Weston is working on a science project and wants to make his papier-mâché volcano “erupt.”
Multiple Choice Questions (Enter your answers on the enclosed answer sheet)
- Weston is working on a science project and wants to make his papier-mâché volcano “erupt.”
He remembers that when his mother combined vinegar and baking soda while following a
recipe, the batter foamed up as she added the vinegar. So he tries mixing vinegar and baking
soda in his volcano and the mixture bubbles. Weston is showing _ transfer.
a. negative
b. general
c. specific
d. intuitive - Mary is majoring in drama. Mary’s parents want her to study advanced mathematics as a way
of strengthening her mind; with a stronger mind, they argue, she will be able to learn her lines
more easily when she is rehearsing for a play. Based on their reasoning, which one of the
following perspectives of transfer do Mary’s parents hold?
a. formal discipline
b. specific transfer
c. situated cognition
d. information processing - Which one of the following recommendations is consistent with current beliefs about transfer?
a. “Study German so you’ll have an easier time learning Japanese next year.”
b. “Studying calculus will help you think more abstractly about the various subjects you
will study in college.”
c. “Take computer programming to help you develop your analytical thinking skills.”
d. “Use your knowledge of algebra to solve this chemistry equation.” - Considering the textbook’s views on general transfer, which one of the following is most likely to
transfer across very different situations?
a. the ability to remember complex ideas
b. the ability to take good notes on a lecture
c. the ability to memorize a poem
d. the ability to be creative
Unit 3 Examination
133
PSY 430 Educational Psychology - Three of the following are accurate statements about factors that affect transfer. Which
statement is inaccurate?
a. Students are more likely to transfer what they have learned when they see it as
“belonging” to a particular academic subject area.
b. Students are more likely to transfer what they have learned when they have studied it
for a lengthy period of time.
c. Students are more likely to transfer what they have learned when they have learned it in
a meaningful, rather than rote, fashion.
d. Students are more likely to transfer what they have learned when they have learned
general principles rather than specific facts. - In which one of the following situations are we most likely to find transfer from one learning task
to the other?
a. Brianne learns how to plant corn and then learns how to prune a hedge.
b. Alice learns how to add two-digit numbers and then studies how to add three-digit
numbers.
c. Devlin learns how to play softball and then learns how to play a card game.
d. Cathy learns early British history and then learns early Japanese history. - A police officer visits Ms. Duhaime’s first-grade class one morning to talk about safety
precautions at home and on the street. The students listen quietly and attentively while the
officer speaks. At the end of the visit, the officer and teacher agree that the students’ good
behavior warrants some kind of reinforcement. Given what we know about effective reinforcers
at different grade levels, their best choice would be:
a. a letter home to parents describing the children’s good behavior.
b. plastic toy police “badges” awarded by the officer.
c. an official-looking “good behavior” certificate given at the school’s award ceremony the
following week.
d. twenty minutes of free time at the end of the day. - If you wanted to encourage kindergartners to delay gratification, you would be most likely to:
a. occasionally remind them that they will get a bigger reward by waiting a couple of hours.
b. tell them that how well they behave at the end of the day is what really counts.
c. talk about how their learning efforts today will pay off in the years to come.
d. ask them to focus on how good it feels to do something nice for a classmate. - Alex loses his best friend, Tyler, after he tattles on Tyler at recess. Alex learns that tattling on
friends is not a good idea. The loss of Tyler’s friendship is an example of:
a. removal punishment.
b. negative reinforcement.
c. presentation punishment.
d. positive reinforcement.
Unit 3 Examination
134
PSY 430 Educational Psychology - Linda wears bell-bottom pants to school and her classmates tease her about them. As soon as
she gets home, Linda throws the pants in the trash. Linda’s being teased is an example of:
a. negative reinforcement.
b. reinforcement of an incompatible behavior.
c. removal punishment.
d. presentation punishment. - Only one of the following consequences has been shown to be an effective and appropriate
punishment for most students. Which one is it?
a. suspension from school
b. scolding
c. embarrassment in front of classmates
d. extra homework - When Rochelle has an on-the-road lesson as part of her driver education class, she fails to
stop at a school crossing zone, as is required by law. Her instructor has her drive around
the block several times and stop each time at the crossing zone. He also insists that, once
she has stopped, she must wait at least eight seconds before proceeding. The instructor’s
strategy illustrates the use of __ as a way of changing her behavior.
a. response cost
b. a logical consequence
c. intermittent reinforcement
d. positive-practice overcorrection - Considering what we know about the kinds of models people are likely to imitate, we can guess
that the girls in our classes will be least likely to imitate:
a. Brianne, head majorette in the school band.
b. Anita, a skillful auto mechanic.
c. Darla, a graceful dancer.
