TEST QUESTIONS CHAPTER 7

1. What is the basis for differences in sensory abilities 5. According to the law of specific nerve energies,
across species?
A) electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve is
A) The larger the organism, the more intense the perceived as sound.
stimulus must be to be detected.
B) a single nerve can convey either auditory or visual
B) All organisms detect the same stimuli, but focus information, depending on the frequency of action
attention only on those involved in survival. potentials.

C) Organisms detect a range of stimuli that are C) the brain has ways of inhibiting the activity of neurons
biologically relevant for that species. that convey no useful information.

D) Organisms high on the phylogenetic scale can detect D) if one sensory system becomes inactive, others will
all stimuli; lower organisms can only detect a specific compensate by increasing their activity.
range of stimuli.

6. Which of the following (if true) would most seriously

2. Which of the following would be able to see the violate the "law of specific nerve energies"?
ultraviolet markings on a flower?
A) A given sensory nerve conveys visual information at
A) A bee. one time and auditory information at another.

B) A human. B) A given sensory nerve can be excited by light of one

wavelength and inhibited by light of a different
C) Both a bee and a human. wavelength.

D) Neither a bee nor a human. C) The activity of a given sensory neuron contributes to
the perception of both sweet tastes and salty tastes.

D) Two auditory neurons produce action potentials at

3. The conversion of physical energy from some external different rates in the presence of the same sound.
source (eg. light or sound) into an electrochemical
pattern in the neurons is called

A) reception. 7. The intensity of a sound wave is its __________; the

perception of that intensity is its __________.
B) transduction.
A) frequency, amplitude
C) coding.
B) loudness, tone
D) reconstitution.
C) amplitude, pitch

D) amplitude, loudness
4. With reference to the sensory systems, "transduction"
means

A) the absorption of physical energy. 8. The average healthy adult can hear pitches ranging
from a low of __________ Hz to a high of almost
B) the changing of one sensory modality to another __________ Hz.
within the brain (eg. converting words you read into
sounds). A) 15, 20,000

C) a one to one correspondence between the physical B) 100, 100,000

stimulus and the neural response.
C) 1, 5,000
D) the conversion of physical energy into an
electrochemical pattern in the neurons. D) 100, 1,000
 A) semicircular canal.

B) tympanic membrane.
9. Suppose the highest pitch you can hear is about
20,000 Hz. Under what circumstances will that limit C) basilar membrane.
decrease?
D) malleus, incus, and stapes.
A) It drops naturally as you grow older.

B) It drops if you go several months without listening to

any high pitches. 14. "Every sound causes one location along the basilar
membrane to resonate, and thereby excites neurons in
C) It drops only as a result of injury or disease. that area" This is one way to state which theory about
pitch perception?
D) It drops if the diet is low in calcium.
A) Volley principle.

B) Frequency theory.
10. Three small bones connect the tympanic membrane
to the oval window of the inner ear. The function of those C) Place theory.
bones is to
D) Opponent process theory.
A) hold the tympanic membrane in place.

B) convert air waves into waves of greater pressure.

15. Travelling waves for high frequency tones produce
C) spread out the air waves over an area of a larger maximum displacement
diameter.
A) at the base of the basilar membrane.
D) change the frequency of air waves to a frequency that
can be heard. B) at the apex of the basilar membrane.

C) in the narrow end of the cochlea.

11. The cochlea is part of which sensory system? D) in the eighth cranial nerve.

A) Visual.

B) Auditory. 16. Damage to the cochlea, hair cells, or auditory nerve

can produce
C) Somatosensory.
A) conductive deafness.
D) Olfactory.
B) nerve deafness.

C) temporary deafness.
12. The receptor cells of the auditory system are known
as D) hysterical deafness.

A) rods.

B) cones. 17. Most people with nerve deafness (inner ear

deafness) can hear
C) hair cells.
A) some frequencies of sound better than others.
D) Pacinian corpuscles.
B) external sounds, but not their own voices.

C) soft sounds better than loud sounds.

13. Transduction of sound occurs when hair cells are
bent on the D) nothing at all.
 A) parietal lobe.
18. Touch, pain, and other body sensations are known
as __________ senses. B) frontal lobe.

