Deck 7: Language and Communication

Question 1

A _______ is the smallest meaningful unit of adult speech.

A) syntax
B) phoneme
C) noun
D) morpheme

Answer 1

morpheme

Question 2

The nature-nurture debate on language development is reflective of which two viewpoints?

A) Biological; psychodynamic
B) Humanistic; physiological
C) Genetic; environmental
D) Environmental; cognitive

Answer 2

Genetic; environmental

Question 3

Every time little Joey babbles words that sound like "Mama" or "Dada," his parents clap their hands wildly and encourage Joey with their approval by smiling and hugging him. This reinforcement acts to shape Joey's verbal behavior. This idea reflects the language theory of

A) Noam Chomsky.
B) B. F. Skinner.
C) Brown.
D) Slobin.

Answer 3

B. F. Skinner.

Question 4

The area of language that recognizes that much of language cannot be understood without knowledge of the context and setting in which it occurs is called

A) phonology.
B) semantics.
C) grammar.
D) pragmatics.

Question 5

Which one of the following would NOT be used to explain language acquisition by learning theorists?

A) Reinforcement of successive approximations
B) An innate template for language
C) Generalization
D) Imitation

Question 6

The period of human development in which language is learned easily and quickly relative to other periods of development is

A) infancy.
B) infancy and early childhood.
C) from infancy until puberty.
D) from infancy until adulthood.

Question 7

Syntax and morphology are the two major facets of

A) phonology.
B) semantics.
C) grammar.
D) pragmatics.

Question 8

Language involves both the production of sounds and the ability to comprehend speech. These two aspects of language are known as _______ and _______ language, respectively.

A) productive; receptive
B) productive; comprehensive
C) receptive; productive
D) orative; receptive

Question 9

According to Halliday, language

A) serves one purpose, that of communication.
B) is unable to help children understand their emotions.
C) interferes with the development of imagination and fantasy.
D) has many purposes, ranging from behavioral control to environmental exploration.

Question 10

The area of language that describes the system of sounds for grammar, or how the basic sound units are put together to form words, is

A) grammar.
B) pragmatics.
C) phonology.
D) syntax.

Question 11

In general, learning principles appear to play an important role in

A) language acquisition.
B) language expansion.
C) language remediation and modification of use.
D) language deficits.

Question 12

The observation that language is learned well by all children, in various cultures and at a rapid rate, is reflective of the __________ viewpoint.

A) nativist
B) behavioral
C) psychodynamic
D) humanistic

Question 13

Which language occurs when two or more different languages, such as Chinese, Dutch, and Portuguese, come into contact, with the result being a new hybrid language system of communication that lacks grammatical form?

A) Creole
B) Metalanguage
C) Fusion
D) Pidgin

Question 14

Which of the following is a type of language developed by children whose parents speak a pidgin language?

A) Pidgin
B) Creole
C) Metalanguage
D) Fusion

Question 15

The most influential representative of the nativist position of language development is the linguist

A) B. F. Skinner.
B) Sigmund Freud.
C) Noam Chomsky.
D) William James.

Question 16

The shortest speech unit in which a sound produces a change in meaning (e.g., "bag" and "bat") is a

A) morpheme.
B) phoneme.
C) syntax.
D) morphology.

Question 17

Studies of parental reinforcement of language have shown that

A) parents respond more to meaning than to grammar.
B) parents respond more to grammar than to meaning.
C) parents respond equally to grammar and meaning.
D) parents rarely reinforce their children's language.

Question 18

The study of the meaning of words and of sentences is known as

A) grammar.
B) phonology.
C) morphology.
D) semantics.

Question 19

By examining the kinds of words children acquire and how they use them, insights can be gained into the way children attach meaning to words, or a child's __________ development.

A) vocabulary
B) semantic
C) phonological
D) pragmatic

Question 20

Noam Chomsky theorized that children are born with an innate grammatical representation that underlies all language. This is referred to as

A) a brain.
B) an extraordinary language facility (an ELF).
C) a language acquisition device (a LAD).
D) a Chomsky device (a CD).

Question 21

What is occurring when a baby's babbles and coos are followed by the caregiver vocalizing, which is then followed by the baby vocalizing again?

A) Expansions
B) Pseudodialogue
C) Reciprocity
D) Linguistic rhythm

Question 22

What is the correct stage sequence of sound production?

