PSY370 Exam 1

explain/give examples on how self-fulfilling prophecies affect "common sense"

a self-fulfilling prophecy is when our beliefs/expectations about the outcome of an event impact the outcome itself - teachers in the classroom can have their own assumptions about students that affect the behavior of the student

what is long term memory

after encoding has occurred, information can be retrieved. some information may be lost over time or hard to retrieve

what is metacognition and why is it important

awareness of our thought processes -the more we are aware, the more we can self-regulate and increase the likelihood of academic success (planning, executing, reflecting)

explain/give examples on how confirmation bias works to influence our perceptions

confirmation bias is the act of seeking out/remembering information that supports our own personal viewpoints - turning to a media outlet that aligns with your political views - only looking at research that agrees with your opinion

what is qualitative data and the pros and cons

data that is lingually descriptive pros: more detail, gives the "why" to the question cons: subjective, loose interpretation, can have more bias

what is quantitative data and the pros and cons

data that is numerically descriptive pros: strict interpretation, objective, less bias cons: can't reduce everything to numbers, can be too strict of an interpretation

long term memory problems

decay- use it or lose it retroactive interference- new stuff interferes with recall proactive interference- old stuff makes new stuff hard

what specific learning styles claim is refuted by research

different students have different modes of learning, and their learning could be improved by matching one's teaching with that preferred learning mode

what are the best study strategies?

elaborative interrogation, self explanation, practice testing, distributed practice, interleaved practice

what are examples of physiological measures and the pros/cons

ex: HR, BP, eye movements, sweat pros: objective, measurable cons: not always indicative/reliable, some people able to manipulate

cross sectional timing and pros/cons

ex: compares different people at one point in time pros: quick view of differences cons: can't examine individual paths, cohort effects

what are examples of performance assessments and the pros/cons

ex: exams, testing pros: demonstration of skills, objective cons: need to be well designed, non biased, performance anxiety

what are examples of lab observations and the pros/cons

ex: manipulations, occurs in a lab, having one group watch a violent video, one group watch a peaceful video, and one group color then everyone play together to test the affects of media on aggression pros: more objective, can draw causation cons: performance, observer bias

what are examples of naturalistic observations and the pros/cons

ex: observation at recess, no controls present pros: see people being natural cons: "performing", can't draw causation, observer bias

longitudinal timing and pros/cons

ex: same individuals and same variables are studied over a period of time pros: examine true developmental paths cons: takes time/resources, difficult to follow people, attrition (lose people over time, skews data)

what are examples of self report measures, and the pros/cons

ex: survey, open-ended questions pros: convenient, get the point of view of participants cons: subjective, subject to deceit, hard to be objective about yourself even when trying

what was found according to the chess research explained by Dr. Marshik

expert chess players remembered strategically arranged pieces more than novice chess players, but randomly arranged pieces evened the findings between expert and novice players

T/F- the more you study, the better you perform

false- it depends on the quality of studying and strategies used

T/F- taking notes on a laptop is more beneficial than taking notes by hand

false- taking notes by hand forces us to engage with the content in more than one way and allows us to practice summarizing

T/F- anxiety always hurts students' performance in the classroom

false- the relationship is curvilinear, meaning too much anxiety can be debilitating but too little anxiety leads to lack of motivation

T/F- some people are more left brain thinkers, where others are right brain thinkers

false- while certain parts of the brain are more or less active during certain tasks, but this doesn't mean one side of the brain is more active or developed than the other

what conclusions can we make about learning "styles"

mainly: they don't exist, but we know - learners are different and these differences affect their performance -learners have different preferences

T/F- it is important teachers always and immediately help struggling students

mostly false- it is important for students to overcome struggles on their own, providing too much help can lead to negative self-fulfilling properties

T/F- rereading and highlighting are beneficial ways to study

mostly false- people often read without really engaging in the material and doesn't allow students to practice putting something in their own words

T/F- the more control teachers have over a classroom, the more students learn

mostly false- this depends on how control is defined, and it's mostly about balance. giving students control can increase independence but too much can be detrimental

T/F- people tend to overestimate how much they know

mostly true- overconfidence is a natural, self-serving bias. often people are familiar with material without truly knowing it

T/F- most people change their beliefs when provided with contradictory evidence and information

often false- even good-natured people have a hard time overcoming their own biases, admitting you're wrong is hard

what are the pros and cons of a convenience sample

pros: easy access, convenient cons: can skew data based on question/location (asking people in a college town if they value higher education)

what are the pros and cons of random selection

pros: representative of entire population, produces generalizable results cons: time consuming, need list of entire population in question

pros/cons of automaticity

pros: space for limited resources, faster, move onto more complicated tasks cons: can be too automatic, overlooking mistakes, don't always need it

what does it mean for research to be "reliable" and "valid"

reliable- results are consistent from time to time valid- the test actually measures what it wants to measure *has to be reliable to be valid, can be reliable without being valid

what are examples of proactive and retroactive interference

retro: forgetting old students names after learning new ones, new passwords replace old ones, new addresses replace old ones pro: material getting harder in class, deep embedded beliefs or opinions

what is the difference between sensation and perception

sensation- how our body senses the sights, smell, sounds, sights, and sounds around us perception- how we interpret sensations and the world around us

what is the difference between shallow and deep processing?

