Practice question · Put in order
Order the events of a visual orienting reflex to a sudden flash.
- Only afterward does the cortex consciously identify what the flash was.
- A sudden bright flash appears in your peripheral vision.
- The superior colliculus registers the visual event.
- It triggers a reflexive orienting movement of the head and eyes.
Hints
- The reflexive turn happens BEFORE conscious identification.
- The superior colliculus acts fast and low; the cortex recognizes later.
Show the answer
- A sudden bright flash appears in your peripheral vision.
- The superior colliculus registers the visual event.
- It triggers a reflexive orienting movement of the head and eyes.
- Only afterward does the cortex consciously identify what the flash was.
Why
The superior colliculus drives a fast reflexive orienting turn toward the flash before the cortex consciously identifies it - which is why your head snaps toward a sudden light or bang before you know what it is.
Practise Hindbrain and Midbrain
The app has 5 more questions on this lesson, and keeps your place in the course. Psychology I is free to start.
More questions on Hindbrain and Midbrain
- A small stroke destroying the medulla is far more immediately life-threatening than a stroke of the same size…
- The brainstem consists of only the medulla, pons, and midbrain. Sort each structure.
- A patient with cerebellar damage has full muscle strength and normal sensation in the arm, yet cannot bring a…
- A small stroke in the reticular formation can leave a patient in a coma, while far larger areas of cortex can…
- Select every statement that is TRUE.
- The cerebellum contains more neurons than the entire rest of the brain combined, yet losing it leaves someone…