©THEBRIGHT EXAM SOLUTIONS
11/7/2024 12:35 PM
Praxis PLT K-6 Study Guide Questions With
Correct Answers
Behaviorism - answer✔View learning as a process of accessing and changing associations
between stimuli and responses.
What do behaviorists believe? - answer✔Behaviorists believe that our responses to
environmental stimuli shape our actions.
Who are key behaviorism theorists? - answer✔B.F. Skinner
Edward Thorndike
Ivan Pavlov
How is behaviorism shown in the classroom? - answer✔For example, in a second grade
classroom, the teacher noticed the children were taking too long to put their things away and
get ready for new activities. The teacher decided to use behaviorism to try to change this
behavior. To change the behavior, the teacher would make note of the first table to get their
things away and be ready to change activities and would give this table a star on a chart. Once
one table had a certain number of stars, the children received a reward (positive
reinforcement). The students' behavior changed quickly; soon enough all the children would
put away their materials and be waiting quietly to start something new within a minute of
being told.
Classical Conditioning - answer✔-First described by Ivan Pavlov (Russian)
-Involves placing a neutral signal before a reflex
-Focuses on involuntary, automatic behaviors
Ex. A dog that salivates when it sees food.
Operational Conditioning - answer✔-First described by B. F. Skinner (American)
-Involves applying reinforcement or punishment after a behavior
, ©THEBRIGHT EXAM SOLUTIONS
11/7/2024 12:35 PM
-Focuses on strengthening or weakening voluntary behaviors
Ex. A trainer is trying to teach a dog to fetch a ball. When the dog successful chases and picks
up the ball, the dog receives praise as a reward.
Edward Thorndike - answer✔Created laws of learning which provides additional insight into
what makes people learn most effectively.
Law of Readiness (Edward Thorndike) - answer✔People learn best when they are ready to
learn.
Law of Exercise (Edward Thorndike) - answer✔People can enhance their memory through
repetition, based on drill and practice.
Law of Effect (Edward Thorndike) - answer✔Learning is strengthened when it is accompanied
with a pleasant or nonthreatening situation or environment but is decreased when associated
with an unpleasant situation or environment.
Law of Primacy (Edward Thorndike) - answer✔First impressions are often strong, almost
unshakable. Things learned first stay with us longer.
Law of Intensity (Edward Thorndike) - answer✔The more intense the material taught, the more
likely it will be retained. A sharp, clear, vivid, dramatic, or exciting learning experience teaches
more than a routine or boring experience.
Law of Recency (Edward Thorndike) - answer✔This law basically means, all things being equal,
things most recently learned are best remembered.
Law of Freedom (Edward Thorndike) - answer✔States that things freely learned are best
learned. Conversely, the further a student is coerced, the more difficult is for him to learn,
assimilate and implement what is learned.
Constructivism - answer✔Views learning as a process in which the learner constructs
knowledge based on their past experiences.
Who are key constructivism theorists? - answer✔Jean Piaget
Jerome Bruner
John Dewey
Lev Vygotsky
, ©THEBRIGHT EXAM SOLUTIONS
11/7/2024 12:35 PM
How is constructivism shown in the classroom? - answer✔Learner-centered. Teacher as
facilitator - students construct knowledge through critical thinking, manipulatives, primary
resources, and hands-on activities.
Student works collaboratively in groups, independently or in partners.
Shared responsibility and decision making.
Students ask questions. Empowered learner.
ETC.
Jean Piaget - answer✔-First theorist to discover cognitive development.
-Developed the four stages of cognitive development
- His theory focuses not only on understanding how children acquire knowledge, but also on
understanding the nature of intelligence.
Sensorimotor Stage (Piaget) - answer✔Birth - 2 years old
-Explore the world through senses and motor skills. Goal is to understand the physical world.
-The main achievement during this stage is object permanence - knowing that an object still
exists, even if it is hidden.
Ex. For example, if you place a toy under a blanket, the child who has achieved object
permanence knows it is there and can actively seek it.
Pre-Operational Stage (Piaget) - answer✔2 - 7 years old
-Believe that others view the world as they do. Can use symbols to represent objects.
Ex. A child is able to use an object to represent something else, such as pretending a broom is a
horse.
, ©THEBRIGHT EXAM SOLUTIONS
11/7/2024 12:35 PM
Concrete Operational (Piaget) - answer✔7 - 11 years old
-Considered a major turning point in the child's cognitive development
-Marks the beginning of logical thought.
-The child can work things out internally in their head (rather than physically try things out in
the real world).
Formal Operational (Piaget) - answer✔11+ years old
-People develop the ability to think about abstract concepts, and logically test hypotheses.
-For example,they can deal with the statement "what would happen if snow were black".
Assimilation - answer✔When the child uses the schema to observe a new object.
Ex. A 2 year old child sees a man who is bald on top of his head and has long frizzy hair on the
sides. To his father's horror, the toddler shouts, "Clown, clown!"
Accommodation - answer✔When the child tried the old schema on a new object and modeled
it to fit the new subject and be re-categorized.
Ex. The boy father explained to the son that the man wasn't a clown. Even though his hair was
like a clown, he wasn't wearing a funny costume or doing silly things to make people laugh.
With this new knowledge, the child was able to change his schema of "clown" and make this
idea fit better to the standard concept of "clown".
Disequillibrium - answer✔Inability to fit new information into the schema.
Equilibrium - answer✔When a child is able to use existing schema to explain the world around
them.
Schema - answer✔Describes both the mental and physical actions involved in understanding
and knowing. Categories of knowledge that help us to interpret and understand the world.
For example, a child may have a schema about a type of animal, such as a dog. If the child's sole
experience has been with small dogs, a child might believe that all dogs are small, furry, and
have four legs. Suppose then that the child encounters a very large dog. The child will take in
this new information, modifying the previously existing schema to include this new information.
