Self-Management
Marcus tracked his daily water intake for a week and discovered he was chronically dehydrated. After increasing his water consumption, he felt more alert in class. This scenario best illustrates:
a) Using punishment to change behavior
b) Self-monitoring to identify and address a gap
c) Stimulus control procedures
d) The planning fallacy
b) Self-monitoring to identify and address a gap
Aisha underestimated how long her research paper would take and had to pull an all-nighter to finish it. This error in judgment is commonly called the:
a) Confirmation bias
b) Hindsight bias
c) Planning fallacy
d) Availability heuristic
c) Planning fallacy
Elena used flashcards with spaced repetition to memorize key terms for her biology exam. According to the Instructional Hierarchy, this approach is most appropriate when a learner is at which stage?
a) Acquisition
b) Fluency
c) Generalization
d) Adaptation
a) Acquisition
Sophia used the Cornell method and wrote summary statements at the bottom of each page. Which component of the Cornell system do these summary statements represent?
a) The cue column
b) The note-taking area
c) The summary section
d) The review margin
c) The summary section
Before dropping a class, Aaliyah listed the pros and cons and talked to her advisor. She made an informed choice and stayed on track to graduate. Aaliyah's approach exemplifies:
a) Impulsive decision-making
b) Systematic decision-making with data gathering
c) Confirmation bias
d) Hindsight bias
b) Systematic decision-making with data gathering
Jasmine set a phone alarm to remind herself to take breaks while studying, which helped her avoid burnout during finals week. The phone alarm in this scenario functions as a(n):
a) Consequence
b) Reinforcer
c) Cue or antecedent prompt
d) Punisher
c) Cue or antecedent prompt
Using the "two-minute rule," Carlos immediately replied to quick emails instead of letting them pile up. This rule is part of the time-management system called ________________________.
Getting Things Done (GTD)
Brian highlighted the entire chapter in yellow. When he went back to review, everything looked equally important and he couldn't identify the key concepts. Brian's mistake was:
a) Using an active study strategy
b) Engaging in passive processing that created an illusion of learning
c) Practicing retrieval too frequently
d) Spacing his practice too much
b) Engaging in passive processing that created an illusion of learning
David tried to write down every word the professor said, but his hand cramped up and he missed the main points. This common note-taking error occurs because David was attempting to ________________________ rather than capturing key ideas in his own words.
transcribe verbatim / record everything / write down every word
Jamal assumed his study method was fine because it worked in high school. He failed his first college exam. Jamal fell into the mental trap sometimes called the "________________________" trap—assuming past success guarantees future results.
what worked before / past success
Tyler told himself he would "just check" social media for five minutes but lost two hours scrolling, making his paper late. This is an example of poor self-management because Tyler failed to arrange effective ________________________ to prevent the unwanted behavior.
antecedent controls / environmental arrangements / stimulus control
After conducting a time audit, Keisha discovered she spent 15 hours a week on Netflix. She cut back and her GPA improved. The time audit served as a form of:
a) Punishment
b) Baseline data collection
c) Goal setting
d) Reinforcement
b) Baseline data collection
Instead of rereading her notes, Priya practiced ________________________ by testing herself. Her exam score jumped from a C to an A.
retrieval / retrieval practice / self-testing
Creating a mind map during the lecture helped Nina see connections between concepts that she would have missed with linear notes. Mind mapping is particularly useful for:
a) Recording verbatim information
b) Visualizing relationships between ideas
c) Memorizing isolated facts
d) Taking notes on numerical data
b) Visualizing relationships between ideas
While researching her paper, Destiny recognized she was experiencing confirmation bias. She actively sought out opposing viewpoints and wrote a stronger argument. Confirmation bias is the tendency to:
a) Seek information that supports your existing beliefs while ignoring contradictory evidence
b) Believe you knew something all along after learning the outcome
c) Underestimate how long tasks will take
d) Overvalue recent information
a) Seek information that supports your existing beliefs while ignoring contradictory evidence
Despite setting three alarms, Devon kept hitting snooze because he stayed up gaming until 3 a.m. and missed his midterm exam. Which self-management principle did Devon violate?
a) He failed to address the antecedent conditions (staying up late) that made the target behavior difficult
b) He used too many cues
c) He should have used punishment instead of prompts
d) He tracked his behavior too frequently
a) He failed to address the antecedent conditions (staying up late) that made the target behavior difficult
Michael planned to write his thesis over spring break but kept saying "I'll start tomorrow." Now it's the last day and he hasn't written a word. This pattern of delaying tasks despite knowing there will be negative consequences is called ________________________.
procrastination
Omar spent six hours "studying" with his phone on the desk. Constant notifications meant he never actually learned the material. To improve his studying, Omar should:
a) Study for longer periods of time
b) Arrange his environment by removing the phone from the study area
c) Use more highlighting
d) Reread his notes more times
b) Arrange his environment by removing the phone from the study area
Jayden reviewed and reorganized his notes within 24 hours of each lecture. By finals, he barely needed to study because the material was already consolidated. This practice aligns with research on:
a) Massed practice
b) The forgetting curve and spaced review
c) Passive rereading
d) The planning fallacy
b) The forgetting curve and spaced review
Tyrone was overconfident about the exam because the material "felt familiar." He didn't practice retrieval and earned a D. Tyrone's error was caused by:
a) The planning fallacy
b) The fluency illusion—mistaking familiarity for actual knowledge
c) Spacing effect
d) Retrieval practice
b) The fluency illusion—mistaking familiarity for actual knowledge
Layla identified that she was at the ________________________ stage for calculus and practiced many problems with feedback. She aced the final exam. (Use a term from the Instructional Hierarchy)
acquisition
Mia never reviewed her notes all semester. When she opened her notebook before the final, she couldn't read her own handwriting or remember what the abbreviations meant. Mia's experience demonstrates why regular note ________________________ is essential for long-term retention.
review / revision / processing
Maya used data from her tracking sheets to identify patterns in her productivity and made changes to her study schedule based on this information. This approach to decision-making is called ________________________ decision-making.
data-driven / evidence-based / data-based