A) primitive C) hippocampus.

B) gustatory D) limbic cortex.

C) olfactory

D) mechanical 23. The brain chemicals known as endorphins and

enkephalins produce effects similar to

A) vitamin B 1 (thiamine).
19. Which two sensory systems are based on the
responses of hair cells? B) substance P.

A) Hearing and vision. C) opiates.

B) Hearing and vestibular sensation. D) amphetamine.

C) Olfaction and taste.

D) Temperature and pain. 24. In what way do morphine and other opiate drugs
decrease sensitivity to pain?

A) By depleting substance P from parts of the nervous

20. Various types of somatosensation (pain, system.
discriminative touch, hair movement, stretch of muscles,
etc.) B) By mimicking the effects of endorphins at the
synapses.
A) are produced by varied responses of a single type of
receptor in the skin. C) By preventing sodium from crossing the membrane.

B) are based on different kinds of receptors, although D) By altering blood flow to various parts of the nervous
they send their information through the same spinal system.
pathway.

C) are kept separate through the level of the spinal cord,

but are controlled by a single set of neurons in the brain. 25. Which of the following produces analgesia (relief
from pain)?
D) are kept separate at all levels from the receptors
through the cerebral cortex. A) Substance P.

B) Capsaicin.

21. What kind of stimulation does a Pacinian corpuscle C) Naloxone.

respond to?
D) Endorphins.
A) Sound waves.

B) Temperature.
26. If a tumor develops in the dorsal somatosensory
C) Movements of the head. cortex of the right half of the brain, this can lead to a loss
of feeling in
D) Displacement of the skin.
A) the right side of the face.

B) the left side of the face.

22. Somatosensory information travels from the
thalamus to four parallel strips in the C) the left foot.
 C) sensitive to light/dark patterns.
D) the right foot.
D) generated from within.

27. In the skin lie a large number of sensory receptors

that together provide information about senses. Findings
indicate that feelings of pain are transmitted through 2. Which of the following is most clearly under the
control of a circadian rhythm in most animals?
A) the Pacinian corpuscles.
A) Sleep.
B) the hair receptors.
B) Storage of body fat.
C) the free nerve endings.
C) Migration.
D) the Meissnes corpuscles.
D) Mating.

28. The corpus geniculatum mediale is a nucleus

A) in the thalamus, belonging to the auditory system. 3. A "free running rhythm" is

B) in the midbrain, belonging to the auditory system. A) the activity level of an animal that does not have a
biological clock.
C) in the thalamus, belonging to the visual system.
B) the sleep pattern of someone who has just finished a
D) in the midbrain, belonging to the visual system. period of sleep deprivation and who is now permitted to
sleep without restrictions.

29. Various receptor systems which together mediate C) a pattern of activity that varies unpredictably from one
somato sensory information, are present in the skin. day to the next.
Evidence exists that the sensation of pressure is
mediated by D) the time cycle generated by a biological clock that is
not reset.
A) Pacinian corpuscles.

B) hair receptors.
4. A "Zeitgeber" is
C) free nerve endings.
A) a biological clock.
D) Meissner's corpuscles.
B) an animal that does not have a biological clock.

C) a mechanism that resets a biological clock.

CHAPTER 9
D) a body activity that is controlled by a biological clock.

TEST QUESTIONS CHAPTER 9

5. What is the principal Zeitgeber for land animals?

A) The tides.
1. "Endogenous" means
B) Temperature.
A) occurring at regular intervals.
C) Light.
B) learned.
D) Social stimuli.
 C) It varies about 2 Celsius degrees from the hottest
point to the coldest, but there is no regularity in the time
6. Under what circumstance is a person's circadian when those extremes occur.
activity cycle most likely to drift out of phase with the
activity of other people? D) It is constant throughout the day.

A) If the person spends a period of time in the forest,

away from clocks.
10. The evidence we have for the existence of two (or
B) If the person habitually eats a heavy meal just before more) biological clocks in humans is that
bedtime.
A) under some conditions the wake/sleep cycle drifts out
C) If the person spends a period of time in a cave, away of phase with the temperature cycle.
from sunlight.
B) light in the evening resets the biological clock but light
D) If the person spends a period of time near the in the morning does not.
equator, where the seasons do not vary.
C) it is easier to adjust to a day longer than 24 hours
than one shorter than 24 hours.

