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Week 3 · Quiz

Week 3 — Quiz (auto-graded) · Biological Bases of Behavior

Introduction to Psychology · PSYC 1 Fall 2026 · Prof. Bennett Fictional sample

Course: Introduction to Psychology (PSYC 1) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Bennett
Objective tested: Objective 3 — neurons, neurotransmitters, and the structures and functions of the nervous system and brain.
Points: 10 (1 each) · Assignment group: Quizzes (15% of grade) · Due: end of Module 3.

This is the human-readable quiz with its vetted answer key and feedback. The import-ready Classic QTI is in F-quiz-week-03-qti.xml; the reusable item-bank entries and the Canvas placement block are at the bottom of this file.

Blueprint

# Type Concept Objective
1 Multiple choice Neuron parts — dendrites receive 3
2 Multiple choice The all-or-none action potential 3
3 Multiple answer Which structures are parts of a neuron 3
4 Multiple choice Dopamine — reward, movement, Parkinson's 3
5 Multiple choice Sympathetic nervous system (fight-or-flight) 3
6 Matching The four lobes → functions 3
7 Multiple choice Hippocampus — forming new memories 3
8 True / False "We use only 10% of our brains" myth 3
9 Multiple choice The two parts of the CNS 3
10 Multiple choice The synaptic gap (neurons don't touch) 3

No trick questions; distractors target the Week 3 misconceptions named in the lecture outline.

Questions, key, and feedback

Q1 (MC). Which part of a neuron is specialized to receive incoming signals from other neurons?
- A. The axon
- B. The dendrites ✅
- C. The myelin sheath
- D. The terminal buttons
Feedback: The dendrites are the branching antennae that take signals in. The axon carries the signal away, the myelin sheath insulates and speeds it, and the terminal buttons release neurotransmitters at the end.

Q2 (MC). The "all-or-none" principle — that a neuron either fires completely or not at all — describes which event?
- A. The action potential (the neural impulse firing down the axon) ✅
- B. Reuptake of neurotransmitters from the synaptic gap
- C. The resting potential of a neuron at rest
- D. Neuroplasticity, the brain's rewiring with experience
Feedback: The action potential is all-or-none — like a gun firing or a domino tipping, it goes full strength or not at all. A stronger stimulus makes a neuron fire more often, not with a bigger spike. (Reuptake is the chemical clean-up; the resting potential is the waiting state; neuroplasticity is large-scale rewiring.)

Q3 (Multiple answer — select all that apply). Which of the following are parts of a neuron?
- A. Dendrites ✅
- B. Axon ✅
- C. Soma (cell body) ✅
- D. Synapse
- E. Cortex
Feedback: A neuron's parts include the dendrites, axon, and soma (cell body) (also the myelin sheath and terminal buttons). The synapse is the gap between two neurons — not a part of one — and the cortex is the outer surface of the whole brain.

Q4 (MC). Which neurotransmitter is most associated with reward, motivation, and movement, and is linked to Parkinson's disease when its levels are too low?
- A. Serotonin
- B. GABA
- C. Dopamine ✅
- D. Acetylcholine
Feedback: Dopamine drives reward and movement; too little is associated with Parkinson's, and dysregulation is associated with schizophrenia. Don't swap it with serotonin (mood, sleep, appetite — the depression link). (GABA is the calming brake; acetylcholine handles muscle action and memory.)

Q5 (MC). A loud crash makes your heart race, your pupils widen, and adrenaline surge. Which branch of the nervous system produces this "fight-or-flight" response?
- A. The parasympathetic nervous system
- B. The sympathetic nervous system ✅
- C. The somatic nervous system
- D. The central nervous system
Feedback: The sympathetic branch is the body's "gas pedal," arousing it for action. Its partner, the parasympathetic branch, is the "brake" — rest-and-digest — that calms you back to baseline.

