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Chapter 02 Basic Principles of Sensory Physiology
1. Which proposed representational system is the least likely to be in place in the human visual system?
a. Sparse coding
b. Specificity coding
c. Representation by a small number of neurons
d. Distributed coding
ANSWER: b
2. Which type of coding is the representation of a particular object by the pattern of firing of a large number of neurons?
a. Specificity
b. Population
c. Extrastriate
d. Sparse
ANSWER: b
3. Quiroga et al. (2008) studied sensory coding by _____.
a. ablation of the IT in humans
b. ablation of the FFA in humans
c. using implanted electrodes in the limbic system of college student volunteers
d. using implanted electrodes in the temporal lobe of epileptic patients
ANSWER: d
4. Which type of coding occurs when a particular object is represented by a pattern of firing of only a small group of
neurons, with most neurons remaining silent?
a. Sparse
b. Selective
c. Limited
d. Specific
ANSWER: a
5. In which type of coding would a particular neuron respond to Jason’s face, another particular neuron to Sam’s face, and
another particular neuron to Bill’s face?
a. Identity
b. Specificity
c. Individuated
d. Experiential
ANSWER: b
6. The three major parts of a neuron are
a. dendrites, cell body, and axon.
b. axon, nerve fiber, and receptor.
c. receptor, transmitter, and median.
d. receptor, dendrites, and conductor.
ANSWER: a
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7. The difference in charge between the inside and the outside of the nerve fiber when the nerve is at rest is
a. –70 mV.
b. –10 mV.
c. 0 mV.
d. +19 mV.
ANSWER: a
8. Which of the following statements best defines the propagated response?Which of the following statements best defines
the propagated response?
a. Once a response is triggered, the response travels the length of the axon without decreasing in amplitude.
b. Once a response is triggered, the response gradually increases in amplitude as it travels down the length of
the axon.
c. The response increases the positive charge of the chlorine ions throughout the length of the axon.
d. The number of negative potassium ions increase the closer the impulse is to the dendrites.
ANSWER: a
9. As stimulus intensity is increased, recording from a single neuron shows that
a. the amplitude of the action potential increases.
b. the amplitude of the action potential decreases.
c. the amplitude of the action potential may increase or decrease, depending on the stimulus.
d. the rate of firing of the nerve fiber increases.
ANSWER: d
10. The upper limit of a neuron’s firing rate is estimated to be how many impulses per second?
a. 20
b. 100
c. 800
d. 4400
ANSWER: c
11. At the beginning of the action potential, which type of ions flow from outside the nerve fiber into the nerve fiber?
a. Positive potassium
b. Negative potassium
c. Positive sodium
d. Negative sodium
ANSWER: c
12. The flow of ions that create the action potential are caused by changes in what aspect of the nerve fiber?
a. Suppression
b. Permeability
c. Accommodation
d. Assimilation
ANSWER: b
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13. What chemicals are in synaptic vesicles that are released across the synapse to the next neuron?
a. Electrolytes
b. Collagens
c. Neurotransmitters
d. Glial cells
ANSWER: c
14. Which analogy is used to describe the relationship of neurotransmitters with receptor sites?
a. Needle in a haystack
b. Lock and key
c. Stadium wave
d. Rolling stone
ANSWER: b
15. What is the process by which inhibitory transmitters cause the inside of the neuron to become more negative?
a. Hyperpolarization
b. Depolarization
c. Antipolarization
d. Repolarization
ANSWER: a
16. The rate of firing of the postsynaptic neuron depends on the amount of what type of input?
a. Excitation only
b. Inhibition only
c. Equalization
d. Both excitation and inhibition
ANSWER: d
17. What is necessary for the neural transmission and processing of information?
a. Only inhibition
b. Only excitation
c. Only equalization
d. Both inhibition and excitation
ANSWER: d
18. The principle that specific functions are served by specific cortical areas is called
a. magnification.
b. modularity.
c. distribution.
d. segmentation.
ANSWER: b
19. A structure that is specialized to process information about a particular type of stimulus is called a
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a. lesion.
b. module.
c. partition.
d. pathway.
ANSWER: b
20. The brain imaging technique that tracks blood flow in the brain using magnetic fields is
a. fMRI.
b. ablation.
c. ERP.
d. PET scan.
ANSWER: a
21. The brain imaging technique that creates images of structures in the brain, but cannot indicate neural activity, is
a. fMRI.
b. ablation.
c. PET scan.
d. MRI.
ANSWER: d
22. A “grandmother” cell is a neuron that
a. fires in response to one specific stimulus.
b. fires in response to seeing close relatives.
c. fires when viewing faces.
d. causes other neurons to have similar responses.
ANSWER: a
23. In the “Halle Berry” study, Quiroga et al. found that the Halle Berry neuron is best described as responding to what
regarding Ms. Berry?
a. Visual features
b. Face
c. Associations
d. Concept
ANSWER: d
24. What is the term used to describe the state of an axon when the inside is 70 mV more negative than the outside?
a. Action potential
b. Negative potential
c. Resting potential
d. Firing potential
ANSWER: c
25. The brain imaging technique that creates images of the structures in the brain but cannot indicate neural activity is
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a. fMRI.
b. ablation.
c. PET scan.
d. MRI.
