Exam 2

Question 1

1. What is constructivism? Describe the two types of constructivism.

Answer 1

Paradigm in psychology that characterized learning as a process of actively constructing knowledge.

• Individual – a person constructs knowledge by using cognitive processes to gain knowledge from experience rather than by memorizing facts provided by others.
• Social – individuals construct knowledge though an interaction between the knowledge they bring to a situation and social/cultural exchanges.

Question 2

2. Define disequilibrium. Why does disequilibrium matter? Do we want disequilibrium?

Answer 2

• A discrepancy between their existing way of knowing and the new experiences. Matters because it motivates them to explore and to reach a conclusion that restores balance in their cognitive system. YES

Question 3

3. Name and describe the four stages in Piaget’s theory of development.

Answer 3

-	Sensorimotor 
o	Acquiring a capacity for internalized thinking is the central goal.
o	Object Permanence 
-	Pre-operational 
o	 children develop semiotic functions
	An ability to represent an object or action with signs and symbols.
o	Egocentrism 
o	Centration
o	Identity Constancy 
o	Lack of conversation 

-	Concrete operational 
o	Children form mental representations that accurately reflect possible actions and events in the physical world. 
o	Perspective-taking
o	Conversation
o	Reverse operations
o	Multiple classification
-	Formal operational 
o	 Achieved a characteristic way of thinking that allows them to solve many physical, logical, and mathematical problems. 
o	Hypothetically 
o	Abstractly

Question 4

4. What is scaffolding? What must be involved for scaffolding to be effective?

Answer 4

• Temporary social support to help children accomplish a task.
• To be effective adults must match their communication and support to the learner’s needs and current cognitive level.

Question 5

5. Describe Vygotsky’s theory of development,

Answer 5

• Vygotsky argued that cognitive development results from a complex interaction between heredity and environment.
  1. Biological maturation – not emphasized
  2. Environment – cultural influences
  3. Social experiences within culture

Question 6

explain the difference(s) between Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories of development.

Answer 6

Piaget – Development precedes learning. Stages place constraints on what and how much a child can learn.
Vygotsky – Learning pulls development to higher levels.

Question 7

6. Explain the information-processing approach to cognitive development and describe its three essential features.

Answer 7

• Encompasses a variety of specific theories about the process of human cognition.
  Sensory Memory, Working Memory, Long Term Memory.

Question 8

Sensory MEmory

Answer 8

o	Unlimited capacity 
o	RAW data – uninterpreted form 
o	LIMITED duration 
	 Visual (ironic) – 1 second 
	Auditory (echoic) – 2-3 seconds
o	Criteria that humans use to determine how much to attend to certain stimuli: 
1. Size 
2. Intensity 
3. Novelty 
4. Incongruity
5. Emotion 
6. Personal significance

Question 9

Working Memory

Answer 9

o Processes information from sensory memory
o Retrieval from LTM
o Holds 5-9 bits of information
 Recent research focus: time to rehearse

Question 10

Long Term Memory

Answer 10

• Long Term Memory
  o Unlimited amounts of information
  o To store, takes effort and time
  o To retrieve, takes effort and time
  o Explicit
   Refers to all the information we are consciously aware of and use. Math or grammar rules.
  o Implicit
   Not aware, may involve conditioned responses, routines, triggering of related concepts.
• Four types of long term
  o Episodic – memory of a certain episode or event that you have experience, sometimes referred to as autobiographical memory.
  o Declarative – or semantic knowledge, is a compilation of verbal information or facts
  o Procedural – knowing how to do something, is a compilation of all the sills and habits you have formed.
  o Conceptual – indicates why something is the case. Reflects understanding.

Question 11

7. Define encoding and explain the two types of encoding processes. How are these two encoding processes different?

Answer 11

• Process in which we modify or reformat information to prepare it for long-term storage.
  o Automatic – happens automatically, like a habit.
  o Effortful – Conscious effort and attention.

Question 12

Assimilation VS accommodation

Answer 12

Assimilation- involves integrating new information or a new experience into existing cognitive structure
Accommodation – involves any modification of an existing scheme or formation of a new cognitive structure when it is not possible to fit information into an existing structure.

Question 13

Metacognition Chart

Answer 13

Knowledge - Content, Task, Strategies

Regulation- Planning, Monitioring, evaluation.

Question 14

10. What types of things affect a person’s ability to engage in metacognition

Answer 14

• Neurological impairments
• Environment ◦
  o Family experience
• Individuals characteristics
  o ◦ Belief about the nature of the task
  o ◦ Motivations
  o ◦ Prior knowledge of the topic
  o ◦ Prior success using metacognitive skills

Question 15

11. With your working memory, you retain information by using two types of rehearsal strategies. What are they and what is the difference between the two strategies?

