Lesson 3.2.3.3.3

3.2.3.3.3 Penfield's study of the interpretive cortex Quiz: AQA Psychology, Unit 7

20 questions

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Lesson 3.2.3.3.3, Penfield's study of the interpretive cortex: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA GCSE Psychology (8182), Unit 7: Brain and neuropsychology, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What did Penfield do in his studies?

    • He stimulated the exposed brains of patients with electrical current during surgery and recorded their reports
    • He scanned the brains of healthy volunteers with X-rays and measured blood flow to each lobe
    • He removed the frontal lobes of animals and observed how their behaviour changed over months
    • He trained patients to speak new languages and counted how many words they remembered

  2. What did Penfield's patients typically report when their cortex was stimulated?

    • No sensations at all, because the brain cannot respond to electrical current during surgery
    • A complete loss of consciousness that lasted for hours after each stimulation
    • Sensations, movements or memory-like experiences, such as hearing a familiar tune or feeling a touch
    • Vivid colours that could be named only after training in art for several years

  3. What is the 'interpretive cortex' in Penfield's view?

    • Areas of the cortex that take sensory input and help make sense of it, beyond simply receiving it
    • The thin outer layer of the spinal cord that receives all messages from the skin
    • The region of the brain that controls heart rate and breathing without any conscious thought
    • The part of the eye that interprets light and converts it into electrical signals

  4. Why did Penfield's work matter for the localisation debate?

    • It showed that stimulating the brain always produces the same sensation, wherever it is stimulated
    • It showed that the cerebellum, not the cortex, is responsible for all memories and sensations
    • It provided evidence that specific cortical areas are linked to specific sensations and movements
    • It showed that all cortical areas are identical, so no part of the brain has a special role

  5. A patient reported hearing a tune when a specific area of the temporal cortex was stimulated. Which conclusion is most supported?

    • That this area controls the patient's visual field, so they must have seen the tune played
    • That this area controls heart rate, so the tune was caused by a change in the pulse
    • That this area is involved in auditory experience or memory of sound, consistent with localisation of hearing
    • That this area is part of the spinal cord, so the tune travelled from the back of the neck

  6. Penfield's patients were awake for some stimulation, so they could report experiences. Why is this a strength of the method?

    • Patients could not describe any experiences, so the method avoided the risk of false reports
    • Patients were asleep, so they could not report anything, which simplified the surgery
    • Patients were unable to feel pain, so no anaesthetic was needed at any point in the surgery
    • Patients could describe their experiences directly, giving detail that animal studies cannot provide

  7. Which type of patient did Penfield mainly study?

    • Patients undergoing brain surgery for epilepsy, with parts of the cortex stimulated while awake
    • Healthy university students, who had their brains scanned while performing tasks at rest in daily life
    • Elderly patients with memory loss, who were given drugs to speed up their neural messages
    • Patients with broken bones, with the cortex stimulated to check for nerve damage in the arms

  8. Why might Penfield's findings be considered limited?

    • Electrical stimulation only works in animals, so it cannot be applied to human patients at all
    • Electrical stimulation has no effect on any patient, so the findings have no value for medicine
    • Electrical stimulation affects a small area in an unnatural way, so results may not reflect normal brain function
    • Electrical stimulation affects the whole brain at once, so it cannot show localisation of function

  9. What does Penfield's work suggest about the link between brain structure and mental experience?

    • Stimulating only the spinal cord produced experiences, so the brain plays no part in mental life
    • Stimulating any region produced exactly the same experience, so structure has no link to experience
    • Stimulating no region produced any experience, so the mind is independent of the physical brain
    • Stimulating particular regions could evoke specific experiences, suggesting structure and experience are closely linked

  10. Penfield's findings were mostly used to map which area of the brain?

    • The bloodstream and heart, linking each vessel to the area of the cortex that pumps it
    • The stomach and digestive system, linking each organ to the part of the cortex that controls it
    • The spinal cord and skin, linking each nerve to the part of the eye that receives light
    • The motor and sensory areas of the cortex, linking body parts to particular regions