d. Claudia, the most popular girl in school. - From the perspective of social cognitive theory, why might inner-city African American students
learn more from an African American model who grew up in a ghetto than from a model of a
different race or background?
a. because the students will view the African American model’s behavior as being
applicable to their own situation
b. because the students are more likely to realize that the African American model has
prestige
c. because the African American model is more likely to behave in a gender-appropriate
manner
d. because the students are more likely to perceive the African American model as being
competent
Unit 3 Examination
135
PSY 430 Educational Psychology - Social cognitive theorists propose that three of the following are essential for students to learn
successfully from models. Which one is not essential?
a. attention to the model
b. reinforcement for good performance
c. motivation to perform the behavior
d. memory of the observed behavior - Only one of the following definitely illustrates high self-efficacy. Which one is the best example
of self-efficacy?
a. Carmen enjoys being with her friends.
b. Bryn swims the fastest butterfly on the swim team.
c. Amy recently got a score of 120 on an intelligence test.
d. Danielle knows she is a good singer. - In what way does self-efficacy differ from the term self-concept?
a. Self-efficacy results primarily from vicarious reinforcement and punishment.
b. Self-efficacy varies depending on the specific task to be performed.
c. Self-efficacy refers only to behaviors that people learn through modeling.
d. Self-efficacy appears only after people begin to regulate their own behavior. - Jim has a high sense of self-efficacy regarding his ability to work with wood. Based on this
information, we would predict three of the following from social cognitive theory. Which one of
the following would we not necessarily predict?
a. Jim will be a bit careless when he works with wood, so he will often make silly little
mistakes.
b. Jim will frequently choose activities that involve working with wood.
c. Compared to Joe, who has low self-efficacy, Jim will do a better job at woodworking
tasks.
d. If Jim has difficulty at a task requiring his woodworking skills, he will tend to “try, try
again” until he gets it right. - Identify the student who appears to have a mastery goal rather than a performance goal.
a. When Abby gets a new assignment, she likes to set it aside for a day or so before she
actually begins to work on it.
b. When given the choice between taking an easy class or a more challenging one, Dana
chooses the challenging one.
c. Bonnie is a perfectionist who gets upset when her test performance is anything but A+.
d. Cora is easily distracted by the many stimuli competing for her attention in the
classroom.
Unit 3 Examination
136
PSY 430 Educational Psychology - Which one of the following students clearly has a mastery goal rather than a performance goal?
a. Alice stays away from science courses because she’s never done very well in science.
b. Dinah doesn’t worry about making mistakes as long as she knows she’s making progress.
c. Boris wants the recognition that being a star football player will bring him.
d. Cal is relieved to learn he passed his English composition course. - Three of the following strategies should promote productive achievement goals. Which strategy
is not recommended?
a. Encourage students to focus on long-term rather than short-term goals.
b. Commend students for truly understanding material rather than just memorizing it.
c. Encourage students to rely on one another for occasional academic assistance and
support.
d. Show students how the things they learn in class are relevant to their present and future
needs. - Which one of the following students most clearly has a work-avoidance goal?
a. Loni is so active in student government that she often doesn’t have time to get her
homework done.
b. Chris asks for his teacher’s help on something he is perfectly capable of doing on his
own.
c. Frederick stayed up so late last night watching television that he can hardly stay awake
in class.
d. Nancy wonders why she has to work harder than her friends to get the same grades they
do. - Three of the following statements accurately describe the diversity we are likely to see in
students’ career goals. Which statement is not accurate?
a. Students’ career choices are to some extent dependent on the values they assign to
various professions.
b. Many young children reach relatively stable decisions about which career they want to
pursue; adolescents change their minds fairly frequently.
c. Despite more open-mindedness about career options in recent years, many students
continue to aspire to careers that are stereotypically “for” their own gender.
d. Many children and adolescents from low-income neighborhoods express interest in
becoming well-educated professionals (e.g., doctors, lawyers, teachers).
Unit 3 Examination
137
PSY 430 Educational Psychology - Which one of the following is the best example of a student attributing success to internal
factors?
a. Sue Ellen has just gotten a good grade on her geography test. She is proud that she did
so well and glad that she studied hard.
b. Polly’s teacher has just told her that she will be the group leader for her reading group
next quarter. Polly is glad her teacher is in a good mood today.
c. Renata has just gotten a good grade on her math test and she is glad that her mother
got her a math tutor.
d. Nita has just gotten an A on her final exam in world history and is feeling very grateful
to the teacher for her good grade. - 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. Duncan said he did well on the test because he studied hard.
b. Joe said he studied hard, but he failed because he is just not good in geology.
c. Jane said she failed the test because it was too difficult.
d. Emily said she did well on her test because she is smart in science.
