module 1: how learning occurs

Question 1

list the four lobes of the brain

Answer 1

frontal
temporal
occipital
parietal

Question 2

what is another term for the outer portion of the brain and which color matter is it?

Answer 2

cortex

gray matter

Question 3

what is gray matter?

Answer 3

most cell bodies of neurons in the brain

Question 4

what is the term for the bottom portion of the brain and what color matter?

Answer 4

subcortex

white matter

Question 5

what is the subcortex comprised of?

Answer 5

long nerve fibers (axons) connecting cell bodies to other neurons

Question 6

why is the tissue of white matter “white”?

Answer 6

axons are wrapped in fatty substances (myelin) that increase the speed at which signals are transmitted

Question 7

which is the largest lobe of the brain?

Answer 7

frontal

Question 8

what is the prefrontal cortex responsible for?

Answer 8

planning, higher order thinking, controlling emotions, problem solving

Question 9

what is the motor cortex responsible for?

Answer 9

controls movement and position of limbs

Question 10

what is the occipital lobe responsible for?

Answer 10

processing visual signals

Question 11

which lobe works as a monitor in which pixels of light enter eyes are projected to see world around you?

Answer 11

occipital

Question 12

what is the parietal lobe responsible for?

Answer 12

integrate signals from different regions of the body about temperature, touch, and pain and location of different parts of the body

Question 13

what is the temporal lobe responsible for?

Answer 13

associated with hearing, interpreting language, speech, facial recognition

Question 14

which lobe of the brain is the hippocampus located?

Answer 14

temporal

Question 15

what is the hippocampus responsible for?

Answer 15

memory formation

Question 16

what is the brainstem responsible for?

Answer 16

body functions controlled- heart and respiratory rate, digestion
level of alertness

Question 17

list the parts of the limbic system

Answer 17

thalamus
hypothalamus
hippocampus
amygdala

Question 18

what is the limbic system responsible for?

Answer 18

generation and processing emotions, links emotion, reason, and memory

Question 19

what is the thalamus responsible for?

Answer 19

relay station for relaying information coming to the brain about senses and from cerebral cortex about memories

Question 20

what is the only sense that bypasses the thalamus and why?

Answer 20

smell because it has its own pathway

Question 21

what is the hypothalamus responsible for?

Answer 21

monitors body temperature, food and liquid intake, and sleep

may release hormones that affect those body functions

Question 22

what is the hippocampus responsible for?

Answer 22

memory formation

converts short term to long term

Question 23

what is the amygdala responsible for?

Answer 23

associated with emotions of fear and anxiety

“tags” memories for long term storage in the hippocampus if associated with emotions

Question 24

describe the process of how learning occurs

Answer 24

• brain decides which sensory inputs are important enough to process further and which can be forgotten immediately, within the thalamus
• immediate memory vs working memory
• long term memory
• long term storage occurs when information is encoded by the hippocampus and doesn’t occur instantly but usually during deep sleep

Question 25

describe immediate memory

Answer 25

prefrontal cortex
information held for half a minute where it’s either retained or forgotten
ex. you’re given a phone number and you remember just long enough to put into your phone

Question 26

describe working memory

Answer 26

frontal lobes
stay focused for about 20 minutes before sensory input creeps in
motivation to stay focused

Question 27

describe long term memory

Answer 27

based on prior knowledge, relevancy, and if it makes sense to you

Question 28

list the parts of the forebrain

Answer 28

cerebrum
thalamus
hypothalamus
pituitary gland

Question 29

what is the forebrain responsible for?

Answer 29

thinking, speech, learning ability, sensory input, memory, emotions, hunger, sleepy, fulness

Question 30

list the parts of the hindbrain

Answer 30

medulla oblongata
pons
cerebellum

Question 31

what is the medulla oblongata responsible for?

Answer 31

life-giving involuntary (heart beat, digestion), reflexes (sneezing coughing)

Question 32

what is the cerebellum responsible for?

Answer 32

balance, motor memory (riding bike)

Question 33

what is an example of a function of the midbrain?

Answer 33

dilation of pupils

Question 34

what does procedural memory rely more on?

Answer 34

basal ganglia and cerebellum

Question 35

what is retrieval practice?

Answer 35

pulling what you learn out of your long-term memory so you can think through it again

Question 35

how does retrieval practice work?

Answer 35

needs to occur at least 24 hours AFTER you’ve studied the material and needs to be done without reviewing it.

Question 36

what is the aim of retrieval practice?

Answer 36

to identify what you’ve stored in long-term memory and figure out where the gaps in your knowledge exist

Question 37

how do you get more out of retrieval ?

Answer 37

if you explain the material in your own words rather than trying to reiterate word-for-word what you were taught or studied

Question 37

what is the best way to use retrieval practice?

Answer 37

self-quizzing

Question 38

what three things do you do to get the most out of self quizzing?

Answer 38

1. break the material into chunks, no more than a couple of paragraphs
2. read through the first chunk carefully but pretend you’re the teacher who’s creating questions for an exam
3. The next night, Pick one of the Questions pages at random and do your best to answer all of the questions on that page Force yourself to say each answer out loud or better yet write it down. this is to identify a gap in your knowledge. Now’s the time to fill it – review your notes or text to figure out where you went wrong.

Question 39

what is the best way to use the questions and answers methods?

Answer 39

study buddy
- Asking your study buddy your questions and having them ask you theirs will increase the likelihood that you’ll identify all of the key points made in the material and that you consider them from different points of view.