116.Larry learns about operant conditioning on Monday.  On Friday the teacher starts to talk about cognitive theories.  A pop quiz on the following Monday is on cognitive theories, and Larry’s understanding of operant conditioning confuses his understanding of cognitive theories.  Larry’s problem best illustrates:

a.proactive interference.

b.a lack of attention.

c.retroactive interference.

d.ineffective rehearsal.

  117. Rosario has been using Word as a word processing program and has recently begun learning how to create PowerPoint slides. However, now Rosario’s understanding of PowerPoint’s commands confuses his understanding of some of the Word commands. Rosario’s problem best illustrates:

a.proactive interference.

b.retroactive interference.

c.retrieval failure.

d.encoding failure.

  118.Research indicates that closely related concepts are often most effectively taught together, rather than teaching one and then teaching the other.  Of the following, the best rationale for using this technique is to:

a.be certain that the examples are perceived accurately.

b.prevent interference by emphasizing differences.

c.capitalize on two different types of attention stimuli.

d.put the students in the most cognitively active roles possible.

  119. As a teacher, you’re aware of the possibility of interference in your students.  Of the following, which teacher question is likely the most effective in helping prevent interference?

a.“What is another example of our idea?”

b.“What would happen if we changed the first half of our problem?”

c.“How does this example illustrate our idea?”

d.“How is this different from yesterday’s topic?”

  120.You have a class of 28 students who come from a variety of ethnic backgrounds and whose experiences vary widely. You want to begin teaching the students about the American Revolutionary War. Using the human memory model and your understanding of instructional adaptations for background diversity as a basis for your teaching, which of the following is the best way to begin the lesson?

a.Write the term Revolution in large letters on the board, and tell the students that the Revolutionary War was one of the most significant events in American history and that it is very important that they all understand it.

b.Write the term Revolution in large letters on the board, tell the students that they are going to begin studying the Revolutionary War, and then tell them that the war resulted in American independence from Great Britain.

c.Write the word Revolution in large letters on the board, and tell the students that many countries had revolutions, such as America, France, and many others.

d.Write the word Revolution in large letters on the board, and ask the students to tell you what the word means to them.

  121. You have a class of students whose backgrounds are diverse. You want them to understand that pressure is the amount of force that is exerted on a certain area. You have assessed their understanding of the concept pressure by asking them questions, and you have found that understanding varies widely among the individual students. Some equate pressure with force, others can state the definition, but they seem to merely have it memorized, and others have only vague understandings of the concept. Using the human memory model and your understanding of the implications of background diversity for learning, which of the following is the most effective?

a.Write the equation Pressure = force/area on the board, define force and area for the students, and explain that force “over” area means that you divide the force by the area.

b.Stand up in front of the class on both feet and then on one foot. Have the students compare the force you exert on the floor and the amount of area you’re standing on in both cases. Lead them to conclude that you exert twice as much pressure on one foot as you do on two feet.

c.Explain that pressure is the amount of force on a certain area and then explain that if you exert a lot of force on an area, such as one square inch, the pressure will be greater than if you exert a small force on the same area—the one square inch.

d.Have the students who can give the definition of pressure explain to the rest of the class what pressure means to them.

  122.You have a class that is composed of 14 African Americans, 5 White Americans, 3 Japanese Americans, and 2 immigrant students from the former South Vietnam. You are beginning a discussion of World War II with your history students. You begin by asking the students to tell you what they think caused the war in the Pacific theater. Kevin Davis immediately says, “The bombing of Pearl Harbor.” “Sort of,” Kristi Sukawa responds, “but America was threatening to cut off the flow of oil from the East Indies to Japan. That’s what really caused the war.” The factor best illustrated in Kevin’s and Kristi’s comments is the impact diversity has on:

a.retrieval and forgetting.

b.the contents of students’ working memories.

c.students’ attention and rehearsal.

d.students’ prior knowledge.