A) Vocalizing, babbling, expansions, language
B) Receptive, cooing, production, generative
C) Crying, cooing, babbling, patterned speech
D) Crying, vocalizing, production, language

Question 23

When parents talk to young children, they frequently speak more slowly, in higher-pitched voices, enunciate more clearly, and end their sentences with rising intonation. These are all examples of

A) nonverbal games.
B) simplified speech.
C) phonemic awareness.
D) voice decoding.

Question 24

During their first year, infants are able to

A) detect words in ongoing speech.
B) detect new words in unfamiliar artificial languages.
C) recognize the consistency of a speech sound.
D) All of these

Question 25

The changes in infant babbling are believed to result from maturation of the brain areas responsible for articulation, maturation of the vocal structures, and

A) the ability to distinguish human voices from music.
B) the ability to hear language.
C) being exposed to language on a regular basis.
D) the availability of a responsive communicative adult.

Question 26

Many language abilities are rapidly developed throughout infancy. An infant can actively produce sounds, though not always language, beginning at

A) birth.
B) 1 week of age.
C) 1 month of age.
D) 10 weeks of age.

Question 27

Eileen loves her new baby Cody very much and frequently talks to him throughout the day, saying things like "Drink your baba" and "Get your banky for night night." This form of communication using simplified speech with a baby is a part of a language

A) encoding decoy.
B) linguistic minuet.
C) environmental reward.
D) support system.

Question 28

Lauren asks her mother, "My kitty?" and her mother replies, "Where is your kitty? I don't know where your kitty is, Lauren, let's go look for her." This rephrasing of a child's question in proper grammatical form is known as

A) recasting.
B) facilitation.
C) imitation.
D) restructuring.

Question 29

Children can use nonverbal actions to intentionally direct and control other people. One such form of pre-verbal communication where a child gets another person to do something by pointing, reaching, or making sounds at the same time is known as

A) protodeclaratives.
B) redundancy.
C) gesticulation.
D) protoimperatives.

Question 30

In the interactionist view of language development, children are seen as

A) playing an active role in language development.
B) playing a passive role in language development.
C) playing no role in language development.
D) being dependent upon their parents for language development.

Question 31

Cross-cultural studies indicate that what is critical to language development is

A) language rehearsal.
B) language expansion.
C) motor development.
D) social interaction.

Question 32

According to Jerome Bruner, the environment provides the language-learning child with a language acquisition support system. Which of the following would be one example of this system?

A) Parental discipline techniques
B) Parent-child discussions of objects and events
C) Parental provision of blocks and puzzles
D) Vocabulary drills in school

Question 33

An infant's first word typically appears around

A) 8 months.
B) 10 months.
C) 18 months.
D) 24 months.

Question 34

Bonnie and her baby Sonya are playing and communicating in the park. Sonya asks, "Me slide?" and Bonnie says, "Yes, you can go down the slide." Bonnie has just used which technique by adding to Sonya's question in her reply?

A) Intentionality
B) Frequency
C) Expansion
D) Facilitation

Question 35

Which aspect of language develops first?

A) Receptive language
B) Expressive language
C) Productive language
D) Grammar

Question 36

Vygotsky's emphasis on social context best fits into which theory of language acquisition?

A) Nativist
B) Interactionist
C) Passive
D) Learning

Question 37

Abigail is playing with her stuffed animals when her aunt enters the room. She holds up her favorite animal, a stuffed dog, for her aunt to see. Her behavior is an example of a(n)

A) protodeclarative.
B) protoimperative.
C) pseudogesture.
D) implicit communication.

Question 38

Frederick impatiently pulls at his father's pant leg because he wants some juice. He points to the refrigerator when his father looks at him. His gesturing is an example of a

A) protodeclarative.
B) protoimperative.
C) communicative demand.
D) protorequest.

Question 39

Research on categorical speech perception suggests

A) support for Chomsky's LAD because of innate mechanisms for perceiving language.
B) that infants cannot find boundaries in sound patterns.
C) speech perception may be a function of the aural system.
D) learning a second language is easier if exposed to the language in infancy.

Question 40

Who is more likely to use the expansion technique?

A) Infants
B) Middle-class parents
C) Lower-class parents
D) Parents of children whose language is grammatically correct

Question 41

Chad uses the word "truck" whenever he sees his father's big red logging truck. All other automobiles, including other trucks, are called, "cars." The characteristic error in word use of "truck" is known as

A) underextension.
B) constriction.
C) limitation.
D) overextension.