ANSWER: d
26. The question of how physiologic processes cause our experiences is known as the
a. neuro-physiological question.
b. mind-body problem.
c. causation-correlation problem.
d. stimulus-experience question.
ANSWER: b
27. When your body perceives a painful stimulus and simultaneously responds with multiple components, it is an example
of
a. neural representation.
b. multiple representation.
c. distributed representation.
d. diffuse representation.
ANSWER: c
28. What is the name of the area of the temporal lobe involved in understanding speech?
a. Wernicke’s area
b. Fusiform gyrus
c. Broca’s area
d. Superior temporal sulcus
ANSWER: a
29. Which of the following is NOT a step in synaptic transmission?
a. A signal travels down the axon of a neuron.
b. The nerve impulse causes the release of neurotransmitter molecules.
c. The neurotransmitters fit into receptor sites.
d. Chlorine rushes out of the neuron.
ANSWER: d
30. What is a way to record the signal from a single neuron?
a. A recording electrode and a reference electrode can measure the difference in charge.
b. An fMRI scan can single out a single neuron.
c. An EEG will record individual neurons.
d. Two recording electrodes can measure the difference in charge.
ANSWER: a
31. Which type of ion flows into the neuron when a signal starts to come through the axon?
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a. +
K
b. +
Na
c. -
Cl
d. NaCl
ANSWER: b
32. What is the primary purpose of the cell body in a neuron?
a. Receiving electrical impulses from other neurons.
b. Conducting an electrical signal through a fluid.
c. Holding the mechanism that keeps the cell alive.
d. Receiving environmental stimuli.
ANSWER: c
33. Which area of the brain was called the “voice area” because it was activated significantly more when it heard voices
than when it heard other sounds?
a. Occipital cortex
b. Superior temporal sulcus
c. Temporal lobe
d. Frontal cortex
ANSWER: b
34. What is structural connectivity?
a. The path an electrical signal takes through neurons.
b. The neural activity associated with a particular function.
c. The colored areas shown on an fMRI scan.
d. The road map of fibers connecting different areas of the brain.
ANSWER: c
35. One limitation of fMRI is that it cannot
a. identify the activity of sections of the brain.
b. detect the activity of individual neurons.
c. detect blood flow to areas of the brain.
d. identify a baseline level of activity.
ANSWER: b
36. What happens during the rising phase of the action potential?
a. A quick and steep depolarization
b. A quick and steep repolarization
c. A slow depolarization
d. A slow repolarization
ANSWER: a
37. What is the structure that allows ions into the axon during the rising phase of the action potential?
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a. Ion channel
b. Potassium channel
c. Charge pathway
d. Sodium channel
ANSWER: d
38. What is the term for the interval between the time one nerve impulse occurs and the next one can be generated in the
axon?
a. Waiting period
b. Recovery period
c. Refractory period
d. Resting period
ANSWER: c
39. Increasing the stimulus strength on a nerve fiber results in which of the following?
a. An increase in the rate of the impulse
b. A decrease in the size of the impulse
c. An increase in the size of the impulse
d. A decrease in the rate of the impulse
ANSWER: a
40. Individuals with stronger functional connectivity have a lower
a. response rate.
b. perception threshold.
c. sensitivity.
d. detection threshold.
ANSWER: d
41. Which part of the neuron structure may be missing in some neurons?
a. Cell body
b. Dendrite
c. Axon
d. Synapse
ANSWER: c
42. When a neuron is at rest, its electrical potential is
a. –70 millivolts.
b. +70 millivolts.
c. –40 millivolts.
d. +40 millivolts.
ANSWER: a
43. What are the basic properties of action potentials?
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ANSWER: An important property of the action potential is that it is a propagated response—once the response is
triggered, it travels all the way down the axon without decreasing in size.
Another property is that the action potential remains the same size no matter how intense the stimulus is.
Changing the stimulus intensity does not affect the size of the action potentials, but it does affect the rate of
firing.
Although increasing the stimulus intensity can increase the rate of firing, there is an upper limit to the
number of nerve impulses per second that can be conducted down an axon. This limit occurs because of a
property of the axon called the refractory period—the interval between the time one nerve impulse occurs
and the next one can be generated in the axon.
Action potentials that occur in the absence of stimuli from the environment are called spontaneous activity.
This spontaneous activity establishes a baseline level of firing for the neuron.
44. Describe the process of synaptic transmission. Include in this description the differences between excitatory and
inhibitory transmitters.
ANSWER: In the early 1900s, it was discovered that when action potentials reach the end of a neuron, they trigger the
release of chemicals called neurotransmitters that are stored in structures called synaptic vesicles in the
sending neuron. The neurotransmitter molecules flow into the synapse and into small areas on the receiving
neuron called receptor sites that are sensitive to specific neurotransmitters. These receptor sites exist in a
variety of shapes that match the shapes of particular neurotransmitter molecules.
