TEST QUESTIONS - TEST QUESTIONS Essay/Discussion Prepare a compr...

Test Bank Behavioral Neuroscience, 8e Marc Breedlove, Neil Watson (All Chapters) 1 / 4

Chapter 1: Behavioral Neuroscience: Scope and Outlook

TEST QUESTIONS

Essay/Discussion

Prepare a comprehensive discussion for each of the following topics:

• Select a particular kind of behavior and list the types of questions that are suggested by

the five major research perspectives that characterize behavioral neuroscience.

• Describe two major principles that characterize evolutionary perspectives on behavior,

and explain the advantages of using both perspectives in studying neural function across different species of animals.

• Describe the three major research designs employed by researchers in behavioral

neuroscience and give an example of each.

• Discuss the prevalence and economic impact of neurological and psychiatric disorders,

citing statistics to support your statements.

• Discuss the importance of neuroplasticity as it relates to the reciprocal relationship

between the brain and body.

• Explain Descartes’s view of the relationship between mind and body. How do modern

behavioral neuroscientists feel about Descartes’s view?

• Describe some of the issues surrounding attempts to relate brain size to intelligence,

and summarize current opinion on this issue.

• What do most neuroscientists agree upon regarding consciousness? What must be a

part of any explanation of consciousness?

• Describe the discoveries that led scientists to support the concept of localization of

function in the brain.

• Explain the importance of animal research for studying behavioral neuroscience. Why

do most behavioral neuroscientists support the use of animal experimentation?

Multiple Choice

• Contact points between neurons are called
• axons. 2 / 4

• synapses.
• nerves.
• impulses.

Answer: b

Textbook Reference: The Brain Is Full of Surprises

Bloom’s Level: 1. Remembering

• Behavioral neuroscience
• is concerned with how the functioning of the brain, but not its structure, underlies

behavior.

• is concerned with human behavior rather than animal behavior.
• spans several scientific disciplines.
• is not concerned with the treatment of behavioral problems.

Answer: c

Textbook Reference: What Is Behavioral Neuroscience?

Bloom’s Level: 2. Understanding

• Darwin’s theory of evolution through natural selection gave rise to two approaches to

experimentation, one of which emphasizes

• the unique creation of species.
• differences among species.
• the discontinuity between behavior and biological processes.
• the inheritance of acquired characteristics.

Answer: b

Textbook Reference: Five Viewpoints Explore the Biology of Behavior

Bloom’s Level: 2. Understanding

• Researchers have noted that young rodents develop a capacity to learn before they

develop a capacity to form long-term memories. This implies that

• rodents have poorer memory systems than other mammals.
• rodents are not appropriate models for studying the fundamentals of memory

processes.

• learning and memory involve different processes.
• learning does not require functional neural circuits.

Answer: c

Textbook Reference: Five Viewpoints Explore the Biology of Behavior

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying

• Which question does the “mechanisms” perspective in biological psychology address?
• How do learning and memory performance change over the life span?
• What physiological changes in the brain encode memories?
• What are the prospects for a “smart pill” to improve memory performance?
• What pattern of movements must an animal make in order to learn a maze?

Answer: b

Textbook Reference: Five Viewpoints Explore the Biology of Behavior

Bloom’s Level: 5. Evaluating 3 / 4

• Which question is an example of the “comparative/evolutionary” perspective in

behavioral neuroscience?

• To what extent can different species see color?
• What environmental experiences in early life are required for vision to develop

normally?

• What kind of treatments can correct faulty vision?
• How are the visual areas of the brain organized?

Answer: a

Textbook Reference: Five Viewpoints Explore the Biology of Behavior

Bloom’s Level: 5. Evaluating

• Which question derives from the functional description of behavior?
• How does mating depend on hormones in different species?
• How are the sounds of speech patterned?
• How do specialized patterns of behavior contribute to mating and to care of offspring?
• How do reproductive behaviors develop over the life span?

Answer: c

Textbook Reference: Five Viewpoints Explore the Biology of Behavior

Bloom’s Level: 5. Evaluating

• The process by which an individual changes over the life span is called
• phylogeny.
• ontogeny.
• reductionism.
• phrenology.

Answer: b

Textbook Reference: Five Viewpoints Explore the Biology of Behavior

Bloom’s Level: 1. Remembering

• Which statement represents a structural description of behavior?
• Different species of mammals produce similar types of hormones.
• The symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are related to depletion of a specific

neurotransmitter.

• When an animal learns, the number and morphology of neuron connections change in

specific brain regions.

• The amount of aggressive behavior between male rodents changes after puberty.

Answer: c

Textbook Reference: Five Viewpoints Explore the Biology of Behavior

Bloom’s Level: 5. Evaluating

• Which of the following is an example of a somatic intervention study?
• Measurements of the extent of brain abnormalities in patients with schizophrenia
• Observations of patterns of brain activity in animals trained in a maze
• Measurements of hormones in male rats exposed to female rats
• Observations of the effects of giving a drug to some rats but not to others
• / 4