old examen questions

Question 1

What is true according to slot models of visual working memory:

a. Memory contents are encoded in the hippocampus
b. Memory contents are encoded in a graded fashion
c. Memory contents are encoded in an all-or-nothing fashion
d. Memory contents are encoded in the pre-SMA

Answer 1

c. Memory contents are encoded in an all-or-nothing fashion

Question 2

What is a Mexican hat filter:

a. A model of cells in primary visual cortex that consists of a multiplication of a Gaussian with a sinusoid
b. A model of cells in primary visual cortex that consists of a multiplication of a sinusoid with a Gaussian
c. A model of cells in object-selective cortex that process body clothing
d. A model of retinal ganglion cells that consists of excitatory and inhibitory subregions.

Answer 2

d. A model of retinal ganglion cells that consists of excitatory and inhibitory subregions.

Question 3

What is a problem of oculomotor delayed-response memory tasks?
a. That it is unclear where an animal is attending before a saccade
b. That they involve iconic memory because the delay time is too short
c. That they require visuo-spatial processing
d. That they mix up short-term memory and motor preparation

Answer 3

d. That they mix up short-term memory and motor preparation

Question 4

What is special about the development of the prefrontal cortex (PFC)

Answer 4

It reaches full development later than sensory brain regions

Question 5

Which cells can be found in the human retina:

Answer 5

• ganglion
• amacrine
• bipolar
• photoreceptor (rods & cons)
• horizontal

(NOT purkinje cells!)

Question 6

What is true of the human fovea:
a. The foveal representation in the retina has only rods
b. The foveal representation in the retina has neither rods nor cones
c. The foveal representation in the retina has rods and cones
d. The foveal representation in the retina has only cones

Answer 6

d. The foveal representation in the retina has only cones.

Question 7

What is true of signal detection theory:

a. D-prime is a measure of the criterion that is independent of sensitivity
b. D-prime is a measure of the distance between sensory distributions independent of their variance
c. D-prime is a measure of sensitivity that is independent of the criterion
d. D-prime is correlated with the sensory threshold

Answer 7

c.) D-prime is a measure of sensitivity that is independent of the criterion

Question 8

Which of the following structures contains neurons that synthesize dopamine?

a. Orbitofrontal cortex
b. Suprachiasmatic nucleus
c. Ventral tegmental area
d. Ventral striatum

Answer 8

c.) c. Ventral tegmental area

Question 9

What do proponents of dualism believe?

a. That every brain structure occurs in both hemispheres of the brain
b. That we have two hemispheres because we have two eyes
c. That the mind is separable from the brain
d. That the body is relevant for understanding the mind

Answer 9

c.) That the mind is separable from the brain

Question 10

What is blindsight:

Answer 10

The ability of people with visual field deficits to correctly guess properties of a stimulus

Question 11

Where are the retinal photoreceptors located?

Answer 11

In the layers of the retina LAST hit by the incoming light

Question 12

What was true for memory patient H.M.:
a. He had residual working memory
b. He had mood disorders and was impulsive
c. He had a lesion in primary visual cortex
d. He had intact anterograde memory

Answer 12

a.) He had residual working memory

Question 13

Where are the contents of episodic memory believed to be stored after consolidation:

Answer 13

Across the neocortex

Question 14

Which of the following is a definition of the prefrontal cortex:
a. The regions of the frontal lobe that don’t elicit movements when stimulated
b. The neocortical regions of the frontal lobes
c. The supply territory of the anterior cerebral artery
d. The projection zone of the thalamic reticular nucleus

Answer 14

a.) The regions of the frontal lobe that don’t elicit movements when stimulated

Question 15

What is the res cogitans?

Answer 15

The mind in the theory of Descartes

Question 16

What is true of movement coding in primate M1:
a. All neurons encode direction of movement
b. More neurons encode specific muscles than direction of movement
c. All neurons encode specific muscles
d. More neurons encode direction of movement than specific muscles

Answer 16

d. More neurons encode direction of movement than specific muscles

Question 17

Which network mediates exogenous attention:
a. The posterior attention network
b. The dorsal attention network
c. The frontal attention network
d. The ventral attention network

Answer 17

d. The ventral attention network

Question 18

What is the receptive field of a neuron in the visual system?

a. The region of the visual field where a person is currently directing their gaze
b. The region in the retina from which a visual neuron receives information
c. The region of the retina where a visual stimulus directly increases the spike rate of a neuron
d. The region of the visual field where changes in a visual stimulus directly change the spike rate of a neuron.

Answer 18

The region of the visual field where changes in a visual stimulus directly change the spike rate of a neuron.

Question 19

Which brain region has most relevance for fear:
a. Amygdala
b. Insular cortex
c. Anterior cingulate cortex
d. Anterior insula

Answer 19

a.) Amygdala

Question 20

What is a neurometric function?

Answer 20

A function measuring how much information a neuron has about a stimulus

Question 21

What is an example of a distal stimulus in vision?

a. A light source that projects light with a wavelength between 380 and 750 nm on the retina.
b. A light source that projects light with a wavelength between 800 and 953 nm on the retina.
c. An object that is located behind the distal plane.
d. A TMS pulse that activates the bipolar cells of the retina.

Answer 21

A light source that projects light with a wavelength between 380 and 750 nm on the retina.

Question 22

What is the problem of functional brain maps that associate each area with a specific cognitive function?

Answer 22

Cognitive processes are not encoded in a sparse fashion in the brain

Question 23

What is true according to the global neuronal workspace theory?

a. Unconscious information is distributed throughout the brain
b. Conscious information is distributed throughout the brain
c. Conscious and unconscious information are distributed throughout the brain
d. Neither conscious nor unconscious information is distributed throughout the brain

Answer 23

b. Conscious information is distributed throughout the brain

Question 24

What is true for serial search:
a. It requires attention
b. It is redundant
c. It is preattentive
d. It is parallel

Answer 24

a. It requires attention

Question 25

What is a motor unit?

Answer 25

All muscle fibres innervated by a single alpha motor neuron

Question 26

What did Franz Joseph Gall propose?
a. That mental processes can be subdivided into acquired faculties
b. That the brain operates holistically
c. That mental capacities can be inferred from the volume of the brain
d. That individual mental abilities can be inferred from the shape of the skull

Answer 26

d.) That individual mental abilities can be inferred from the shape of the skull

Question 27

What is a characteristic of sensory (iconic/echoic) memory:
a. It has a low capacity
b. It has a high capacity
c. Its capacity can be improved by training
d. It requires attention

Answer 27

b.) high capacity

Question 28

What is the Purkinje shift:

Answer 28

The shift in perceived color brightness between phototopic and scotopic vision.

Question 29

Why is the retinal density of s-cones lower than that of m-cones and l-cones:
a. The retinal image of long wavelength light is blurred
b. The retinal image of short wavelength light is blurred
c. The retinal image of long wavelength light is not blurred
d. The retinal image of mid wavelength light is blurred

Answer 29

b. The retinal image of short wavelength light is blurred