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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is described as the seat of what?
(a) The ego.
(b) Abstract reasoning.
(c) Emotions.
(d) Paranoia.

2. What kind of teacher is Rodney, the man described by the author within one particular anecdote?
(a) A meditation teacher.
(b) A pottery teacher.
(c) A yoga teacher.
(d) A music teacher.

3. In the philosophical illustration focused on a charioteer and horses, what does the charioteer represent?
(a) The hypothalamus gland.
(b) The prefrontal cortex.
(c) The temporal lobe.
(d) The adrenal gland.

4. The author states that what elements are just tools to help the brain sort the importance of various thoughts?
(a) Sounds.
(b) Modules.
(c) Senses.
(d) Feelings.

5. The author notes that it is generally easier for one to distance oneself from one’s emotions than one’s what?
(a) Feelings.
(b) Thoughts.
(c) Love.
(d) Chemistry.

6. What doctrine emphasizes that nothing has any essence?
(a) The emptiness doctrine.
(b) The aesthetics doctrine.
(c) The surrender doctrine.
(d) The familial doctrine.

7. The author states that the idea of enlightenment is to take what action in regard to one's delusions?
(a) To lose them.
(b) To remember them.
(c) To obscure them.
(d) To define them.

8. What activity does the author most often engage in when he is avoiding work?
(a) Riding his bike.
(b) Doing yard work.
(c) Baking.
(d) Online shopping.

9. The author states that neither kind of module in the chocolate anecdote was more what than another?
(a) Abstract.
(b) Rational.
(c) Definitive.
(d) Concrete.

10. What piece of text asserts that "Form is emptiness" (143)?
(a) The Samadhiraja Sutra.
(b) The Heart Sutra.
(c) The Kama Sutra.
(d) The Four Principles.

11. What does the author NOT use as an example of the indirect evidence received by the human brain?
(a) Atoms contained within an electrical storm.
(b) Particles of light that bounce off trees.
(c) Molecules that waft across the street from a bakery.
(d) Sound waves emanating from a jet plane.

12. What does the chocolate symbolize in the author's anecdote?
(a) Pleasure.
(b) Reward.
(c) Lack of control.
(d) Gluttony.

13. The author states that he suspects that what word is dependent upon "a melange of feelings that you've come to associate with" this object?
(a) Butterfly.
(b) Ocean.
(c) Cloud.
(d) Biscuit.

14. The author states that "modules seem to have the ability to recruit" (130) what on behalf of their goals?
(a) Tenets of belief.
(b) Reasons.
(c) Faith.
(d) Other modules.

15. When the author discusses his wife in an illustration, whom does he name as a potential stimulus in his wife's environment that would be “seen to not merit extended, conscious appraisal” (163)?
(a) The author's uncle.
(b) The author's brother.
(c) The author's sister.
(d) The author's father-in-law.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which of the following feelings is the most often studied in connection with mental modules?

2. Which of the following examples is used by the author to demonstrate that human brains are not foolproof?

3. The author states, “It’s kind of amazing, when you think about it, that the world would be set up this way: that the path you embark on to relieve yourself of suffering would, if pursued assiduously, lead you to become not just a happier person but a person with a clearer view of" (263) what two types of reality?

4. What does the lizard represent at the meditation retreat attended by the author?

5. The author compares self-discipline to what part of the human body?

(see the answer keys)

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