Chapter 14

Question 0

when are executive functions needed

Answer 0

1) planning or decision making
2) error correction or trouble shooting
3) responses are not well-learned or contain novel sequences of actions
4) dangerous or technically difficult
5) overcoming of a strong habitual response or resisting temptation

Question 1

Concept of executive functions

Answer 1

control processes that allow an individual to optimize performance in situations that require coordination between cognitive processes (cognitive control)

meta cognitive

Question 2

planning & decision making test

Answer 2

tower of London

damage to PFC results in poor performance

Question 3

error correction/ trouble shooting test

Answer 3

Wisconsin card sorting task (explicit instructions not provided)

patients with frontal lobe lesions have trouble keeping track of previous responses to inform current decisions & perseverate when the rule is changed

Question 4

not well-learned or novel: F-A-S test

Answer 4

write down as many words as you can that start with F A S

executive functions 
-generate new strategies (categories)
-select between alternatives
avoid repetition
-patients with LPFC damage are often impaired

Question 5

overcoming habitual response or resisting temptation: Stroop Task

Answer 5

incongruence between color and color word is printed in

Question 6

left DLPFC

Answer 6

this region may be responsible for selecting a range of plausible responses

Region active in “free will”

TMS over this region disrupts random digit generation

Question 7

Right DLPFC

Answer 7

may be important in monitoring and sustained attention

involved in checking whether information is correct

activity greatest in conditions of uncertainty

Question 8

Left VLPFC

Answer 8

holding in mind semantic/linguistic info

Question 9

right VLPFC

Answer 9

holding in mind visual/spatial info

Question 10

VLPFC

Answer 10

may maintain information in working memory: refresh & rehearse

material specific effects in memory encoding suggest lateral differences

Question 11

Anterior PFC

multi tasking

Answer 11

Anterior PFC indicates activity only when 2 tasks are required at once.Switch cost may have more to do with suppressing the old task than setting up the new one

Question 12

Orbiofrontal PFC (OFC)
decision making

Answer 12

decision making
self-control/impulsivity
punishment and reward