Self test 4.  

The Incredible Nervous System 

1. An inexperienced psychology teacher is about to start a lecture on the 
biological bases of behavior. Which opening line should she 
use to convince students of the importance of this material? 
 
 “This Lecture explains how the brain works.” 
 “Chemicals and electrical activity are found in our brains.” 
 “The nervous system is made up of two parts - central nervous system 
  and peripheral nervous system.” 
 “Our thoughts and our actions may change if the brain’s physical  functions change.” 

2. This structure can best be described as being made up of 4 chemicals which 
form a chemical alphabet. 

 DNA 
 zygote 
 Fragile X 
 chromosome 

3. According to the theory of evolution: 

 Humans belong to their own family tree 
 Different species arouse from a different ancestors 
 Humans and chimps share only 1% of their DNA 
 Present day humans descended from a creature related to apes 

4. fMRI is to _______ as MRI is to _______. 

 structure; function 
 function; structure 
 organization; function 
 x-ray; gamma ray 

5. MRI scan is to PET scan as ________ is to ________. 

 radio frequencies; function 
 function; structure 
 structure; function 
 CNS; PNS 
 
6. What part of your nervous system do you use to correctly answer this 
question which requires deep thought? 

 central nervous system 
 somatic nervous system 
 autonomic nervous system 
 parasympathetic division 

7. Which one of the following is not included in the peripheral nervous system? 

 central nervous system 
 somatic nervous system 
 autonomic nervous system 
 sympathetic nervous system 



8. The somatic nervous system: 

 is in a constant state of homeostasis 
 controls the fight or flight response 
 regulates heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, and digestion 
 consists of nerves connected to either sensory receptors or to muscles 

9. You’re looking at a book entitled Your Autonomic Nervous System. One of 
the chapter titles is really confusing based upon your knowledge 
of the autonomic nervous system. Which chapter seems to not 
fit your knowledge? 

 The Sympathetic Division: Activating in Times of Stress 
 The Autonomic Nervous System: Part of The Peripheral Nervous System 
 The Autonomic Nervous System: You CAN Control It All! 
 Relaxing with the Parasympathetic Division 

10. The three main divisions of the human brain are 

 forebrain, midbrain, cerebrain 
 topbrain, midbrain, hindbrain 
 forebrain, midbrain, hindbrain 
 neobrain, lateralbrain, medialbrain 

11. If you have ever been driving and “nod” for a brief moment or two and 
then pull your head back up, you can probably thank your ______ 
for its role in arousal and preparing the forebrain for sensory input. 

 brainstem 
 occipital lobe 
 hypothalamus 
 reticular formation 

12. The human cortex is wrinkled because: 

 it is very old compared to more primitive brains 
 the axons pull down on certain parts of the cortex 
 the cell body causes a constriction at the surface 
 wrinkling increases the surface area 

13. Which of the following descriptions of the lobes of the cortex is incorrect? 

 parietal – involved with motor behaviors 
 occipital – involved with processing visual information 
 frontal – involved with personality and emotion 
 temporal – involved with processing auditory experience 

14. Of the following functions, which is not a function of the frontal lobe? 

 executing plans 
 paying attention 
 performing voluntary movements 
 processing sensory information from parts of the body 

15. A major reason for the decline in the use of frontal lobotomies was that: 

 antipsychotic drugs controlled behavior better 
 the majority of patients were turned into "vegetables" 
 the operation caused severe memory loss in patients 
 it received negative publicity from movies like - One Flew Over the Cuckoo 's Nest 

16. The strip of the cortex in the frontal lobe that is involved in the initiation 
of all voluntary movements is called: 

 the somatosensory cortex 
 the sensory homunculus 
 the motor cortex 
 Broca's area 

17. During the game show "Jeopardy," the host says the answer, “the temporal lobe.” 
Which of the following is the best question? 
 
 “Which lobe is critical to vision?” 
 “Which lobe is critical to hearing and speech?” 
 "What is the lobe that does not have an association cortex?” 
 “What is the name of the lobe that sends motor messages to the body?” 

18. Visual agnosia is to neglect syndrome as ______ is to ______.

 Broca's area; frontal lobe
 understanding; production
 Wernicke's area; temporal lobe
 recognizing; seeing 

19. What part of the brain do we share in common with the alligator? 

 cortex 
 Broca's area 
 limbic system 
 Wernicke's area 

20. Sympathetic is to arouse as parasympathetic is to ______. 

 calm 
 fight 
 flight 
 homeostasis 
 
                         --------------------------------------
                            Topics in Psychology
                               Robert C. Gates