7. If people live in an environment in which the cycle of D) damage to either hemisphere of the cerebral cortex
light and dark is not 24 hours, abolishes the biological clock.

A) within a few days they adjust to waking and sleeping

on the new schedule, whatever it is.
11. The biological clock that controls sleeping and
B) they adjust better if the cycle is some multiple of 24 wakefulness is apparently independent (or partly
(e.g. 48). independent) of the biological clock that controls
__________.
C) they adjust better if the cycle is close to 24 (e.g. 25).
A) eating
D) they fail to adjust at all.
B) drinking

C) temperature
8. When humans who are cut off from sunlight and
outside contact start sleeping on a schedule other than D) hormones
24 hours, their waking/sleeping cycle generally drifts out
of phase with their __________ cycle.

A) eating 12. Brain damage in what area disrupts the biological

clock most greatly?
B) hormone secretion
A) Lateral hypothalamus.
C) temperature
B) Substantia nigra.
D) activity
C) Suprachiasmatic nucleus.

D) Caudate nucleus.
9. What ordinarily happens to a humans body
temperature over the course of 24 hours? 13. What is the role of the suprachiasmatic nucleus in
the biological clock?
A) It is about 1 Celsius degree higher in the afternoon
than in the middle of the night. A) Its neurons generate a 24 hour rhythm themselves.

B) It is about 1 Celsius degree higher in the middle of the

night than in the afternoon.
B) Its neurons can reset the biological clock, but they do B) Measure muscle tension.
not generate it.
C) Monitor brain waves.
C) It relays visual information to the biological clock.
D) Quietly ask them.
D) It relays information from the biological clock to the
brain areas that control temperature and activity.

18. Alpha waves occur in an EEG record during

14. One line of evidence AGAINST the repair and A) non REM sleep.
restoration theory of sleep is that
B) nightmares.
A) people sleep as long after an inactive day as after a
vigorous day. C) relaxed wakefulness.

B) digestion and protein synthesis take place during D) periods of great excitement.
sleep.

C) prolonged sleep deprivation leads to irritability and

impaired concentration.
19. What do the EEG waves look like when brain activity
is "desynchronized"?
D) certain stimulant drugs can interfere with sleep.
A) Long, slow waves of large amplitude.

B) Short, rapid waves of large amplitude.

15. A device that can be used to measure stages of
sleep is the
C) Regular alternation between waves of large amplitude
and waves of small amplitude.
A) GSR.
D) Irregular with low amplitude.
B) EEG.

C) ACTH.
20. EEG waves are larger when brain activity decreases
D) FSH. because

A) the EEG measures muscle tension, not brain activity.

16. An electroencephalograph measures B) neurons become more synchronized when stimulation

decreases.
A) action potentials in an individual neuron.
C) neurons become desynchronized when stimulation
B) the electrical resistance of the scalp. decreases.

C) the rate of glucose uptake in active regions of the D) blood flow increases to compensate for the
brain. decreased brain activity.

D) the net average activity of a large number of neurons

in a given region of the brain.
21. If as the result of an accident the brain is damaged
and such that the frontal part of the mesencephalon is
destroyed then the patient would:
17. What is the best way to objectively determine if
someone is asleep? A) suffer from a more of less constant sleeplessness.

A) Monitor breathing rates. B) suffer from a more or less permanent coma.

C) show no effects related to wakefulness or sleep. C) stages 3 and 4.

D) show a rather selective reduction in REM sleep. D) paradoxical sleep.

22. The cause for a reduction in sleep among older 26. Stages 2, 3, and 4 differ in their
persons is that there is a:
A) percentage of REM sleep.
A) reduced amount of REM sleep and a reduced amount
of slow wave sleep, especially of stage 4. B) percentage of slow, low amplitude waves.

B) reduced amount of REM sleep and a reduced amount C) body position.

of slow wave sleep, especially of stage 2.
D) dependence on the synaptic transmitter serotonin.
C) reduced amount of REM sleep.

D) reduced amount of slow wave sleep.

