CHAPTER 1
PERSPECTIVES ON LEARNING
Multiple Choice Questions
Human obeings oundoubtedly olearn omore oduring othe ocourse oof oa olifetime
othan oany oother ospecies oon oearth. oThe omajor oresult oof othis ocapacity oto
olearn ois othat:
New oinstincts obegin oto oemerge.
Human othought obecomes oless ological owith oeach
ogeneration. oHumans ocan obenefit ofrom otheir oexperiences.
Humans oare othe oonly ospecies owhose obehavior ocannot obe oanalyzed
oin oterms oof ostimuli oand oresponses.
Three oof othe ofollowing oare oexamples oof olearning. oWhich oone ois onot?
Abigail ocries owhen oshe osteps oon oa osharp opebble.
After omany ohours oof oheated odebate, oBrian obegins oto
oadvocate opolitical opractices ohe ohas opreviously oopposed.
Cara osuddenly orecognizes ohow othe odivision ofact o―24 o’ o4 o= o6‖ ois
orelated oto othe omultiplication ofact o―6 ox o4 o= o24.‖
David ohas obeen orunning oaway ofrom oGerman oshepherds oever osince
ohe owas obitten oby oa oGerman oshepherd otwo oyears oago.
Reynelda ohas otrouble otracing oa ocomplex oshape owith oa opencil owhen
oshe ois oin okindergarten, obut oshe ocan odo oit oquite owell oby othe otime oshe ois
oin osecond ograde. oIs othis oan oinstance oof olearning?
Yes, obecause oher obehavior ohas ochanged.
No, obecause othe ocircumstances oare otoo odissimilar.
Maybe, oalthough othe ochange omay osimply obe odue oto
ophysiological omaturation.
Maybe, obut oonly oif oshe ois obeing oreinforced ofor otracing oaccurately.
2
, Chapter 1 – Perspectives on Learning
Three oof othe ofollowing oillustrate ovarious oways othat olearning omight obe
o reflected oin oa operson‘s obehavior. oWhich oone oof othe ofollowing ochanges
odoes onot onecessarily oreflect olearning?
Although oit‘s oa oschool onight, oDean oplays ovideo ogames ountil owell
opast ohis ousual obedtime. oAs ohe obecomes omore otired, ohe ofinds oit
oincreasingly odifficult oto oconcentrate oon owhat ohe‘s odoing.
Even oas oa oyoung ochild, oJerry ocould otell oyou othat ohis
ograndparents oimmigrated oto othe oUnited oStates ofrom oIreland.
oBut oafter oa oconversation owith ohis ograndmother, ohe ocan onow
odescribe othe ocircumstances oof othe ofamily‘s oimmigration oin
oconsiderable odetail.
Day oafter oday, oMartin opractices ohis obasketball oskills o(shooting,
o dribbling, oetc.) oon oa obasketball ocourt oat oa olocal opark. oWith oeach
opractice osession, ohis omovements obecome ofaster oand osmoother.
Lewis ooccasionally oasks ofor ohelp owhen ohe ohas odifficulty owith ohis
oclasswork, obut omost oof othe otime ohe ojust ostruggles oquietly oon ohis
oown. oAfter ohis oteacher oassures ohim othat oasking ofor ohelp ois onot oa
osign oof oweakness oor oinability, ohe obegins oasking ofor ohelp omuch
omore ofrequently.
research oexamines olearning oin otightly ocontrolled osettings oand
research oexamines olearning oin oreal-world osettings.
Applied; oBasic
oBasic; oQualitative
oQualitative;
oApplied oBasic;
oApplied
A oprinciple oof olearning ocan obest obe ocharacterized oas:
A odescription oof othe oresults oof oa oparticular oresearch ostudy
A ostatement othat odescribes ohow oa oparticular ofactor oaffects olearning
The omeasurement oof ohow omuch olearning ohas ooccurred oin
oa oparticular osituation
An oexplanation oof othe ounderlying oprocesses othrough owhich olearning ooccurs
A otheory oof olearning ocan obest obe ocharacterized oas:
A odescription oof othe oresults oof oa oparticular oresearch ostudy
A ostatement othat odescribes ohow oa oparticular ofactor oaffects olearning
The omeasurement oof ohow omuch olearning ohas ooccurred oin
oa oparticular osituation
An oexplanation oof othe ounderlying oprocesses othrough owhich olearning ooccurs
3
, Chapter 1 – Perspectives on Learning
Three oof othe ofollowing oare oprinciples oof olearning. oWhich oone ois oa otheory
of olearning orather othan oa oprinciple?
A obehavior othat ois ofollowed oby opunishment odecreases oin ofrequency.
People olearn oby omaking omental oassociations obetween onew
oinformation oand otheir oexisting oknowledge.
A oresponse othat ois orewarded oevery otime oit ooccurs oincreases
omore orapidly othan oa oresponse othat ois oonly ooccasionally
orewarded.
Students otend oto oremember omore oof oa olecture oif othey otake
onotes oon othe olecture‘s ocontent.
Which oone oof othe ofollowing ocommon osayings obest oreflects othe
oconcept oof ointrospection?
―Where othere‘s oa owill, othere‘s oa oway.‖
―Nothing oventured, onothing ogained.‖
―A openny ofor oyour othoughts.‖
―Old ohabits odie ohard.‖
Which oone oof othe ofollowing ocommon osayings obest oreflects othe
obasic opremise ounderlying osocial olearning otheory?
―Monkey osee, omonkey odo.‖
―Spare othe orod oand ospoil othe ochild.‖
―A ofriend oin oneed ois oa ofriend oindeed.‖
―A orolling ostone ogathers ono omoss.‖
Which oone oof othe ofollowing ostatements oprovides othe omost ocredible
oexplanation ofor othe ofact othat ohuman obeings oseem oto osurpass oall oother
oanimal ospecies oin otheir othinking oand olearning ocapacities?
Only ohuman obeings ohave othe ocapability oto omake otools.
Humans ocommunicate oregularly owith oone oanother oand, oin odoing
oso, opass oalong owhat othey‘ve olearned oto ofuture ogenerations.
Human obeings ohave oa ohuge orepertoire oof oinstinctual obehaviors
ofrom owhich othey ocan odraw owhen othey oencounter onew
oexperiences.
Human obrains oare osmaller othan othose oof oother ointelligent ospecies
o(e.g., oelephants, odolphins) oand otherefore ocan otransmit omessages
omore oquickly oand oefficiently.
4