LEARNING GUIDE

QUESTIONS

XVI.
CONSCIOUSNESS

SUBMITTED BY:

Angel Noreen M. Pacaña

Shiremae G. Gabo
Psychology II

SUBMITTED TO:

Annie Rose Suniega - Taguba

Instructor
1. Which of the following BEST describes "conscious content"?
(a) The state or degree of wakefulness
(b) The information and experiences one is currently aware of
(c) The range of unconscious experiences
(d) The ability to perform cognitive functions

2. What is "conscious level" primarily related to?

(a) The specific thoughts one is having
(b) The subjective feeling of an experience
(c) The degree of wakefulness and awareness
(d) The ability to communicate experiences

3. According to Block (2012), what does "access consciousness" refer to?

(a) The raw, subjective experience of perceiving something
(b) Aspects of consciousness that are reportable and usable by cognitive processes
(c) The unconscious processing of sensory information
(d) The emotional response to a stimulus

4. Which of the following is an example of "phenomenal consciousness"?

(a) Recalling a memory
(b) Vividly seeing a landscape
(c) Making a decision
(d) Understanding a complex concept

5. Which of the following is NOT listed as a function of consciousness in the provided text?
(a) Perceiving the environment
(b) Social communication
(c) Controlling actions
(d) Regulating body temperature

6. The "Yes It Can" principle, associated with Hassin, suggests that unconscious processes:
(a) Are always inflexible and limited
(b) Can perform high-level cognitive functions
(c) Are irrelevant to decision-making
(d) Only deal with basic sensory input

7. According to Graziano and Kastner, what is the relationship between self-awareness and perceiving
others' awareness?
(a) They are unrelated processes
(b) The same neural machinery is responsible for both
(c) Self-awareness precedes the ability to perceive others' awareness
(d) Perceiving others' awareness precedes self-awareness
8. Wegner's principles regarding the illusion of conscious authorship include all EXCEPT:
(a) Priority (thought precedes action)
(b) Consistency (thought aligns with action)
(c) Exclusivity (no alternative causes)
(d) Accuracy (thought perfectly reflects reality)

9. What are "implementation intentions" (or "if-then" plans) designed to do?

(a) Increase conscious effort in decision-making
(b) Reduce the reliability of associations between situations and actions
(c) Create strong associations between situations and actions, reducing conscious effort
(d) Promote mental health issues
10. What did Benjamin Libet's study primarily suggest about the timing of conscious intention and brain
activity?
(a) Conscious intention always precedes brain activity
(b) Brain activity precedes conscious awareness of intention
(c) Brain activity and conscious intention occur simultaneously
(d) Conscious intention has no impact on brain activity

11. What is a criticism of Libet's study?

(a) It focused on "what" decisions rather than "when" decisions
(b) It used overly complex tasks
(c) It failed to consider earlier decision-making stages
(d) It proved free will definitively

12. What did Bode et al.'s (2011) research find regarding brain activity and decision-making?
(a) Brain activity could predict decisions up to 7.5 seconds before conscious awareness
(b) Brain activity occurred only after a conscious decision was made
(c) There was no correlation between brain activity and decision-making
(d) Brain activity perfectly predicted decisions well in advance

13. According to Lamme (2006, 2018), how does conscious experience compare to what individuals can
report?
(a) Conscious experience is less rich than what can be reported
(b) Conscious experience is equally rich as what can be reported
(c) Conscious experience is richer than what can be reported
(d) There is no relationship between conscious experience and reportability

14. What does the concept of "overflow" in conscious experience refer to?
(a) The brain's inability to process sensory information
(b) The idea that phenomenal consciousness is richer than access consciousness
(c) The over-reporting of conscious experiences
(d) The lack of attention to detail in cognitive processes

15. The Freeman and Simoncelli (2011) experiment demonstrated what about visual perception?
 (a) People can perfectly distinguish between original and distorted images.
(b) People often fail to distinguish between original and distorted images.
(c) Visual perception is always accurate and complete.
(d) Top-down processes have no impact on visual perception.

16. What is a key finding from the Freeman and Simoncelli (2011) experiment?
(a) "We see far more than we think we see."
(b) "We see exactly what is presented to our eyes."
(c) "We see far less than we think we see."
(d) "Our brains have unlimited capacity to process visual information."