Thus, when an electrical signal reaches the synapse, it triggers a chemical process that causes a new
electrical signal in the receiving neuron. The nature of this signal depends on both the type of transmitter
that is released and the nature of the receptor sites in the receiving neuron. Two types of responses can
occur at these receptor sites, excitatory and inhibitory. An excitatory response occurs when the inside of the
neuron becomes more positive, a process called depolarization. An inhibitory response occurs when the
inside of the neuron becomes more negative, a process called hyperpolarization.
Hyperpolarization is an inhibitory response because it causes the charge inside the axon to move away from
the level of depolarization, indicated by the dashed line, needed to generate an action potential.
45. Describe how information would be represented under each of the following representational schemes: specificity
coding, population coding, and sparse coding.
ANSWER: The idea that an object could be represented by the firing of a specialized neuron that responds only to that
object is called specificity coding. Population coding is the representation of a particular object by the
pattern of firing of a large number of neurons. Sparse coding occurs when a particular object is represented
by a pattern of firing of only a small group of neurons, with most neurons remaining silent.
46. Define “modular organization” and specify how the senses are organized into primary receiving areas.
ANSWER: The idea that there are pathways that serve different functions leads us to modularity; the idea that specific
areas of the cortex are specialized to respond to specific types of stimuli. Areas that are specialized to
specific types of stimuli areas are called modules for processing information about these stimuli. For
example, there is a great deal of evidence for an area that is rich in neurons that respond to faces.
47. Describe how MRIs and fMRIs are performed and explain why these methods are so important to psychological
research.
ANSWER: In the 1980s, a technique called magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) made it possible to create images of
structures within the brain. Since then, MRI has become a standard technique for detecting tumors and
other brain abnormalities. While this technique is excellent for revealing brain structures, it doesn’t indicate
neural activity. Another technique, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), has enabled researchers
to determine how various types of cognition activate different areas of the brain. Functional magnetic
resonance imaging takes advantage of the fact that blood flow increases in areas of the brain that are
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activated. The measurement of blood flow is based on the fact that hemoglobin, which carries oxygen in the
blood, contains a ferrous (iron) molecule and, therefore, has magnetic properties. If a magnetic field is
presented to the brain, the hemoglobin molecules line up like tiny magnets. Areas of the brain that are more
active consume more oxygen, so the hemoglobin molecules lose some of the oxygen they are transporting,
which makes them more magnetic and increases their response to the magnetic field. The fMRI apparatus
determines the relative activity of various areas of the brain by detecting changes in the magnetic response
of the hemoglobin.
48. Describe the procedure, results, and implications of the Quiroga, et al.’s (2005) “Halle Berry neuron” study.
ANSWER: Quiroga, et al. recorded from eight patients with epilepsy who, in preparation for surgery, had electrodes
implanted in their hippocampus or other areas in the medial temporal lobe to help localize precisely where
their seizures originated. Patients saw a number of different views of specific individuals and objects plus
pictures of other things, such as faces, buildings, and animals. Not surprisingly, a number of neurons
responded to some of these stimuli. What was surprising, however, was that some neurons responded to a
number of different views of just one person or building, or to a number of ways of representing that person
or building. For example, one neuron responded to pictures of the actresses Jennifer Aniston and Lisa
Kudrow, who both starred in the TV series Friends, but did not respond to faces of other famous people,
non famous people, landmarks, animals, or other objects. As we noted in Chapter 3, another neuron
responded to pictures of actor Steve Carell. Still another neuron responded to photographs of Halle Berry,
to drawings of her, to pictures of her dressed as Catwoman from Batman, and to seeing the words “Halle
Berry.” The role of these neurons in memory is supported by the way they respond to many different views
of the stimulus, different modes of depiction, and even words signifying the stimulus. These neurons are
not responding to visual features of the pictures, but to concepts – “Jennifer Aniston,” “Halle Berry,”
“Sydney Opera House” – that the stimuli represent.
49. Discuss the mind-body problem.
ANSWER: The mind–body problem is asking how the flow of sodium and potassium ions across membranes that
creates nerve impulses becomes transformed into the experience we have when we see something (such as
a face) or identify a characteristic of something (like a color). Just showing that a neuron fires when we see
something doesn’t answer the question of how the firing creates the experience of seeing or perceiving
something. But the mind–body problem goes beyond asking how physiological responses correlate
with perception. It asks how physiological processes cause our experience.
50. Describe Pierre Paul Broca’s discovery and its impact on the science of neuropsychology.
ANSWER: Pierre Paul Broca had a patient who could only say the word “tan” despite having normal receptive speech
and cognitive ability. When the patient died, it was discovered that he had a lesion on his left frontal lobe.
Broca found other patients with similar lesions that led to similar disabilities. This area became known as
Broca’s area. The discovery that lesions or damage to certain parts of the brain could cause a predictable
neurological condition established the foundation for the study of modularity, the idea that certain areas of
the brain are dedicated to certain tasks.
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