Question 1

Joan is a patient who had a stroke in her right parietal lobe and has extinction as a result of her injury. When placed in a driving simulator she would be most likely to miss which stimulus when stopped at a virtual crosswalk and staring straight ahead? (Note: For this question, assume drivers sit on the left side of the car.)
A)a pedestrian on the driver side
B)a pedestrian on the passenger side
C)a pedestrian on the driver side when a second pedestrian is on the passenger side at the same time
D)a pedestrian on the passenger side when a second pedestrian is on the driver side at the same time

Accepted Answer

Extinction is the inability to perceive one of two simultaneous stimuli. In this case, Joan is likely to miss the pedestrian on the driver side when a second pedestrian is on the passenger side at the same time because her brain may only process the stimulus on the passenger side, leading her to miss the second pedestrian on the driver side.

Question 2

The involuntary failure to attend to sensory stimuli presented on the side of space opposite to the site of brain injury (in the absence of sensory problems) is called ________ syndrome.
A)agnosia
B)neglect
C)blindsight
D)hemianopia

Accepted Answer

Neglect syndrome, also known as hemispatial neglect, is a neurological disorder in which an individual fails to attend to sensory stimuli presented on the side of space opposite to the site of brain injury or damage. It is not caused by sensory problems but rather an attentional deficit. Agnosia refers to the inability to recognize objects, while blindsight refers to the unconscious ability to process visual information. Hemianopia is a visual field defect in which there is blindness or decreased vision in half of the visual field.

Question 3

The main deficit in Bálint's syndrome is that patients can focus attention only on
A)contralesional objects.
B)ipsilesional objects.
C)one object at a time.
D)the foveal part of the visual field.

Accepted Answer

Bálint's syndrome is characterized by the inability to perceive the visual field as a whole, resulting in the patient's capacity to focus attention on only one object at a time. This condition is a result of bilateral lesions in the parieto-occipital region of the brain.

Question 4

Patients with neglect have deficits in _________ attention and those with Bálint's syndrome have deficits in _________ attention.
A)object-based; scene-based
B)scene-based; object-based
C)visual; kinesthetic
D)kinesthetic; visual

Accepted Answer

Patients with neglect have deficits in scene-based attention, which means they have difficulty perceiving and attending to parts of the visual field. Patients with Bálint's syndrome have deficits in object-based attention, which means they have difficulty attending to individual objects and recognizing them as separate from their background.

Question 5

If a patient were demonstrating characteristics of unilateral neglect, which of the following would best explain the patient's symptoms?
A)Left hemisphere structures contain a full map of visual space, whereas right hemisphere structures contain only a map of contralateral space.
B)Left hemisphere structures contain a full map of visual space, whereas right hemisphere structures contain only a map of ipsilateral space.
C)Right hemisphere structures contain a full map of visual space, whereas left hemisphere structures contain only a map of contralateral space.
D)Right hemisphere structures contain a full map of visual space, whereas left hemisphere structures contain only a map of ipsilateral space.

Accepted Answer

Unilateral neglect is a condition in which individuals fail to acknowledge or respond to stimuli presented in the contralateral (opposite) side of the body or space. This suggests dysfunction in the hemisphere opposite to the neglected side. Studies have shown that damage to the right hemisphere structures, which contain a full map of visual space, can lead to unilateral neglect of the left side of the body/space. Therefore, the answer is C: Right hemisphere structures contain a full map of visual space, whereas left hemisphere structures contain only a map of contralateral space.

Question 6

Your brother sees that you are talking to a friend through a Bluetooth piece in your left ear while the news is on TV in the room. What is he likely to observe after you hang up?
A)You do not remember anything.
B)You can accurately report the news for the day.
C)You can remember the details of your friend's conversation.
D)You are equally accurate at reporting what happened in the world today and what your friend spoke to you about.

Accepted Answer

The most likely observation is that you will remember the details of your friend's conversation because when you are actively engaged in a conversation, especially through a device like a Bluetooth earpiece, your focus is primarily on that interaction, making it easier to recall those details compared to the passive activity of listening to the news on TV.

Question 7

Which component of attention is associated with the pulvinar?
A)the ability to engage visual attention at a particular location in the visual field
B)the capacity to move the focus of visual attention from one location to another
C)the ability to disengage attention from a particular location in the visual field
D)the ability to locate a conjunction target that is embedded in a field of distracters

Accepted Answer

The pulvinar is involved in engaging visual attention at specific locations in the visual field.

Question 8

The ability to direct attention independently of gaze or eye fixation is called
A)overt attention.
B)covert attention.
C)the attentional spotlight.
D)visual search.

