Question 1

Perceptual bistability is the phenomenon in which a(n)visual stimulus leads to repeated alternation between two different perceptual experiences.

Accepted Answer

Perceptual bistability occurs with an unchanging visual stimulus, where the stimulus itself doesn't change, but the perception of it alternates between two different interpretations or experiences.

Question 2

The problem of consciousness refers to ,while the problem of consciousness refers to

Accepted Answer

The problem of consciousness is hard because it deals with subjective first-person experiences that cannot be directly observed or measured by third-person data. On the other hand, things like how people shift attention can be observed and measured from a third-person perspective, making it an easier problem to understand.

Question 3

Rogers and Monsell's (1995)investigation of task switching showed that trials where task switching was necessary compared to trials when it was not necessary.

Accepted Answer

Rogers and Monsell's (1995) investigation into task switching demonstrated that for simple tasks, response times were slower on trials where a task switch was necessary compared to trials where no switch was required. This finding supports the idea that switching tasks incurs a cognitive cost, leading to slower response times even for simple tasks.

Question 4

______________ attentional control is involuntary.

Accepted Answer

Bottom-up attentional control is automatic and involuntary, meaning it is driven by external stimuli rather than internal goals or expectations. Top-down attentional control, on the other hand, is voluntary and guided by internal factors such as goals and expectations. Conceptually driven attentional control refers to the influence of prior knowledge and meaning on attention, but does not explicitly refer to voluntary or involuntary processes.

Question 5

Tong et al.(1998),using a task to study neural correlates of consciousness,found that alternating perceptual experience.

Accepted Answer

Tong et al.(1998) used a task of binocular rivalry to study the neural correlates of consciousness. They found that both FFA (fusiform face area) and PPA (parahippocampal place area) activity were correlated with alternating perceptual experience in binocular rivalry. Therefore, choice B is the best option.

Question 6

Research indicates that the neural pathway passing from the retina to the superior colliculus to the thalamus and onto the visual cortex underlies the phenomenon of blindsight.This pathway

Accepted Answer

Blindsight occurs in individuals who have damage to the primary visual cortex, which is responsible for conscious vision. The neural pathway from the retina to the superior colliculus to the thalamus and onto the visual cortex can still function in these individuals, but without conscious awareness, indicating that it cannot support conscious vision but may support visually guided action.

Question 7

Current research indicates that attentional control signals come from and .

Accepted Answer

Current research suggests that attentional control signals originate from the posterior parietal cortex, which is responsible for spatial processing, and the frontal eye field, which plays a key role in directing eye movements. Therefore, the correct answer is A) the posterior parietal cortex and the frontal eye field. The occipital cortex, which is primarily responsible for processing visual information, is not directly involved in attentional control signals.

Question 8

When Tong et al.(1998)presented a composite image of a face and a house (an anaglyph)to observers who were wearing red-blue glasses,each eye saw only the house or the face.The results of fMRI measurements of brain activity showed that

Accepted Answer

CThe Fusiform Face Area (FFA) is specialized for face perception, and the Parahippocampal Place Area (PPA) is specialized for the perception of places, including houses. When observers perceived the face, FFA activity increased because this area is involved in face processing, while PPA activity decreased since the focus was not on place recognition. Conversely, when observers perceived the house, PPA activity increased due to its role in processing places, and FFA activity decreased as the focus shifted away from face recognition.

Question 9

The Necker cube is an example of

Accepted Answer

The Necker cube is an example of perceptual bistability, which refers to the phenomenon where an ambiguous stimulus can be perceived in two different ways, with one perception replacing the other in a seemingly random manner. In the case of Necker cube, the cube can be perceived as either facing towards the viewer or away from the viewer, and the perception can switch back and forth without any external changes to the stimulus.

Question 10

Unilateral visual neglect is more likely to occur

Accepted Answer

Unilateral visual neglect typically occurs as a result of damage to one hemisphere of the brain, most commonly the right hemisphere. This leads to neglect of the left side of visual space, as the right hemisphere is primarily responsible for processing the left visual field.

Question 11

When Tong et al.(1998)presented a composite image of a face and a house (an anaglyph)to observers who were wearing red-blue glasses,each eye saw only the house or the face.The results of fMRI measurements of brain activity showed increased FFA activity

Accepted Answer

The FFA, or fusiform face area, is a specialized region in the brain that responds to faces. Therefore, when the observer was perceiving the face portion of the anaglyph, FFA activity would be expected to increase.