Answer 15

Maintenance – repeating information over and over so it can be maintained indefinitely.
Elaborative – connecting new information you are trying to remember to prior knowledge.

Question 16

12. “Forgetting” is a function of not being able to retrieve memories from the long-term memory. Describe three reasons for “forgetting” and what they mean.

Answer 16

• Encoding failure
  o Failure to encode the information successfully means that it may never have reached long-term memory storage.
• Storage decay
  o Memory for new information fades quickly and then levels off.
• Retrieval failure
  o We are certain we have learned a piece of information but cannot pull up the mental record of it.

Question 17

13. Within the context of metacognition, we talked about children’s theory of mind. Describe the four characteristics of theory of mind.

Answer 17

1. False beliefs
   a. The understanding that a belief is only one of many mental representations, which can be false or accurate.
2. Appearance reality distinctions
   a. A person’s ability to understand that something may look one way but actually be something else.
3. Visual perspective taking
   a. Understanding that views of physical objects digger based on one’s perspective.
4. Introspection
   a. Children’s awareness and understanding of their own thoughts.

Question 18

14. Define transfer and explain why transfer matters. What are the three different types of transfer?

Answer 18

• The influence of prior knowledge, skills, strategies, or principles on new learning.
  o Positive – previous leaning facilitates learning on new tasks.
  o Negative – previous learning hinders learning on new tasks.
  o Zero – previous learning has no effect on the performance of a new task.

Question 19

15. What is the difference between higher- and lower-order thinking?

Answer 19

Higher order – involves complex cognitive processes that transform and apply our knowledge, skills and ideas.

• Productive behavior
• Integrating past experiences
• Challenges student to interpret, analyze, or otherwise manipulate information
• Manipulating information
• Analysis, synthesis, and evaluation

Lower order – reproducing a behavior previously observed or practiced. Reproductive behavior

• Repeating past experiences
• Routine or mechanical application of previously acquired information
• Recalling information
• Knowledge, comprehension, and application

Question 20

16. Explain adolescent egocentrism.

Answer 20

Difficulty differentiating between one’s own thoughts and the thoughts of others.

Imaginary audience – imagines of believes that she is the focus of attention in social settings due to a lack of differentiation between self and others’ thoughts.
Personal fable – mistakenly believe that they are unique, such that no one else can understand the difficult they might have in studying or receiving good grades.

Question 21

17. What is a thinking disposition? Provide at least four examples of different thinking dispositions

Answer 21

truth-seeking—a desire to understand clearly, to seek connections and explanations;
■ open-mindedness—the tendency to explore alternative views, to generate multiple options;
■ analytical thinking—the urge for precision, organization, thoroughness, and accuracy;
■ systematic planning—the drive to set goals, to make and execute plans, and to envision outcomes;
■ intellectual curiosity—the tendency to wonder, probe, and identify problems; a zest for inquiry;
■ confidence in the use of reasons and evidence—the tendency to question assumptions, to demand justification, and to weigh and assess reasons; and
■ metacognition—the tendency to be aware of and to monitor the flow of one’s own thinking and the ability to exercise mature judgment.

Question 22

18. Define critical thinking

Answer 22

Evaluate the accuracy and worth of information
Internal motivation to decide what to believe and/or what to do
Reflect, explore, and analyze.

Question 23

19. What is the difference between an ill-defined problem and a well-defined problem?

Answer 23

Well-defined problem
◦ Goal is clearly stated
◦ All the information needed to solve the problem is available
◦ Only one correct answer exists

Ill-defined problem
◦ Desired goal may be unclear,
◦ Information needed to solve problem is missing, and/or
◦ Several possible solutions exist (“more than 1 right answer”)

Question 24

20. With our conversation of critical thinking and problem solving, we discussed the meaning of algorithms and heuristics. What are the differences between these two concepts?

Answer 24

Algorithm = “formula”
◦ A prescribed sequence of steps for achieving a goal
◦ Solution is clearly achievable IF you follow the steps
◦ Lead to accurate answers

Heuristic = “rule of thumb”
◦ Problem-solving without a formula
◦ A general problem-solving strategy that might lead to a right answer or a solution that is usually reasonable close to the best possible answer
◦ Lead to approximations

Question 25

21. Describe three types of heuristics.

Answer 25

Means-end analysis
- Main problem solving goal is divided into sub-goals.
Working-backward strategy
- Systematic approach in which you start with the final goal and think backward to identify the steps necessary to reach that goal
Analogical thinking
- Limits the search for solutions to situations that are most similar to the one at hand.