PSYC325 Final Exam

Short Essay Questions 

1. Discuss medial temporal lobe amnesia, emphasizing the cases of H.M. and R.B. What have we learned from the study of this disorder?
2. Compare the following three theories of cerebral asymmetry: the analytic-synthetic theory, the motor theory, and the linguistic theory. Describe relevant evidence, and reach a conclusion.
3. Identify three areas of the brain that are involved in the regulation of sleep. What is thought to be the function of each area? Be sure to describe the evidence that has implicated them
4. Compare and contrast Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease.
5. Describe and discuss two important ideas that have emerged from research on the effects of stress on health. Explain the research that led to each idea and why it is important.

Multiple Choice Questions 

In one test commonly used to study medial-temporal-lobe amnesia in macaque monkeys,
A.the sample appears over the central food well during the test phase of each trial.
B.food is available under both objects during the test phase of each trial.
C.food is available under the nonsample object during the test phase of each trial.
D.no food is available during the sample-presentation phase of each trial.

Which of the following tasks is commonly used to study the spatial abilities of rats?
A.Morris water maze
B.radial-arm maze
C.Mumby box
D.both A and B

Because H.M.’s surgery seemed to disrupt only those retrograde memories acquired shortly before his surgery, it was once widely believed that the hippocampus
A.stores most long-term memories.
B.stores all long-term memories.
C.temporarily stores memories before they are transferred to a more permanent storage site.
D.stores spatial memories.

The hypothetical neural mechanism in humans that continuously assesses patterns of events and tries to make sense of them is termed the
A.right-hemisphere interpreter.
B.left-hemisphere interpreter.
C.right prefrontal lobe.
D.left prefrontal lobe.

The strongest evidence for the linguistic theory of cerebral asymmetry comes from the study of
A.deaf people who use American Sign Language and subsequently suffer unilateral brain damage.
B.split-brain deaf people.
C.deaf monkeys with unilateral brain damage.
D.split-brain people with right-hemisphere damage.

According to the Wernicke-Geschwind model, signals are carried from Wernicke’s area to Broca’s area via the left
A.corpus callosum.
B.arcuate fasciculus.
C.massa intermedia.
D.angular gyrus.

According to the text, which theory of sleep does the best job of explaining why there are such large differences in the amount of time that the members of various mammalian species spend sleeping?
A.recuperative theory
B.Freudian theory
C.adaptation theory
D.activation-synthesis theory

The performance of which of the following tasks is most likely to be disrupted by sleep deprivation?
A. sprinting
B.weight lifting
C.watching a radar screen for occasional unpredictable blips
D.solving a series of complex geometric problems

Sleep deprivation lasting several days usually produces
A.chronic psychosis.
B.microsleeps.
C.neuronal fatigue.
D.chronic tremor.

Clock is a circadian gene; it was discovered in
A.mice.
B.sunflowers.
C.dogs.
D.humans.

Because REM sleep is similar to wakefulness in several respects, it makes sense that REM sleep circuits are controlled by a structure involved in maintaining wakefulness: the
A.thalamus.
B.basal forebrain.
C.reticular activating system.
D.cerveau isolé.

In view of the evidence, the widespread practice of taking melatonin to promote sleep is
A.dangerous and should be stopped.
B.definitely a waste of time.
C.likely to be of no more than minor benefit.
D.almost certain to have major sleep benefits in most people.

Which of the following causes epilepsy?
A.neurotoxins
B.cerebrovascular diseases
C.head injuries
D.all of the above

Which of the following is common in children and often ceases in puberty?
A.absence epilepsy
B.tonic-clonic epilepsy
C.temporal lobe epilepsy
D.simple partial epilepsy

Epidemiology is the study of
A.epidemics.
B.infections.
C.the spread of neurological disorders.
D.the various factors that influence the distribution of a disease in the general population.

Most patients with gastric ulcers display signs of H. pylori infection, however, to put this observation in perspective, it is important to understand that
A.yogurt can reduce the infection.
B.yogurt can increase the infection.
C.probiotic yogurt can cure ulcers.
D.many healthy people are similarly infected.

Stress disrupts the performance of
A.tasks mediated by the hippocampus.
B.most memory tasks.
C.almost all avoidance tasks.
D.most cognitive tasks.

Studies of electrical intracranial self-stimulation have influenced the development of biopsychological theories of addiction by indicating that
A.the rewarding effects of drugs play a major role in addiction.
B.there are particular areas of the brain that mediate the experience of pleasure.
C.drug withdrawal and drug pleasure are opposite processes.
D.there are particular areas of the brain that mediate pleasure from drugs.

In humans, the following trait predicts individuals who will initially begin taking a drug:
A.novelty seeking.
B.low IQ.
C.high IQ.
D.paranoia.

The early physical-dependence theories of drug addiction were discredited by the observation that
A.detoxified addicts almost always return to their drug-taking habits.
B.if addicts withdraw over a long period, withdrawal symptoms are more severe.
C.drug addicts who are kept from using drugs for a year or more almost always permanently kick the habit.
D.both A and B