Question 1

Tom evaluates Professor Pumpernickel on the basis of his intelligence, competence and power. In this way Tom is using:

Accepted Answer

Evaluating someone based on their intelligence, competence, and power involves assessing their status or position in a social or professional hierarchy. These are considered status variables.

Question 2

In its strong form, the theory of linguistic relativity argues that language:

Accepted Answer

The strong form of the theory of linguistic relativity, often associated with Benjamin Lee Whorf, posits that the language one speaks entirely determines the way one thinks and perceives the world. This contrasts with weaker forms that suggest language influences rather than determines thought.

Question 3

The objective features of an inter-ethnic context that influence language behaviour are referred to as:

Accepted Answer

Ethnolinguistic vitality refers to the objective features of an inter-ethnic context that influence language behavior, including factors like demographic representation, institutional support, and status within the broader sociolinguistic environment.

Question 4

Communication is important for social psychologists to study because:

Accepted Answer

Communication is fundamental to social interactions, as it is through communication that individuals express ideas, emotions, and intentions, thereby facilitating social behavior and relationships. Social psychologists study communication to understand how people influence and relate to each other.

Question 5

Social markers in speech can act as cues about:

Accepted Answer

Social markers in speech often indicate group membership, such as regional, social, or ethnic identity, rather than directly informing about grammar, linguistic relativity, or intelligence level.

Question 6

Language is:

Accepted Answer

Language is a system of communication that is specific to humans. It is not derived from cave drawings, and it is not only found in conspecifics.

Question 7

People's attitudes towards others based on their speech style have commonly been investigated using:

Accepted Answer

The matched-guise technique is commonly used to investigate people's attitudes towards others based on their speech style. This method involves using the same speaker to produce different "guises" (e.g., accents or dialects) to see how listeners' perceptions and attitudes change based on the speech style they hear.

Question 8

Which of the following is a status characteristic associated with high ethnolinguistic vitality in a minority group?

Accepted Answer

Self-confidence and pride of its members is a status characteristic associated with high ethnolinguistic vitality in a minority group.

Question 9

Yuki grew up in Japan and speaks Japanese. Yvonne grew up in America and speaks English. Yasmin grew up in France and speaks French. Because these three individuals speak different languages, one could argue that this has caused them to view the world in three completely different ways. This argument fits under the concept of:

Accepted Answer

The concept that language influences how individuals perceive and understand the world is known as linguistic relativity. This theory suggests that the structure and vocabulary of one's language shape one's thoughts and worldview.

Question 10

Elena considers Julio to be warm, caring and friendly because of his voice qualities. Elena is basing her judgement on:

Accepted Answer

Elena's judgment is based on solidarity variables, which refer to aspects of speech that convey a sense of warmth, friendliness, and approachability, often influenced by tone, pitch, and other qualities of voice.

Question 11

Communication is social because:

Accepted Answer

Communication is inherently social because it involves the exchange of messages between individuals, influencing thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Question 12

Pitch, tempo, tonality and rhythm are examples of:

Accepted Answer

Pitch, tempo, tonality, and rhythm are all aspects of how something is said rather than what is said, making them paralinguistic cues. These cues can convey emotion, emphasis, or other contextual information beyond the literal meaning of words.

Question 13

If we wanted to experimentally test people's attitudes towards a person based on speech style, a well-established method we could use is:

Accepted Answer

The matched-guise technique is a well-established method for experimentally testing people's attitudes towards a person based on speech style. It involves using the same speaker to deliver messages in different accents, dialects, or styles, without the listeners knowing it's the same person, to isolate the effect of speech style on attitudes.

Question 14

Which of the following means to place words in sequence?

Accepted Answer

Locution refers to the act of making a statement or expressing something in words, which involves placing words in a particular sequence to convey meaning.

Question 15

One of the fundamental reasons why language and cognition are linked is because:

Accepted Answer

Language and cognition are linked primarily because our perceptions and thoughts are often organized into linguistic categories, which influences how we understand and interact with the world.

Question 16

'Illocution' refers to:

Accepted Answer

Illocution refers to the intention behind the words spoken, which involves words in sequence with a context, conveying a specific meaning or function in communication.

Question 17

When we are describing a person, using an adjective can suggest an attribute of that person (e.g., Ben is Asian). However, using a noun to describe an individual implies a social group and membership of that group (e.g., Ben is an Asian). The latter is likely to:

Accepted Answer

Using a noun to describe an individual (e.g., "Ben is an Asian") rather than an adjective (e.g., "Ben is Asian") emphasizes group membership and can more readily invoke stereotypic inferences associated with that group. This is because it categorizes the person more explicitly as a member of a social group, which can lead to generalizations or stereotypes associated with that group being applied to the individual.

Question 18

Sophia is Colombian and moves to the United States where she learns English as a second language. Sophia is very proud of her Colombian heritage and, as such, she does not make a concerted effort to get rid of her Colombian accent when speaking English. This demonstrates that:

Accepted Answer

Sophia's choice to retain her Colombian accent while speaking English reflects her ethnic identity, indicating that speech style can serve as a marker of one's cultural or ethnic background.

Question 19

An example of a prosodic feature is:

Accepted Answer

Prosodic features refer to the aspects of speech that go beyond the individual sounds or words, encompassing elements like intonation, stress, rhythm, and pitch. A rising intonation at the end of a sentence to indicate a question is a classic example of a prosodic feature, as it involves the modulation of pitch to convey grammatical information or affective content, in this case, turning a statement into a question.

Question 20

Paralanguage is defined as:

Accepted Answer

Paralanguage refers to the non-verbal elements of communication used to modify meaning and convey emotion, such as tone of voice, loudness, inflection, and pitch. It is not about what is said, but how it is said.

Quiz 15: Language and Communication