Exit Ticket 2: The ever-plastic brain

1. Why does the author cite the case of Phineas Gage?

• She wrote important medical research about Phineas Gage.
• Phineas Gage suffered from the type of brain damage that she is explaining.
• Phineas Gage suffered a different type of brain damage than the type she is describing.
• Phineas Gage was treated at the same medical facility as the one in which she now works.

2. The author is explaining the effects of damage to the:

• prefrontal cortex
• brain stem
• cerebellum
• outer part of the brain

3. What is the "Shopping Task" that the author writes about in paragraph 3?

• A test that shows if brain-injury patients have recovered yet
• An experiment used to determine people's ability to find the best prices
• An experiment used to compare the abilities of healthy people with those of brain-damaged patients
• An advertising campaign designed to help raise funds for brain research

4. What were the results of the Shopping Task for healthy participants?

• Shopped in a chaotic way, moving from place to place without a plan.
• Shopped in an efficient way, based on a logical plan.

5. What were the results of the Shopping Task for participants with prefrontal cortex damage?

• Shopped in a chaotic way, moving from place to place without a plan.
• Shopped in an efficient way, based on a logical plan.

6. What does the "go/no-go" task demonstrate?

• People with brain injuries have difficulty controlling habitual behavior.
• People with brain injuries can no longer distinguish the letters of the alphabet from one another.
• People with brain injuries have difficulty controlling their fingers while typing.
• People with brain injuries have a stronger ability to control their behavior.

7. What do the Shopping Task and the go/no-go task have to do with adolescence?

• During adolescence, people's brains are still developing the abilities that these tasks are designed to evaluate. So that explains why adolescents are sometimes unable to make the best decisions or control their impulses.
• During adolescence, people's brains have finished developing. They are capable of all abilities and tasks that adults are. This explains why adolescents are able to make decisions.
• During adolescence, people's brains stop developing the abilities that these tasks are designed to evaluate. So that explains why adolescents stop making decisions altogether.
• During adolescence, people's brains start developing the abilities that these tasks are designated to evaluate. So that explains why adolescents have just started to make decisions.

8. Blakemore claims that the adolescent brain is still developing in regions that involve planning and impulse control. What evidence does she primarily rely upon to support this claim?

• The results of experiments on mice
• The results of brain scans using MRI
• The results of experiments involving healthy patients and brain injury patients
• The results of experiments on adolescents with brain injuries

9. Do you believe that your planning skills and impulse control totally depend on your brain development?

• Yes, these skills totally depend on brain development.
• No, I can do things to improve those skills.