Question 1

As his teacher reads a story,Wesley pictures the main characters the way he thinks they must look. By forming visual images based on the verbal descriptions his teacher reads,Wesley is ________ those descriptions.

Accepted Answer

A) using verbal mediation to learn 
B) organizing 
C) retrieving 
D) encoding

Question 2

The textbook suggests that students often engage in rote learning rather than meaningful learning of school subject matter because:

Accepted Answer

A) It is human nature to do so unless taught otherwise. 
B) Rote learning is more effective than meaningful learning for children younger than age 10. 
C) Information learned at a rote level is stored in working memory more quickly. 
D) Classroom assessment practices often encourage it.

Question 3

The fact that it is difficult to think about too many things all at the same time,such as watching a YouTube video and studying for a test,reflects:

Accepted Answer

A) The nature of the sensory register. 
B) The concrete nature of visual imagery. 
C) The constructive nature of long-term memory. 
D) The limited capacity of working memory.

Question 4

As Jane reads about General Custer's last stand,she pictures him as he must have looked,with long blonde hair and a full mustache,riding tall and proud on the open plain just before he was attacked. Considering what psychologists have learned about the effectiveness of visual imagery,we can predict that Jane will:

Accepted Answer

A) Get confused by the vividness of her visual image. 
B) Remember the information better than she might otherwise. 
C) Store the information in her working memory rather than in her long-term memory. 
D) Remember her image without any loss of detail for a year or longer.

Question 5

Only one of the following teaching practices is consistent with what we know about working memory. Which one?

Accepted Answer

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 try to focus on main ideas rather than try to remember every detail. 
C) Ms. Constas suggests that students in her Russian class listen to Russian audiotapes while they sleep. 
D) Mr. Dominowski urges his students to put information for tomorrow's test in their "short-term memories."

Question 6

Ms. Iwata has a long-term goal for her science students: to consider what they have learned about science as they deal with issues and problems in their daily lives. What teaching strategy will best help her students retrieve relevant scientific principles when they need them the most?

Accepted Answer

A) Make sure that students study those principles in a no-anxiety situation. 
B) Associate those principles with as many real-life situations as possible. 
C) Maximize the use of concrete materials,and minimize the use of abstract ideas. 
D) Maximize the use of abstract ideas,and minimize the use of concrete materials.

Question 7

Which one of the following examples illustrates conceptual change?

Accepted Answer

A) As a Boy Scout,Andy has learned how to cook a wide variety of foods over an open fire. 
B) Brad misinterprets the scientific explanation of fire to fit what he believes: that fire is an object with substance and weight. 
C) Charlotte used to think that fire was an actual substance,but now she knows it's a chemical change. 
D) Danielle wasn't aware of how much damage fire could really do until the house next door burned down.

Question 8

Which one of the following statements best characterizes the duration of the sensory register?

Accepted Answer

A) Information can last indefinitely in the sensory register if the visual or auditory image is periodically retrieved. 
B) Meaningless information fades quickly,but meaningful information may remain for hours. 
C) Visual information lasts less than a second,with auditory information lasting a bit longer. 
D) Information remains for about 10 seconds regardless of its nature.

Question 9

Which one of the following statements best describes sociocultural theory?

Accepted Answer

A) Children learn more effectively when they study material that is consistent with their preexisting beliefs about the world. 
B) What children learn depends on the particular cultural context in which they grow up. 
C) Children learn most effectively when the environment nurtures their social and emotional needs. 
D) Children learn much more from their peers than they do from adults.

Question 10

Which one of the following teaching strategies best illustrates many educational psychologists' belief that,in some situations,less is more?

Accepted Answer

A) Provide a general overview of a topic before discussing it in depth. 
B) Present general ideas about a topic but minimize the use of supporting details. 
C) Teach fewer topics,but teach each one more thoroughly. 
D) Teach classroom material in short intervals of time,with lessons typically lasting 30 minutes at the most.

