Emotion & Cognition

Question 1

Dolan defines emotions as states (psychological and physiological) that index value to the organism. What is the best description of the value of an object or event that Dolan considers to be indexed by emotions?

A. That value is stable over time for a particular individual.

B. That value is always higher for objects or outcomes that have intrinsic positive value, such as money and food, in proportion to their quantity or quality.

C. That value is a function of the individual, and of the physical, sociocultural, and interpersonal context.

D. The value of an object or event may vary in amplitude but always has the same valence (positive or negative).

Answer 1

C. That value is a function of the individual, and of the physical, sociocultural, and interpersonal context.

Question 2

What is the central theme of the review article by R.J. Dolan entitled ‘Emotion, Cognition, and Behavior’?

A. The neural basis of fear conditioning

B. Importance of autonomic arousal in behavior, and neural mechanisms underlying them.

C. Neural circuits that allow emotions to influence perceptual processes.

D. Interactions between emotion and cognition, and the neural mechanisms underlying them.

Answer 2

D. Interactions between emotion and cognition, and the neural mechanisms underlying them.

Question 3

The pictures below were used to illustrate what distinct quality of emotions?

A. They are disconnected from our intentions.

B. They existed only in the 1970s.

C. They are embodied.

D. They exert global effects on all aspects of cognition.

Answer 3

C. They are embodied.

Question 4

Which of the following is NOT TRUE of the effects of emotional stimuli in detection tasks?

A. Targets on the same side of the array as emotionally-laden stimuli are detected more rapidly than targets on the other side.

B. Targets on the same side of the array as fear-inducing stimuli are detected more slowly than targets on the other side.

C. Detection of an emotional stimulus in an array of objects is faster than detection of a neutral stimulus

D. Targets on the same side of the array as fear-inducing stimuli are detected more rapidly than targets on the other side.

Answer 4

B. Targets on the same side of the array as fear-inducing stimuli are detected more slowly than targets on the other side.

Question 5

As reviewed by Dolan, alterations of neural activity by emotional content in attention tasks:

A. occurs in both ventral and dorsal prefrontal areas

B. occurs in both dorsal and ventral parietal areas

C. occurs only in ventral emotion processing areas

D. occurs in both orbitofrontal and dorsal frontoparietal areas

Answer 5

D. occurs in both orbitofrontal and dorsal frontoparietal areas

Question 6

We know that emotion enhances attention (we detect emotional events in our environment better than non-emotional events), but emotional stimuli also influence perception independent of attention. Which experimental paradigm below is specifically used to determine whether attention is required for an emotional response?

A. visual search

B. skin conductance response

C. backward masking

D. classical conditioning

Answer 6

C. backward masking

Question 7

As reviewed by Dolan, generation of autonomic emotional responses to fear conditioned stimuli - even when there is no awareness of associative pairing of the previously neutral with the emotional stimuli is:

A. linked to function of the thalamus

B. linked to function of the hippocampus

C. linked to function of the parietal cortex

D. linked to function of the amygdala

Answer 7

D. linked to function of the amygdala

Question 8

Classical conditioning occurs when a neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired in time with an emotional stimulus until the organism begins to respond to the neutral stimulus alone as it would respond to the emotional stimulus. Classical conditioning is thought to play an important role in:

A. posttraumatic stress disorder and phobias

B. attention deficit disorder and learning disabilities

C. phobias and attention deficit disorders

D. schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

Answer 8

A. posttraumatic stress disorder and phobias

Question 9

Dolan reviews evidence that lesions of the amygdala:

A. prevent awareness of an association between an US and CS in classical conditioning.

B. abolish emotional feelings.

C. enhance recall of emotional material.

D. reduce fear conditioning.

Answer 9

D. reduce fear conditioning.

Question 10

As reviewed by Dolan, following classical conditioning, conscious knowledge of the association between emotional and conditioned neutral stimuli even when no autonomic emotional response occurs to the neutral stimuli:

A. Is linked to function of hippocampus

B. Is linked to function of parietal cortex

C. Is linked to function of amygdala

D. Is linked to function of thalamus

Answer 10

A. Is linked to function of hippocampus

Question 11

Pairing of a neutral stimulus with a fearful stimulus in a classical conditioning paradigm is referred to as:

A. Fear conditioning

B. Instrumental learning

C. Paired associate learning

D. Backwards masking

Answer 11

A. Fear conditioning

Question 12

According to Dolan, which of the following is NOT TRUE about emotion effects on explicit memory?