17. Which of the following is a characteristic of patients in a vegetative state?

(a) They are fully aware and responsive
(b) They lack wakefulness
(c) They may appear awake but lack external signs of awareness
(d) They exhibit clear and consistent responses to stimuli

18. What is the primary goal of identifying Neural Correlates of Consciousness (NCC)?
(a) To understand the behavioral differences between conscious and unconscious states
(b) To identify the minimal neural mechanisms sufficient for a specific conscious experience
(c) To develop new treatments for brain damage
(d) To prove the existence of free will

19. According to the text, what is a major problem in consciousness studies using neuroimaging?
(a) It is impossible to measure brain activity accurately
(b) Multiple brain regions are activated, making it difficult to isolate those directly related to conscious
awareness
(c) Neuroimaging data is always inconsistent with behavioral data
(d) Participants are unable to perform tasks while being scanned

20. What is the key difference between feedforward and recurrent processing, according to Victor
Lamme's RPT?
(a) Feedforward processing is slower than recurrent processing
(b) Feedforward processing produces conscious experience, while recurrent processing does not
(c) Recurrent processing integrates fragmented sensory information, while feedforward processing does
not
(d) Recurrent processing occurs only in the prefrontal cortex

21. In Lamme's Recurrent Processing Theory (RPT), which stage is associated with phenomenal
consciousness?
(a) Feedforward processing
(b) Localized recurrent processing
(c) Widespread recurrent processing
(d) Subliminal processing
22. According to Global Workspace Theory (GWT), what happens when stimuli are initially processed?
(a) They immediately enter conscious awareness
(b) They are processed by specialized, unconscious brain areas
(c) They are ignored by the brain
(d) They are processed by the entire brain at once

23. Which brain areas are consistently implicated in consciousness, according to GWT and GNWT?
(a) Visual cortex, auditory cortex, motor cortex
(b) Prefrontal, cingulate, and parietal areas
(c) Cerebellum, brainstem, thalamus
(d) Hippocampus, amygdala, hypothalamus

24. Integrated Information Theory (IIT) posits that consciousness arises from:
(a) The activity of specific brain regions
(b) The amount of information stored in the brain
(c) Integrated activation within large brain networks
(d) The speed of neural processing

25. What is a limitation of the Global Workspace Theory (GWT) mentioned in the text?
(a) It accurately explains all aspects of consciousness
(b) It overlooks internal awareness (e.g., self-relevant thinking)
(c) It places too little emphasis on the role of the prefrontal cortex
(d) It fails to account for integrated brain activity

26. Who originally proposed Global Workspace Theory (GWT)?

a) Tononi
b) Baars
c) Gazzaniga
d) Dehaene

27. Which of the following best describes the role of unconscious processing in GWT and GNWT?
a) Conscious perception is immediate.
b) Stimuli are initially processed by specialized unconscious brain areas.
c) All stimuli enter consciousness instantly.
d) The brain only processes information consciously.

28. According to GWT and GNWT, which brain regions are consistently involved in consciousness?
a) Hippocampus and amygdala
b) Prefrontal, cingulate, and parietal areas
c) Medulla and cerebellum
d) Brainstem and thalamus

29. How does attention relate to consciousness according to GWT?

a) Attention and consciousness are unrelated.
b) Consciousness usually precedes attention.
c) Attention usually precedes consciousness.
d) Attention is unnecessary for consciousness.

30. Which of the following is NOT a limitation of GWT and GNWT?

a) Overemphasis on visual perception
b) Neglect of psychological processes
c) Lack of neural basis
d) Overstated role of the prefrontal cortex

31. Who proposed Integrated Information Theory (IIT)?

a) Dehaene & Changeux
b) Tononi et al.
c) Sperry
d) Baars

32. What is the core idea of IIT?

a) Consciousness arises from a single brain region.
b) Consciousness emerges from widespread, integrated neural activity.
c) Attention is not needed for consciousness.
d) The brain processes stimuli sequentially rather than in parallel.

33. What role does the prefrontal cortex play in IIT?

a) It is the only region responsible for consciousness.
b) It is linked to awareness but not the sole region involved.
c) It has no role in consciousness.
d) It processes unconscious stimuli exclusively.

