Chap 3

Question 1

Method of Converging Operations

Answer 1

Research technique of examining whether all the
answers obtained from a set of interrelated
experiments lead to the same conclusion.

Question 2

Phonology

Answer 2

Study of the sounds that compose a language
and the rules that govern their combination.

Question 3

Syntax

Answer 3

The rules of grammar.

Question 4

Semantics

Answer 4

The meaning of language.

Question 5

Neuropsychological assessment

Answer 5

Evaluation performed to determine the degree to
which damage to the central nervous system may
have compromised a person’s cognitive,
behavioral, and emotional functioning.

Question 6

Neuropsychological test battery

Answer 6

Multiple tests used to detect any type of brain
dysfunction of either neurological or psychiatric
origin; most common is the Halstead–Reitan
battery.

Question 7

Estimate of premorbid
functioning

Answer 7

A reasonable guess as to how well a
person was performing before an injury.

Question 8

Magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI)

Answer 8

Technique that relies on the use of magnetic
fields to distort the behavior of protons;
information about how long the protons take to
recover from this distortion is used to create an
image of the anatomy of the brain.

Question 9

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)

Answer 9

Anatomical MRI method that can provide
information not only about the structural integrity
of brain regions, but also about the anatomical
connectivity between different brain regions.

Question 10

Tractography

Answer 10

Method that builds on diffusion tensor
information to ascertain information about
probable white matter tracts in the brain.

Question 11

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS)

Answer 11

An MRI method that allows the concentration
of certain biologically active substances, such
as the neurotransmitters glutamate and
GABA, to be determined in specific regions of
brain tissue.

Question 12

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

Answer 12

Method most commonly used by cognitive neuroscientists to discern which areas of the brain are physiologically active; uses a variation of MRI techniques to measure changes related to blood flow and the metabolic changes in compounds used by different brain regions.

Question 13

Resting-state networks or intrinsic connectivity networks

Answer 13

Networks of brain regions whose activity rises and falls in a similar pattern over time while the brain is at rest, generally assessed when people are simply looking at a fixation cross or lying in the magnet with their eyes closed.

Question 14

Functional connectivity

Answer 14

Communication or synchronization of activity between brain regions.

Question 15

Event-related potentials (ERPs)

Answer 15

Recordings of brain activity that is linked to the occurrence of an event; derived from scalp-recorded EEG.

Question 15

Magnetoencephalography (MEG)

Answer 15

Method related to EEG that relies on the recording of magnetic potentials at the scalp (rather than electrical potentials) to index brain activity.

Question 16

Functional near-infrared optical spectroscopy (fNIRS)

Answer 16

A method of examining brain activity which uses a laser source of near-infrared light positioned on the scalp.

Question 17

Noninvasive brain stimulation

Answer 17

A group of techniques, including TMS and tDCS, whereby the brain is stimulated using noninvasive means.

Question 18

Pulse sequence

Answer 18

An oscillating magnetic field that creates a perturbation in the static field.

Question 19

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)

Answer 19

Methodology by which researchers modulate or change brain activity in neurologically intact people; a pulsed magnetic field, created by a coil or series of coils placed on the scalp, induces an electrical field that alters the pattern of brain activity in the underlying tissue.

Question 20

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)

Answer 20

Application of a weak electrical current between two large electrodes, whereby neuronal activity is increased in regions below the anodal (i.e., positive) electrode, and decreased below the cathode (i.e., negative) electrode.

Question 21

Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS)

Answer 21

Similar to tDCS, except that it applies sinusoidal stimulation to the brain to modify ongoing brain oscillations between the two electrode sites.

Question 22

Computational models

Answer 22

Specific algorithms used in neural networks to simulate human mental functions; the basic component of most computational models is a “unit,” which exhibits behavior like an individual neuron.