Accepted Answer

Covert attention is the ability to direct attention independently of gaze or eye fixation. Overt attention refers to attention that is directed to objects in the visual field that coincide with eye movements or gaze. The attentional spotlight is a metaphorical representation of the area of visual space that is being selectively attended to. Visual search refers to the process of scanning the visual environment for specific objects or features.

Question 9

When Bisiach and Luzzatti (1978) asked patients with the neglect syndrome to describe their own mental images of the Italian city in which they lived, the researchers found that
A)these patients demonstrated a deficit in moving attention from one location in their mental images to another.
B)patients had great difficulty in generating mental images in general.
C)there was no evidence of neglect for internally generated mental images.
D)the patients also neglected the contralesional side of their own mental images.

Accepted Answer

Bisiach and Luzzatti's study showed that patients with neglect syndrome also neglected the contralesional side (the side opposite to their brain lesion) of their mental images, similar to how they neglected the contralesional side of real-world scenes.

Question 10

The observation that extinction is worse when identical, rather than different, stimuli are simultaneously presented to the ipsilesional and contralesional sides of the visual field indicates that
A)neglected stimuli do not undergo perceptual processing in the absence of focused attention.
B)neglected stimuli undergo perceptual processing in the absence of focused attention.
C)neglected stimuli can capture attention involuntarily.
D)neglected stimuli are often confused with stimuli that are successfully attended.

Accepted Answer

The observation that extinction (neglect) is worse when identical stimuli are presented to both the ipsilesional and contralesional sides of the visual field suggests that neglected stimuli can undergo perceptual processing even without focused attention. This is because the two stimuli compete for processing resources, and the stronger stimulus (usually the ipsilesional one) dominates perceptual awareness, effectively "extinguishing" the weaker stimulus (the contralesional one) from awareness. This implies that even unattended stimuli can be processed to some extent, suggesting that the brain is able to extract basic features from stimuli without conscious awareness.

Question 11

Patients with extinction are unable to detect a visual stimulus presented on the contralesional side of space if
A)the stimulus is presented alone in the visual field.
B)this stimulus is presented at the same time as a stimulus on the ipsilesional side of the visual field.
C)there is no cue that precedes the stimulus.
D)the stimulus is presented with another at a more lateral position in the contralesional visual field.

Accepted Answer

Patients with extinction have difficulty detecting a stimulus on the contralesional side when presented simultaneously with a stimulus on the ipsilesional side, leading to a failure to report the contralesional stimulus. This phenomenon is called extinction.

Question 12

Attention can be divided into two broad categories:
A)neglect and extinction.
B)voluntary and reflexive.
C)cortical and subcortical.
D)major and minor.

Accepted Answer

Attention can be classified as either voluntary, which is under conscious and intentional control, or reflexive, which occurs automatically without conscious effort.

Question 13

________ refers to the ability to choose certain sensory inputs for further information processing while ignoring others.
A)Vigilance
B)Arousal
C)Visual search
D)Selective attention

Accepted Answer

Selective attention refers to the ability to choose certain sensory inputs for further information processing while ignoring others. It is the process of focusing on a specific aspect of the environment while ignoring others. It allows us to filter out irrelevant information and prioritize important information.

Question 14

Which of the following phenomena is the most problematic for a strong early-selection view of attention?
A)endogenous cuing
B)the cocktail party phenomenon
C)exogenous cuing
D)intrusion of the unattended

Accepted Answer

The intrusion of the unattended is the most problematic for a strong early-selection view of attention because it shows that unattended information can still reach awareness. This suggests that attention is not a simple filter that blocks out all unattended information, but rather a more complex process that allows some unattended information to be processed.

Question 15

The primary functional problem that results from damage to the attentional network and that produces neglect syndrome is that patients
A)fail to process sensory information from the ipsilesional side of space.
B)fail to process sensory information from the contralesional side of space.
C)cannot disengage attention from information in the ipsilesional side of space.
D)cannot disengage attention from information in the contralesional side of space.

Accepted Answer

Damage to the attentional network can lead to neglect syndrome, which is characterized by an inability to disengage attention from information in the ipsilesional side of space.

Question 16

During a particularly boring lecture, you carefully note the time on a clock that is mounted on the side wall of the classroom while keeping your eyes fixated on the professor's face. This is an example of
A)covert attention.
B)inhibition of return.
C)extinction.
D)conjunction search.

Accepted Answer

Covert attention refers to the act of attending to something without moving the eyes towards it. In this scenario, the attention is overt towards the professor's face while the time on the clock is attended to covertly, without direct eye movements towards the clock.