Question 11

Jay knows what a "smart phone" (such as an iPhone)is and knows how to send a text message. The difference between these two kinds of knowledge can best be characterized as a difference between:

Accepted Answer

A) Declarative knowledge vs. procedural knowledge. 
B) Visual imagery vs. elaboration. 
C) Rehearsal vs. organization. 
D) Long-term memory vs. working memory.

Question 12

Which of the following is not consistent with brain research?

Accepted Answer

A) Teachers should challenge students to think nonstop throughout the day so that they don't have any time for "mental relaxation." 
B) Physical exercise has been shown to enhance the functioning of the central executive. 
C) Sleep is important to learning because students consolidate new memories while they are sleeping. 
D) Physical exercise is beneficial to the health of the brain.

Question 13

Successful retrieval of information from long-term memory depends on three of the following factors. On which one does retrieval not depend?

Accepted Answer

A) The part of long-term memory being searched 
B) How the information was stored in the first place 
C) The duration of a learner's working memory 
D) The presence of relevant retrieval cues

Question 14

As Chalonte reads her science textbook,she encounters the word ecology for the first time and uses the context to figure out what the word means. Given what we know about how the brain functions,we could reasonably assume that most of her mental "work" is being done:

Accepted Answer

A) In her right hemisphere. 
B) In many parts of her brain. 
C) In the occipital lobes,located at the back of her brain. 
D) In a part of the cortex known as Wernicke's area,above the left ear.

Question 15

Four students are storing this fact: "Europeans first settled at St. Augustine,Florida,in 1565." Based on the following information,which student is probably going to have the most difficult time retrieving the information from long-term memory a few days later?

Accepted Answer

A) Alexander repeats the fact to himself 10 times in a row. 
B) Blondie once visited the fortress there and recalls that it was several hundred years old. 
C) Cookie realizes that 1565 was more than four hundred years ago. 
D) Dagwood realizes that the Spanish settled in St. Augustine,Florida,before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth.

Question 16

The textbook recommends a number of strategies for increasing students' attention in the classroom. Which one of the following alternatives,while possibly beneficial for other reasons,is not necessarily recommended as a strategy for increasing attention?

Accepted Answer

A) Follow a predictable routine every day. 
B) Vary classroom presentation methods. 
C) Encourage note taking. 
D) Provide concrete manipulatives with which students can discover some ideas for themselves.

Question 17

A language arts teacher teaches her students the parts of speech (nouns,verbs,adjectives,etc.)and wants her students to continue to remember them as they study English and foreign languages in the years to come. Considering the factors affecting retrieval of information from long-term memory,choose the strategy below that should maximize the likelihood that students will remember the different parts of speech over the long run.

Accepted Answer

A) Have students study them early in the school year and periodically review them in various contexts throughout the year. 
B) Have students study them intensely for a month,and then stay away from any discussion of them for the rest of the school year. 
C) Have students study each part of speech separately,perhaps a different one each month. 
D) Have students memorize definitions of each part of speech until they can recite the definitions word for word.

Question 18

To remember that the capital of the state of Washington is Olympia,Bart forms a mental image of George Washington running a race in the Olympics. Bart's technique illustrates:

Accepted Answer

A) The keyword method. 
B) Verbal mediation. 
C) A superimposed meaningful structure. 
D) Reconstructive retrieval.

Question 19

Which one of the following strategies is most likely to encourage students to correct their existing misconceptions?

Accepted Answer

A) Give students as much information about a topic as possible. 
B) Show students how new information contradicts what they presently believe. 
C) Point out that "smart" students don't misunderstand classroom topics. 
D) Encourage students to take extensive notes on their reading assignments.

Question 20

Social cognitive theory can best be characterized as being concerned with learning:

Accepted Answer

A) Communication skills. 
B) Socially appropriate behaviors. 
C) Through observations of others. 
D) From a sociological rather than psychological perspective.

Exam 2: Learning, cognition, and Memory