A. Hippocampal damage has been shown to reduce the enhancement of explicit memory for emotional stimuli.

B. Recollection and recall of emotional events is enhanced relative to emotionally neutral events.

C. Amygdala damage has been shown to reduce the enhancement of explicit memory for emotional stimuli.

D. Explicit memory is enhanced for stimuli with both positive and negative emotional valence.

Answer 12

C. Amygdala damage has been shown to reduce the enhancement of explicit memory for emotional stimuli.

Question 13

According to Dolan, which of the following is true about results of functional imaging studies of emotion effects on explicit memory?

A. The degree of amygdala activation during negative, but not positive, emotional stimuli is correlated with the degree of enhancement of recall for those stimuli.

B. Hippocampus is less active during both the encoding and the retrieval of emotional material (relative to encoding and retrieval of neutral material).

C. Amygdala is more active during both the encoding and the retrieval of emotional material (relative to encoding and retrieval of neutral material).

D. Amygdala is more active during encoding, but not during retrieval, of emotional (relative to neutral) material.

Answer 13

C. Amygdala is more active during both the encoding and the retrieval of emotional material (relative to encoding and retrieval of neutral material).

Question 14

Rapid identification of emotional significance of stimuli is most associated with the function of:

A. Caudate nucleus

B. Insular cortex

C. Orbitofrontal cortex

D. Amygdala

Answer 14

D. Amygdala

Question 15

Experiences of pain, disgust, and anticipatory anxiety have often been associated with activation (on fMRI) of:

A. Superior temporal gyrus

B. Insular cortex

C. Perirhinal Cortex

D. Posterior cingulate cortex

Answer 15

B. Insular cortex

Question 16

Feelings are defined by Dolan as mental representations of physiological changes that characterize and are consequent upon processing emotion-eliciting objects or states. What rare disease leads to blunting of emotional feelings?

A. Emotional Amnesia

B. amygdala atrophy

C. Pure autonomic failure

D. Blindsight

Answer 16

C. Pure autonomic failure

Question 17

Which of the following is NOT TRUE of Dolan’s review regarding the effects of emotion on decision making?

A. Evidence was reviewed that emotional responses to facial expressions are used to judge trustworthiness.

B. Evidence was offered that sensitivity to “feeling states” enhances our ability to predict and avoid negative future outcomes.

C. Evidence was reviewed that suggests that emotion is generally pitted against reason, and therefore leads to errors in decision making.

D. It was reported that subjects who were more sensitive to their own heartbeats were better able to predict upcoming shocks conditioned to masked stimuli, even though they had no conscious knowledge which had been paired with the shocks.

Answer 17

C. Evidence was reviewed that suggests that emotion is generally pitted against reason, and therefore leads to errors in decision making.

Question 18

Which of the following is NOT CONSISTENT with Dolan’s description of “somatic markers”?

A. They are representations of cognitive strategies for avoiding risky behaviors

B. Representations of “somatic markers” of previous decisions can be accessed to avoid risky behaviors.

C. They encode the “feeling states” associated with previous decisions

D. The ventromedilal prefrontal cortex has been implicated in representations of “somatic markers”

Answer 18

A. They are representations of cognitive strategies for avoiding risky behaviors

Question 19

According to Dolan, which of the following HAS NOT been associated with damage to the ventromedial prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortex.

A. Deficits in empathy

B. Reduced autonomic response when contemplating risky decisions

C. Loss of knowledge of social rules for appropriate behavior

D. Diastrous and highly risky decisions in spite of apparent knowledge of the risks inovolved

Answer 19

C. Loss of knowledge of social rules for appropriate behavior