Cog Neuro Quiz 6: Attention

Question 1

Research repeatedly finds that performance suffers when we divide our attention illustrating that it is….

Answer 1

limited

Question 2

While you study in the library, rain pounds the windows, someone clicks their pen incessantly, and a couple has a whisper argument a few feet away. You can tune these stimuli out because attention is….

Answer 2

selective

Question 3

Babies have orienting reflexes, like startle to a loud noise, demonstrating that human attention is…

Answer 3

basic

Question 4

Researchers find that as we need more sustained attention, the basal forebrain nuclei become more active. This implicates which neurotransmitter system?

Answer 4

cholinergic

Question 5

A patient arrives at the hospital unconscious after an injury to the brainstem. Doctors stabilize the patient, but they remain in a coma. Which area was most likely damaged?

Answer 5

RAS

Question 6

A reduction in ______ attention has been shown in action video game players by measuring an ERP component known as ______.

Answer 6

sustained; slow wave

Question 7

Researchers are examining the role of norepinephrine in attention. Which categories of attention could they be studying?

Answer 7

Arousal and sustained

Question 8

The debate over when attentional selection occurs resolved when _____ ERP component representing early selection and the ______ ERP component representing late selection were identified

Answer 8

N1;P3

Question 9

A patient has damaged their superior parietal lobe (SPL). Which aspect of selective attention is most likely to be affected?

Answer 9

shifting attention

Question 10

Selective attention relies on an extensive network of brain areas. Which of the following areas is the least likely to be involved with selective attention?

Answer 10

basal forebrain
involved: anterior cingulate, prefrontal cortex, and inferior parietal lobe

Question 11

A patient has damaged their lateral prefrontal cortex. Which aspect of selective attention is most likely to be affected?

Answer 11

setting goals and intentions

Question 12

Using TMS, researchers demonstrated that inhibition of the right _______ causes change blindness

Answer 12

posterior parietal cortex

Question 13

Inattentional blindness is associated with less activity in the….

Answer 13

visual cortex

Question 14

Which of the following neurological differences is not associated with an ADHD diagnosis?

Answer 14

decreased cortical activity
associated: less cortical volume, lower dopamine levels, slower cortical maturation

Question 15

My colleague interprets the data in the figure to mean that the typical undergraduate student has severe attention deficits! Help me explain what this data really demonstrates about attention.

Answer 15

It’s a typical affect of attention called the Feature Integration theory

Question 16

A friend knows you are taking Cog Neuro and wants to know more about attention.
16a. what is one practical piece of advice you could give and what evidence discussed in class supports that advice. Be specific (behavioral or brain data)

Answer 16

They should limit the different distractors around them. In class we talked about how our attention is selective. We have the ability to tune out irrelevant info to focus on what is most important right now

Question 17

16b. if you had to choose on of the three models of attention to help your friend understand how attention works in the brain, which one and why?

Answer 17

I would choose Posner’s model because it displays 3 simple categories of what attention is.