Deck 8: Skill Memory: Learning by Doing

Question 1

A person who is just learning to drive a car needs to listen carefully to all of the steps involved as his instructor is telling. Which stage of skill acquisition is the person in?

A) cognitive
B) associative
C) autonomous
D) expert

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which treatment is used to alleviate tremors and other motor symptoms associated with Parkinson's disease?

A) electroconvulsive therapy
B) perceptual motor therapy
C) transcranial therapy
D) deep brain stimulation

Answer 2

D

Question 3

If one is driven from home to school, one may learn the route without consciously trying to do so. This is an example of:

A) massed practice.
B) implicit learning.
C) skill decay.
D) the power law of practice.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Imagine a ballerina who has performed a particular ballet so many times that she doesn't even need to think about the movements anymore. She has developed:

A) apraxia.
B) an open skill.
C) a motor program.
D) a talent.

Question 5

Learned movement patterns guided by sensory inputs are called _____ skills, while skills requiring the use of the brain to solve problems or apply strategies are called _____ skills.

A) closed; open
B) open; cognitive
C) perceptual-motor; cognitive
D) perceptual-motor; open

Question 6

A skill is a(n):

A) ability to perform a task that has been honed through experience.
B) fact that one can learn through repeated exposure.
C) event one can remember from childhood.
D) ability that is innate, such as a reflex.

Question 7

Which statement is TRUE regarding the cerebral cortex?

A) Animals without much cerebral cortex cannot learn perceptual-motor tasks.
B) Practicing a perceptual-motor skill leads to increased cortical activity.
C) Practicing a skill leads to a decrease in the amount of cortical gray matter.
D) It is particularly important for tasks that involve tracking a target.

Question 8

Which knowledge is the BEST example of a skill memory?

A) remembering the name of the first president of the United States
B) knowing how to tie shoe
C) remembering who attended one's sixteenth-birthday party
D) knowing what foods one likes to eat

Question 9

The cerebellum is:

A) important for learning motions that involve precise timing.
B) only present in a few species.
C) particularly important for linking sensory events to motor responses.
D) involved in performing skills but not in learning them by watching others perform them.

Question 10

An expert is someone who:

A) is able to master a skill with very little effort.
B) has a natural ability to perform a skill.
C) combines natural ability with lots of practice to perfect a skill.
D) performs a skill better than most people.

Question 11

A procedure that delivers an electrical current into a patient's brain through one or more implanted electrodes is known as:

A) transcranial therapy.
B) deep brain stimulation.
C) electroconvulsive therapy.
D) perceptual motor therapy.

Question 12

According to the power law of practice, performance during learning:

A) starts slowly and then rapidly improves.
B) improves rapidly at first and then slows down.
C) improves at a steady rate.
D) improves rapidly at first and then declines.

Question 13

A person who has a very hard time learning to play the piano but, with practice, becomes a concert pianist:

A) has talent but is not an expert.
B) has talent and has become an expert.
C) does not have talent but has become an expert.
D) does not have talent and is not an expert.

Question 14

Suppose a baby learns to eat using a spoon. According to the idea of transfer specificity, which action would the baby have the easiest time learning?

A) eating with a slightly larger spoon
B) eating with a fork
C) cutting her food with a knife
D) drinking from a cup

Question 15

Which action is an example of a cognitive skill?

A) running
B) tying one's shoes
C) climbing a ladder
D) balancing a checkbook

Question 16

Which skill is an example of a perceptual-motor skill?

A) remembering material for an exam
B) managing time
C) skiing
D) solving a puzzle

Question 17

Which statement is TRUE regarding skill decay?

A) It can occur because of interference from newer skills.
B) It happens more for perceptual-motor skills than for cognitive skills.
C) It occurs at a fairly steady rate.
D) There is less decay if multiple skills are practiced on the same day.

Question 18

Which statement is TRUE?

A) Massed practice is more effective than spaced practice for long-term retention.
B) Constant practice is more effective than variable practice overall.
C) Massed practice requires less total practice time than spaced practice.
D) It is unclear whether constant practice or variable practice is more effective.

Question 19

The basal ganglia:

A) are especially important for performing skills that require precise timing.
B) are active when people learn cognitive skills.
C) send most of their output to the spinal cord.
D) are mainly involved in controlling complex actions.

Question 20

An example of a closed skill is _____, and an example of an open skill is _____.

A) surfing; tying one's shoes
B) tying one's shoes; playing pat-a-cake
C) surfing; playing pat-a-cake
D) playing pat-a-cake; surfing

Question 21

Without any explicit training from adults many children know how to turn the ignition key in order to start their parent's cars. This is an example of:

A) observational learning.
B) implicit learning.
C) explicit learning.
D) variable practice.

