EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
EDU 330 - Spring 2001
Test 1

Multiple Choice:  Select the single most correct answer by circling the corresponding letter (@ 1 point).

1. According to Woolfolk, which of the following is true of expert teachers?  Expert teachers
 A. are more likely than novices to value students’ wrong answers
 B. consider a series of problem-solving strategies before acting
 C. have different ways of understanding the subject matter
 D. all of the above
 E. none of the above

2. Another term for self-discipline that is characteristic of self-regulated learners is
 A. common sense                     C. motivation
 B. context                                 D. volition

3. Use of the “commons sense” approach to teaching is viewed by educational psychologists as
 A. appropriate in most circumstances
 B. inappropriate unless supported by research
 C. more reliable than scientific judgments
 D. the main factor that differentiates expert from novices

4. Research on acceleration for bright children suggests that acceleration is generally
 A. beneficial for these children at all age/grade levels
 B. beneficial for younger children but detrimental for older children
 C. detrimental for younger children but beneficial for older children
 D. harmful for children at all age/grade levels

5. Which one of the following terms does NOT fit the category of descriptive research?
 A. Case studies                      C. random assignment
 B. ethnographies                     D. participant observation

6. A researcher concludes from his study that, on a typical school day, students spend only fifty percent of their time engaged in learning.  What specific type of research must have been conducted in order for this conclusion to be valid?
 A. Case study                             C. Descriptive
 B. Correlational                           D. Experimental

7. The most likely correlation between hours spent exercising and hours watching TV is probably r =
 A. +1.00                         C. -3.00
 B. +0.50                         D. -0.75
                                        E.  0.00

8. Which of the following instances is MOST like a random sample for a class of thirty students?
 A. A coin is tossed in order to select students alternately one by one into the experimental and control groups.
 B. The first ten students who enter the classroom are placed into the experimental group and the next ten into the control group.
 C. The first twenty volunteers are selected from the physics class and alternately placed into experimental and control groups.
 D. The twenty students with the highest GPAs are selected and alternately placed into experimental and control groups.
 E. all of the above are EQUALLY random.

9. When an experimental result is reported in the research literature as “statistically significant,” this result”
 A. contradicts the prevailing theoretical views
 B. has major theoretical implications
 C. is unlikely to have occurred by chance
 D. will indicate its practical importance
 E. both A & B

10. Dr. Patterson concludes from her research that using a systematic study strategy caused good grades for students.  For this conclusion to be valid, the type of research that was performed must have been what type of study?
 A. correlational                         C. experimental
 B. descriptive                            D. observational

11. Which one of the following is an example of maturation?
 A. gaining weight from age 2 to age 3
 B. losing weight due to exercise
 C. losing weight from anorexia
 D. learning which foods produce the most weight
 E. all of the above are equally good examples

12. Which one to the following examples best illustrates the developmental principle that there is integration among the four different areas of development:  cognitive, personal, physical, and social?
 A. an adolescent girl who is have problems at home finds it very difficult to do well in her studies at school
 B. no matter how hard his parents try to help, little Jimmy will not attempt to walk until he is ready
 C. The pre-adolescent boy who teased and made fun of girls becomes the lover boy in his college
 D. Winnie’s thinking abilities become more differentiated and elaborated as she grows from childhood into adolescence

13. Research indicates that adding synapses and making new connections in the brain are increased by
 A. deprivation of stimulation                         C. lateralization
 B. good nutrition                                          D. learning and stimulating environments

14. Which of the following behaviors illustrates the process of accommodation?
 A. learning that shaking hands is NOT the appropriate greeting in some cultures
 B. singing a song that you were taught as a child and had not sung it since
 C. thinking that a donkey is a horse instead of its being a different type of animal
 D. all of the above

15. Which one of the following behaviors best describes Piaget’s notion of equilibration?
 A. What you expect to happen actually does happen
 B. You do something and fell uncomfortable about it
 C. You need to respond but cannot think of what to do
 D. You know what to do, but your response does not work

16. Current views about Piaget’s theory generally support the idea that
 A. Piagets’ tasks appear to have been invalid for judging cognitive ability
 B. Piaget’s tasks appear to have generally been too easy for subjects
 C. Piaget tended to overestimate children’s abilities and underestimate their social differences
 D. Piaget tended to underestimate children’s abilities and overlook the social and cultural issues

17. Vygotsky’s view of cognitive development differs from Piaget’s in the emphasis Vygotsky placed on a person’s
 A. experience                      C. interpersonal interactions
 B. genetic factors                 D. biological adaptation

18. Application of Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development concept would include
 A. making new tasks slightly beyond the student’s current level of ability
 B. preventing private speech
 C. requiring the student to work completely independently, regardless of success or failure
 D. using highly structured materials to introduce new content to the entire class at the same time
 E. all of the above

19. Generally, students are not ready to study the rules of a language formally until about age 5.  This is when most students have started to gain
 A. literacy                                              C. hypothetical reasoning
 B. metalinguistic awareness                     D. generativity
                                                               E. all of the above

20. Children experiencing the Eriksonian conflict of trust vs. mistrust are also in what Piagetian stage?
 A. concrete operations                     C. preoperational thought
 B. formal operations                         D. sensorimotor

21. Sally is in the stage Erikson calls autonomy vs. shame/doubt.  Her parents supervise her closely and direct all her activities.  The danger is that Sally may
 A. develop an exaggerated sense of her own abilities
 B. eventually grow to mistrust her parents
 C. have difficulty trusting her own judgment
 D. become egocentric
 E. all of the above

22. June’s mother always wanted to be an actress and started leading June in that direction around age 2.  June sees herself as an actress and nothing else.  This illustrates:
 A. identity achievement                       C. identity foreclosure
 B. identity diffusion                             D. identity moratorium
                                                           E. either A or B

23. The difference between self-concept and self-esteem is that
 A. self-concept is an affective reaction while self-esteem is a cognitive structure
 B. self-concept is a cognitive structure while self-esteem is an affective reaction
 C. self-esteem is a general concept while self-concept is specific to a given situation
 D. there is actually no difference between self-esteem and self-concept

24. Teachers should use which of the following guidelines for supporting personal and social development
 A. helping students make connections between expressed values and actions
 B. making sure that students are really listening to each other
 C. safeguarding the privacy of all students and helping students see the perspectives of others
 D. all of the above
 E. none of the above
 
25. Which one of the following assertions is a myth about suicide?
 A.  all types of people commit suicide
 B.  many people talk first about suicide with someone
 C.  people who talk about suicide will NOT commit suicide
 D.  suicide is often intended to be a cry for help

***KEEP THIS SHEET - You may record your multiple-choice answers on it to compare with the Answer Key after the test.***

Write answers to these questions in your blue-book.
 

KEY TERMS.  Select 5.  For each, supply a precise definition including the context and a clear example (@ 3 points).
                    Lateralization                                    Quasi-experiment
                    Inductive Logic                                 Negative Correlation
                    Semiotic Function                             Collective Monologue
                    Generativity                                      Compensation
 

ESSAY.  Select and answer 2 (@ 6 points).

1.  List 3 general characteristics of development.  Then discuss details of Erikson's theory in terms of each characteristic.

2.  For each hypothesis below, identify the specific research design that would be best to use, and defend your choice:
                a) Students who are diagnosed with a disability are treated differently.
                b) Cognitive development occurs in 4 consecutive stages.
                c) Calling on students to answer questions improves their attention.

3.  Compare & contrast each pair by identifying 1 major similarity and 1 major difference:
                            a) With-in Subjects vs Longitudinal designs
                            b) Glial cells vs Pruning
                            c) External vs Internal Validity