Chapter 1: A Brief History of Cognitive Neuroscience

MULTIPLE CHOICE

	1.	The case of Anne Green was remarkable in that after being falsely convicted of murdering her newborn child,
a.	she survived an attempted electrocution.	
b.	she escaped and later married Thomas Willis, a famous neurologist.	
c.	she survived an attempted hanging.	
d.	she escaped and later became a famous neurologist.	

ANS:	C	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 1

	2.	A central issue of modern cognitive neuroscience is whether specific human cognitive abilities
a.	can be localized to particular parts of the brain.	
b.	are determined by the shape and size of the human skull.	
c.	are best studied using introspection or the scientific method.	
d.	can be identified using the Golgi silver method of staining.	

ANS:	A	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 4

	3.	The discipline of phrenology was founded by
a.	Broca and Wernicke.	
b.	Fritsch and Hitzig.	
c.	Cajal and Sherrington.	
d.	Gall and Spurzheim.	

ANS:	D	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 4

	4.	Phrenologists believed that the contour of the skull could provide valuable information about an individual’s cognitive capacities and personality traits. This approach was based on the assumption that
a.	skull protrusions are caused by disproportionate development of the brain areas beneath them, which are responsible for different specific functions.	
b.	certain traits such as aggressiveness lead to life experiences and injuries that alter the shape of the skull in specific ways.	
c.	life experiences and injuries that alter the shape of the skull in specific ways lead to certain traits, such as aggressiveness.	
d.	the development of the skull bones directly influences the configuration of the soft brain areas beneath them, which are responsible for different specific functions.	

ANS:	A	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 4

	5.	Localizationist is to ________ as holistic is to ________.
a.	Wernicke / Gall	
b.	Gall / Flourens	
c.	Flourens / Broca	
d.	Broca / Wernicke	

ANS:	B	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 4

	6.	The view known as aggregate field theory, which stated that the whole brain participates in behavior, is most associated with
a.	Broca.	
b.	Hughlings Jackson.	
c.	Brodmann.	
d.	Flourens.	

ANS:	D	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 4

	7.	The view developed by Marie Jean Pierre Flourens, based on the idea that processes like language and memory cannot be localized within circumscribed brain regions, was known as
a.	the neuron doctrine.	
b.	aggregate field theory.	
c.	rationalism.	
d.	the law of effect.	

ANS:	B	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 4

	8.	John Hughlings Jackson proposed a ________organization in the cerebral cortex, based on his work with people with ________.
a.	topographic / epilepsy	
b.	holistic / aphasia	
c.	topographic / aphasia	
d.	holistic / epilepsy	

ANS:	A	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 5

	9.	________ was one of the first brain scientists to realize that specific cognitive functions can be localized to specific parts of the brain and that many different functional regions can take part in a given behavior.
a.	Broca	
b.	Hughlings Jackson	
c.	Flourens	
d.	Brodmann	

ANS:	B	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 5

	10.	Which 19th-century scientist suggested that the frontal lobe contributes to language and speech production?
a.	Flourens	
b.	Wernicke	
c.	Broca	
d.	Brodmann	

ANS:	C	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 6

	11.	Which of the following things would have been the most difficult for the famous individual studied by Paul Broca, compared to before his stroke?
a.	Listening to a piano recital	
b.	Reading a book aloud	
c.	Appreciating a painting	
d.	Playing a game of cards	

ANS:	B	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 6

	12.	Which of the following things would have been the most difficult for the famous individual described by Carl Wernicke, compared to before his stroke?
a.	Understanding a speech	
b.	Painting a picture	
c.	Singing a song	
d.	Riding a horse	

ANS:	A	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 6

	13.	Wernicke was an early researcher who suggested that the ________ contributes to language comprehension.
a.	right frontotemporal area	
b.	left frontotemporal area	
c.	right temporoparietal area	
d.	left temporoparietal area	

ANS:	D	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 6

	14.	As a first approximation, individuals with damage to the left inferior frontal lobe tend to have more difficulty with ________, whereas individuals with damage to the left posterior temporal lobe tend to have more difficulty with ________.
a.	fine motor control / the sense of touch	
b.	the sense of touch / fine motor control	
c.	the production of language / the perception of language	
d.	the perception of language / the production of language	

ANS:	C	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 6

	15.	One reason that early research on specific human cognitive capacities and the brain areas that are responsible for them developed rather slowly before the 20th century is that
a.	most early investigators were limited to postmortem studies to localize lesions.	
b.	most early investigators focused on analyzing the shape of the skull.	
c.	most early investigators focused on studying the brain–behavior relationship in animals rather than in humans.	
d.	there was little interest in this field until the 20th century.	