Question 22

Skill memories:

A) can only be retrieved with conscious awareness.
B) are considered to be declarative memories.
C) are improved by repeated experiences.
D) can be communicated to others easily in many different ways.

Question 23

The Tower of Hanoi puzzle is used for studying how one learns _____ skills.

A) open
B) closed
C) cognitive
D) perceptual-motor

Question 24

Which statement is TRUE about skill memories?

A) They are difficult to convey except by demonstration.
B) They may be acquired without awareness.
C) They require several repetitions.
D) All of the statements are true.

Question 25

Psychologists sometimes classify memories that are not easily put into words, including skill memories as:

A) explicit memories.
B) implicit memories.
C) cognitive skills.
D) nondeclarative memories.

Question 26

Jacob has an exam tomorrow. He hasn't studied all semester and is cramming his studying all into one night. Jacob is using _____ practice.

A) massed
B) spaced
C) constant
D) variable

Question 27

Dara is practicing a new gymnastic routine. Her practice will be MOST effective if she:

A) practices many times a day.
B) is given feedback about her performance.
C) visualizes the routine in her mind before performing her new routine.
D) blocks out all other distractions.

Question 28

Which statement demonstrates that nonhumans can learn cognitive skills?

A) Chimpanzees in the wild have learned how to use stones to crack nuts.
B) Dolphins can learn to repeat whatever action they had performed most recently when instructed to do so by a trainer.
C) In the lab, experimenters have taught primates and other animals to use various tools.
D) All of the statements are correct.

Question 29

Which statement is TRUE regarding the power law of practice?

A) It cannot be overcome.
B) It is different for cognitive skills than for perceptual-motor skills.
C) It is different for different species.
D) It is the same for most skills.

Question 30

Which activity is an example of a cognitive skill?

A) running up the stairs
B) buttoning one's own coat
C) organizing one's own class schedule
D) opening a door

Question 31

Which activity is the BEST example of a closed skill?

A) playing tennis
B) driving a car
C) playing a video game
D) playing a particular piece on the piano

Question 32

Suppose a child is learning to swim. If a person measures how long it takes him to swim from one end of the pool to the other each day, the person will typically find that the child's speed will:

A) increase rapidly over the first several days and then increase more slowly on subsequent days.
B) increase gradually from day to day.
C) increase slowly over the first several days and then increase more rapidly on subsequent days.
D) remain the same for the first several days and then increase rather suddenly.

Question 33

Which statement is TRUE about research on perceptual-motor skills?

A) It focuses on very complex skills.
B) It depends more on intellectual prowess.
C) Studies might consist of pressing buttons or tracking the position of a moving object .
D) All of the statements are true.

Question 34

Feedback about the performance of a skill that is critical to the effectiveness of practice is known as:

A) knowledge of results.
B) knowledge of learning.
C) knowledge of practice.
D) effectiveness.

Question 35

Which activity is the BEST example of an open skill?

A) performing an ice-skating routine
B) catching a baseball
C) synchronized swimmers performing their routine
D) following a recipe to bake a cake

Question 36

A participant observing a film forms memories that he later uses to improve his own skills in that area. This is known as:

A) observational learning.
B) power law of practice.
C) knowledge of skills.
D) cognitive skill.

Question 37

Psychologists usually associate cognitive skills with the:

A) ability to reason and solve problems.
B) tasks that require sorting through large amounts of knowledge.
C) tasks depend more on intellectual prowess.
D) All of the answers are correct.

Question 38

Which memory requires several repetitions?

A) skill
B) implicit
C) explicit
D) cognitive

Question 39

After witnessing his brother get in trouble for taking a cake without asking, the younger child doesn't take cake without asking. This is an example of:

A) observational learning.
B) implicit learning.
C) explicit learning.
D) variable practice.

Question 40

Which statement is NOT true about memories for events and facts?

A) They can be communicated flexibly in different formats.
B) They have content that is consciously accessible.
C) They can be acquired in a single exposure.
D) They require several repetitions.

Question 41

The learning process that includes the ability to verbalize about the actions or events being learned is known as:

A) constant practice.
B) variable practice.
C) explicit learning.
D) implicit learning.

Question 42

Research on using massed and spaced practice to train postal workers to use a letter-sorting machine showed that:

A) the group that was the most satisfied with the training process also learned it the most quickly.
B) those using spaced practice were more satisfied with their training.
C) those using massed practice required the fewest hours of training to learn the task.
D) those using spaced practice required the fewest hours of training to learn the task.

