Free CLEP Intro to Educational Psychology Practice Test

Question 1

Students who learned to calculate area in math class cannot see how to use it when a science project asks them to estimate how much paint a room needs. Their difficulty is a failure of

Accepted Answer

transfer

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attention

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retrieval practice

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automaticity

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proactive interference

Question 2

Priya chooses easy problems so she will not look less capable than her classmates, and she avoids answering questions she might get wrong in front of them. In goal orientation theory, she shows

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a performance-avoidance goal

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a work-avoidance goal

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a mastery goal

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a mastery-avoidance goal

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a performance-approach goal

Question 3

A new spelling test gives nearly the same scores when students take it twice, a week apart, but the scores barely relate to how well the same students spell in their own writing. The test is best described as

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reliable but not valid for measuring everyday spelling skill

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both reliable and valid

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neither reliable nor valid

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valid, because any reliable test is valid

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valid but not reliable

Question 4

Asked why a person should not steal, a 7-year-old says, "Because you'll get caught and punished." In Kohlberg's theory, this reasoning is typical of which level and focus?

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Preconventional, focused on avoiding punishment

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Postconventional, focused on universal ethical principles

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Conventional, focused on gaining the approval of others

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Postconventional, focused on social contracts and individual rights

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Conventional, focused on obeying laws to keep social order

Question 5

A teacher announces that students who turn in every homework assignment this week will not have to take Friday's quiz, which students dislike. Homework completion rises. This is an example of

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negative reinforcement

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positive reinforcement

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extinction

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positive punishment

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negative punishment

Question 6

Many students believe that a heavy ball falls much faster than a light ball of the same size. A science teacher wants to change this belief, not just get students to repeat the correct answer on a test. Which approach does research on conceptual change support most?

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Have students predict what will happen, drop both balls together, and then explain why the result contradicts their prediction

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Wait to teach the topic until students reach the formal operational stage

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Give extra credit to students who choose the correct answer on the quiz

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Avoid mentioning the wrong belief so students are not confused by it

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Have students copy the correct rule from the textbook several times

Question 7

A third grader takes a reading test in the fall and earns a grade-equivalent score of 5.2. What is the most accurate interpretation?

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She did as well on this third-grade test as a typical fifth grader in the second month of school would be expected to do

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She is ready to be placed in a fifth-grade reading class

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She has mastered the fifth-grade reading standards

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She scored higher than 52 percent of the third graders who took the test

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She answered 52 percent of the questions correctly

Question 8

A school tries a new reading program in one class. A researcher visits often, interviews the students, and tells them they are part of an important study. Their scores rise, but a later check suggests the rise came from the extra attention, not from the program. This is an example of

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the Hawthorne effect

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experimenter bias

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the John Henry effect

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regression toward the mean

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sampling error

Question 9

After a student fails a math test, his teacher kindly tells him, "Don't worry, math just isn't your strength." According to attribution theory, how is this comment most likely to affect him?

Accepted Answer

It may lower his effort and persistence, because it points to a stable cause he cannot control

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It will raise his self-efficacy, because it gives him a reason for the failure

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It will make him try harder, because it points to a cause he can change

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It will have little effect, because only a student's own explanations matter

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It will raise his motivation, because it protects his self-esteem

Question 10

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a team that includes the parents writes a document stating a student's present levels of performance, measurable annual goals, and the special education services the school will provide. This document is

Accepted Answer

an Individualized Education Program (IEP)

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a statewide test score report

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a report card

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a Section 504 plan

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a behavior contract

Question 11

Two classes study the same vocabulary list. One class counts the letters in each word, and the other writes a sentence linking each word to their own lives. A week later, the second class remembers far more. This result best supports

Accepted Answer

the levels-of-processing view, which holds that deeper, meaning-based processing leads to stronger memories

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the claim that short-term memory holds about seven items

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the claim that forgetting is caused mainly by memories fading over time

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dual coding, which holds that pairing words with pictures aids memory

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the claim that massed practice works better than spaced practice

Question 12

A reading program gives students a sticker for every 5 books they finish. Which schedule of reinforcement is this, and what pattern of behavior does it usually produce?

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Fixed ratio, which tends to produce a high rate of work with a short pause after each reward

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Fixed interval, which tends to produce a burst of activity just before each reward is due

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Variable interval, which tends to produce slow, steady work

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Continuous reinforcement, which tends to produce the slowest extinction of any schedule

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Variable ratio, which tends to produce steady work that is very hard to extinguish

Question 13

According to Bandura, which source usually has the strongest effect on a student's self-efficacy for a task?

