Module 1

Question 1

What is Cognitive Psychology?

Answer 1

The process by which the sensory input is transformed, reduced, elaborated, stored, recovered, and used. It’s concerned with how people remember, think, and pay attention

Question 2

What is metacognition?

Answer 2

Your knowledge and understanding about your own thought/cognitive process

Question 3

What is interleaving and why is it beneficial?

Answer 3

When different kids of materials are intermixed and practiced together. Can be beneficial when you need to identify different types of material.

Question 4

What is the The word-pair memory demo

Answer 4

Class splits into 2 groups, one has to memorize word combinations through repetition, the other group memorized through creating pictures in their heads, second group was better

Question 5

What is the painting - style interleaving experiment

Answer 5

Students were told to memorize paintings and name the artist, the first time they were learned in blocks by artist, the second time was mixed learning - mixed learning was twice as effective

Question 6

What are the main characteristics of cognitive psychology?

Answer 6

• It focuses on mental processes both unconsciously and consciously and not directly observable
• It’s scientific and evidence based to make inferences about underlying mental processes based on objective data
• Uses a variety of methods both behavioral and neuroscientfic

Question 7

What are the two facets of metacognition?

Answer 7

• Monitoring: evaluation the current state of your own learning
• Control: directing your own learning behaviors

Question 8

What is fluency? In what ways can fluency lead to inaccurate (inflated) metacognition?

Answer 8

Fluency is the degree of ease experienced when processing, it can lead to overconfidence inflating metacognition

Question 9

Under what situations are students’ metacognitive judgments poor?

Answer 9

• Among students with low exam scores and estimating total scores
• When the information you learned is still fresh in your memory
• When repeatedly exposed to the material
• When relying on easy study methods

Question 10

Monitoring vs. control

Answer 10

Monitoring is evaluting your own learning whole control is directing your learning behaviors

Question 11

The above average effect

Answer 11

People tend to overestimate their skills and abilities

Question 12

The dunning Kruger effect

Answer 12

The degree of overestimation is greater for people with lower skill/knowledge levels in a specific area

Question 13

What is fluency

Answer 13

The degree of ease one experience when processing information

Question 14

What is the moonwalk study with the BTS dance demo?

Answer 14

High exposure increased confidence but did not improve performance which illustrates the fluency illusion

Question 15

What can you do to improve your metacognition?

Answer 15

• Don’t be overconfident about your learning
• Don’t confuse fluency with learning
• Use objective measures to assess learning and figure out what you do vs. don’t know
• Test yourself after delay
• Feel comfortable with being challenged during learning

Question 16

What is the shape of the forgetting curve like?

Answer 16

Drops quickly for the first couple days and then slows down - rapid then slow

Question 17

What is distributed (spaced) learning? What evidence supports the benefits of spaced learning?

Answer 17

Practicing a little every day is more effective than massed learning - the Rawson and Kintsch’s 2010 study,

Question 18

What is retrieval practice? What evidence supports the benefits of testing yourself?

Answer 18

The strategy of deliberately recalling what you want to learn, retrieving something from memory increases learning and retention

Question 19

What is the forgetting curve?

Answer 19

Forgetting occurs rapidly initially - drops fast initially and then gets slower after a couple days

Question 20

What are the three stages of memory?

Answer 20

Encoding, storage, and retrieval

Question 21

What is spaced learning?

Answer 21

Information is studied in short, condenced, repeated sessions seoerated over long periods of time to improve long-term memory retention

Question 22

What is retrieval practice?

Answer 22

The strategy of deliberately recalling what you want to learn and retrieving it from memory increases learning and retention

Question 23

What is the testing effect?

Answer 23

Two groups: study - study vs study - recall
Testing was more beneficial for long term retention

Question 24

What is Rawson and Kintsch’s 2010 study on scientific text reading?

Answer 24

Phase 1: reading text only once(single), twice(massed), or twice with delay(distributed)
Phase 2: Tested right after the last reading(immediate) or 2 days later(delayed)

Question 25

What is Karpickes and Roediger’s 2011 study on testing vs. concept maps

Answer 25

4 groups: study, repeated study, concept mapping, retrieval practice(testing) - immediately after learning metacognition, 1 week later comprehension test

Question 26

What are the dos and don’ts of using flashcards as a retrieval practice tool?

Answer 26

1) Make your own flashcards 2) Write only one question per card 3) Say your answers out loud 4) Study your flashcards in both directs 5) Don’t use flashcards alone 6) Don’t use flashcards as notes 7) Don’t drop flashcards from study after only 1-2 retrieval

Question 27

What is the idea behind the levels of processing theory?

Answer 27

Retention depends on the kind of processing you do at encoding, deeper processing at encoding = better recall

Question 28

What does “elaborative processing” mean? Why is it effective in promoting better memory?

Answer 28

Encoding is more effective if you make new connections in your memory by linking concepts together and to what you already know

Question 29

Why does the previewing of what you learn benefit your learning?

Answer 29

Helps you be better prepared for linking what you learn to what you already know - complete readings, preview lecture slides, answer questions ahead of time

Question 30

How should you take notes during the lecture? What can you do to make note-taking an effective tool for deep and elaborative processing of what you learn?

Answer 30

- take handwritten notes during class and focus on listening/thinking instead of copying but take nots on slides

Question 31

What are levels of processing (deep vs. shallow processing)

Answer 31

Retention depends on the kind of processing you do when encoding, deeper processing = better recall

Question 32

What is maintenance vs. elaboration rehearsal?

