Neuroscience Quiz 2

Neural consolidation is best described as ___________.

• a desirable process that ultimately allows working memory to easily and directly access long-term memory

• a way of inverting neural connections so that dendrites reach backwards to the axons that they are adjacent to

• an undesirable process that occurs as students become blocked in their studies by the basal ganglia

• a desirable process of allowing working memory to hook directly to the basal ganglia, which allows the emotional sentiments of the information to get recorded into long-term memory

Answer explanation

It seems that neural consolidation occurs naturally, as the hippocampus recedes in its interfacing role between working memory and long-term memory.

With the neocortex being so enormous, how can your working memory ever find any specific piece of information?

• By using the hippocampus as an index.

• By using the hippocampus as a temporary storage place that can later "pour" its information into long-term memory.

• By using the hippocampus to help "etch" the information into long-term memory in the neocortex through a procedure analogous to a wax etching.

• By using the neocortex to "backfill" into the hippocampus, thus allowing working memory to reach into the hippocampus more easily.

Answer explanation

The hippocampus cannot hold nearly as much information as the neocortex can. But by holding small pieces of information, rather like an index, it can still allow working memory to access all the information it is trying to reach.

The ___________ learning pathway sends information from working memory to both the hippocampus and the neocortex.

• working memory

• procedural

• declarative

• hippocampus

Answer explanation

The declarative learning pathway sends information from working memory to both the hippocampus and the neocortex. The information that working memory sends to the neocortex is, however, weaker.

Encourage retrieval practice because it speeds _____________of links in the neocortex.

• consolidation

• removal

• growth

• neuroblocking

Answer explanation

Retrieval practice is one of the best methods research has found to help speed the consolidation of links in the neocortex.

What do we mean by the phrase "brain break" ?

• When students' working memories become overloaded and they lose track of the key concept.

• When the neocortex, hippocampus and working memory overload during learning, so information "breaks" in mind.

• When students take a brief, relaxing mental break from explicit instruction they are receiving, as when they are laughing at a joke or doing a transition from your teaching to a collaborative exercise with their fellow students.

• When students forget information between study sessions.

Answer explanation

These little breaks are due to the fact that working memory isn't receiving new information. This allows Hippocampus to turn to Neocortex and practice with the new material it is learning.

What does research show is the best method to “cement” information into long-term memory?

• Growth mindset

• Retrieval practice

• Memorization

• Re-reading

Answer explanation

Each time you retrieve a concept or bring certain thoughts or problem-solving approaches to mind from long-term memory, you strengthen those sets of links.

Consolidation primarily takes place during_______________.

• focus

• exercise

• sleep

• multi-tasking

Answer explanation

During sleep, there is major rearranging, building, and pruning of connections, as well as strengthening of individual connections.

The __________________ learning system allows you to do or know things with little conscious thought.

• procedural

• metamorphic

• declarative

• synaptic

Answer explanation

This system works with the basal ganglia, shown in the image. We are not conscious of how we learn through the basal ganglia. You can tell yourself to try to catch a baseball, and you observe whether or not you caught the baseball after it’s thrown toward you, but you’re not really aware of how your basal ganglia learns to catch the baseball.

Although the procedural system is involved in learning habits—that is, things you do repeatedly—it’s also the brain’s most powerful system for figuring out ________________.

• recipes

• names

• metaphors

• complex patterns

Answer explanation

The procedural system can figure out everything from complex mathematical relationships, to entire language systems, to how to tie your shoe. Its extraordinary power has long been overlooked and unfairly dismissed as simply being rote learning.

What method helps a student learn the patterns and nuances that can help them distinguish between different—but closely related—concepts?

• Spaced repetition

• Retrieval practice

• Interleaving

• Memorization

Answer explanation

Interleaving allows students to quickly compare concepts and ideas that have similarities and differences. This allows students to more quickly pick up on the fundamental ideas and relationships between the differing concepts.