Physiological Psychology- Chapter 13 Textbook Questions

Most adults with left-hemisphere damage lose their speech, with little recovery. Young children with similar damage recover much better. Why?

• The left hemisphere in children is more resistant to damage than in adults.

• Young children’s brains have greater plasticity, allowing other areas to take over language functions.

• Speech is primarily controlled by the right hemisphere in children.

• Children speak less than adults, so the damage has less noticeable effects.

The left hemisphere of the brain is connected to the right eye in guinea pigs. In humans, the left hemisphere is connected to the left half of each retina. Explain the reason for this species difference.

• Guinea pigs have better vision than humans.

• Guinea pigs and humans have the same eye placement and visual field organization.

• Guinea pigs have eyes on the sides of their heads, so each eye sends information to the opposite hemisphere, while humans have forward-facing eyes, and each hemisphere processes the opposite half of the visual field from both eyes.

• In humans, the brain is not involved in processing visual information.

In humans, the left half of each retina receives visual information from which side of the world and sends its output to which hemisphere?

• Right side of the world; right hemisphere

• Left side of the world; right hemisphere

• Left side of the world; left hemisphere

• Right side of the world; left hemisphere

What can a person with split-brain do that other people cannot do?

• See better in the dark.

• Speak two languages at once.

• Draw different shapes with both hands at the same time.

• Process visual information faster.

Can a person with split-brain name an object after feeling it with their right hand? With their left hand? Explain.

• Yes with the right hand, no with the left hand, because the left hemisphere (which controls the right hand) is usually responsible for language.

• Yes with both hands, because touch is not affected by split-brain surgery.

• No with the right hand, yes with the left hand, because the right hemisphere controls speech.

• No with either hand, because split-brain surgery completely disconnects sensation from language.

Which hemisphere is dominant for the following in most people: speech, emotional inflection of speech, interpreting other people’s emotional expressions, spatial relationships?

• Left hemisphere

• Right hemisphere

• Both hemispheres equally

Some people offer to train you to use the right hemisphere of your brain more strongly, allegedly to increase creativity. If they were successful, can you see any disadvantage?

• Difficulty with language-based tasks, such as speaking, reading, and writing

• Reduced ability to recognize emotional expressions

• Weakened spatial awareness and creativity

• Improved mathematical and analytical reasoning at the expense of creativity

What is the main difference between human language and the communication system of other species?

• Only humans can produce sounds to communicate

• Human language has complex grammar and can express abstract and novel ideas

• Other species can communicate with written symbols like humans

• Human language is entirely instinctive and unlearned

What evidence argues against the hypothesis that language evolution depended simply on the overall evolution of brain and intelligence?

• Many nonhuman species have larger brains than humans

• Some people with full intelligence have impaired language abilities, and some with low intelligence can still use language well

• Human brain size has decreased over time

• Animals can learn and use human grammar with ease

What evidence supports a sensitive period for language learning?

• People isolated from language during childhood never fully develop normal language skills, even with later instruction

• Children refuse to learn multiple languages at once

• Language skills decline after age 5 regardless of experience

• Adults learn new languages faster and more fluently than children