Hard

Understanding Learning — Hard

15 questions 18 min PYQ-grade reasoning

Q1. Murphy (1968), calls learning 'every modification in behaviour to meet environmental requirements'. Which of the following classroom situations is NOT learning in Murphy's sense?
- A. A class 2 girl changing her tone of voice when speaking to the school principal
- B. A class 3 boy showing knee-jerk reflex when the doctor taps his knee with a hammer
- C. A class 4 child adjusting her grip on a pencil after the teacher corrects her
- D. A class 5 child queuing quietly for the mid-day meal after a few days in school
Q2. Assertion (A): Woodworth (1945), says learning is any activity that develops the individual, whether 'good or bad' from a social viewpoint. Reason (R): Therefore, picking up a bad habit by observing peers also counts as learning, even though the change is socially unfavourable. Choose the correct option
- 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 but R is false
- D. A is false but R is true
Q3. Statement A: A class 4 child who used to write 'b' for 'd' has, after weeks of careful practice, completely stopped doing so. Statement B: Since the child has REMOVED an earlier habit rather than added a new one, this cannot be called learning. Choose the correct option
- A. Both A and B are correct
- B. A is correct; B is incorrect — Smith (1962) and treat the weakening of old behaviour also as learning, so unlearning is also learning
- C. A is incorrect; B is correct — only new behaviour counts as learning
- D. Both A and B are incorrect
Q4. Mr. Verma, a primary teacher in Rampur, finds that his class 3 students sit through every science lesson but rarely remember the content. He decides to begin each lesson by stating a clear personal goal — 'By the end of today, you should be able to name three uses of water at home'. Which feature of learning is Mr. Verma directly applying?
- A. Learning is universal and continuous
- B. Learning is comprehensive (covers three domains)
- C. Learning is permanent change
- D. Learning is purposive and goal-directed
Q5. Read the two statements about the 'process not product' view of learning. I. The shift from a product view to a process view also implies a shift from a teacher-centred to a child-centred classroom. II. In a child-centred classroom, the teacher is best seen as a depositor of facts in a passive learner. Which of the following is correct?
- A. Both I and II are correct
- B. I and II are both consistent with Freire's banking concept
- C. I is correct; II is incorrect — a child-centred classroom rejects the banking/depositor image
- D. I is incorrect; II is correct
Q6. Biggie and Hunt, say that the human body grows according to 'blueprints contained in the cells'. Which of the following is the MOST accurate inference about maturation from this image?
- A. Maturation can be sped up significantly by extra coaching
- B. Maturation unfolds according to a genetic plan, largely independent of practice or teaching
- C. Maturation is the same thing as observational learning
- D. Maturation depends on the social environment more than on heredity
Q7. The examples of tadpoles swimming and birds flying are given to illustrate maturation. A class 4 teacher cites these and concludes, 'So a child also learns to walk purely by maturation, with no role for environment'. Her conclusion is BEST diagnosed as
- A. Fully correct — walking is purely genetic
- B. Partly wrong — the unit treats walking as needing both maturation of muscles and bones AND opportunity/practice in the environment
- C. Fully correct — walking is purely imprinting
- D. Fully correct — walking is purely observational learning
Q8. Assertion (A): Gage (1979), describes teaching as both an art and a science. Reason (R): Teaching is purposeful inducing of learning through interpersonal influence, and the same principles can be applied with creativity in different classroom situations. Choose the correct option
- 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 but R is false
- D. A is false but R is true
Q9. After teaching the topic of waste segregation, Ms. Anita asks her class 5 students to investigate which categories of waste their own homes produce in a week, decide a colour-coded bin plan, and present it to the school council. According to Marzano's five dimensions, the dominant dimension at work here is
- A. Dimension 1 — Attitudes and Perceptions
- B. Dimension 2 — Acquire and Integrate Knowledge
- C. Dimension 3 — Extend and Refine Knowledge
- D. Dimension 4 — Use Knowledge Meaningfully
Q10. A class 4 teacher trains her learners to (i) pause and check their own work for accuracy, (ii) keep an open mind to a classmate's different solution, and (iii) ask whether their own answer makes sense. According to Marzano's five dimensions, she is mainly building
- A. Dimension 1 — Attitudes and Perceptions
- B. Dimension 2 — Acquire and Integrate Knowledge
- C. Dimension 5 — Habits of Mind
- D. Dimension 4 — Use Knowledge Meaningfully
Q11. Which of the following statements about learning as a 'construct'is NOT correct?
- A. A construct is an attribute that cannot be measured directly like weight or height
- B. The presence or absence of learning is inferred from observable behaviour
- C. Because learning is a construct, it can be weighed on a physical scale like body weight
- D. Behaviourists, cognitivists and Gestaltists all treat learning as a psychological construct
Q12. Assertion (A): A class 3 teacher who identifies her visual learners and then explains new concepts using charts, maps and diagrams for them is following the 'meshing hypothesis'. Reason (R): The meshing hypothesis claims that a learner learns better when the teaching method is matched to her preferred learning style. Choose the correct option
- 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 but R is false
- D. A is false but R is true
Q13. Read the two statements about pace of learning. I. The philosophy of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) and self-paced e-learning respects individual differences and lets each learner learn at her own pace. II. Because every learner must finish at the class average pace, labels like 'fast' and 'slow' learners are recommended for use by primary teachers. Which is correct?
- A. Both I and II are correct
- B. I and II are both consistent with Khan (2012)
- C. I is correct; II is incorrect — the unit explicitly says terms like 'fast' and 'slow' learners are no longer used
- D. I is incorrect; II is correct
Q14. A class 5 teacher notices that learners who have practised memorising multiplication tables also memorise short poems in Hindi more quickly. Which theory of transfer of learning BEST explains her observation?
- A. Judd's theory of generalisation
- B. Thorndike's theory of identical elements
- C. Kohler's theory of insight
- D. Lorenz's theory of imprinting
Q15. The example is given of a cricketer whose improvement in bowling skill is NOT expected to improve his batting skill. The teacher of a class 4 child argues that learning to play the harmonium should automatically make the child better at solving subtraction sums. Her assumption is BEST diagnosed as
- A. An example of positive transfer of learning
- B. An example of negative transfer of learning
- C. Wrong — this would be a case of zero transfer, because the two activities share no identical elements
- D. An example of imprinting

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