  11. Which conclusion would undermine the idea that the interpretive cortex is a single fixed region?

    • Similar interpretive experiences being produced from several separate cortical areas, showing a distributed system
    • Interpretive experiences being produced from one exact point every time it is stimulated in every patient
    • Interpretive experiences being produced after the patient was fully asleep for hours during surgery
    • Interpretive experiences being produced only in animals and never in human patients

  12. Why did Penfield have to stimulate the cortex while the patient was awake?

    • So the patient could walk around the operating theatre, testing movement after surgery
    • So the patient could sign a consent form during the procedure, which was required by law
    • So the patient would not feel any pain, which would have been impossible if they were asleep
    • So the patient could report the sensations and movements produced, which could be linked to the stimulated area

  13. A researcher says Penfield's results show the brain is a single uniform organ. Which response is best?

    • Penfield's results show the brain has no areas at all, which supports the uniform idea
    • Penfield's results prove nothing about the brain, so the uniform view cannot be assessed
    • Penfield's results instead show specialised areas, which contradict the idea of a uniform brain
    • Penfield's results show every area produces identical experiences, which supports the uniform idea

  14. Which term is most closely associated with Penfield's work on the brain's surface?

    • The cortical homunculus, a map of body regions on the cortex drawn from stimulation studies
    • Broca's area, a region in the frontal lobe for speech production, identified from patients
    • Wernicke's area, a region in the temporal lobe for language comprehension, identified from patients
    • The cerebellum, a structure at the base of the brain for movement and balance, identified from patients

  15. Which evidence from Penfield's approach would most directly support localisation of function in the motor cortex?

    • Stimulating the motor area caused no change at all, showing the motor cortex has no function
    • Stimulating the motor area caused the patient to see colours, although the eyes were closed
    • Stimulating a particular motor area caused movement in a specific part of the body, such as the hand
    • Stimulating the motor area caused the patient to remember a childhood holiday trip

  16. Which is a criticism of using electrical stimulation as a research method?

    • It is too cheap to be used in research, so results are never published in the literature
    • It may cause unusual or artificial responses, so results might not match normal brain activity
    • It only works on very young children, so results cannot be applied to adults or older patients
    • It is never used in surgery, so the results cannot be checked against clinical outcomes

  17. Penfield's patients described experiences that felt like memories. What would be an appropriate caution?

    • Reported experiences occur only in sleeping patients, so they should be ignored when a patient is awake
    • Reported experiences are subjective, so they should be interpreted carefully rather than taken as exact memories
    • Reported experiences cannot be described in words, so the patient must draw them for the researcher
    • Reported experiences are always exact memories of real events, so they need no checking

  18. Which region did Penfield's stimulation studies link to visual experience?

    • The cerebellum at the base of the brain, where balance and posture are controlled
    • The spinal cord at the neck, where sensory messages from the eyes first enter the nervous system
    • The frontal region at the front of the cortex, where planning and decision making are located
    • The occipital region at the back of the cortex, where visual areas are located

  19. A patient who had cortex stimulated reported a feeling of a limb moving that was not moving. What does this suggest?

    • Stimulation can produce a sensation of movement in the mind independently of actual movement
    • The limb had been removed during surgery, so the patient felt a phantom sensation from it
    • The limb was moving, and the patient simply did not notice it, showing they were unaware of their body
    • The limb was asleep, so the tingling proves the limb was not part of the cortex

  20. Which of these best summarises Penfield's contribution?

    • He mapped sensory and motor areas of the cortex using stimulation in awake patients, supporting localisation
    • He proved memories are stored only in the spinal cord, away from the brain's surface layers
    • He discovered the neuron, showing the brain is made of individual cells connected by fibres
    • He invented the MRI scanner, which allowed living brains to be imaged for the first time

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