Question 43

Steve is trying to improve his public-speaking skills. He is practicing by giving speeches on different topics to different groups of friends. He is using _____ practice.

A) massed
B) spaced
C) constant
D) variable

Question 44

Being able to throw a baseball without having to think about the motions one is making is an example of the _____ stage of skill acquisition.

A) cognitive
B) associative
C) autonomous
D) expert

Question 45

Implicit learning:

A) occurs only in people with amnesia.
B) is more likely to occur for perceptual-motor skills than for cognitive skills.
C) is more likely to occur for cognitive skills than for perceptual-motor skills.
D) is often studied using a serial reaction time task.

Question 46

What is serial reaction time task used for?

A) study implicit learning.
B) study explicit learning.
C) perceptual-motor skills.
D) cognitive skills.

Question 47

The second stage in the Fitts's model of skill learning is:

A) cognitive.
B) associative.
C) autonomous.
D) acquisition.

Question 48

Individuals with anterograde amnesia can:

A) not learn new facts or new skills.
B) learn new skills but are unaware of having learned them.
C) learn new skills if they are reminded each day of what they had practiced the previous day.
D) learn new facts but not new skills.

Question 49

Which stage of Fitts's three-stage model would act in setting up a tent without instructions?

A) cognitive
B) associative
C) autonomous
D) acquisition

Question 50

In the _____ stage, learners begin using stereotyped actions when performing a skill and rely less on actively recalled memories of rules.

A) cognitive
B) associative
C) autonomous
D) acquisition

Question 51

Which activity is an example of the cognitive stage of skill acquisition?

A) following the instructions in a recipe to bake cookies
B) following a recipe from memory to bake cookies
C) baking cookies without a recipe while listening to a child talk about her day at school
D) trying out new ingredients in a traditional cookie recipe

Question 52

Which activity is the BEST example of implicit learning?

A) memorizing the names of the state capitols
B) rehearsing a phone number someone just told to you
C) learning the words of a song that is played regularly on the radio
D) studying vocabulary words for a French test

Question 53

Learning a skill without one being aware that one has learned it is known as _____ learning.

A) massed
B) implicit
C) open
D) variable

Question 54

If a mother wants her son to implicitly learn to use correct grammar, she should:

A) point out his mistakes whenever he uses incorrect grammar.
B) help him to memorize the rules of grammar.
C) always use correct grammar when she speaks to him.
D) tell him "yes, you used correct grammar" as a reward every time he uses correct grammar.

Question 55

Practice of a skill that is spread out over several sessions is known as _____ practice

A) massed
B) spaced
C) constant
D) variable

Question 56

During the _____ stage of skill acquisition, learners begin using stereotyped actions when performing the skill and rely less on actively recalled memories of rules.

A) cognitive
B) associative
C) autonomous
D) expert

Question 57

If a child wants to learn to write his own name by using spaced practice, he should write the name:

A) once every day for several weeks.
B) several times as soon as he wakes up in the morning on one day.
C) over and over for one day until he gets it right.
D) by alternating using a pen, pencil, crayon, and marker.

Question 58

A sequence of movements that an organism can perform virtually automatically is known as motor programs or:

A) habits.
B) expertise.
C) practice.
D) motor skills.

Question 59

A person riding as a passenger in a car sometimes has the experience of automatically stepping on an imaginary brake as the driver brings the car to a fast stop. The passenger's behavior is:

A) a reflex.
B) a motor program.
C) caused by skill decay.
D) All of the answers are correct.

Question 60

An experimental task that requires individuals to press keys in specific sequences on the basis of cues provided by a computer is known as:

A) perceptual-motor task.
B) a motor program.
C) reflex task.
D) serial reaction time task.

Question 61

After the events of Columbine, certain video games came under heavy criticism for their violent content, especially the use of guns. The perpetrators spent hours playing the specific games as "practice." If the criticism is true and video games played a role, which learning ability would explain what the shooters where doing by playing the video game?

A) transfer specificity
B) learning set formation
C) identical elements theory
D) motor program

Question 62

Which stage of Fitts's three-stage model would act in using written instructions to set up a tent?

A) cognitive
B) associative
C) autonomous
D) acquisition

Question 63

If Madeleine wants to learn two very simple perceptual-motor skills MOST effectively, she should practice:

A) them on separate days.
B) both on the same day and then get a good night's sleep.
C) one skill on the first day, then review that same skill on the second day before practicing the other skill.
D) both skills on the first day, then practice only the second skill on the second day.

