Approaches to Learning (Behaviourism, Cognitivism, Constructivism) — Hard

Q1. Statement A: A learner who manages study time systematically and uses well-organised study methods is using the Strategic approach. Statement B: The Strategic approach is an offshoot of the Surface and Deep approaches and aims at the highest marks in term-end examinations. Which is correct?

• A. Only Statement A is correct
• B. Only Statement B is correct
• C. Both A and B are correct
• D. Neither A nor B is correct

Q2. Behaviourism 'has its roots in what is called the associationistic school of psychology.' The CORE belief of this associationistic school, is that

• A. Learning takes place only when the child reaches the formal operational stage
• B. Recollection of an item of knowledge is facilitated by associating that idea with another idea present when the individual learned it
• C. Every cognitive function appears first on the social plane and later on the individual plane
• D. Learning is unique to each individual and inevitable for human beings

Q3. A primary teacher in Rampur is explaining Pavlov's terms to her trainees. She wants to give one example of an unconditioned stimulus from Pavlov's salivation experiment. The BEST example she can give is

• A. The bell ringing before pairing with food
• B. Food, because it produces salivation without requiring any conditioning — also calls it a natural stimulus
• C. Salivation in response to food
• D. Salivation in response to the bell after conditioning

Q4. Assertion (A): In Skinner's framework, an 'operant' is the response made by an organism to the surrounding environment. Reason (R): Operant behaviour cannot be brought under stimulus control through the process of discrimination. Which is correct?

• A. Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
• B. Both A and R are true, but R is NOT the correct explanation of A.
• C. A is true, R is false.
• D. A is false, R is true.

Q5. A trainee writes: 'Pavlov and Skinner are identical because in both, reinforcement is correlated with the stimulus.' The BEST critique is

• A. The trainee is right — in both theories reinforcement attaches to the stimulus
• B. The trainee is wrong — in operant conditioning, the reinforcement is correlated with the RESPONSE rather than with the stimuli, and reward is not possible unless the response is emitted
• C. The trainee is wrong because Skinner used dogs and Pavlov used rats
• D. The trainee is wrong because Skinner rejected reinforcement altogether

Q6. Consider the three statements about behaviourism's limitations: I. The approach considers human being as a machine which may not be true. II. The approach gives full importance to genetic inheritance and structural-hereditary factors. III. The operant reinforcement system does not adequately take into account creativity, curiosity and spontaneity in human beings. Which of these are correct?

• A. I and II only
• B. II and III only
• C. I and III only
• D. I, II and III

Q7. The cognitive approach views learning chiefly as 'a change in the cognitive structure'. This change in cognitive structure generally takes place in three ways. These three ways are

• A. Reinforcement, contiguity and practice
• B. Assimilation, accommodation and equilibration
• C. Differentiation, generalisation and restructuration
• D. Surface, deep and strategic approaches

Q8. A Class 2 child has learnt to tell men, women, animals and birds apart as separate categories. Soon she begins to call all of them by a single bigger label — 'living things'. In terms of the cognitive approach, this move is BEST described as

• A. Differentiation — separating finer features within an earlier whole
• B. Generalisation — unifying differentiated concepts into a single broader concept
• C. Restructuration — restructuring the schema because the earlier rule has failed
• D. Assimilation — fitting one new object into one old schema unchanged

Q9. Statement A: When a child manages a new environment by first assimilating the new to the old and then accommodating the old to the new, Piaget calls this process adaptation. Statement B: Adaptation is a one-time event that ends once a stage is reached. Which is correct?

• A. Only Statement A is correct
• B. Only Statement B is correct
• C. Both A and B are correct
• D. Neither A nor B is correct

Q10. Piaget's four stages of cognitive development, in the correct developmental order from earliest to latest, are

• A. Preoperational → Sensory-motor → Concrete operations → Formal operations
• B. Sensory-motor → Preoperational → Concrete operations → Formal operations
• C. Concrete operations → Sensory-motor → Preoperational → Formal operations
• D. Sensory-motor → Concrete operations → Preoperational → Formal operations

Q11. Assertion (A): Vygotsky's view is placed under the heading 'social-constructivist approach' because Vygotsky advocated a socio-cultural perspective on learning. Reason (R): According to Vygotsky, social and cultural interactions are very important for a learner, and every cultural function appears first on the social level and only later on the individual level. Which is correct?

• A. Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
• B. Both A and R are true, but R is NOT the correct explanation of A.
• C. A is true, R is false.
• D. A is false, R is true.

Q12. A teacher-trainee dismisses peer-learning saying, 'In learning, only the individual child's brain matters; social interaction adds nothing.' In terms of social learning approaches, the BEST critique is

• A. The trainee is correct — social interaction has no place in learning
• B. The trainee is wrong — explicitly opens by saying that, in contrast to behaviourist and cognitivist thinkers, there were those who proposed that the role of social interaction is VERY important in learning
• C. The trainee is correct because Skinner's reinforcement makes peers unnecessary
• D. The trainee is correct because Piaget rejected peer-learning

Q13. According to Maslow's five-need hierarchy, the correct order of needs from BASE to TOP of the pyramid is

• A. Physiological → Safety → Belongingness → Prestige → Self-actualization
• B. Physiological → Belongingness → Safety → Self-actualization → Prestige
• C. Safety → Physiological → Prestige → Belongingness → Self-actualization
• D. Self-actualization → Prestige → Belongingness → Safety → Physiological

Q14. Priya, a Class 5 girl in Rampur, is well-fed, lives in a safe home and has good friends in her classroom; but she keeps asking the teacher for the 'star student' badge and feels low when her name is not read out at assembly. According to Maslow's hierarchy, the need active in Priya now is the

• A. Physiological need
• B. Safety need
• C. Prestige need — recognition and self-prestige
• D. Self-actualization need

Q15. Consider three statements about Carl Rogers's contribution: I. Rogers described 'self', 'becoming', 'experiencing' and 'concepts of humanistic approach' on the basis of subjective as well as objective factors. II. The main concepts in his theory include experience field, self-ego-ideal, real ego, congruence, incongruence and self-actualization. III. According to Rogers's theory, learning in an individual takes place through its interactions with the EXTERNAL environment, based on its INTERNAL experiences. Which of these are correct?

• A. I and II only
• B. II and III only
• C. I and III only
• D. All three — I, II and III