Learning Theories & Psychology Flashcards

A GED instructor notices that students who study in the same room where they will take their exam consistently outperform students who study elsewhere. Which memory phenomenon best explains this effect?

Answer: Context-dependent memory retrieval

Context-dependent memory retrieval (a principle within Tulving's Encoding Specificity Principle) holds that memory is strongest when the retrieval environment matches the encoding environment. The physical context of the room serves as an external cue that re-activates the same neural pathways used during learning. State-dependent memory refers to internal physiological or emotional states, not physical surroundings.

According to Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, what is the primary mechanism by which private speech (self-talk) in adult learners transitions into effective self-regulation?

Answer: It is gradually internalized into inner speech, which then guides thought without vocalization

Vygotsky argued that private speech — initially external and audible — is progressively internalized to become silent inner speech. This inner speech serves as a self-regulatory tool, allowing learners to plan, monitor, and guide their own cognitive activity. The other options either conflate this with unrelated neuroscience constructs or memory-systems theories not central to Vygotsky's framework.

A GED teacher uses frequent low-stakes quizzes rather than a single high-stakes end-of-unit test. Which theoretical account MOST precisely predicts why this strategy enhances long-term retention compared to equivalent re-reading time?

Answer: Desirable difficulties theory — retrieval attempts create effortful processing that strengthens memory traces

The 'testing effect' (also called retrieval practice effect) is best explained by Bjork's desirable difficulties framework: the effortful act of retrieving information from memory — even when partially unsuccessful — strengthens the underlying memory trace far more than passive re-study. Overlearning addresses practice beyond mastery but doesn't specifically predict why retrieval surpasses re-reading. Transfer-appropriate processing explains format alignment but not the superiority of active retrieval per se.

In Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory, which specific source of self-efficacy is considered the MOST influential, and why is it particularly powerful for adult GED learners returning after years away from formal education?

Answer: Mastery experiences — because authentic personal accomplishments provide the most reliable efficacy evidence

Bandura identified mastery experiences (enactive attainment) as the strongest source of self-efficacy because they provide direct, first-hand evidence of one's own capability. For returning adult GED learners whose academic self-concept may be damaged by prior failure, successfully completing increasingly challenging tasks rebuilds efficacy from an authentic evidentiary base — something vicarious observation or verbal praise cannot replicate as durably.

A GED instructor teaching fractions uses concrete manipulatives first, then diagrams, then abstract numerical notation. This sequence deliberately mirrors which theoretical framework, and what cognitive mechanism does it leverage?

Answer: Bruner's EIS model — scaffolding from enactive to iconic to symbolic representation to build deeper schemas

Jerome Bruner's Enactive–Iconic–Symbolic (EIS) model prescribes exactly this three-stage sequence: physical manipulation (enactive), visual/pictorial representation (iconic), and abstract symbols (symbolic). The cognitive mechanism is schema construction: each representational level builds a richer, more flexible internal model before introducing the formal abstraction. While Piaget's stages involve a similar concrete-to-abstract progression, they describe developmental readiness, not an instructional sequencing strategy for adults.

Which scenario BEST illustrates the concept of 'proactive interference' rather than retroactive interference in a GED adult learner?

Answer: A student cannot recall the new algebraic method taught today because it conflicts with the arithmetic shortcuts learned last week

Proactive interference occurs when OLDER learning disrupts the acquisition or recall of NEWER learning. In option C, the arithmetic shortcuts learned last week (older material) interfere with encoding the new algebraic method taught today — this is the classic proactive pattern. Options B and D describe retroactive interference (newer material disrupting older). Option A describes retroactive interference: the newly learned metric system disrupts recall of imperial units learned earlier.