Candy Bar Review

Assume for a moment that you were watching someone else eat his/her candy bar. What neurons would be fired as your empathetic self is in tune with their experience?

• frontal lobe neurons

• cones/rods

• mirror neurons

• olfactory neurons

Answer explanation

Mirror neurons are located in the frontal lobe and fire when we watch/imitate behaviors and enable the experience of empathy.

You bite your tongue while eating your candy bar! What is the name of one useful theory of pain control?

• Opponent Process Theory

• General Adaptation Syndrome

• Frequency Theory

• Gate control theory

Answer explanation

The gate control theory is based on the idea that pain signals travel up a small band of nerve fibers in the spinal cord. These pain signals can be cut off by activating any other sensory message to the brain (warmth, cold, pressure) or motor messages leaving the brain.

If you have a choice between a warm, soft blanket and pillow to curl up with on a couch, or a candy bar and you choose the blanket/pillow/couch, you are opting for _________ which is an example of the research done by whom?

• comfort; Harlow

• Id gratification; Freud

• cognitive development; Piaget

• Classical conditioning; Pavlov

Answer explanation

Harry Harlow's research highlighted that touch/comfort/body contact is crucial to developing attachment. The baby monkeys in the study developed an attachment with the soft terrycloth fake monkey mothers, and not the ones that provided food.

You are thinking, "this is the most beautiful best, most delicious looking candy bar in the entire world. If I can't eat this right now my head is going to explode!" What type of therapist might ask you to consider the likelihood of that outcome?

• psychoanalytic

• cognitive

• behavioral

• humanistic

Answer explanation

The cognitive perspective focuses on irrational thinking, which this is a good example of.

If you were able to eat the candy bar in class, with other people around, with significantly less mess than usual, what might be the reason?

• functional fixedness

• social facilitation

• social loafing

• bystander effect

Answer explanation

Social facilitation is the normally positive effect the presence of others makes. You will eat more effectively/more neatly when others are around.

If you are completely overcome by the amazing taste of the candy bar and cannot find the words to describe it, bumbling the same words over and over, what specific part of your brain is failing you?

• Broca's Area

• Wernicke's Area

• Amygdala

• Hippocampus

Answer explanation

Broca's area is located by the motor cortex in the frontal lobe. It enables speech production.

If your candy bar is created for you in recognition of the effort you put forth this year and the learning you've accomplished it would be ________. If it is considered as making your hunger go away, it is_______.

• a punishment; positive punishment

• a punishment; negative punishment

• a reward; negative reinforcement

• a reward; positive reinforcement

Answer explanation

Reinforcement is anything that makes a behavior more likely to repeat. Negative reinforcement gets rid of something that you don't want, like hunger.

What lobe of your brain is working hard to inhibit your motor cortex from grabbing the candy bar and taking a bite?

• frontal lobe

• parietal lobe

• occipital lobe

• temporal lobe

Answer explanation

Frontal lobe enables you to make decisions and have good judgement.

If you believe that you could've designed a better candy bar than the one that has been provided to you, then you have a feeling of ______ about baking, based on previous experiences (not confidence)

• mental set

• denial

• conscientiousness

• self-efficacy

Answer explanation

Self-efficacy is our belief in our ability to do a task well. High self-efficacy tends to be linked to better performance. If you think you are prepared and will perform well, you will perform better than if you think you don't stand a chance.

What neurotransmitter/pathway has been going crazy in anticipation of the candy bar

reward?

• seratonin

• dopamine

• gaba

• acetylcholine

Answer explanation

The reward center in the hypothalamus and dopamine are linked addictive behaviors. Like when you need the sugar rush of the candy bar...