"Blind, Yet Seeing" Quiz

1. According to the article “Blind, Yet Seeing,” what is “blindsight”?

• blindness that has been surgically repaired to provide people with some limited vision
• the ability to sense objects in one’s environment using a primitive, subconscious visual system
• an abnormal ability to use other senses, such as touch and hearing, to offset the loss of normal vision
• the ability of some blind persons to remember a place so accurately they can navigate almost as if they had vision

2. What was the outcome of the experiment with the blind doctor, T. N., that is described in “Blind, Yet Seeing”? Choose two options.

• The blind doctor navigated a cluttered hallway as if he could see.
• Scientists determined that the blind doctor’s ability was a rare exceptio
• The blind doctor showed an ability to navigate a dark hall better than a sighted person.
• Scientists discovered that the doctor was using echolocation to avoid bumping into objects.
• Scientists proposed that people with brain injuries similar to T. N.’s may be able to recover some crude visual sense with practice.

3. According to “Blind, Yet Seeing,” what kind of person is least likely to believe in blindsight?

• sighted people
• the most educated people
• people who became blind later in life
• people who have been blind since birth

4. Based on your reading of “Blind, Yet Seeing,” why was the blind doctor, T. N., able to use blindsight?

• He had a precise and thorough memory of numerous familiar places.
• He accepted that blindsight was a real ability, so he made the effort to develop it.
• He was highly educated, so he was able to make use of this subconscious ability.
• He had healthy eyes and his brain was healthy enough to process subconscious vision.

5. Based on context, choose the most likely meaning of navigating as it is used in this passage from “Blind, Yet Seeing.” The man, a doctor left blind by two successive strokes, refused to take part in the experiment. He could not see anything, he said, and had no interest in navigating an obstacle course—a cluttered hallway—for the benefit of science. Why bother?

• learning about
• advancing into
• creating a map of
• finding a way through

6. Which definition of shadowed did the author use in this passage from “Blind, Yet Seeing”? He zigzagged down the hall, sidestepping a garbage can, a tripod, a stack of paper and several boxes as if he could see everything clearly. A researcher shadowed him in case he stumbled.

• made gloomy
• followed closely
• protected from heat or light
• darkened by blocking rays of light

7. Part A What is the meaning of hemisphere in this passage from “Blind, Yet Seeing”? Scientists have previously reported cases of blindsight in people with partial damage to their visual lobes. The new report is the first to show it in a person whose visual lobes—one in each hemisphere, under the skull at the back of the head— were completely destroyed.

• one half of the brain
• one half of a circle
• one half of a globe or sphere
• one of four regions of the earth

8. Part A Why was the blind doctor, T. N., in “Blind, Yet Seeing” so surprised that he was able to navigate the obstacle-filled hallway?

• He had tried the experiment many times previously and had always stumbled into obstacles
• He thought his brain was too damaged to connect to that part of his brain that controlled blindsightness.
• As a highly educated person, he was skeptical that something as mysterious as blindsightedness existed.
• Doctors had warned him not to expect too much of himself because the two strokes had left him with physical limitation

9. Part A According to “Blind, Yet Seeing,” why are some scientists optimistic that people with certain forms of brain injuries may be able to learn to move around more independently than is usually expected of them?

• Most blind people can see light and colors and can probably train their brains to make the most of what they do see.
• People have subconscious systems like those shown to exist in animals that may help them develop some kind of conscious vision.
• Blind people who live in places which they are accustomed to can develop active memories to help navigate those known areas.
• While vision cannot be restored to people without sight, they can enhance other senses, such as smell and touch, that can help them navigat