Answer 32

Maintence is role memorization with no semantic processing while elaborative rehearsals connected words therefore more effective

Question 33

What is the levels of processing demo based on Craigs and Tulvings 1975 study

Answer 33

Tests memory by having participate answer different types of questions about words which forces different depths of processing

Question 34

What is elaborative processing?

Answer 34

Encoding is more effective if you make more connections in your memory through linking concepts together

Question 35

Why is procrastination a problem? Who are particularly susceptible to procrastination?

Answer 35

It’s more than a delay, its voluntarily and unnecessarily deciding to delay a task despite intending to complete that task and expecting that there will be future negative consequences for that delay

Question 36

Why do people procrastinate? What do two dominant theories say about procrastination?

Answer 36

- Steels temporal motivation theory: uses the procrastination equation to determine your motivation based on expectancy, value, impulsivity and delay - Sirois’s short term mood repair theory: procrastination results form ones coping mechanism to deal with negative affect - its a failure of emotional regulation - The planning fallacy: a pervasive bias in human thinking where you misjudge the amount of time it takes to complete a task in the future

Question 37

What is the planning fallacy? In what ways does it contribute to procrastination?

Answer 37

It’s a pervasive bias in human thinking where you misjudge the amount of time it takes to complete a task in the future - it’s a metacognition error due to fluency making you think it’s okay to put off an intended task

Question 38

What can you do to reduce procrastination?

Answer 38

Reduce task aversion(temporary mood repair), impulsivity(immediate pleasure over goals), planning fallacy(putting off tasks)

Question 39

What is procrastination?

Answer 39

A voluntarily and unnecessarily deciding to delay a task despite intending to complete that task and expecting that there will be future negative consequences for that delay

Question 40

What is Steel’s temporal motivation theory and the procrastination equation?

Answer 40

Uses the procrastination equation: (expectecy * value)/(impulsiveness*delay) - how likely you are to get and reward and how valueable the reward will be divided by how impulsive and how long until reward - increasing vs decreasing motivation

Question 41

What is Sirois’s short term mood-repair theory

Answer 41

Procrastination results from one’s coping mechanism to deal with negative affect, its a failure of emotional regulation - the relief from negative mood strengthens the likelihood of choosing the short term pleasure option again in the future

Question 42

What is task aversion?

Answer 42

A need for temporary mood repair caused by tasks being: boring, frustrating, difficult, ambiguous, unstructured, not rewarding, lacking in meaning

Question 43

What is the planning fallacy?

Answer 43

A metacognitive error where you misjudge the amount of time it takes to complete a task in the future

Question 44

What can you do to reduce procrastination?

Answer 44

Minimize the 7 triggers for task aversion and overcome initial resistance by developing a starting ritual

Question 45

Why is distracted learning (e.g.,multitasking) ineffective for long-term retention?

Answer 45

Our attentional capacity is limited and we can’t fully process everything, attention plays a crucial role during encoding, focused attention is needed for processing

Question 46

What do we know about the effects of listening to music during learning?

Answer 46

Avoid intrusive music and songs with lyrics especially during high verbal tasks

Question 47

What evidence exists that suggests that multitasking is harmful for your learning?

Answer 47

Our brain is not built for effectively doing multiple tasks simultaneously - look at laptop study

Question 48

What is the pomodoro technique and the 5-second rule?

Answer 48

Pomodoro technique: make a commitment to work on an aversive task for short durations with quick breaks 5 second rule: The moment you have an instinct to act on a goal you must physically move within 5 seconds

Question 49

What is dichotic listening?

Answer 49

Two simultaneous messages, listen to one and ignore other - you will only have memory of the one you’re trying to listen to - only notice other during a sudden change in pitch

Question 50

What is task switching and switch costs?

Answer 50

Divided attention meaning insufficient encoding, media multitasking, once your locked in, its hard to switch

Question 51

What is the in class dichotic listening demo?

Answer 51

TA was talking at same time as professor. TA told us a story and we remembered it but professor was doing radical topic changes, repetitions, language switches, and pitch changes

Question 52

What is the experiment of the effects of laptop use on learning?

Answer 52

- When allowed to use laptop in class 23% thought they multitasked, but it was actually 42% - Study: examined the effect of multitasking on nearby peers - students in view of multitasking score 17% lower on test

Question 53

What do we know about mind-wandering during learning and its impact on learning?

Answer 53

Mind wandering is prevalent in classrooms but variable across individuals, sitting at the back creates more mind wandering, mind wandering rate can predict final course grades

Question 54

In what ways can note-taking be used to increase focus during learning?

Answer 54

You review benefits which is useful for external storage for later reviewing, you encode for deeper elaborative processing and greater focus during a lecture

Question 55

How can we do to get more out of “low-utility” study strategies (such as marking/highlighting & rereading)?

Answer 55

Could be helpful but is limited - can fix by not marking anything until after reading an entire section or subsection, spacing out rereading and testing yourself

Question 56

What is mind-wandering

Answer 56

Wandering is prevelent but variable, sitting at back increases it, predicts final course grade

Question 57

What is the desirable level of difficulty for learning?

Answer 57

Challenging, but not too much because it requires focused attention and promotes deep processing

Question 58

What is the classroom observational study of mind wandering?

Answer 58

Ringing bell 6 or 9 times during class and asking students if they were on or off task when the bell rang

Question 59

What is the experimental study of taking notes on slides

Answer 59

Taking notes in any form increased students focused during the lecture - then reviewing those notes increased test performance