Question 1

In general, it could be said that ___________________ areas tend to be involved with the control of attention, whereas __________________ areas are affected by attention.

Accepted Answer

A) frontal and parietal; sensory processing 
B) subcortical; parietal and frontal 
C) sensory processing; temporal and parietal 
D) sensory processing; frontal and parietal

Question 2

What is the neurological syndrome known as neglect? Describe the typical symptoms and associated brain regions. How does complete neglect differ from extinction?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What is the neurological syndrome known as...

Question 3

One finding demonstrated by the Posner spatial cuing task (1980) is that

Accepted Answer

A) the focus of attention can be moved separately from eye fixation. 
B) compared to neutral cues, valid cues result in slower reaction time to targets. 
C) compared to invalid cues, neutral cues result in slower reaction time to targets. 
D) attention cannot be directed spatially without a corresponding eye movement.

Question 4

________ refers to the ability to choose certain sensory inputs for further information processing while ignoring others.

Accepted Answer

A) Vigilance 
B) Arousal 
C) Visual search 
D) Selective attention

Question 5

In visual search tasks, the amount of time it takes to find a target among distracters is independent of the number of distracters if the target can be identified by a single feature.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 6

To explain dichotic listening findings such as the observation that a participant usually notices when his or her own name is embedded in the ignored channel, Treisman (1969) proposed that

Accepted Answer

A) unattended information is not completely excluded from higher analysis, but merely attenuated. 
B) attention can be explained only in terms of late, rather than early, selection mechanisms. 
C) relatively unique types of stimuli, such as names, do not require attention for processing. 
D) familiar stimuli that have been learned previously by participants do not require attention for processing.

Question 7

You are walking down the street and talking to a friend when suddenly, a car screeches its tires, causing you to turn and look toward the sound. This is an example of _____ attention.

Accepted Answer

A) endogenous, covert 
B) endogenous, overt 
C) exogenous, covert 
D) exogenous, overt

Question 8

Which of the following phenomena is the most consciously mediated?

Accepted Answer

A) inhibition of return 
B) reflexive attention 
C) exogenous cuing 
D) endogenous cuing

Question 9

Techniques such as EEG are particularly well suited to studies of attention. However, one difficulty in using these techniques is that

Accepted Answer

A) one must also use a structural neuroimaging technique to isolate the source of attentional activation to a specific brain structure. 
B) one must also use a functional neuroimaging technique to isolate the source of attentional activation to a specific brain structure. 
C) EEG is an expensive and extremely invasive neuroimaging technique. 
D) electrical signals in the brain are not affected by the use of focused attention.

Question 10

The primary functional problem that results from damage to the attentional network and that produces neglect syndrome is that patients

Accepted Answer

A) fail to process sensory information from the ipsilesional side of space. 
B) fail to process sensory information from the contralesional side of space. 
C) cannot disengage attention from information in the ipsilesional side of space. 
D) cannot disengage attention from information in the contralesional side of space.

Question 11

You are working diligently in the chemistry laboratory when suddenly a small explosion occurs in the rear of the room, immediately and automatically capturing your attention. This is an example of

Accepted Answer

A) inhibition of return. 
B) exogenous cuing. 
C) voluntary orienting. 
D) controlled processing.

Question 12

Why isn't the neuropsychology of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) typically studied as a model to understand the anatomy of attention networks?

Accepted Answer

A) ADHD is primarily a sensory issue. 
B) Because ADHD is so much more common in boys than in girls, the findings would be too heavily gender biased. 
C) Both the anatomical and behavioral differences in ADHD make it a more complex phenomenon to study than neglect or Bálint's syndrome. 
D) The brains of children with ADHD are still developing.

Question 13

If a patient were demonstrating characteristics of unilateral neglect, which of the following would best explain the patient's symptoms?

Accepted Answer

A) Left hemisphere structures contain a full map of visual space, whereas right hemisphere structures contain only a map of contralateral space. 
B) Left hemisphere structures contain a full map of visual space, whereas right hemisphere structures contain only a map of ipsilateral space. 
C) Right hemisphere structures contain a full map of visual space, whereas left hemisphere structures contain only a map of contralateral space. 
D) Right hemisphere structures contain a full map of visual space, whereas left hemisphere structures contain only a map of ipsilateral space.

Question 14

Describe the basic findings of the visual search research conducted by Treisman and colleagues. In particular, describe the difference between a feature search and a conjunction search. Draw a figure illustrating a typical response-time pattern for the two search types.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Describe the basic findings of the visual...

Question 15

Spatial attention to one hemifield leads to increased neural activity in the fusiform gyrus in the ipsilateral hemisphere.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 16

Which component of attention is associated with the pulvinar?

Accepted Answer

A) the ability to engage visual attention at a particular location in the visual field 
B) the capacity to move the focus of visual attention from one location to another 
C) the ability to disengage attention from a particular location in the visual field 
D) the ability to locate a conjunction target that is embedded in a field of distracters

Question 17

The Posner spatial cuing task (1980) showed that cuing participants to the location of an upcoming target

Accepted Answer

A) increased reaction time to detect the target. 
B) decreased reaction time to detect the target. 
C) failed to affect reaction time but did increase detection accuracy. 
D) failed to affect either reaction time or detection accuracy.

Question 18

Describe the subcortical structures involved in attention. Do you think these structures contribute to voluntary or reflexive attention? Why or why not?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Describe the subcortical structures involved in attention....

Question 19

You are looking for a friend who is supposed to meet you in a crowded lecture hall. You know that she is wearing a grey sweatshirt and glasses. Which kind of visual search best describes this situation?

Accepted Answer

A) conjunction search 
B) feature search 
C) pop-out search 
D) parallel search

Question 20

Can object representations modulate spatial attention? Please describe evidence to support your answer.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Can object representations modulate spatial attention? Please...

Exam 7: Attention

In general, it could be said that _ areas tend to be involved with the control of attention, whereas areas are affected by attention.