Question 1

Which one of the following examples most clearly illustrates the effect of functional fixedness on problem solving?

Accepted Answer

A)  Arnie is trying to solve a physics problem on a classroom test. He is so anxious that he can't recall the problem-solving strategies he needs. 
B)  Bradley is looking for something to haul water but doesn't have a bucket. He fails to realize that his plastic wastebasket could easily carry water. 
C)  Charlie is doing a series of addition problems. He overlooks the subtraction sign on the last problem and so adds when he should subtract. 
D)  Doug is angry that another boy stole his bicycle. Rather than report the theft to the police, he steals a bicycle from someone else. 
A)  Arnie is trying to solve a physics problem on a classroom test. He is so anxious that he can't recall the problem-solving strategies he needs. 
B)  Bradley is looking for something to haul water but doesn't have a bucket. He fails to realize that his plastic wastebasket could easily carry water. 
C)  Charlie is doing a series of addition problems. He overlooks the subtraction sign on the last problem and so adds when he should subtract. 
D)  Doug is angry that another boy stole his bicycle. Rather than report the theft to the police, he steals a bicycle from someone else.

Question 2

Transfer what you have learned about transfer and problem solving to a professional situation in which you might find yourself. More specifically:
a. Using either an educational or therapeutic context, describe a specific idea or principle you might want students or clients to apply outside the educational or therapeutic setting. In particular, describe what information you would want them to learn within the educational or therapeutic context, and how you hope they would transfer it in dealing with the outside world.
b. Explain how your students' or clients' success in transferring this information and/or using it to solve problems might be more or less successful depending on:
(1) How they encode/store the original information, and the extent to which they elaborate on it
(2) How they encode/store the transfer/problem-solving situation, and the extent to which they elaborate on that situation

Accepted Answer

a. In an educational or therapeutic cont

Question 3

Describe five different things that teachers can do to facilitate students' transfer of what is learned in the classroom to real-world situations and problems.

Accepted Answer

1. Use real-world examples: Teachers can

Question 4

Imagine that you are teaching a course in human learning to future teachers. You want students to transfer what they learn in their class to their own teaching practice. Describe three strategies you might use to help students transfer what they learn in your class.

Accepted Answer

1. Real-world application: I would incor

Question 5

Ms. Webster tells students, "The author of our history textbook knows what he's talking about. He's a well-respected scholar whose specialty is the period we're reading about this month: colonial America." Although such a statement might certainly be beneficial in some respects, it has which one of the following drawbacks?

Accepted Answer

A)  It will promote negative rather than positive transfer of the subject matter. 
B)  It will increase the probability that students have functional fixedness. 
C)  It is unlikely to foster an inclination to critically evaluate textbook content. 
D)  It will predispose students to use algorithms rather than heuristics while studying. 
A)  It will promote negative rather than positive transfer of the subject matter. 
B)  It will increase the probability that students have functional fixedness. 
C)  It is unlikely to foster an inclination to critically evaluate textbook content. 
D)  It will predispose students to use algorithms rather than heuristics while studying.

Question 6

Three of the following statements describe how cooperative groups can promote more effective problem solving. Which statement is not an accurate statement regarding the benefits of cooperative group problem solving?

Accepted Answer

A)  Group members are likely to come to quick consensus about the best way to solve a problem. 
B)  Group members can clarify their individual sources of confusion regarding the subject matter in question. 
C)  By describing possible problem-solving strategies to their peers, students may gain better insight into the cognitive processes they use. 
D)  Group members who possess effective problem-solving strategies model the use of such strategies for others. 
A)  Group members are likely to come to quick consensus about the best way to solve a problem. 
B)  Group members can clarify their individual sources of confusion regarding the subject matter in question. 
C)  By describing possible problem-solving strategies to their peers, students may gain better insight into the cognitive processes they use. 
D)  Group members who possess effective problem-solving strategies model the use of such strategies for others.

Question 7

Which one of the following most clearly illustrates general (as opposed to specific) transfer?

Accepted Answer

A)  The skill Arnold has developed as a marathon runner helps him later in life when he jogs for exercise. 
B)  Brian has learned study skills in his history class that he also finds useful in his English literature class. 
C)  Conway's knowledge of addition and subtraction helps him learn accounting procedures. 
D)  David's knowledge of the human digestive system helps him understand the digestive system of an earthworm. 
A)  The skill Arnold has developed as a marathon runner helps him later in life when he jogs for exercise. 
B)  Brian has learned study skills in his history class that he also finds useful in his English literature class. 
C)  Conway's knowledge of addition and subtraction helps him learn accounting procedures. 
D)  David's knowledge of the human digestive system helps him understand the digestive system of an earthworm.

Question 8

Nathan has been playing golf with his parents for many years. When he goes out for the school baseball team, he has trouble hitting the ball because he keeps confusing the swing of the bat with how he swings a golf club. Nathan's difficulty is the result of:

Accepted Answer

A)  Vertical transfer 
B)  Mental set in problem solving 
C)  Rote learning 
D)  Negative transfer 
A)  Vertical transfer 
B)  Mental set in problem solving 
C)  Rote learning 
D)  Negative transfer

Question 9

Which one of the following teachers is clearly keeping the notion of situated learning in mind as he or she helps students transfer what they are learning in school?

