48 exam-style questions on Learning and cognition — topic CTX.4 of Contexts: Applied psychology (all four studied by SL and HL) in the IB Psychology syllabus — with answers and explanations. Samples below; the full set is free with an account.
In Bandura's Bobo doll studies of observational learning, children were most likely to imitate the aggressive model when the model was:
Answer: Rewarded or received no consequences for the aggression
Vicarious reinforcement matters: children imitated aggression more when the model was rewarded or faced no consequences, and less when the model was punished.
According to Bandura's social cognitive theory, which set of cognitive processes must occur for observational learning to take place?
Answer: Attention, retention, reproduction, motivation
Bandura specified four mediational processes: attention, retention, motor reproduction and motivation, which together enable modelling of behaviour.
In operant conditioning, negative reinforcement increases a behaviour by:
Answer: Removing or avoiding an unpleasant stimulus after the behaviour
Negative reinforcement strengthens behaviour by removing or avoiding an aversive stimulus; it is often confused with punishment, which decreases behaviour.
In Pavlov's classical conditioning of dogs, the food that naturally produced salivation before conditioning is the:
Answer: Unconditioned stimulus
Food is the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) because it produces salivation (the unconditioned response) reflexively, without prior learning.
The concept of a 'schema' is used in the cognitive explanation of learning to describe:
Answer: A framework of organised prior knowledge
A schema is an organised mental framework built from prior experience; it helps interpret new information but can also distort memory and learning.
A teacher gives a student a sticker every time they complete homework, and homework completion increases. In operant terms, the sticker acts as a:
Answer: Positive reinforcer
The sticker is a positive reinforcer: adding a desirable stimulus after the behaviour increases the frequency of that behaviour.
That was 6 of 48 Learning and cognition questions.
Practise all 48 freeOutlineAO1 · 1–9 marks
A brief account or summary: the main points in two or three sentences, no evaluation.
StateAO1 · 1–9 marks
One word or one short sentence. No explanation, no working: the mark is for the fact itself.
DistinguishAO2 · 3–9 marks
Make the difference clear for BOTH terms — a definition of one of them is only half an answer.
All of Contexts: Applied psychology (all four studied by SL and HL) →
48 Learning and cognition questions — free with an account. Spaced repetition, streaks and full exam simulations included.
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