Question 17

The term ________ refers to the operations involved when we select for further processing a limited subset of information from the total information available to us from our sensory systems and stored mental representations.
A)arousal
B)vigilance
C)attention
D)cuing

Accepted Answer

The term that refers to the process of selecting a limited subset of information for further processing is attention. Arousal and vigilance are related to the level of alertness or readiness to process information, while cuing refers to using a signal or cue to direct attention to a particular stimulus.

Question 18

Why isn't the neuropsychology of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) typically studied as a model to understand the anatomy of attention networks?
A)ADHD is primarily a sensory issue.
B)Because ADHD is so much more common in boys than in girls, the findings would be too heavily gender biased.
C)Both the anatomical and behavioral differences in ADHD make it a more complex phenomenon to study than neglect or Bálint's syndrome.
D)The brains of children with ADHD are still developing.

Accepted Answer

ADHD presents a complex phenomenon to study due to both anatomical and behavioral differences. It is not simply a matter of visual neglect or Bálint's syndrome, and may require a more nuanced approach to understanding attention networks. The other options (A, B, and D) are either irrelevant to why ADHD isn't studied as a model or incorrect (ADHD involves more than just sensory issues, girls can also have ADHD, and brain development is still ongoing in childhood disorders).

Question 19

In one of the earliest studies of visual attention, Helmholtz (1894) constructed a screen on which letters were painted at various distances from the center. Following a brief illumination, he found that
A)he could perceive letters located within the focus of his attention better than letters outside, even when his eyes remained at the center of the screen.
B)he could remember all the letters on the screen if he scanned the screen with his eyes prior to the brief illumination.
C)he could perceive letters located within the focus of his attention better than letters outside, but only if he moved his eyes to bring the letters to the center of his visual field.
D)he could remember all the letters on the screen, demonstrating that visual iconic memory increases in capacity with attentional focus.

Accepted Answer

Helmholtz found that he could perceive letters located within the focus of his attention better than letters outside, even when his eyes remained at the center of the screen. This suggests that attention plays a critical role in visual perception, allowing us to selectively process information within our visual field.

Question 20

You are sitting in a coffee shop talking to your best friend while everyone around you talks and music is playing in the background. The fact that you can attend to your friend and ignore the other sounds around you is best described by which of the following items?
A)dichotic listening
B)vigilance
C)the cocktail party effect
D)endogenous cuing

Accepted Answer

The answer of You are sitting in a coffee shop...

Quiz 7: Attention

The involuntary failure to attend to sensory stimuli presented on the side of space opposite to the site of brain injury (in the absence of sensory problems) is called ________ syndrome.

The main deficit in Bálint's syndrome is that patients can focus attention only on

Patients with neglect have deficits in _ attention and those with Bálint's syndrome have deficits in _ attention.

If a patient were demonstrating characteristics of unilateral neglect, which of the following would best explain the patient's symptoms?

Your brother sees that you are talking to a friend through a Bluetooth piece in your left ear while the news is on TV in the room. What is he likely to observe after you hang up?

Which component of attention is associated with the pulvinar?

The ability to direct attention independently of gaze or eye fixation is called

When Bisiach and Luzzatti (1978) asked patients with the neglect syndrome to describe their own mental images of the Italian city in which they lived, the researchers found that

The observation that extinction is worse when identical, rather than different, stimuli are simultaneously presented to the ipsilesional and contralesional sides of the visual field indicates that

Patients with extinction are unable to detect a visual stimulus presented on the contralesional side of space if

Attention can be divided into two broad categories:

________ refers to the ability to choose certain sensory inputs for further information processing while ignoring others.

Which of the following phenomena is the most problematic for a strong early-selection view of attention?

The primary functional problem that results from damage to the attentional network and that produces neglect syndrome is that patients

During a particularly boring lecture, you carefully note the time on a clock that is mounted on the side wall of the classroom while keeping your eyes fixated on the professor's face. This is an example of

The term ________ refers to the operations involved when we select for further processing a limited subset of information from the total information available to us from our sensory systems and stored mental representations.

Why isn't the neuropsychology of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) typically studied as a model to understand the anatomy of attention networks?

In one of the earliest studies of visual attention, Helmholtz (1894) constructed a screen on which letters were painted at various distances from the center. Following a brief illumination, he found that

You are sitting in a coffee shop talking to your best friend while everyone around you talks and music is playing in the background. The fact that you can attend to your friend and ignore the other sounds around you is best described by which of the following items?