ANS:	A	PTS:	1	REF:	Pages: 6-7

	16.	Korbinian Brodmann used ________ techniques to document 52 regions of the brain that differed in ________.
a.	phrenological / cytoarchitectonics	
b.	phrenological / chronometrics	
c.	tissue staining / cytoarchitectonics	
d.	tissue staining / chronometrics	

ANS:	C	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 7

	17.	Which of the following individuals was NOT associated with a major histological discovery in neuroscience?
a.	Edward Thorndike	
b.	Korbinian Brodmann	
c.	Camillo Golgi	
d.	Jan Evangelista Purkinje	

ANS:	A	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 14

	18.	Researchers Fritsch and Hitzig found support for the idea that specific functions are localized to discrete parts of the cortex in an experiment using electrical stimulation of a dog’s brain. More specifically, they found
a.	a systematic relationship between the portion of cortex stimulated and specific movements.	
b.	a systematic relationship between the portion of cortex stimulated and specific vocalizations.	
c.	NO systematic relationship between the portion of cortex stimulated and specific movements.	
d.	NO systematic relationship between the portion of cortex stimulated and specific vocalizations.	

ANS:	A	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 7

	19.	Cytoarchitectonic maps distinguish different cortical regions by
a.	the structure of their surface convolutions.	
b.	their structure at the cellular level.	
c.	the complex functions they perform.	
d.	the basic functions they perform.	

ANS:	B	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 7

	20.	Generally, it has been found that different cortical regions that contain cells with different morphologies
a.	cannot be distinguished using tissue stains.	
b.	emerge during different stages of early embryonic development.	
c.	lie in opposite cerebral hemispheres of the brain.	
d.	carry out different functions from one another.	

ANS:	D	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 7

	21.	The neuroanatomist who described 52 distinct cortical areas based on cell structure and arrangement, and whose classification scheme is often used today, was
a.	Purkinje.	
b.	Helmholtz.	
c.	Brodmann.	
d.	Hyde.	

ANS:	C	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 7

	22.	Which of the following terms refers to the idea of a continuous mass of tissue that shares a common cytoplasm?
a.	Synapse	
b.	Syncytium	
c.	Striatum	
d.	Claustrum	

ANS:	B	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 8

	23.	La reazione nera, or “the black reaction,” refers to
a.	a cell stain developed by Golgi.	
b.	a perceptual phenomenon described by the Gestalt psychologists.	
c.	a ganglion preparation developed by Arvanitaki.	
d.	a type of reinforcement-based learning described by the behaviorists.	

ANS:	A	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 8

	24.	Who is known as the father of modern neuroscience?
a.	Pierre Paul Broca	
b.	Sir Charles Sherrington	
c.	Gustav Theodor Fritsch	
d.	Santiago Ramón y Cajal	

ANS:	D	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 10

	25.	Which of the following statements best describes the “neuron doctrine”?
a.	The nervous system consists of a fused network of interconnected fibers.	
b.	The brain can be subdivided into regions that are distinct in cytoarchitectonics yet functionally interactive.	
c.	The nervous system consists of physically distinct cells that are functionally interactive.	
d.	The brain can be subdivided into functionally autonomous modules.	

ANS:	C	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 10

	26.	The neuron doctrine is usually credited to ________, who used a staining technique pioneered by ________.
a.	Purkinje / Brodmann	
b.	Brodmann / Purkinje	
c.	Golgi / Ramón y Cajal	
d.	Ramón y Cajal / Golgi	

ANS:	D	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 10

	27.	The primary contribution of Golgi to the field of cognitive neuroscience was that he
a.	developed a staining technique that permitted full visualization of individual neurons.	
b.	showed experimentally that the nervous system is composed of a net of physically interconnected neuronal units.	
c.	discovered that cells in different regions of the cortex also differ in shape and size.	
d.	demonstrated that nerves can release chemicals that have an activating effect on nearby muscle cells.	

ANS:	A	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 10

	28.	The term synapse, coined by Sherrington, refers to the junction between
a.	a blood vessel and surrounding neurons.	
b.	two different cytoarchitectonic regions in the brain.	
c.	two adjacent neurons.	
d.	an axon and the cell body of a neuron.	

ANS:	C	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 10

	29.	Rationalism is the philosophical position that knowledge
a.	originates from sensory experience.	
b.	must be experimentally tested.	
c.	must be deduced and justified through reason.	
d.	is globally distributed in the cortex.	

ANS:	C	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 12

	30.	Empiricism is the philosophical position that all knowledge
a.	must be deduced and justified through reason.	
b.	originates from sensory experience.	
c.	must be experimentally tested.	
d.	is globally distributed in the cortex.	

ANS:	B	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 12

	31.	Which of the following is NOT true of empiricism?
a.	It is primarily associated with the British philosophers Hobbes, Hume, and Mill.	
b.	It was a foundation for the associationist–behaviorist school of psychology.	
c.	It postulates a special role for reason and induction in human thought.	
d.	It emphasizes sensory experience in the development of knowledge.	

ANS:	C	PTS:	1	REF:	Pages: 13-14		

	32.	Ebbinghaus, who is considered the father of modern memory research, was among the first to demonstrate that
a.	different types of brain lesions can produce different types of memory deficits.	
b.	in terms of cognition, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.	
c.	behavior is best understood in terms of stimulus–response relationships.	
d.	internal mental processes can be measured in rigorous and reproducible ways.	

