neuron is called its

A)topographic map.
B)sensory homunculus.
C)receptive field.
D)baseline space.

Question 11

Chronometric methods are based on the assumption that

A)inferences about mental representations can be made based on the speed with which participants make particular judgments.
B)the greater the number of mental operations necessary to complete a task,the more quickly a response can be generated.
C)cognitive activities are serial processes rather than parallel processes.
D)information-processing resources are limited when more than one task is given at a time.

Question 12

Which of the following is NOT an advantage of computer modeling?

A)In creating a simulation,the researcher must be completely explicit in terms of the operations.
B)Some models have homunculus-like teachers,just like those of biological organisms.
C)Such models can lead to testable predictions.
D)Models can be "lesioned" to see how their performance changes when they are altered.

Question 13

Posner and his colleagues had participants view two letters and respond according to whether these letters were both vowels,both consonants,or one of each.Participants were fastest when viewing two physically identical letters,somewhat slower when viewing the same letter in two different fonts,and slowest in the case where two different consonants were presented.This finding shows that

A)we form multiple representations of stimuli.
B)we form representations of stimuli based only on their physical attributes.
C)we form representations of stimuli based only on their abstract category membership.
D)more complex mental representations produce faster reaction times.

Question 14

The greatest advantage of incorporating computer modeling into the study of a cognitive phenomenon is that

A)this approach best demonstrates the limitations of information processing in natural cognition.
B)computers can analyze a larger amount of data than can real brains.
C)the function of computer models is directly equivalent to brain function.
D)this technique can generate explicit,testable theories of natural cognition.

Question 15

The receptive fields in the primary visual cortex are ________ the receptive fields in the visual association areas.

A)smaller than
B)larger than
C)equal in size to
D)less selective than

Question 16

The model of Kali and Dayan predicted that the maintenance of memories over time would

A)depend on reactivation of thalamo-neocortical connections.
B)depend on reactivation of hippocampal-neocortical connections.
C)NOT depend on reactivation of thalamo-neocortical connections,even though these are essential for the formation of new memories.
D)NOT depend on reactivation of hippocampal-neocortical connections,even though these are essential for the formation of new memories.

Question 17

Neural network models typically

A)include input units,hidden layers,and output units.
B)store information discretely in each of their neuronlike units.
C)have connections of prespecified strength.
D)simulate cognition at the level of the individual neuron.

Question 18

The field of ________ is based on the idea that perception and thought employ mental representations that undergo transformations as they are used.

A)neuropsychology
B)computer modeling
C)cognitive psychology
D)neuroimaging

Question 19

The Stroop effect demonstrates that when viewing

A)colors,we are successful at suppressing color representations when they are irrelevant to the task.
B)words,we are successful at suppressing word representations when they are irrelevant to the task.
C)colors,we cannot help but activate color representations even when they are irrelevant to the task.
D)words,we cannot help but activate word representations even when they are irrelevant to the task.

Question 20

What can you infer about the responsiveness of two neurons in the visual cortex that lie next to each other in V1?

A)Both cells share a common receptive field.
B)The cells are sensitive to exactly the same stimulus characteristics.
C)The receptive fields of these cells are also next to each other.
D)Both cells have identical baseline activity rates.

Question 21

This neuroimaging technique combines X-ray pictures taken from many different angles into a compressed two-dimensional representation of the brain.

A)MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)
B)CT (computed tomography)
C)PET (positron emission tomography)
D)EEG (electroencephalography)

Question 22

Which of the following degenerative disorders is believed to have the strongest genetic component?

A)Alzheimer's disease
B)Parkinson's disease
C)Huntington's disease
D)Korsakoff's disease

Question 23

Resecting or removing regions of cortex and cutting the corpus callosum are techniques that are usually used to

A)alleviate severe chronic epilepsy.
B)reduce the symptoms of depression.
C)increase the functioning of dopaminergic cells in people with Parkinson's disease.
D)relieve imbalances in neurotransmitter levels that can lead to Alzheimer's disease.

Question 24

________ is a general term that refers to disruption of blood flow to the brain.

A)Arteriosclerosis
B)Aneurysm
C)Ischemia
D)Hemorrhage

Question 25

The small regions in a three-dimensional grid,approximately 5 to 10 cubic millimeters in volume,that neuroimagers use to map the brain are known as

A)posners.
B)sternbergs.
C)voxels.
D)pixels.

