Learning Theories & Psychology Flashcards

A GED instructor notices that students who struggle with fraction operations also tend to struggle with algebraic ratio problems, even after mastering each skill in isolation. Which theoretical explanation best accounts for this phenomenon?

Answer: Schema rigidity resulting from over-reliance on procedural rather than declarative memory encoding

When students encode procedures without understanding underlying concepts (declarative knowledge), they form rigid schemas that don't flexibly adapt to new contexts. Ratio problems require conceptual flexibility—recognizing that fractions and ratios share relational structure. Schema rigidity from purely procedural encoding prevents this analogical transfer. The other options describe real phenomena but don't best account for failure across both isolated mastery and novel application simultaneously.

According to Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, which instructional scenario most precisely targets the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) rather than simply providing scaffolding?

Answer: A teacher pairs a student who cannot yet write a thesis with a peer who guides them through the reasoning process collaboratively

The ZPD specifically describes tasks a learner cannot accomplish alone but can accomplish with social interaction and guidance from a more capable other. Peer collaboration where the more capable student leads the struggling student through active reasoning is the purest expression of ZPD. Sentence starters and graphic organizers are scaffolding tools that modify the task itself; reducing word count lowers the demand ceiling. Only collaborative interaction with a more capable peer directly activates the social-cognitive mechanism Vygotsky described.

A GED student repeatedly fails timed math tests but performs adequately on untimed practice. The student reports feeling 'blank' during tests. A teacher applying Yerkes-Dodson Law would most accurately interpret this as:

Answer: Arousal level during timed tests exceeding the optimal threshold for a cognitively complex task

Yerkes-Dodson Law holds that performance follows an inverted-U curve relative to arousal, and crucially, the optimal arousal level is lower for complex tasks than simple ones. High-stakes timed math—a cognitively demanding task—requires moderate arousal; the anxiety generated by timed conditions pushes arousal past the optimal point, degrading performance. State-dependent memory and 'choking' (Beilock's explicit monitoring hypothesis) are legitimate constructs but are different theoretical frameworks. The Yerkes-Dodson interpretation centers on arousal level relative to task complexity.

Which of the following best illustrates the distinction between Piaget's concept of 'assimilation' and 'accommodation' in an adult GED learner?

Answer: A student learns that 'interest' in banking means money earned, just as 'interest' in conversation means attention—assimilation; later revising this when learning compound interest requires a new formula—accommodation

Assimilation is incorporating new information into an existing schema without changing the schema; accommodation is modifying the schema when new information cannot fit existing structures. In option A, the student first assimilates 'interest' (banking) into the existing schema of 'interest' (attention)—same word, same schema. When compound interest demands a fundamentally different conceptual structure (formula-based calculation), the student must accommodate—restructuring their schema. Options B–D conflate assimilation/accommodation with memorization strategies or study behaviors, which are not what Piaget's terms describe.

A GED instructor wants to reduce stereotype threat among female students in a math-intensive unit. Research by Steele and Aronson suggests the MOST effective intervention would be:

Answer: Having students write about an important personal value unrelated to academics before the assessment

Self-affirmation interventions—having students write about a personally important value—are among the most empirically validated strategies for reducing stereotype threat. This works by broadening students' self-concept so their identity is not solely dependent on performance in the stereotyped domain, reducing the psychological stakes. Removing demographic questions (option B) has shown modest effects but is less powerful than self-affirmation. Public praise (option A) can actually backfire by reinforcing performance-contingent identity. Gender-homogeneous grouping (option D) is not supported by stereotype threat research as an effective intervention.

In Bandura's Social Learning Theory, 'reciprocal determinism' is best demonstrated by which classroom scenario?

Answer: A student's disruptive behavior leads the teacher to use stricter rules, which increases the student's resentment and further disruptive behavior, which escalates teacher strictness

Reciprocal determinism is Bandura's model in which behavior, personal/cognitive factors, and environment continuously influence each other bidirectionally—none is the singular cause. Option C is the clearest demonstration: the student's behavior (disruption) affects the environment (teacher strictness), the changed environment affects the student's cognition/emotion (resentment), which then affects behavior (more disruption), which loops back to environment. This three-way dynamic loop—not a simple cause-effect chain—is what 'reciprocal determinism' specifically names. Option A describes modeling and self-efficacy; option B describes a two-way expectation loop; option D is operant conditioning.