Question 42

Martin uses the phrase "Me go," to tell his parents that he has finished eating and wants down from his chair. This is an example of

A) holophrasic speech.
B) a request.
C) undergeneralization.
D) telegraphic speech.

Question 43

Kelly is playing with two objects, the top part of a pen and an empty water bottle. Her father calls one of the objects a novel name, a wix, but does not label the other object. While Kelly is still playing with the two objects, her mother asks Kelly to give her the sab. Kelly selected the object that had not been previously labeled by her father and gave it to her mother. What type of reasoning did Kelly use in selection?

A) Semantic
B) Productive
C) Social/pragmatic
D) Syntactic

Question 44

Little Elliot is just learning to talk, and he frequently calls the horses, cows, cats, and goats, "doggie." This characteristic error in Elliot's word use is known as

A) perseveration.
B) overextension.
C) underextension.
D) repetition.

Question 45

Children's first words typically represent

A) actions.
B) emotions.
C) relationships.
D) objects.

Question 46

Children who attend day care

A) are always less likely to have rich vocabularies.
B) have richer vocabularies than other children if they attend a program that is socially stimulating
C) have poorer vocabularies than other children if they attend a program that is socially stimulating.
D) are always more likely to have rich vocabularies.

Question 47

Which of the following would most likely be an example of a child's first spoken word?

A) The child's name
B) "Down"
C) "Red"
D) "Bottle"

Question 48

Research by Huttenlocher and colleagues affirms the relationship between language development and

A) social development.
B) personality factors.
C) articulation.
D) actions the child can perform.

Question 49

Early in language development, meaning is understood by looking at where the communication occurs, or its

A) morphology.
B) context.
C) structure.
D) clarity.

Question 50

Parents are reluctant to use the SAL (System for Augmenting Language) because they fear that

A) their children will misunderstand others attempts to communicate.
B) they will fail to learn the symbols that represent words on the SAL.
C) their children will not learn spoken language.
D) their children will feel "abnormal" if they use the SAL device.

Question 51

, the first principle of word acquisition that children must learn is that

A) words are symbolic.
B) actions are learned before objects.
C) different words can be used for the same object.
D) words can be combined in infinite ways.

Question 52

When children use a single word to cover many different things, they are

A) repeating.
B) perseverating.
C) underextending.
D) overextending.

Question 53

According to numerous developmental theorists and researchers, there seems to be a parallel in the development of language and

A) cognition.
B) morality.
C) emotions.
D) social skills.

Question 54

Julie points to her book on a shelf and says, "down." Her expression is an example of a(n)

A) overextension.
B) underextension.
C) holophrase.
D) action word.

Question 55

Which one of the following cognitive abilities does NOT develop simultaneously with the beginning of spoken language?

A) An understanding of environmental relationships
B) A development of self/other distinctions
C) An understanding of the rights of others
D) An understanding about cause and effect

Question 56

Markman's principle that a new object label refers to the complete object rather than its parts is called the

A) exclusive constraint.
B) mapping constraint.
C) taxonomic constraint.
D) whole object constraint.

Question 57

Beginning at about a year and a half, young children's vocabulary acquisition increases rapidly in bursts. This phenomenon is known as

A) the semantic explosion.
B) the protodeclarative burst.
C) the naming explosion.
D) conceptualization abundance.

Question 58

In the earliest period of language development, the child's main concern is

A) enunciation.
B) articulation.
C) vocabulary acquisition.
D) sentence construction.

Question 59

Studies with mentally retarded individuals who fail to develop language indicate that they can learn to communicate by use of a

A) device that uses symbols other than language to communicate.
B) facilitator who translates sign language into spoken language.
C) device implanted in the brain that processes language.
D) book that allows them to communicate by pointing to pictures.

Question 60

When children use a single word in a highly restricted and individualistic way, they are

A) being selective.
B) targeting.
C) underextending.
D) overextending.

Question 61

The appropriate use of language for accomplishing various ends in differing social situations is

A) syntax.
B) pragmatics.
C) manipulation.
D) double speak.

Question 62

Jessica uses slang when talking with her friends and formal grammar in the classroom with her teachers. Jessica has learned

A) speech appraisal.
B) discourse.
C) semantics.
D) grammatical rules.

Question 63

Christopher loudly states, "No go nap!" Christopher is expressing his opposition to taking a nap and using the semantic rule of

A) negation.
B) hostility.
C) telegraphic speech.
D) pragmatism.