Question 26

The formation of plaques composed of abnormal amyloid protein in the brain is a characteristic symptom of

A)Alzheimer's disease.
B)Parkinson's disease.
C)Huntington's disease.
D)Korsakoff's disease.

Question 27

A patient suffering from a progressive neurological disorder is brought to a neurologist for diagnosis.The neurologist notes that the patient's MRI reveals a great deal of cortical atrophy and suspects that the problem may be Alzheimer's disease.Which of the following symptoms,if also discovered,would confirm this diagnosis?

A)Tremors and difficulty in initiating movement
B)Double vision
C)Loss of dopaminergic neurons in the basal ganglia
D)Presence of amyloid plaques during postmortem examination of the brain

Question 28

The terms borderzone and watershed area refer to

A)the regions where the cerebral arteries overlap in their distribution of blood.
B)the ventricles,which contain cerebrospinal fluid.
C)the system of blood vessels that drain blood from the cerebral hemispheres.
D)any area that is damaged due to a cerebrovascular accident.

Question 29

What part of the brain does an angiogram allow you to visualize?

A)Ventricles
B)Meninges
C)Cell bodies
D)Arteries

Question 30

A blockage of the posterior cerebral arteries that resulted in brain damage would most likely cause a deficit in

A)vision.
B)motor function.
C)somatosensation.
D)speech.

Question 31

________ is a condition characterized by excessive and abnormally patterned activity in the brain.

A)Progressive supranuclear palsy
B)Epilepsy
C)Multiple sclerosis
D)Aneurysm

Question 32

The driver in a car accident first hits the windshield with great force,then rebounds backward.Which part of the brain would you expect to be damaged as a result of the countercoup injury?

A)The dorsolateral frontal lobes
B)The posterior occipital lobes
C)The medial temporal lobes
D)The anterior tips of the temporal lobes

Question 33

Which of the following imaging techniques can be thought of as a three-dimensional X-ray?

A)MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)
B)CT (computed tomography)
C)fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging)
D)PET (positron emission tomography)

Question 34

Which of the following neuroimaging techniques involves manipulating the orientation of hydrogen atoms?

A)MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)
B)PET (positron emission tomography)
C)MEG (magnetoencephalography)
D)ERP (event-related potential)

Question 35

One of the experimental strengths of brain-lesion methods in animals,compared to human neuropsychology,is that

A)animal work can be truly experimental,whereas with humans we are limited to correlational inferences.
B)with animal work,we can be confident that the effect of a lesion eliminates the contribution of a single structure.
C)humans,but not other animals,often develop compensatory strategies to minimize the consequences of a lesion.
D)with animals,but not humans,we can create temporary "lesions" using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).

Question 36

A knockout mouse

A)has damage to a particular neural structure due to a physical lesion.
B)has a transient functional lesion because of administration of neurotransmitter antagonists.
C)is part of a special genetic strain that lacks or no longer expresses certain genes.
D)is bred to perform poorly on maze-solving tasks.

Question 37

A brain tumor that originates as an abnormal growth of cells from the dura mater is a

A)glioma.
B)meningioma.
C)metastatic tumor.
D)neuroma.

Question 38

The term ________ is used to describe the situation in which group 1 is impaired on task X and unimpaired on task Y and group 2 is impaired on task Y and unimpaired on task X.In contrast,the term ________ is used when group 1 is impaired on task X and unimpaired on task Y and group 2 is unimpaired on both tasks X and Y.

A)single dissociation / double dissociation
B)double dissociation / single dissociation
C)double dissociation / triple dissociation
D)triple dissociation / double dissociation

Question 39

Which of the following imaging techniques would be best for visualizing a skull fracture?

A)CT (computed tomography)
B)PET (positron emission tomography)
C)fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging)
D)DTI (diffusion tensor imaging)

Question 40

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)

A)is like a conventional X-ray but allows the reconstruction of three-dimensional space from compressed two-dimensional images.
B)is an imaging method used to evaluate the circulatory system in the brain.
C)involves inserting electrodes into the brain that produce continuous signals to trigger neural activity.
D)is performed with an MRI scanner but measures the density and motion of water contained in axons.

Question 41

Some progressive neurological disorders can be caused by viruses like the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)and the herpes simplex virus.

Question 42

Which neuroimaging technique involves injecting an isotope of oxygen into the bloodstream and using it to measure regional cerebral blood flow?