Accepted Answer

A)  Ms. Sporer asks her students to speculate about what might have happened if the Europeans had not "discovered" the New World until the 1800s. 
B)  Mr. Mendoza makes sure that each one of the students in his instrumental music class knows the difference between the treble and bass clefs. 
C)  Ms. Sabih gives each of her elementary art students a hunk of clay and then says, "I'd like you to mold your clay into a mythical creature of some kind-into an animal that no one has ever seen before." 
D)  Mr. Gerberg takes his middle school math students to the grocery store so that they can use their math skills to do some comparison shopping. 
A)  Ms. Sporer asks her students to speculate about what might have happened if the Europeans had not "discovered" the New World until the 1800s. 
B)  Mr. Mendoza makes sure that each one of the students in his instrumental music class knows the difference between the treble and bass clefs. 
C)  Ms. Sabih gives each of her elementary art students a hunk of clay and then says, "I'd like you to mold your clay into a mythical creature of some kind-into an animal that no one has ever seen before." 
D)  Mr. Gerberg takes his middle school math students to the grocery store so that they can use their math skills to do some comparison shopping.

Question 10

Which one of the following is the best example of negative transfer?

Accepted Answer

A)  Nell sees the symbol for five-squared ("52") in her math book and reads it as "fifty-two." 
B)  Fred knows he can get Bs in his classes without having to study at all. 
C)  José can't remember when the American Civil War started, so he recalls all he can about American history and concludes that the war must have taken place in the 1860s. 
D)  Edie wants to tie a string securely to her pencil so that she can hang it from her notebook, but she has forgotten how to tie a square knot. 
A)  Nell sees the symbol for five-squared ("52") in her math book and reads it as "fifty-two." 
B)  Fred knows he can get Bs in his classes without having to study at all. 
C)  José can't remember when the American Civil War started, so he recalls all he can about American history and concludes that the war must have taken place in the 1860s. 
D)  Edie wants to tie a string securely to her pencil so that she can hang it from her notebook, but she has forgotten how to tie a square knot.

Which one of the following examples most clearly illustrates the effect of functional fixedness on problem solving?

Describe five different things that teachers can do to facilitate students' transfer of what is learned in the classroom to real-world situations and problems.

Imagine that you are teaching a course in human learning to future teachers. You want students to transfer what they learn in their class to their own teaching practice. Describe three strategies you might use to help students transfer what they learn in your class.

Three of the following statements describe how cooperative groups can promote more effective problem solving. Which statement is not an accurate statement regarding the benefits of cooperative group problem solving?

Which one of the following most clearly illustrates general (as opposed to specific) transfer?

Nathan has been playing golf with his parents for many years. When he goes out for the school baseball team, he has trouble hitting the ball because he keeps confusing the swing of the bat with how he swings a golf club. Nathan's difficulty is the result of:

Which one of the following teachers is clearly keeping the notion of situated learning in mind as he or she helps students transfer what they are learning in school?

Which one of the following is the best example of negative transfer?

Perspectives on Learning

Learning and the Brain

Behaviorism and Classical Conditioning

Instrumental Conditioning

Applications of Instrumental Conditioning

Social Cognitive Theory

Introduction to Cognitivism

Basic Components of Memory

Long-Term Memory I: Storage and Encoding

Long-Term Memory Iii: Retrieval and Forgetting

Long-Term Memory Iii: Retrieval and Forgetting

Cognitive-Developmental Perspectives

Sociocultural Theory and Other Contextual Perspectives

Metacognition, Self-Regulated Learning, and Study Strategies

Motivation and Affect

Cognitive Factors in Motivation

Filters

Exam 15: Transfer, Problem Solving, and Critical Thinking

Which one of the following examples most clearly illustrates the effect of functional fixedness on problem solving?

Describe five different things that teachers can do to facilitate students' transfer of what is learned in the classroom to real-world situations and problems.

Imagine that you are teaching a course in human learning to future teachers. You want students to transfer what they learn in their class to their own teaching practice. Describe three strategies you might use to help students transfer what they learn in your class.

Three of the following statements describe how cooperative groups can promote more effective problem solving. Which statement is not an accurate statement regarding the benefits of cooperative group problem solving?

Which one of the following most clearly illustrates general (as opposed to specific) transfer?

Nathan has been playing golf with his parents for many years. When he goes out for the school baseball team, he has trouble hitting the ball because he keeps confusing the swing of the bat with how he swings a golf club. Nathan's difficulty is the result of:

Which one of the following teachers is clearly keeping the notion of situated learning in mind as he or she helps students transfer what they are learning in school?

Which one of the following is the best example of negative transfer?

Perspectives on Learning

Learning and the Brain

Behaviorism and Classical Conditioning

Instrumental Conditioning

Applications of Instrumental Conditioning

Social Cognitive Theory

Introduction to Cognitivism

Basic Components of Memory

Long-Term Memory I: Storage and Encoding

Long-Term Memory Iii: Retrieval and Forgetting

Long-Term Memory Iii: Retrieval and Forgetting

Cognitive-Developmental Perspectives

Sociocultural Theory and Other Contextual Perspectives

Metacognition, Self-Regulated Learning, and Study Strategies

Motivation and Affect

Cognitive Factors in Motivation

Filters