Educational Psychology Principles Flashcards

A law enforcement instructor presents a scenario from least to most threatening to help recruits build escalating threat-response skills. This sequencing strategy is called:

Answer: Task analysis with graduated difficulty

Task analysis with graduated difficulty involves breaking complex skills into components and sequencing them from simple to complex for progressive skill building.

According to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, a recruit who is worried about failing out of the academy and losing their income will primarily struggle with which need level?

Answer: Safety and security needs

Fear of failure and financial insecurity reflect unmet safety and security needs, which must be addressed before higher-order learning needs can be prioritized.

Which principle states that learners retain information better when it is presented in a meaningful, organized framework rather than as isolated facts?

Answer: Schema theory

Schema theory holds that new information is more easily encoded and retrieved when linked to existing organized knowledge structures (schemas).

During debriefs after scenario training, an instructor facilitates group reflection on what happened and why. This phase most directly corresponds to which stage of Kolb's cycle?

Answer: Reflective observation

Reflective observation in Kolb's cycle is the deliberate review of an experience, identifying what occurred and examining it from multiple perspectives.

Which term describes a learner's awareness and regulation of their own thinking processes, including planning, monitoring, and evaluating their understanding?

Answer: Metacognition

Metacognition is 'thinking about thinking'—the ability to monitor and control one's own cognitive processes to optimize learning.

A fire instructor has recruits practice hose deployment in varied building types rather than the same structure every time. This variable practice approach is designed to improve:

Answer: Transfer and adaptability of skills across environments

Variable practice exposes learners to multiple contexts, improving the ability to transfer and adapt skills to novel real-world situations.

When an adult learner resists new protocols because they conflict with deeply ingrained prior experience, an instructor must address this through:

Answer: Transformative learning that challenges and reframes existing assumptions

Mezirow's transformative learning theory addresses how adults critically examine and restructure frames of reference that conflict with new knowledge.