Neuropsychology of Decision Making Quiz: Test Your Knowledge

🧠 Quick Study Guide

• 🔬 Neuropsychology Definition: Study of the relationship between brain function and behavior, especially cognitive processes.
• 🤔 Decision Making: A cognitive process resulting in the selection of a belief or a course of action among several possible alternative options.
• 🧠 Key Brain Regions:
  • 📍Prefrontal Cortex (PFC): Executive functions, planning, and decision-making.
  • 📍Amygdala: Emotional processing, fear, and reward.
  • 📍Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC): Error detection and conflict monitoring.
  • 📍Striatum: Reward learning and habit formation.
• 💡 Cognitive Biases: Systematic patterns of deviation from norm or rationality in judgment. Examples include:
  • ⚓ Anchoring Bias: Relying too heavily on the first piece of information received.
  • 🙋 Confirmation Bias: Seeking out information that confirms existing beliefs.
  • 📉 Loss Aversion: Feeling the pain of a loss more strongly than the pleasure of an equivalent gain.
• 📊 Expected Utility Theory: A normative theory of decision making under risk, where individuals choose the option that maximizes their expected utility.
• 🧪 Neurotransmitters: Dopamine (reward), Serotonin (mood), and Norepinephrine (attention) play critical roles.

🤔 Practice Quiz

1. Which brain region is MOST associated with executive functions and planning in decision-making?
   1. Amygdala
   2. Prefrontal Cortex
   3. Hippocampus
   4. Cerebellum
2. What cognitive bias describes the tendency to overemphasize the first piece of information received when making decisions?
   1. Confirmation Bias
   2. Availability Heuristic
   3. Anchoring Bias
   4. Framing Effect
3. Which neurotransmitter is most closely linked to reward processing in the brain?
   1. Serotonin
   2. GABA
   3. Dopamine
   4. Glutamate
4. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is primarily involved in which cognitive function related to decision making?
   1. Emotional regulation
   2. Error detection and conflict monitoring
   3. Memory consolidation
   4. Motor coordination
5. What is 'Loss Aversion' in the context of decision-making?
   1. The tendency to avoid any kind of risk.
   2. Feeling the pain of a loss more strongly than the pleasure of an equivalent gain.
   3. The preference for sure gains over probabilistic ones.
   4. The inability to learn from past mistakes.
6. According to Expected Utility Theory, individuals make decisions by:
   1. Choosing the option with the highest probability of success.
   2. Choosing the option that minimizes potential losses.
   3. Choosing the option that maximizes their expected utility.
   4. Ignoring probabilities and focusing on potential outcomes.
7. Which of the following is NOT a key brain region directly involved in decision-making processes?
   1. Prefrontal Cortex
   2. Amygdala
   3. Cerebellum
   4. Striatum