Question 12

Bottom-up attentional control is considered all of the following except

Accepted Answer

Bottom-up attentional control is stimulus-driven and involuntary, meaning it is initiated by salient and unexpected stimuli in the environment rather than a deliberate effort to attend to something specific. It is not considered voluntary since it occurs automatically without conscious control.

Question 13

David Chalmers believes that we can make progress on the problem of consciousness by finding .

Accepted Answer

David Chalmers believes that finding neural correlates of consciousness, or identifying specific neural processes that are correlated with conscious experience, can help us make progress on the problem of consciousness. This is considered a hard problem, as it relates to subjective experience rather than objective physical processes. Perceptual bistability, the phenomenon of a visual stimulus being able to produce two distinct perceptual interpretations, is an example of an easy problem, as it can be studied and understood using existing scientific methods.

Question 14

______________ is the ability to point to and sometimes discriminate visual stimuli without any conscious awareness of them.

Accepted Answer

Blindsight refers to the ability to detect and respond to visual stimuli without conscious awareness, typically due to damage to the primary visual cortex. Binocular rivalry and perceptual bistability refer to perceptual phenomena in which the visual system alternately perceives different images or interpretations of the same visual input, but do not involve unconscious processing.

Question 15

Research has shown that a conversation with a passenger in a vehicle a cell phone conver- sation.

Accepted Answer

Research indicates that talking to a passenger in a vehicle generally impairs driving performance less than talking on a cell phone. This is because passengers can adjust the conversation based on the driving conditions, whereas people on the other end of a phone call cannot.

Question 16

When Tong et al.(1998)presented a composite image of a face and a house (an anaglyph)to observers who were wearing red-blue glasses,each eye saw only the house or the face.The results of fMRI measurements of brain activity showed increased PPA activity

Accepted Answer

The increased PPA activity in the fMRI measurements suggests that the observer's brain was processing the image of the house more strongly than the image of the face. Therefore, option B is correct. Options A and C are incorrect because they suggest either increased activity for the face or no effect of the red-blue glasses, respectively, which is not supported by the findings.

Question 17

Rogers and Monsell's (1995)investigation of task switching showed that for even simple tasks response times were on trials where task switching was necessary compared to trials when it was not necessary.

Accepted Answer

Rogers and Monsell's study found that response times were approximately 33% slower on trials where task switching was necessary compared to trials where it was not necessary. This indicates the cognitive cost associated with switching tasks.

Question 18

Reynolds et al.(1999)recorded from a single V4 neuron while a monkey was fixating on a visual display that contained both an effective stimulus and an ineffective stimulus.They found that neural activity when the monkey attended to the effective stimulus was enhanced as if only the effective stimulus had been presented.This finding is

Accepted Answer

The finding of enhanced neural activity when attending to the effective stimulus, as if only that stimulus was present, is consistent with biased competition theory. This theory suggests that attention acts as a biasing mechanism that enhances the neural representation of the attended item while suppressing the representation of competing items. In this case, the effective stimulus was able to capture the attention of the monkey, resulting in its enhanced neural representation.

Question 19

Jonides and Yantis (1988)showed that response times for a target letter was unrelated to the number of letters to be searched when the target was an abrupt-onset item because the abrupt onset captures the participant's attention.Thus attentional control can produce a quick response to sudden events.

Accepted Answer

Abrupt-onset items capture attention automatically, which is a bottom-up process. Therefore, the best choice is B, bottom-up.

Question 20

Top-down attentional control is

Accepted Answer

Top-down attentional control is voluntary, meaning that it is under conscious control and can be directed by the individual's intentions or goals. In contrast, bottom-up attention is involuntary and stimulus-driven, meaning that it is triggered by salient or unexpected stimuli in the environment.

Quiz 8: Attention and Awareness

Perceptual bistability is the phenomenon in which a(n) visual stimulus leads to repeated alternation between two different perceptual experiences.

The problem of consciousness refers to ,while the problem of consciousness refers to

Rogers and Monsell's (1995) investigation of task switching showed that trials where task switching was necessary compared to trials when it was not necessary.

______________ attentional control is involuntary.

Tong et al.(1998) ,using a task to study neural correlates of consciousness,found that alternating perceptual experience.

Research indicates that the neural pathway passing from the retina to the superior colliculus to the thalamus and onto the visual cortex underlies the phenomenon of blindsight.This pathway

Current research indicates that attentional control signals come from and .

When Tong et al.(1998) presented a composite image of a face and a house (an anaglyph) to observers who were wearing red-blue glasses,each eye saw only the house or the face.The results of fMRI measurements of brain activity showed that