Name: ______

How do we learn?

  1. Trial and Error Learning

See how quickly you can go, through the mazes below. Use a pencil to show your path. Have your partner time you as you complete each maze in succession. Cover the completed mazes with a piece of paper as you finish them, so that you will not be tempted to copy. Report your results beneath each maze.

Summarize your results in the graph below.

Title: ______

Answer the following questions, based on your experiment:

  1. What was your best time? ______What trial was this? ______
  1. What was your worst time? ______What trial was this? ______
  1. Was your improvement due only to trial and error learning? Were you forming a habit? Explain your answer.

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  1. Reasoning; Memory Developing Your Learning Ability

Directions: Look at the following objects for 1 minute, and then cover them with a sheet of paper. Write the names of those objects, which you remember, on the next page.

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  1. How many of these objects were you able to remember? ______
  1. How many of the objects did you fail to remember? ______
  1. Now look at the objects again. Do you think it might have been helpful if you had put the objects into groups? Explain why or why not?

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  1. There are, as a matter of fact, 5 groups containing 5 associated items each, as show below. Write the names of the objects, which belong under each of these groups in the spaces below.

Groups

Foods / Transportation / Scenery / Reading and Writing / Personal Articles

Study the chart you just made for one minute. Then cover it and write as much as you recall in the table on the next page.

  1. How many of these objects did you recall? ______Of course, part of your improvement was due to the fact that you were studying these items for a second time. However, it was also due to the fact that you organized these scattered objects into groups, which has meaning for you. Explain how this could help you study for a test?

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  1. During the response lab you were using your reflexes to catch the ruler, and during this lab you were trying to form habits to remember material. Explain the difference between a reflex and a habit and how this was demonstrated in the two labs.

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