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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. By what are thoughts underpinned?

2. What does Eagleman say about people who marry that is related to the idea of implicit egotism?

3. About how many pounds does a brain weigh?

4. What are those people called who sort out baby chickens by their gender?

5. What does the device that takes visual input through a camera and translate it into impulses do?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Eagleman say about how vision works?

2. What ways can our vision be fooled?

3. Why does Eagleman say it is not correct to change lanes by turning the wheel right and then straightening it out?

4. What has given greater insight into the workings of the mind since Freud's time?

5. What is another illustration of how one reacts to something before the person is even aware of the situation?

6. What does Eagleman say the experiment with the photographs of women illustrates?

7. How is our brain wired for performing complicated tasks and why?

8. How is one's conscious mind limited and how does this make the mind more difficult to understand?

9. What gap does Eagleman explore in Chapter 3?

10. What is the point of the experiment that Eagleman suggests the reader try?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Another set of conflicting motivations in the human mind is the rivalry between short term and long term desires, Eagleman argues. He presents several examples of people acting in ways that serve a long-term interest and protect them from the their short-term tendencies. A Christmas club is one such example, where people put money aside each month and then have it returned at Christmas time for purchasing gifts. These kinds of self-bargains are called "Ulysses contracts" after the classical figure Ulysses who had himself lashed to the mast of his boat so he would not be persuaded by the beautiful song of the sirens to steer his boat into the rocks.

1. Why do you think it is important to learn how to delay gratification? Use examples from your own life and Incognito to support your reasoning.

2. What do you think might be the difference in delaying short term goals between a child of 10 and an adult? Use examples from your own life and Incognito to support your reasoning.

3. Discuss an example in your own life where you did or did not delay an immediate desire in order to achieve a long term goal. How did this incident relate to one of the examples Eagleman gave?

Essay Topic 2

Titles often play a vital role in making a person decide to read a particular book. Discuss the following:

1. Fully explain why you think Incognito is titled as such. Do you think it is the best title for the book? Why or why not? Can you think of a better title? Why would you choose it?

2. How important is a title in influencing you to consider reading a book? Explain your answer.

3. Do you think a title needs to have direct relevance to a book's content? Explain your answer.

4. Have you ever read a book that when you finished, you do not understand the relevance of the title? Does it discourage you from "trusting" that particular author again?

Essay Topic 3

Incognito belongs to the non-fiction genre. Discuss the following:

1. Define the literary term "genre" and give several examples of three other genres in addition to the non-fiction genre.

2. Discuss two reasons why it might be useful to label a text by genre and two reasons it might be disadvantageous to label a text by genre.

3. What do you think is the difference between a nonfiction book and a novel?

(see the answer keys)

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