34. According to IIT, what is required for consciousness?

a) Widespread, synchronized neural activity
b) Activity in the cerebellum
c) A single dominant hemisphere
d) Exclusive activation of the prefrontal cortex

35. What is a key limitation of IIT?

a) It explains consciousness entirely through the prefrontal cortex.
b) It does not account for unconscious states.
c) It may not distinguish whether integration causes consciousness or results from it.
d) It ignores neural activity altogether.

36. Which brain region is most commonly linked to conscious awareness?

a) Cerebellum
b) Prefrontal cortex
c) Medulla
d) Hippocampus
37. Which statement is TRUE regarding attention and consciousness?
a) Attention always leads to consciousness.
b) Attention is unnecessary for consciousness.
c) Consciousness follows attention but can also enhance it.
d) Attention and consciousness occur simultaneously.

38. Which factor does NOT disrupt consciousness?

a) Anesthesia
b) Damage to the anterior cingulate cortex
c) Widespread neural synchronization
d) Disorders of consciousness

39. Which of the following suggests that consciousness is not unitary?

a) Split-brain research
b) Findings from IIT
c) Studies on attention deficits
d) The role of the prefrontal cortex

40. What happens in split-brain patients when a stimulus is presented to the left visual field?
a) The patient verbally describes it easily.
b) The patient cannot verbalize it but can react using the left hand.
c) The patient processes it the same way as in an intact brain.
d) The stimulus disappears from memory instantly.

41. What does research on split-brain patients suggest?

a) Consciousness is always unified.
b) Each hemisphere can have separate conscious experiences.
c) The corpus callosum plays no role in consciousness.
d) The right hemisphere is the dominant interpreter of experience.

42. Who first proposed that split-brain patients have two separate streams of consciousness?
a) Gazzaniga
b) Sperry
c) Tononi
d) Baars

43. What is the role of the left hemisphere according to Gazzaniga?

a) It has no role in consciousness.
b) It acts as an "interpreter" to provide explanations for behavior.
c) It controls all motor functions.
d) It is completely independent from the right hemisphere.

44. What does evidence from left hemispherectomy patients suggest?

a) The right hemisphere can develop full consciousness if surgery occurs early.
b) Consciousness cannot exist without the left hemisphere.
c) Only verbal abilities are affected.
d) Hemispheric independence increases over time.

45. Which mechanism may help maintain unity of consciousness in split-brain patients?
a) Complete neural isolation
b) Cross-cueing and subcortical connectivity
c) Exclusive reliance on the prefrontal cortex
d) Elimination of all inter-hemispheric communication

46. What is a major limitation of split-brain research?

a) It focuses only on language processing.
b) It assumes perfect separation of hemispheric function.
c) It ignores neural connectivity.
d) It lacks evidence from human patients.

47. Which statement is FALSE about prefrontal cortex involvement in consciousness?

a) It is always necessary for consciousness.
b) It plays a role but is not the sole determinant.
c) Other brain regions, such as the occipital cortex, contribute to awareness.
d) Its role in consciousness may be overstated.

48. What does research on early processing suggest?

a) Consciousness immediately alters perception.
b) There is no significant difference between seen and unseen stimuli initially.
c) Stimuli are fully interpreted before entering awareness.
d) All stimuli are consciously perceived within 100 ms.

49. What does IIT suggest about neural activity and consciousness?
a) The more integrated the activity, the richer the consciousness.
b) A single brain region controls all conscious experiences.
c) Consciousness is purely a byproduct of perception.
d) Integration reduces the complexity of consciousness.

50. What is a key takeaway from consciousness research?

a) Consciousness relies entirely on a single brain region.
b) Widespread brain connectivity is essential for consciousness.
c) Consciousness and attention are identical processes.
d) The left hemisphere is always dominant in all functions.
Answer Key:

1. (b) 18. (b) 35. (c)

2. (c) 19. (b) 36. (b)
3. (b) 20. (c) 37. (c)
4. (b) 21. (b) 38. (c)
5. (d) 22. (b) 39. (a)
6. (b) 23. (b) 40. (b)
7. (b) 24. (c) 41. (b)
8. (d) 25. (b) 42. (b)
9. (c) 26. (b) 43. (b)
10. (b) 27. (b) 44. (a)
11. (c) 28. (b) 45. (b)
12. (a) 29. (c) 46. (b)
13. (c) 30. (c) 47. (a)
14. (b) 31. (b) 48. (b)
15. (b) 32. (b) 49. (a)
16. (c) 33. (b) 50. (b)
17. (c) 34. (a)