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Quiz: The ADHD Brain

Test your understanding of brain development, executive function, dopamine, and motivation in ADHD with these review questions.

1. What is executive function, as this chapter defines it?

  1. The umbrella term for the mental skills that manage other skills, such as starting tasks, holding information in mind, and inhibiting impulses
  2. A single brain region that controls movement
  3. Another name for long-term memory
  4. The medical term for hyperactivity
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. Executive function is the umbrella name for the mental skills the prefrontal systems provide — skills that manage other skills, like starting a task, holding instructions in mind, and resisting distraction. Option B confuses it with a motor region. Option C is wrong because long-term memory is generally intact in ADHD and is a separate system. Option D mislabels a set of cognitive skills as a single symptom.

Concept Tested: Executive Function

See: Chapter 2

2. According to this chapter, which brain region matures last, often not finishing until the mid-to-late twenties?

  1. The visual cortex
  2. The cerebellum
  3. The default mode network
  4. The prefrontal cortex
Show Answer

The correct answer is D. The chapter explains that the prefrontal cortex — the region handling planning, self-control, and judgment — is the last major brain area to finish developing, running into the mid-to-late twenties. The visual cortex and movement-related regions mature much earlier. The default mode network is a functional network, not the late-maturing region itself.

Concept Tested: Prefrontal Cortex

See: Chapter 2

3. What is working memory, as described in this chapter?

  1. The brain's permanent storage for facts and events
  2. The small mental workspace that holds information while it's being used, such as an instruction while carrying it out
  3. The system that controls physical balance
  4. A synonym for long-term memory
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. The chapter describes working memory as "the mental desk" — a small workspace that holds information while it is actively being used, illustrated by Priya losing instructions mid-errand. Options A and D describe long-term memory, a separate and generally intact system in ADHD. Option C describes an unrelated physical function.

Concept Tested: Working Memory

See: Chapter 2

4. What is prospective memory?

  1. Memory for facts learned in school
  2. Memory for people's names
  3. Memory for intentions — remembering to do something at the right future moment, without a prompt
  4. Memory that improves with age
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. Prospective memory is memory for intentions — remembering to act at the right moment, such as taking medication or picking up a prescription, with nothing external prompting the recall. Options A and B describe long-term memory for facts or names, a different system. Option D is not a claim the chapter makes.

Concept Tested: Prospective Memory

See: Chapter 2

5. According to the chapter's discussion of delay aversion and the interest-based nervous system, what activates motivation most reliably in ADHD?

  1. Interest, novelty, urgency, and challenge
  2. Long-term importance and moral obligation
  3. Careful step-by-step planning
  4. Rewards that are distant but large
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. The chapter describes the ADHD brain as running on an "interest-based nervous system," activated reliably by interest, novelty, challenge, and urgency, rather than by importance alone. Option B describes the importance-based activation that neurotypical planning relies on. Option C describes a planning skill, not a motivational trigger. Option D is contradicted by delay aversion, which makes distant rewards lose motivational pull fast.

Concept Tested: Interest-Based Nervous System

See: Chapter 2

6. What does the chapter say happens to the default mode network during focused tasks in ADHD, and what is the consequence?

  1. It shuts off completely and never activates
  2. It only activates in people without ADHD
  3. It has no connection to attention at all
  4. It is suppressed less reliably during tasks, so daydreaming intrudes mid-task
Show Answer

The correct answer is D. The chapter explains that the default mode network normally gets suppressed when focused work begins, but in ADHD that suppression is less reliable, so the mind wanders back into it mid-task — the "screensaver" flickering on. Options A and C misdescribe the network as inactive or irrelevant. Option B is false; everyone's default mode network activates during idle moments.

Concept Tested: Default Mode Network

See: Chapter 2

7. Which statement correctly interprets the ADHD brain maturation lag finding?

  1. It proves that any individual child with ADHD is exactly three years behind peers on a brain scan
  2. It is a group-average finding showing delayed but similarly shaped cortical development, with some differences persisting into adulthood
  3. It means ADHD is fully outgrown once the brain catches up around age 25
  4. It shows brain scans can reliably diagnose ADHD in an individual
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The correct answer is B. The chapter is explicit that the maturation lag is a group-average research finding — cortical development follows the same route on a delayed timetable — and that some differences persist into adulthood, which is why ADHD is a lifespan condition. Option A over-applies a group statistic to an individual. Option C contradicts the chapter's point that the lag doesn't mean full catch-up. Option D is directly rejected: no scan can diagnose an individual.

Concept Tested: ADHD Brain Maturation Lag

See: Chapter 2

8. What is cognitive load, and why does the chapter emphasize it?

  1. It is a measure of IQ that predicts ADHD severity
  2. It is fixed and identical for everyone regardless of the day
  3. It is the total demand on working memory and executive systems at a given moment, and it is invisible, so people get blamed for failures of a budget they've already overdrawn
  4. It only affects people without ADHD
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. Cognitive load is the total demand on working memory and executive systems at any moment, and the chapter stresses that because load is invisible, observers often blame a person for failures caused by an already-overdrawn budget, as in the dishwasher example. Option A confuses it with intelligence. Option B contradicts the chapter's point that load varies by time of day and prior demands. Option D is false; load affects everyone, just with a smaller and faster-draining budget in ADHD.

Concept Tested: Cognitive Load

See: Chapter 2

9. Ben sits down at his desk wanting to start his tax return, but twenty minutes pass and he still hasn't opened the file, even though he understands exactly what to do. Which executive function does this scenario best illustrate failing?

  1. Task initiation
  2. Working memory
  3. Cognitive flexibility
  4. Self-monitoring
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. This matches the chapter's description of task initiation as "the starter motor" — converting intention into the first action — where a person can want to start, know exactly what to do, and still be unable to launch. Working memory (B) concerns holding information in mind, not starting. Cognitive flexibility (C) concerns shifting between tasks or approaches. Self-monitoring (D) concerns tracking ongoing performance, not beginning it.

Concept Tested: Task Initiation

See: Chapter 2

10. Sam forgets to pick up his wife's prescription despite promising that morning; his wife concludes "if it mattered to him, he'd have remembered." Which option best analyzes what actually failed, according to the chapter?

  1. Sam's long-term memory failed, since he couldn't recall the promise at all
  2. Sam never truly formed the intention, so nothing failed
  3. Sam's prospective memory failed — the intention was intact, but the brain's unprompted, self-firing alarm at the right moment didn't fire
  4. Sam's working memory was overloaded at the moment he made the promise
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. The chapter analyzes this exact example as a prospective memory failure: the intention was filed and genuine, but the unprompted, self-triggered alarm that should have fired at 5:15 didn't, which looks identical to not caring from the outside. Option A misidentifies the memory system involved. Option B contradicts the chapter's claim that Sam meant it completely. Option D misplaces the failure at the moment of promising rather than at the moment of action.

Concept Tested: Prospective Memory

See: Chapter 2