Cognitivism

Question 1

Basic assumptions in cognitive theories of learning 1: Some learning processes may be ____________.

Answer 1

unique to human beings.

Question 2

Basic assumptions in cognitive theories of learning 2: Learning involves the formation of ______ or ___ that aren’t necessarily reflected in _________ .

Answer 2

mental representations; associations; overt behavior changes.

Question 3

Basic assumptions in cognitive theories of learning 3: People are actively ____________ learning.

Answer 3

involved in their own.

Question 4

Basic assumptions in cognitive theories of learning 4: ___ is organized.

Answer 4

Knowledge.

Question 5

Basic assumptions in cognitive theories of learning 5: The focus of scientific inquiry must be on ___, ___ observation of people’s behavior, but behaviors often ___ reasonable ___ about unobserved ______.

Answer 5

objective; systematic; allow; inferences; mental processes.

Question 6

When did Gestalt psychology emerge?

Answer 6

Early decades of the 20th century.

Question 7

Gestalt psychology emphasizes the importance of ___ processes in ___, learning, and ______.

Answer 7

organized; perception; problem-solving.

Question 8

Basic ideas emerged from Gestalt psychology 1: ___ is often different from reality.

Answer 8

perception

Question 9

Basic ideas emerged from Gestalt psychology 2: The ___ is more than the ____________.

Answer 9

whole; sum of its parts.

Question 10

Basic ideas emerged from Gestalt psychology 3: People are ___ to ___ experiences and do so in ___ ways.

Answer 10

predisposed; organize; predictable.

Question 11

What is the law of proximity?

Answer 11

People tend to perceive as a unit those things that are close together in space.

Question 12

What is the law of similarity?

Answer 12

People tend to perceive as a unit those things that physically resemble one another.

Question 13

What is the law of closures?

Answer 13

People tend to fill in missing pieces to form a complete picture.

Question 14

The law of Prägnanz: People always ___ their experiences as ___, concisely, symmetrically, and ___ as possible.

Answer 14

organize; simply; completely.

Question 15

Which law in Gestalt psychology does the “KISS” (Keep it simple, stupid!) principle imply?

Answer 15

The law of Prägnanz.

Question 16

Gestalt psychologists proposed that learning involves formation of ______, and they are subject to the _________.

Answer 16

memory traces; law of Prägnanz.

Question 17

In a study conducted by Tversky (1981), people studied maps and then drew from their memory. In reproductions of the maps, curvy, irregular lines were straightened. Likewise, people remember irregular shaped objects as “circles” or “squares”. Such phenomena indicate that __________________.

Answer 17

learning follows the law of Prägnanz.

Question 18

When was the active period of verbal learning research?

Answer 18

From the late 1920s to the early 1970s.

Question 19

What were the two learning tasks central to verbal learning research?

Answer 19

Serial learning ( learning a set of items in a particular sequence, e.g. learning the alphabet, the days of the week) and paired-associate learning ( learning pairs of items, e.g., learning foreign languages, capitals of countries).

Question 20

General principles emerge from verbal learning research 1: serial learning is characterized by a particular pattern, that is people learn the ___ few items and the ___ few items more easily and quickly than the ___ items.

Answer 20

first; last; middle.

Question 21

General principles emerge from verbal learning research 2: ___ material can be more easily recalled later on.

Answer 21

overlearned.

Question 22

General principles emerge from verbal learning research 3: ___ practice is usually more effective than ___ practice.

Answer 22

distributed; massed.

Question 23

What is the primacy effect?

Answer 23

The tendency for the first few items in a serial learning curve to be learned and remembered easily.

Question 24

What is retroactive inhibition?

Answer 24

The learning of new material diminishes/impairs one’s ability to recall previously learned material, especially when the two sets of material are similar.

Question 25

What is proactive facilitation?

Answer 25

The learning of previous material improves one’s ability to learn new material, especially when the two sets of material have identical stimuli and similar responses as well.

Question 26

What is the recency effect?

Answer 26

The tendency for the last few items in a serial learning curve to be learned and remembered easily.