Question 64

A person's genetically endowed ability to perform a skill better than most is known as a gift or a(n):

A) task.
B) expertise.
C) habit.
D) talent.

Question 65

The acquisition of the ability to learn a new task rapidly based on frequent experiences with a similar task is known as:

A) motor program.
B) transfer specificity.
C) identical elements theory.
D) learning set formation.

Question 66

According to Thorndike's identical elements theory, if one learns to swim in an indoor pool, one will swim the BEST in:

A) an indoor pool.
B) an outdoor pool.
C) a small lake.
D) the ocean.

Question 67

It is difficult to study the forgetting of perceptual-motor skills because:

A) once a skill is learned, it is never forgotten.
B) if a person cannot perform a skill, it usually means she has forgotten it.
C) without practice, the ability to perform a skill tends to deteriorate.
D) it is difficult to distinguish forgetting of the skill from impairment in motor control.

Question 68

Which statement is TRUE regarding the forgetting of skills?

A) Forgetting is rapid at first and then slows down.
B) Forgetting is slow at first and gradually speeds up.
C) Once a person learns a skill, the person does not forget it.
D) If one is physically unable to perform a skill once knew, it means that one has forgotten how to do it.

Question 69

Which stage of Fitts's three-stage model would act in setting up a tent while carrying on a discussion about politics?

A) cognitive
B) associative
C) autonomous
D) acquisition

Question 70

Which statement is TRUE regarding expert performance?

A) Compared with chess masters, amateur chess players move their eyes more rapidly to focus on a small number of locations on the board.
B) Amateur chess players focus more on empty squares than chess masters do.
C) Compared with inexperienced soccer players, expert players are more likely to watch the player who has the ball.
D) Expert basketball players are good at predicting the outcome of a shot based on the movements of the player who has the ball before he releases his shot.

Question 71

Thorndike's identical elements theory provides a good explanation for:

A) apraxia.
B) motor programs.
C) skill decay.
D) transfer specificity.

Question 72

Research on twins' performance on the rotary pursuit task has shown that as training progressed:

A) identical twins' performance became more dissimilar.
B) fraternal twins' performance became more dissimilar.
C) fraternal twins' performance became more similar.
D) identical twins' performance did not change.

Question 73

Research on talent and expertise suggests that:

A) practice alone determines who will become an expert.
B) it is easy to determine how much practice an individual will need in order to become an expert.
C) people need to born with talent in order to become experts.
D) the total amount of practice is an important variable in determining whether a person will become an expert.

Question 74

The results of studies on twins' performance on the rotary pursuit task suggest that practice:

A) decreases the effects of prior experience.
B) increases the effects of prior experience.
C) decreases the effects of genetic influences.
D) has no impact on the effects of genetic influences.

Question 75

The restricted applicability of some learned skills to specific situations is known as:

A) implicit learning.
B) skill decay.
C) a motor program.
D) transfer specificity.

Question 76

What has been found regarding the impact of sleep on people's ability to perform a sequenced finger-tapping task?

A) Practicing two skills on the same day can interfere with retention of the second skill practiced.
B) Practicing two skills on the same day can interfere with retention of the first skill practiced.
C) Reviewing a recently learned skill before beginning to practice a new one can interfere with retention of the new skill.
D) Reviewing a recently learned skill before beginning to practice a new one can interfere with retention of both skills.

Question 77

In 2005, Harvard University president Larry Summers provoked controversy by suggesting that:

A) women have a high aptitude in the area of engineering.
B) men have a high aptitude in the area of engineering.
C) men and women have equal aptitude in the area of engineering.
D) aptitude doesn't play a role in engineering, regardless of whether one is a man or a woman.

Question 78

Researchers studying expertise sometimes focus on the abilities of professionals (athletes, chess masters, etc.) because:

A) the researchers have a great deal of control over the environmental variables affecting such people.
B) the performance of professionals is usually easy to quantify.
C) these areas only require cognitive skills, which are the most interesting to researchers.
D) professionals all have roughly the same level of expertise, which eliminates variability in the data.

Question 79

Ryan once learned to play a piano piece very well. After years of not playing the piece, he found he could no longer play it nearly as well as he originally could. Ryan is experiencing:

A) apraxia.
B) variable practice.
C) skill decay.
D) the power law of learning.

Question 80

Thorndike proposed that learned abilities transfer to new situations to an extent that depends on the number of elements in the new situation. This is referred to as:

A) transfer specificity.
B) learning set formation.
C) motor program.
D) identical elements theory.