Accepted Answer

Her own past successes with similar tasks

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Watching a classmate succeed at the task

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Hearing a teacher say she can do it

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Receiving a prize for attempting the task

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Feeling calm rather than anxious before starting

Question 14

Students forget a 10-digit code their teacher reads aloud, but they recall it easily when she groups it as 555-208-1937. Which process best explains the improvement?

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Chunking, which lets working memory hold more by grouping items into meaningful units

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Maintenance rehearsal, which keeps items active by repeating them

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Encoding specificity, which ties recall to the setting where learning happened

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Retroactive interference, in which new learning blocks older memories

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The serial position effect, which favors items at the start and end of a list

Question 15

A fourth-grade teacher wants to support her students' psychosocial development as Erikson described it for this age. Which approach fits best?

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Give tasks students can master with effort and recognize their real accomplishments

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Let students choose which toys to play with to build their sense of control

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Help each student form one close, intimate relationship with a classmate

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Meet students' physical needs quickly so they learn to trust adults

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Encourage students to explore many identities and possible careers before committing

Question 16

A fourth-grade teacher wants to group students by reading skill in a way that research supports. Which practice has the strongest support?

Accepted Answer

Flexible small groups within her class that are formed for specific skills and changed often as students progress

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Keeping struggling readers in a group of their own so they do not slow down others

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Seating students by their scores on last year's state test

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Separate classrooms for each ability level in every subject

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Fixed high, middle, and low groups assigned in September and kept all year

Question 17

A fifth grader solves word problems by hunting for key words, so she always adds when she sees "altogether." After this habit gives her several wrong answers, she drops it and builds a new approach based on picturing what is happening in the story. In Piaget's terms, changing her approach this way is

Accepted Answer

accommodation

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reversibility

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assimilation

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centration

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conservation

Question 18

Researchers estimate that the heritability of IQ in a certain population is about .50. What does this figure mean?

Accepted Answer

About half of the variation in IQ scores among people in that population is linked to genetic differences among them

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About half of each person's IQ comes from genes and half from the environment

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Environment has little effect on IQ in that population

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Each person's IQ is half fixed and half changeable

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Differences in average IQ between two different populations are half genetic

Question 19

A student was once humiliated during a math test that her teacher timed with a stopwatch. Now her heart races whenever she sees a stopwatch. In classical conditioning terms, the stopwatch has become

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a conditioned stimulus

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an unconditioned response

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a negative reinforcer

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a conditioned response

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an unconditioned stimulus

Question 20

A student scores only average on standardized tests but is excellent at reading social situations and solving everyday problems at her part-time job. Sternberg's triarchic theory would describe her as strong in

Accepted Answer

practical intelligence

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crystallized intelligence

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the general factor, g

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analytical intelligence

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creative intelligence

Question 21

A teacher writes this objective: "Given a blank map of the United States, students will label at least 45 of the 50 states correctly." In Robert Mager's format, which part states the criterion?

Accepted Answer

"at least 45 of the 50 states correctly"

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"students will"

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"Given a blank map of the United States"

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"label"

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None of it, because the objective has no criterion

Question 22

A 4-year-old boy insists that if he wore a dress he would turn into a girl. In Kohlberg's cognitive account of gender development, he has not yet reached

Accepted Answer

gender constancy, the understanding that sex stays the same despite changes in clothing or activities

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gender typing, the learning of roles a culture links to each sex

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a gender schema, a mental framework for organizing gender-related information

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gender identity, the ability to label oneself as a boy or a girl

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gender stereotypes, beliefs about what each sex should do

Question 23

A state reading test reports whether each student has met specific grade-level standards, such as finding the main idea of a passage, without comparing students with one another. This test is

Accepted Answer

criterion-referenced

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a formative assessment

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an intelligence test

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norm-referenced

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an aptitude test

Question 24

Classic studies that observed teachers at the start of the school year found that the most effective classroom managers

Accepted Answer

spent the first weeks teaching, practicing, and reinforcing clear rules and routines

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relied mainly on strong punishments after misbehavior

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let students set all class rules with no teacher guidance

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kept students silent and seated in rows for most of the day

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waited until problems appeared and then made a rule for each one

Question 25

After a year in the United States, an English learner chats easily with classmates at lunch but struggles to understand her science textbook. Which explanation best fits Jim Cummins's research?

Accepted Answer

Social, conversational English usually develops within about 2 years, while academic English often takes 5 years or more

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She should stop using her first language at home to learn English faster

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Academic and conversational English develop at the same rate, so she is not trying hard enough

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She likely has a learning disability, since her spoken English is already fluent

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Science vocabulary can be learned only after a student reaches formal operations

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