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Quiz: Learning, Memory, and Neuroplasticity

Test your understanding of Chapter 9. Choose the best answer, then click Show Answer to check.

Question 1

Which type of memory lets you hold a few pieces of information in mind and work with them, such as numbers in a mental math problem, and then discard them?

  1. Procedural memory
  2. Working memory
  3. Episodic memory
  4. Semantic memory
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. Working memory is the brain's "mental whiteboard": a short-term memory you actively use and then erase when you no longer need it. Episodic memory (C) is a long-term memory of personal events, not a temporary workspace.

Concept Tested: Working Memory Bloom's Level: Remember

Question 2

In 1953, which surgeon removed the medial temporal lobes on both sides of Henry Molaison's brain to treat his seizures?

  1. Wilder Penfield
  2. Eric Kandel
  3. Donald Hebb
  4. William Scoville
Show Answer

The correct answer is D. William Scoville, a neurosurgeon in Hartford, Connecticut, performed the bilateral medial temporal lobe resection. Brenda Milner then tested H.M. and reported the results with Scoville in 1957. Wilder Penfield (A) was a neurosurgeon whose own temporal lobe patients had memory problems, but he did not operate on H.M.

Concept Tested: Patient H.M. Bloom's Level: Remember

Question 3

In the Aplysia gill-withdrawal circuit, which neurotransmitter do facilitating interneurons release onto the siphon sensory neuron after a tail shock?

  1. Serotonin
  2. Dopamine
  3. GABA
  4. Acetylcholine
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. A tail shock activates interneurons that release serotonin (5-HT) onto the sensory neuron's terminal, increasing transmitter release and producing sensitization. Dopamine (B) was the focus of Arvid Carlsson's Nobel work, not the transmitter in this circuit.

Concept Tested: Aplysia Model Bloom's Level: Remember

Question 4

Why is the NMDA receptor called a "coincidence detector" in long-term potentiation?

  1. It opens whenever glutamate binds, no matter what the postsynaptic cell is doing.
  2. It detects when two different neurotransmitters arrive at the same time.
  3. It opens only when glutamate is bound and the postsynaptic cell is already strongly depolarized.
  4. It fires an action potential only when two presynaptic neurons are active together.
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. At rest, a magnesium ion plugs the NMDA channel. Strong depolarization pops the plug out, so the channel passes current only when glutamate (from the sending cell) and depolarization (in the receiving cell) happen together. Option A describes AMPA receptors, which open with glutamate alone.

Concept Tested: Long-Term Potentiation Bloom's Level: Understand

Question 5

Kandel's group found that habituation of the gill-withdrawal reflex is caused mainly by which change?

  1. The gill muscle becomes tired after repeated contractions.
  2. The siphon sensory neuron releases less transmitter onto the motor neuron.
  3. The touch receptors in the siphon stop detecting touch.
  4. Serotonin is released onto the motor neuron.
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. Habituation is learning at the synapse: with each repeated touch, the sensory neuron releases less transmitter, so the motor neuron gets a weaker signal. Muscle fatigue (A) is a common misconception; a tail shock can quickly restore the response (dishabituation), which fatigue would not explain.

Concept Tested: Habituation and Sensitization Bloom's Level: Understand

Question 6

Which statement best describes memory consolidation?

  1. The gradual process that turns new, fragile memories into stable long-term memories
  2. The instant copying of every experience into permanent storage
  3. The process of discarding information from working memory
  4. The loss of old memories that happens after a brain injury
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. Consolidation takes time, and memories can be disrupted until it is complete. Option B reflects the "video recording" myth; memories are neither instant nor exact copies.

Concept Tested: Memory Consolidation Bloom's Level: Understand

Question 7

A 45-year-old man survives a brain infection that damaged both of his medial temporal lobes. He can repeat back a phone number right away and remembers his childhood clearly. But he cannot remember conversations from earlier in the day. Which problem best describes his memory loss?

  1. Retrograde amnesia only
  2. Loss of procedural memory
  3. Loss of working memory
  4. Anterograde amnesia
Show Answer

The correct answer is D. He can't form new long-term declarative memories, which is anterograde amnesia, like Patient H.M. His working memory (C) works, since he can repeat a number right away, and his old memories survive, so this isn't mainly retrograde amnesia (A).

Concept Tested: Amnesia Bloom's Level: Apply

Question 8

Maya has 100 minutes to study for a Brain Bee test that is two weeks away. Based on the spacing effect and what Kandel found about long-term memory in Aplysia, which plan should help her remember the most on test day?

  1. One 100-minute session the night before the test
  2. One 100-minute session today, then no review
  3. Five 20-minute sessions spread across the two weeks
  4. Two 50-minute sessions back to back the day before the test
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. Spaced sessions usually produce better long-term memory than massed (crammed) sessions. In Aplysia, repeated spaced training is what triggers the new protein synthesis and synaptic growth needed for long-term memory. Option D is still massed practice, even though it is split into two parts.

Concept Tested: Learning Bloom's Level: Apply

Question 9

After a stroke, a patient clearly remembers her hospital stay and can describe new events in detail. However, she learns a new balance exercise much more slowly than expected, even after weeks of practice. Which comparison with Patient H.M. is most accurate?

  1. She has the same memory problem as H.M., only milder.
  2. Her problem is roughly the reverse of H.M.'s: her procedural memory is affected, while her declarative memory works.
  3. Like H.M., she has lost her working memory.
  4. Her problem shows that the hippocampus is needed for learning skills.
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. H.M. could learn motor skills such as mirror drawing but could not form new declarative memories. This patient shows the opposite pattern, which suggests damage to skill-learning circuits such as the cerebellum. Option D is wrong because H.M.'s case showed that skill learning does not depend on the hippocampus.

Concept Tested: Procedural Memory Bloom's Level: Analyze

Question 10

Short-term sensitization in Aplysia and early LTP in the hippocampus are similar to each other, and different from long-term memory, in which key way?

  1. Both change proteins already present at the synapse and do not need new protein synthesis.
  2. Both require the growth of new synaptic connections.
  3. Both happen only in the hippocampus.
  4. Both weaken the synapse instead of strengthening it.
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. Short-term sensitization and early LTP both strengthen synapses by modifying existing proteins. Long-term sensitization and late LTP need new protein synthesis and can involve new synaptic connections, so option B describes the long-term forms instead.

Concept Tested: Neuroplasticity Bloom's Level: Analyze