1) Which one of the following best exemplifies experience-dependent plasticity?
a.Hearing subtle differences in similar-sounding words
b.Learning how to pronounce words like a native speaker
c.Learning syntactical structures of ones native language
d.Learning how to read
2) Travis realizes that the year World War II ended1945is the same year that his
grandfather was born. Which one of the following processes is Travis most clearly
demonstrating?
a.elaboration
b.meaningful learning
c.rehearsal
d.internal organization
3) Four students are storing this fact: St. Augustine, Florida was settled in 1565. Based
on the following information, which student is probably going to have the greatest
difficulty retrieving the information from long-term memory a few days later?
a.Alexander immediately repeats the fact to himself five times.
b.Last year Blondie visited St. Augustine with her grandparents and toured the old
fortress there.
c.Cookie realizes that 1565 was more than four hundred years ago.
d.Dagwood is surprised to learn that the Spanish settled Florida before the Pilgrims
landed at Plymouth.
4) Judging from the brief descriptions below, which one of these four teachers is most
likely to be using a mastery learning approach?
a.Ms. Alfonso gives examinations in which different students are asked different
questions, depending on individual student needs and interests.
b.Mr. Bryant assigns term papers and oral reports rather than in-class examinations.
c.Ms. Carroll uses the highest four of a students six exam scores to determine course
grades.
d.Mr. Dickson insists that each student in his sociology class pass the first unit exam at
the 85% level before beginning work on the second unit.
5) When psychologists refer to a dual-store model of memory, they are referring to a
model in which:
a.A distinction is made between working and long-term memory
b.Functions rather than structures of memory are emphasized
c.Information must be processed more than once before it will be stored
d.A distinction is made between two different levels of processing
6) These four teachers claim to be practicing principles from social cognitive theory.
Based on the following information, which one is not?
a.Mr. Anderson makes sure students are paying attention when he demonstrates how to
do long division problems.
b.Ms. Benson has students read biographies of people who have worked unselfishly for
others (e.g., Albert Schweitzer, Clara Barton, Mahatma Gandhi).
c.Mr. Carlson tells his class that he wishes he had never started smoking cigarettes.
d.Ms. Donaldson shows her first graders how to spell her name by writing it in huge
letters on the chalkboard.
7) Which one of the following statements best illustrates the concept of reciprocal
causation?
a.Individuals are more likely to imitate a behavior for which they have seen others
reinforced.
b.Modeling can occur only when an individual is capable of performing an observed
behavior.
c.People are unlikely to exhibit a behavior that will probably be punished.
d.The environment alters behavior, but behavior alters the environment as well.
8) Given how the left and right hemispheres of the brain typically specialize, which one
of the following activities would be most heavily dependent on the right hemisphere?
a.Writing a speech for a political campaign
b.Following the logic of a persuasive argument
c.Solving for x in a complex algebraic equation
d.Recognizing human forms in a Picasso painting
9) Three of the following teachers are practicing principles from contemporary memory
theory. Which teacher is not?
a.Mr. Adamson tells his students that, with practice, they will be able to do complicated
long division problems in their heads.
b.Ms. Borelli tells her students that they should not try to remember every detail in their
100-page reading assignment, but instead should focus on main ideas.
c.Mr. Canton makes sure that students are paying attention before he begins an
explanation of photosynthesis.
d.Ms. Darwin talks about how famous battles in history are in some ways similar to the
fights students sometimes have on the playground.
10) An essential element of a contingency contract in the classroom is that:
a.Behaviors are reinforced at least once a day.
b.Every student receives the same reinforcer.
c.Both teacher and student agree upon the desired behavior and its consequence.
d.Every student has a contract concerning the same behavior.
11) Mary is majoring in drama. Marys parents want her to study advanced mathematics
as a way of strengthening her mind, and argue that, when she is in a play, she will be
able to learn her lines more easily. Based on their reasoning, which one of the following
theories of transfer do Marys parents believe?
a.Formal discipline
b.Behaviorism
c.Information processing theory
d.Situated learning
12) Eunice has had trouble remembering the formula for calculating the area of a circle,
so she is saying it to herself over and over again as her teacher passes out a geometry
test. Eunice is demonstrating:
a.Storage in the sensory register
b.Retrieval from working memory
c.The use of maintenance rehearsal
d.The use of chunking
13) Learning theorists often emphasize the importance of attention in the learning
process? From the perspective of the dual-store model of memory, why is attention so
important?
a.It gets information into the sensory register.
b.It moves information from working memory into long-term memory.
c.It moves information from the sensory register into long-term memory.
d.It moves information from the sensory register into working memory.
14) Which one of the following students is attributing success or failure on a geology
test to an internal source and thinks the cause is unstable and controllable?
a.Jane says she failed the test because it was too difficult.
b.Emily says she did well on the test because she is smart in science.
c.Joe says he did well on the test because he studied hard.
d.Drew says he studied hard, but he failed because he is just not good in geology.
15) As Valerie grows older, she becomes increasingly proficient in a variety of tasks
involving numerical reasoning, including counting, adding and subtracting, and
comparing two-digit numbers. From a neo-Piagetian perspective, Valeries simultaneous
progress in these diverse areas reflects the idea that she:
a.Is in a state of equilibrium
b.Is in her zone of proximal development for numerical tasks
c.Can assimilate diverse mathematical tasks into a single mega-scheme
d.Has a central conceptual structure for numbers