shallow- short term memory deep- committing to long term memory

what is working memory

short-term memory, information that is not thoroughly or efficiently processed is lost

what should teachers do instead of accommodating learning styles

since learning styles have no research to back them up, teachers should be using other methods. teachers should assess for background knowledge so they can meet the students where they are, instead of being too basic or advanced in their lessons. teachers, when possible, should also assess for student interest to be able to format their lesson even further

what is bottom-up processing

start with a new experience and move into something meaningful and understanding -can be hard, uncomfortable

what are the worst study strategies

summarization, highlighting/underlining, keyword mnemonic, imagery for text learning, rereading

what is the field of educational psychology

the scientific study of teaching and learning, explored through research

what is a true and quasi experiment

true- uses random assignment to groups *lowers chance of bias, controls for participant confounds, equal groups, not always ethical quasi- examine pre-existing groups when random assignment is not possible or unethical *other variables not controlled for, no causal conclusions

T/F- on average, boys perform higher than girls in mathematics

true/false- this depends highly on how it is measured, age, ability, assessment type, type of math

T/F- creativity is enhanced in groups

true/false- while groups can increase creativity, it's important that the student has time to think individually first

ability, interest, and background knowledge are: -types of differences among students that do not affect their learning -types of differences among students that affect their learning -ways in which students are quite similar to one another

types of differences among students that affect their learning

what is sensory memory

unattended information, quickly lost, occurs prior to attention/perception

what is top-down processing

understanding things relative to what we already know, based on prior experience -make sure to avoid confirmation bias

explain/give examples on why natural mental/attention limits affect our perception

we can't rely on common sense because we have natural limits in our mind, we can't pay attention and remember everything - i may have only paid enough attention to understand part of a perspective, not the whole thing

according to dr. chew, what is the most important factor in learning

what you think about while studying

what does it mean for a skill to become automatic

writing, driving, tying shoes, we don't need to think about it to perform it, retrieval occurs very quickly

what are some ways attention and working memory are limited

-inattention and change blindness -under or over arousal due to number and complexity of sources -myth of multitasking

what is a descriptive study, examples, pros/cons

- observe and record behavior ex: ethnography, case study pros: see what's happening, case in great detail cons: can't generalize a CS, too generalizing to use ethnography

what is an experimental design and the pros/cons

- regulated procedure in which one or more factors are manipulated while all other factors are held constant, explores causal relationships pros: can blind or double blind the study, draw causation, and generalize results cons: observer bias, not always reliable or well-performed

describe the two types of sampling

-convenience sample: using people nearby -random selection: each person in population has an equal chance of being in the sample

what is a correlational study, examples, pros/cons

- describe the strength and direction of a relationship between two or more variables, positive or negative, "r" ranges from 1 to -1 -ex: child's height vs weight, parents education vs number of children -pros: shows relationships, gives an idea of correlation -cons: 3rd variable, directionality (can't say which variable causes the other), can't draw causation

what evidence is used to support the conclusions about learning styles

-one study tested the types of modality on learning to read, with an auditory, visual, and kinesthetic lesson. of the students that showed higher scores, or a preference, for one of the modalities, they were taught in their preferred method for six weeks. Data showed that each method of teaching was equally effective, and teaching to a students preferred method made no difference -when participants were randomly assigned to learning styles groups in a study, for example auditory learners could be in the visual learning group, the results showed that the participants did learn the new words, but modality made no difference -students who showed a relatively large difference in learning preference were split into groups and taught lessons in their preferred learning style. auditory and visual learners showed no advantage when the lesson was taught in their preferred modality

what are the key parts of the information processing model

-stimuli -attention and perception -working (short term) memory -encoding -long term memory -retrieval central executive/metacognition is this whole process

why is the learning styles myth problematic to teachers and students

-teachers are being told to modify their lessons to fit learning styles that don't exist -students who study in their preferred learning style, according to research, won't actually benefit any more -it is a waste of time to tailor a lesson to learning styles when background knowledge is more important

why does the learning styles myth persist

-the more general claims, such as learners are different, are true -learning styles theory shows us that all students are different, and if you disagree you must think all students are the same -learning styles theory is so popular it has become common knowledge, when paired with confirmation bias and self-fulfilling prophecies there's no reason to question it

important questions to ask when evaluating research

-where was it published and by whom -do the designs warrant conclusions drawn -what are weaknesses of methods used -has the study been replicated -are the results generalizable

what are 4 ways we can reduce the impact of our mental biases and limitations

1. admit you have a problem 2. seek other perspectives 3. practice explaining other views 4. rely on quality evidence

what are the 4 principles for deep processing

1. elaboration: how does this concept relate to others 2. distinction: how is this concept different from others 3. personal: how can this relate to my personal life 4. appropriate to retention and application: how am i expected to use or apply this concept?

what are the main data collection techniques we learned about

1. self-report measures 2. performance assessments 3. behavioral observations (naturalistic vs laboratory) 4. physiological measures

what are the reasons we can't rely on "common sense"

1. sometimes we are wrong 2. natural mental/attention limits affect our perception 3. confirmation bias works to influence our perception 4. self-fulfilling prophecies work

what are the 5 main benefits of research over common sense

1. systemic, planned, focused 2. replicated, repeatable studies 3. larger, more diverse samples 4. expertly reviewed, critiqued 5. "more" objective

according to research, approx. how many students believe in learning styles

90%