Question 64

Research indicates that children use different forms of negation. When Raymond says, "No take bath!" he is using the negation of

A) resistance.
B) nonexistence.
C) rejection.
D) denial.

Question 65

Which of the following is NOT a type of semantic negation?

A) Nonexistence
B) Rejection
C) Denial
D) Objection

Question 66

Which one of the following is NOT required in order for a speaker or communicator to be effective?

A) The speaker must obtain the attention of the listeners.
B) The speaker must be sensitive to the listener's feedback.
C) The speaker must learn to adjust his or her speech to suit the characteristics of the audience.
D) The speaker must be well versed in a number of different topics.

Question 67

Syntactic bootstrapping is

A) learning to form sentences by combining simple phrases.
B) learning to use new words by listening to the conversations of others.
C) using knowledge of how words combine into phrases, clauses, and sentences to distinguish the meanings of unfamiliar words.
D) forming sentences with the help of parents and other adults.

Question 68

Communication is a two-way process. In order for any conversation to take place, by definition it requires both a speaker as well as a(n)

A) audio component.
B) video aspect.
C) judge.
D) listener.

Question 69

When talking to his 4-month-old brother, Brian, 3-year-old Andrew is more repetitive and uses more attention-eliciting words than when he's talking to his mom. These behaviors indicate that

A) Andrew is exhibiting speech regression.
B) Andrew has failed to recognize his baby brother is too young to understand language.
C) Andrew is sensitive to the age of his baby brother and is modifying his language to reflect this.
D) Andrew is eagerly waiting for Brian to be his playmate.

Question 70

Tanya runs into her parents' room and exclaims, "I breaked my toy!" Her use of "breaked" is an example of

A) confusion.
B) overregularization.
C) overextension.
D) morpheme generalization.

Question 71

Which of the following statements is true in relation to children's listening abilities?

A) Children do not follow directions because they have a natural inclination towards being disobedient.
B) Children can mentally manipulate the symbolic meaning of words with ease.
C) Children are usually fully aware when they do not understand a message.
D) Children are often unaware when they do not understand a message.

Question 72

At what age do children seem to possess all of the fundamental monitoring skills required to be good listeners?

A) At birth
B) 3 to 4 years of age
C) 6 to 7 years of age
D) 8 to 10 years of age

Question 73

The most plausible explanation for why some languages (e.g., sign) are more easily acquired than others (e.g., spoken) is that

A) the various areas of the brain develop at different rates.
B) some languages are easier to learn and require less effort.
C) a biological predisposition exists for some languages but not others.
D) children appear to be more interested in some languages than others.

Question 74

Lorraine is beginning to ask questions. The first thing she does to indicate a question is to

A) hold her arms up, as if she doesn't know the answer.
B) raise her voice at the end of an utterance.
C) use a variant of "wh" questions, such as "Whatsat?"
D) use an auxiliary verb.

Question 75

Which of the following statements is INCORRECT regarding the development of sign language and spoken language?

A) Signing develops sooner than verbal language.
B) The differences between signers and speakers disappear after age 2.
C) Speakers utter their first word before signers make their first sign.
D) Cognitive development plays a critical role in both signing and speaking.

Question 76

When children ignore word irregularities and apply rules incorrectly, for example, when a young child says "foots" instead of "feet," after learning that "s" is a plural ending, the child is showing

A) rebellion.
B) resistance.
C) simplification.
D) overregularization.

Question 77

Jasmine has eaten all of her dessert and remarks, "All gone pie." This is an example of the negative called

A) denial.
B) rejection.
C) opposition.
D) nonexistence.

Question 78

supports the view that

A) the sequence of semantic development varies among children but the rate remains the same.
B) the rate of semantic development varies among children but the sequence remains the same.
C) both the sequence and rate of semantic development vary among children.
D) both the sequence and the rate of semantic development are the same for all children.

Question 79

Entwisle and Frasure's study using the "noisy telephone" technique supports the finding that

A) children rely on semantic cues, but not syntactic cues, as they become older.
B) as they develop, children become more skillful using syntactic and semantic cues.
C) children rely on syntactic cues when they are preschoolers, but switch to semantic cues in later childhood.
D) as children develop, their reliance on semantic and syntactic cues decreases.

Question 80

Alex says "Please" and "Thank you" when he is at a friend's birthday party. Alex has learned

A) pragmatics.
B) metalinguistics.
C) polite conversation.
D) social semantics.