ANS:	D	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 14

	33.	All of the following are representative of the emergence of the field of cognitive science in the second half of the 20th century EXCEPT
a.	new developments in computer technology and artificial intelligence.	
b.	a philosophical shift in the field toward empiricism and associationism.	
c.	Chomsky’s work arguing that behaviorist theories cannot explain language acquisition.	
d.	Miller’s work showing that internal processes like short-term memory can be quantified.	

ANS:	B	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 14

	34.	Thorndike’s Law of Effect
a.	stated that much knowledge is innately specified due to natural selection.	
b.	was written to oppose Darwin’s theory of natural selection.	
c.	stated that a behavior that is followed by a reward is likely to occur again.	
d.	was written to oppose the behaviorists.	

ANS:	C	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 14

	35.	Empiricism is to ________ as rationalism is to ________.
a.	Locke and Hume / Descartes and Kant	
b.	Locke and Descartes / Hume and Kant	
c.	Descartes and Kant / Locke and Hume	
d.	Hume and Kant / Locke and Descartes	

ANS:	A	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 14

	36.	John Watson famously argued that newborn babies
a.	are incapable of forming memories.	
b.	have an intelligence comparable to our nearest primate cousins.	
c.	can be raised to become anything.	
d.	will develop different intellectual abilities according to innate differences.	

ANS:	C	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 14

	37.	The Gestalt psychologists argued that
a.	complex processes like memory can be measured and analyzed.	
b.	psychological experiences can be related precisely to the physical properties of light and sound.	
c.	most knowledge comes from sensory experience.	
d.	percepts are best understood in relation to a stimulus’s emergent properties.	

ANS:	D	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 14

	38.	Noam Chomsky argued that the structure of human languages is ________, in contrast to B. F. Skinner’s assertion that languages are ________.
a.	innate / learned	
b.	learned / universal	
c.	universal / rational	
d.	rational / innate	

ANS:	A	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 15

	39.	Which of the following people did NOT play a strong role in the theoretical shift in psychology in the latter part of the 20th century?
a.	Noam Chomsky	
b.	Charles Sherrington	
c.	George A. Miller	
d.	Claude Shannon	

ANS:	B	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 11

	40.	We can trace the origins of the term cognitive neuroscience to
a.	the 19th-century English neurologist John Hughlings Jackson.	
b.	Edward Thorndike’s 1911 monograph Animal Intelligence.	
c.	the Second Symposium on Information Theory, held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1956.	
d.	a taxi that Michael Gazzaniga and George Miller shared in the 1970s.	

ANS:	D	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 3

TRUE/FALSE

	1.	Phrenologists argued that higher cognitive functions were carried out holistically by the entire brain.

ANS:	F	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 4

	2.	Two famous neurological case studies having to do with language were described by Paul Broca and Carl Wernicke.

ANS:	T	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 6

	3.	The neuron doctrine holds that the brain is a syncytium of continuous, interconnected neural tissue.

ANS:	F	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 8

	4.	The psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud is believed to have argued for the idea of the neuron as a separate and distinct physiological unit.

ANS:	T	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 10

	5.	A major question in cognitive neuroscience is the extent to which regions of the brain are specialized and independent rather than holistic and integrated.

ANS:	T	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 11

	6.	The two main philosophical positions regarding how humans come to know things are associationism and empiricism.

ANS:	F	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 12

	7.	In the early 20th century, American departments of psychology were dominated by the rationalist school of psychology.

ANS:	F	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 15

	8.	Some of the techniques developed to detect submarines during the Second World War led to refinements in the study of human perception.

ANS:	T	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 15

	9.	Noam Chomsky’s behaviorist–associationist view of language had a major influence in the development of cognitive psychology.

ANS:	F	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 15

	10.	The development of cognitive psychology in the second half of the 20th century can be seen, in part, as a movement away from an empiricist philosophical view.

ANS:	T	PTS:	1	REF:	Page: 16

ESSAY

	1.	Provide two examples of experiments (real or hypothetical)—one that supports a localizationist view of brain organization and another that supports a holistic view. How might we reconcile these two viewpoints regarding the organization of the brain?

ANS:	
Answer will vary.

PTS:	1

	2.	What is the neuron doctrine? Describe the contributions of two figures in the history of neuroscience to this theory.

ANS:	
Answer will vary.

PTS:	1

	3.	Describe the philosophical positions of rationalism and empiricism. How are they relevant to cognitive neuroscience?

ANS:	
Answer will vary.

PTS:	1

	4.	What are some of the strengths and weaknesses of behaviorism and associationism in psychology?

ANS:	
Answer will vary.

PTS:	1

	5.	Describe the theoretical shift in psychology that happened during the latter half of the 20th century. What schools of thought, both psychological and philosophical, were involved? What were some events that contributed to this paradigm change?

ANS:	
Answer will vary.

PTS:	1