Chapter 1: Introduction

Question 1

Damage to a particular part of the right side of the brain results in what classic example of brain damage?

Answer 1

Unilateral neglect is a classic example of damage to a particular part of the right side of the brain.

Question 2

In which form of brain damage might a person with damage to one particular side of the brain no longer pay attention to the sensations or stimuli on the side of the body controlled by the damaged part of the brain?

Answer 2

In unilateral neglect, a person can still perceive sensations on the side of the body affected but they just stop paying attention to them.

Question 3

One of the most universal of all human characteristics, to be able to explain what makes things happen, is called what?

Answer 3

Curiosity is one of the most universal of all human characteristics, where we want to be able to explain what makes things happen.

Question 4

The belief in a dual nature of reality, where mind and body are separate, and the body is made of ordinary matter, is referred to as what?

Answer 4

Dualism is the belief in a dual nature of reality, where mind and body are separate, and the body is made of ordinary matter.

Question 5

The belief that everything in the universe consists of matter and energy and that the mind is a phenomenon produced by the workings of the nervous system is referred to as what?

Answer 5

Monism is the belief that everything in the universe consists of matter and energy and that the mind is a phenomenon produced by the workings of the nervous system.

Question 6

The fact that humans are aware of, and can tell others about, our thoughts, perceptions, memories, and feelings, is referred to as what?

Answer 6

Consciousness.

Question 7

What refers to the belief that the body is physical but the mind is not?

Answer 7

Dualism refers to the belief that the body is physical but the mind is not.

Question 8

What is the belief that the world consists only of matter and energy and that the mind is a phenomenon produced by the workings of the nervous system?

Answer 8

Monism is the belief that the world consists only of matter and energy and that the mind is a phenomenon produced by the workings of the nervous system.

Question 9

Our complex social structure, and capacity for learning and awareness of consciousness, are made possible in part due to what?

Answer 9

Verbal communication.

Question 10

What is the ability of a person who cannot see objects in her blind field to accurately reach for them while remaining unconscious of perceiving them known as?

Answer 10

Blindsight.

Question 11

What is caused by damage to the, “mammalian,” visual system of the brain?

Answer 11

Blindsight.

Question 12

Which visual system evolved first, resembles that of animals as fish and frogs, and controls eye movement in order to bring awareness to sudden movement happening around us?

Answer 12

Primitive Visual System

Question 13

What visual system is more complex and is responsible for our being able to perceive the world around us?

Answer 13

Mammalian Visual System

Question 14

Which phenomenon suggests that consciousness is not a general property of all parts of the brain?

Answer 14

Blindsight.

Question 15

Which visual system is responsible for speech, thinking in words, and other complex behaviors?

Answer 15

Mammalian Visual System.

Question 16

Which visual system is responsible for eye movements, hand movements, reaching movements with the hands, and other simple behaviors?

Answer 16

Primitive visual system.

Question 17

What is the name of the largest commissure of the brain, interconnecting the neocortex on each side of the brain?

Answer 17

The Corpus Callosum.

Question 18

What is refers to the brain surgery performed occasionally on people with epilepsy where the corpus callosum is cut?

Answer 18

Split-brain operation.

Question 19

What refers to the two symmetrical halves of the brain that constitute the major part of the brain?

Answer 19

Cerebral hemisphere.

Question 20

Which system of sensory information is not experienced from one side of the brain to the opposite side?

Answer 20

Olfactory system, sense of smell.

Question 21

What is the name of the syndrome in which people ignore objects located toward their left and the left sides of objects located anywhere?

Answer 21

Unilateral neglect

Question 22

Which syndrome is caused primarily by damage to the right parietal lobe of the brain?

Answer 22

Unilateral neglect.

Question 23

When presented with stimuli in each visual field, researchers found that the people in their study could identify both stimuli, despite what?

Answer 23

Despite being unaware of the stimuli in the visual field in which they commonly ignore in unilateral neglect.

Question 24

Which area of the brain was activated in the rubber hand illusion when stroking of the real and artificial hands were coordinated and conveyed a sense of ownership of the fake hand?

Answer 24

Premotor cortex, a region of the brain involved in planning movements.

Question 25

Which area of the brain is involved in planning movements?

Answer 25

Premotor cortex.

Question 26

What is the name of the area of the brain commonly activated when a person anticipates experiencing pain?

Answer 26

Anterior cingulate cortex

Question 27

What is the name of the area of the brain commonly activated by the urge to move his or her own arm, as in the rubber hand illusion when faced with the threat of a needle?

Answer 27

Supplementary motor area.

Question 28

The basic function of what is to inform us of what is happening in our environment?

Answer 28

Perception.

Question 29

Why is being informed of what is happening in our environment of use to us?

Answer 29

It is useful to us so that our behaviors will be adaptive, useful, and enable us to act accordingly to what is happening around us.

Question 30

Which type of scientific explanation refers to a general conclusion based on many observations of similar phenomenons?

Answer 30

Generalization is the scientific explanation referring to a general conclusion based on many observations of similar phenomena.

Question 31

Which type of scientific explanation refers to the explanation of complex phenomena in terms of simpler ones?

Answer 31

Reduction is the scientific explanation referring to the explanation of complex phenomena in terms of simpler ones?

Question 32

What is the task of the behavioral neuroscientist?

Answer 32

To explain behavior by studying the physiological processes that control it.

Question 33

What is one of the main ideas that a behavioral neuroscientist seeks to understand?

Answer 33

To understand psychologically why a particular behavior occurs (before we can understand what physiological events made it occur).

Question 34

What was the name of the figure in history who first made the analogy between machine and human body or mind?

Answer 34

Rene Descartes

Question 35

What is a mathematical or physical analogy for a physiological process?

Answer 35

A model.

Question 36

Describe the Doctrine of Specific Nerve Energies.

Answer 36

Johannes Muller concludes even though nerves carry the same basic message that we perceive the messages of different nerves in different ways. He said that because all nerve fibers carry the same type of message, that sensory information must be specified by the particular nerve fibers that are active.

Question 37

What is the name of the research method in which the function of a part of the brain is inferred by observing the behaviors an animal can no longer perform after that part is damaged?

Answer 37

Experimental ablation.

Question 38

Which region of the brain causes contractions of specific muscles on the opposite side of the body?

Answer 38

Primary Motor Cortex

Question 39

What is the name of the principle that the best way to understand a biological phenomenon is to try to understand its useful functions for the organism?

Answer 39

Functionalism.

Question 40

What is the name of the process by which inherited traits that confer a selective advantage become more prevalent in a population?

Answer 40

Natural selection

Question 41

What is the name of a change in the genetic information contained in the chromosomes of sperm or eggs, which can be passed on to an organism’s offspring?

Answer 41

Mutation

Question 42

What is a characteristic of an organism that permits it to produce more than the average number of offspring of its species?

Answer 42

Selective advantage

Question 43

What is the name of the gradual change in the structure and physiology of plant and animal species, generally producing more complex organisms, as a result of natural selection?

Answer 43

Evolution