A)fMRI
B)PET
C)CT
D)EEG

Question 43

Which of the following is true of the group study approach in neuropsychology,compared to the individual case study approach?

A)A group study is better for relating cognitive processes to underlying brain structure.
B)A case study is better for establishing a double dissociation.
C)A group study is better because it avoids the problem of compensatory strategy.
D)A case study is better because it allows the use of techniques from cognitive psychology.

Question 44

The term tonotopic refers to the fact that the cochlea and the auditory cortex contain maps that are organized according to the sound frequencies that best stimulate the cells.

Question 45

Weaver mice are a knockout strain in which Purkinje cells,the prominent cell type in the hippocampus,fail to develop.As a result,these mice are "maze-dull."

Question 46

Hermann von Helmholtz found that an electrical event located within a sphere produces ________ of electrical activity on the surface of the sphere.This is known as the ________.

A)unpredictable patterns / inverse problem
B)unpredictable patterns / forward problem
C)one predictable pattern / inverse solution
D)one predictable pattern / forward solution

Question 47

The best neuroimaging method for visualizing the white and gray matter is computed tomography (CT).

Question 48

Which of the following is an advantage of MEG (magnetoencephalography)over EEG (electroencephalography)?

A)With MEG,current flow can be detected in any orientation.
B)With MEG,the inverse problem can be avoided.
C)With MEG,the magnetic fields are not distorted by the skull.
D)With MEG,the temporal resolution is much better.

Question 49

What are some strengths and limitations of computational models as a method in cognitive neuroscience?

Question 50

The Sternberg experiment showed that the amount of time it takes to compare a target item with a list of items in memory increases with the number of items in the memory set.This is an example of parallel processing.

Question 51

The technique known as ________ can be used to induce virtual lesions in humans.

A)EEG (electroencephalography)
B)TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation)
C)MEG (magnetoencephalography)
D)PET (positron emission tomography)

Question 52

The three major types of brain tumors are gliomas,meningiomas,and metastatic tumors.

Question 53

The electrical signal evoked by a class of sensory,motor,or cognitive events,which is observed by averaging multiple EEG traces,is known as a(n)

A)brain response potential.
B)mean event trace.
C)event-related potential.
D)neural activity trace.

Question 54

The most frequent cause of stroke is occlusion of the normal passage of blood by a foreign substance,such as an embolus.

Question 55

When performing a single-cell recording,researchers carefully insert a thin electrode through the cell membrane into the interior of a neuron.

Question 56

Cognitive psychology is based on the assumption that thought is best studied using objective,observable behaviors.

Question 57

Computational models can vary widely in the level of explanation they seek to provide,and they can range from the cellular/molecular level to the systems level.

Question 58

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)is based on a measurement of

A)magnetic fields emanating from the surface of the brain.
B)the distribution of dye in the arteries and veins of the brain.
C)virtual lesions following intense magnetic stimulation of the brain.
D)ratios of oxygenated to deoxygenated hemoglobin in the brain.

Question 59

A patient has an injury to the parietal lobe and has a selective deficit in processing information about the spatial location of visual stimuli.You hypothesize that this region of the brain is distinct in function from other visual areas in the temporal lobe,in which you suspect shape perception information is processed.To establish a double dissociation between the two functions and brain regions,you would need to find another person who had damage to the

A)same part of the parietal lobe but did NOT have a visuospatial deficit.
B)temporal lobe and had both visuospatial and shape perception deficits.
C)same part of the parietal lobe and had only a shape perception deficit.
D)temporal lobe and had only a shape perception deficit.

Question 60

Research questions about the time course of cognition are better addressed using methods like ________,whereas questions about the anatomy of cognition are better addressed using methods like ________.

A)ERP / fMRI
B)fMRI / PET
C)PET / MEG
D)MEG / ERP

Question 61

Choose two of the following methods and briefly describe how they work.For each of your choices,describe a research question (real or hypothetical)for which this method would be an appropriate choice,and explain why.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
Electroencephalography (EEG)
Computed tomography (CT)
Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)

Question 62

What are some relative strengths and weaknesses of individual case studies as compared to group studies in neuropsychology?

Question 63

Cognitive neuropsychological approaches using people who have suffered a stroke,tumor,or neurological disorder are sometimes described as "correlational." Explain what this means,and provide a hypothetical case study to illustrate your point.

Question 64

What are single and double dissociations? Provide an example of a neuropsychological study illustrating each one.