27. The contradiction in "REM" sleep is the fact that

A) the frequency of the brain waves is low, while the

23. Suppose the EEG shows a pattern of irregular waves amplitude is high.
of low amplitude. What must be going on in the brain?
B) the brain is very active, while many of the muscles of
A) The neurons are active out of phase with one the body are deeply relaxed.
another.
C) subcortical structures are very active, while the
B) Relatively few neurons are active. cerebral cortex is inactive.

C) A great many neurons are active, in phase with one D) postural muscles are tense, while heart rate and
another. breathing rate are very low.

D) We can draw no conclusion about the activity of the

neurons.
28. Facial twitches, finger twitches, and eye movements
are most characteristic of

24. Sleep spindles (bursts of 12 to 14 Hz waves) and A) stage 1 sleep.

K complexes are most characteristic of __________
sleep. B) stage 4 sleep.

A) stage 1 C) NREM sleep.

B) stage 2 D) REM sleep.

C) stage 3

D) stage 4 29. Which of the following is NOT associated with REM

sleep?

A) Increased probability of dreaming.

25. REM sleep is synonymous with
B) Difficulty to awaken the person.
A) alpha waves.
C) EEG pattern resembling wakefulness.
B) stages 1 and 2.
D) Postural muscles tense and active.
 A) an EEG pattern with large waves and a high muscle
tension.
30. The EEG record for REM sleep is most similar to that
of B) an EEG pattern with small waves and a high muscle
tension.
A) stage 1 sleep.
C) an EEG pattern with small waves and a low muscle
B) stage 2 sleep. tension.

C) stage 3 sleep. D) an EEG pattern with large waves and a high musle
tension.
D) stage 4 sleep.

35. For a normal person, which part of a night's sleep

contains the largest percentage of stage 4 sleep?
31. REM sleep is associated with

A) Early in the night’s sleep.

A) tension and activity of the postural muscles.

B) The middle of the night’s sleep.

B) high probability of awakening in the presence of any
external stimulus.
C) Toward the end of the night.
C) a high level of brain activity.
D) All parts equally.
D) a highly synchronized EEG pattern.

36. Compared to the early part of a night's sleep, the

later part
32. REM sleep stands for

A) includes a larger percentage of REM sleep.

A) reverse electro magnetism.

B) includes a lower percentage of REM sleep.

B) reverberating excitatory mechanism.

C) is characterized by declining body temperature.

C) residual excitation of muscles.

D) has more rapid cycles through the stages of sleep.

D) rapid eye movement.

37. What is the relationship between sleep stage and

33. For a normal person, a cycle of sleep from stage 1 to
dreaming?
stage 4 and back again to stage 1 lasts about

A) Dreams occur only in REM sleep.

A) 5 10 minutes.

B) Dreams occur only in non REM sleep.

B) 90 100 minutes.

C) Dreams occur in both, but they are more frequent and

C) 4 hours.
more vivid in REM sleep.
D) 7 8 hours.
D) Dreams occur in both, but they are more frequent and
more vivid in non REM sleep.

34. REM sleep, also called paradoxical sleep, is

characterised by:
38. If a person's dream seemed to that person to have
lasted about 5 minutes, how long did it really last?
A) About 5 minutes.

B) No more than a few seconds. 42. If a cat is awakened every time it starts to enter REM
sleep, the number of attempts to enter REM sleep
C) Much longer than 5 minutes.
A) remains steady over days.
D) We have no way of knowing.
B) gradually decreases to zero.

C) gradually increases, up to a point.

39. What is the best way to determine if an individual
who claims to never dream does, in fact, have dreams? D) increases or decreases, depending on the cat's sex
and age.
A) Ask them about their dreams immediately after they
wake up in the morning.

B) Wake them up during REM sleep and ask them if they 43. Human subjects deprived of REM sleep for several
had been dreaming. consecutive days generally report

C) Wake them up during NREM sleep and ask them if A) no noticeable negative effects.
they had been dreaming.
B) anxiety, irritability, and impaired concentration.
D) Ask them under hypnosis if they had any dreams
recently. C) elation, euphoria, and improved concentration.

D) the same effects as control subjects woken at random

times.
40. If a person has been awakened every time he or she
entered REM sleep for a few days, and is now permitted
to sleep without interruptions, he or she
44. Which of the following most accurately describes the
A) gets about 50 percent more REM sleep than usual. effect of external stimuli while a person is asleep?