Q6 (Matching). Match each lobe of the cerebral cortex to its primary function.
| Lobe | Correct function |
|---|---|
| Frontal lobe | Planning, judgment, and voluntary movement |
| Occipital lobe | Vision |
| Temporal lobe | Hearing |
| Parietal lobe | Touch and body sensation |
Feedback: Frontal plans and moves (it holds the motor cortex), Occipital sees (at the very back), Temporal hears (by the temples), and Parietal feels touch (the somatosensory cortex). Memory hook: Front plans, Parietal feels, Occipital sees, Temporal hears.

Q7 (MC). Which brain structure plays the key role in forming new long-term memories?
- A. The amygdala
- B. The cerebellum
- C. The hippocampus ✅
- D. The medulla
Feedback: The hippocampus is the brain's memory-maker — damage to it makes laying down new long-term memories very hard. Don't confuse it with the amygdala (fear), the cerebellum (balance/coordination), or the medulla (heartbeat/breathing).

Q8 (True / False). "Humans use only about 10% of their brains."
- True
- False ✅
Feedback: False. Brain imaging (fMRI, PET) shows activity across virtually the whole brain, and damage to almost any region causes deficits — which couldn't happen if 90% sat idle. The "10%" line is a popular myth, not a research finding.

Q9 (MC). The central nervous system (CNS) is made up of which two structures?
- A. The brain and the spinal cord ✅
- B. The sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves
- C. The somatic and autonomic nerves
- D. The dendrites and the axon
Feedback: The CNS = brain + spinal cord — the command center. The peripheral nervous system (everything else) divides into somatic and autonomic, and the autonomic into sympathetic and parasympathetic — but those are the PNS, not the CNS.

Q10 (MC). The existence of the synaptic gap tells us that, when one neuron signals the next —
- A. the two neurons physically touch and fuse together
- B. the neurons do not physically touch; neurotransmitters cross the gap between them ✅
- C. the signal stays purely electrical the entire way
- D. no chemicals are involved in communication between neurons
Feedback: Neurons don't touch — there's a tiny synaptic gap. The signal is electrical inside a neuron but becomes chemical across the gap, where neurotransmitters drift over and bind to receptors. (Leftover transmitter is cleared by reuptake.)

Answer key (quick reference)

Q Answer
1 B
2 A
3 A, B, C
4 C
5 B
6 Frontal→planning & movement / Occipital→vision / Temporal→hearing / Parietal→touch
7 C
8 False
9 A
10 B

Quality gate (self-checked): each single-answer item has exactly one correct option; the multiple-answer item (Q3) lists all three neuron parts (A, B, C) and excludes the two non-parts (synapse, cortex); the matching item pairs four lobes to four distinct functions; no item asserts a fact outside the Week 3 course definitions, and every neurotransmitter/disorder link is stated as an association. No computation in this quiz, so no arithmetic to mis-key.

Item-bank entries (for variants + the midterm/final)

All ten items are tagged course=PSYC1 · week=3 · objective=3 · topic=biological-bases-of-behavior and deposited in Item Bank: Week 3 — Biological Bases of Behavior. The midterm (Week 8) and the per-term variant updates draw fresh items from this bank. (Tags: q1 neuron-dendrites, q2 action-potential-all-or-none, q3 neuron-parts, q4 dopamine, q5 sympathetic, q6 lobes-match, q7 hippocampus, q8 ten-percent-myth, q9 cns-parts, q10 synaptic-gap.)

Canvas placement block

canvas_object   = Quizzes::Quiz
title           = "Week 3 Quiz — Biological Bases of Behavior"
assignment_group = "Quizzes"
points_possible = 10
grading_type    = points
due_offset_days = 6        # 6 days after module start
published       = true
shuffle_answers = true
provenance      = "~ Prof. Bennett's edition · Fall 2026 · built with thecoursemaker.com"
This is the human-readable quiz with its vetted answer key and rationale. The import-ready Classic-QTI version (F-quiz-week-03-qti.xml) ships inside the course's .imscc package — it lands in the Canvas gradebook on import.

~ Prof. Bennett's edition · Fall 2026 · built with thecoursemaker.com