B) gets nothing but REM sleep for the next several A) While asleep, people are completely cut off from
nights. external stimuli.

C) gets little or no REM sleep for the next several nights. B) While asleep, external stimuli are processed at the
level of the sense organ, but are inhibited before
D) gets about the same amount of REM sleep as usual. reaching the brain.

C) You process some external stimuli while you are

asleep, and those stimuli may or may not influence your
41. Which statement with respect to stage 2 and stage 4 dreams.
of slow wave sleep is correct?
D) You process most external stimuli while you are
A) Stage 2 dominates in the later part of the night, while asleep, and those stimuli completely determine dream
stage 4 dominates in the first part. content.

B) Stage 4 dominates in the later part of the night, while

stage 2 dominates in the first part.
45. The brain goes into a prolonged state of sleep if it is
C) Stage 2 dominates in the first part of the night, while cut off from
stage 4 equally occurs over the whole night.
A) visual and auditory input.
D) Stage 4 dominates in the later part of the night, while
stage 2 equally occurs over the whole night. B) the raphe system.
C) the ascending reticular activating system. D) a few specific, to a few specific locations

D) somatosensory input.

50. PGO (as in PGO waves) is an abbreviation for

46. High frequency electrical stimulation to the A) paradoxical gradual onset.

ascending reticular activating system leads to
B) psycho galvanic oscillation.
A) sudden onset of sleep.
C) pons geniculate occipital.
B) increased wakefulness.
D) Professional Golf Organization.
C) PGO waves.

D) hypnagogic hallucinations.
51. In the EEG ______ waves dominate when the
subject is engaged in solving complicated problems,
______ waves dominate when the subject is awake but
47. In contrast to the visual system, the somatosensory in a relaxed state, and ______ waves dominate when
system, or any other single sensory system, the cells of the subject is in deep sleep.
the ascending reticular activating system
A) alpha, beta, theta
A) make fewer connections with one another.
B) alpha, beta, delta
B) project more distinctly to one area of the cerebral
cortex. C) beta, alpha, theta

C) have more diffuse, irregular connections. D) beta, alpha, delta

D) generate less spontaneous activity on their own.

52. Narcolepsy is characterized by

48. The structure of the ascending reticular activating A) inability to breathe while sleeping.
system makes it highly suitable for
B) involuntary movements of the limbs while sleeping.
A) conveying general arousal.
C) sudden periods of sleepiness during the day.
B) conveying specific sensory information.
D) sleepwalking.
C) localizing sensory information.

D) inhibiting useless sensory information.

53. Which of the following has often been interpreted as
an intrusion of REM sleep into wakefulness?

49. The ascending reticular activating system receives A) Narcolepsy.

input from __________ sources, and sends impulses
__________. B) Sleep apnea.

A) a variety of diffuse, diffusely throughout the cerebral C) REM behavior disorder.

cortex
D) Somnambulism.
B) a few specific, diffusely throughout the cerebral cortex

C) a variety of diffuse, to a few specific locations

ANSWERS

1. Ans : D 10. Ans : A 19. Ans : D 28. Ans : D 37. Ans : C 46. Ans : B

2. Ans : A 11. Ans : C 20. Ans : B 29. Ans : D 38. Ans : A 47. Ans : C

3. Ans : D 12. Ans : C 21. Ans : B 30. Ans : A 39. Ans : B 48. Ans : A

4. Ans : C 13. Ans : A 22. Ans : A 31. Ans : C 40. Ans : A 49. Ans : A

5. Ans : C 14. Ans : A 23. Ans : A 32. Ans : D 41. Ans : A 50. Ans : C

6. Ans : C 15. Ans : B 24. Ans : B 33. Ans : B 42. Ans : C 51. Ans : D

7. Ans : C 16. Ans : D 25. Ans : D 34. Ans : C 43. Ans : B 52. Ans : C

8. Ans : C 17. Ans : C 26. Ans : B 35. Ans : A 44. Ans : C 53. Ans : A

9. Ans : A 18. Ans : C 27. Ans : B 36. Ans : A 45. Ans : C