Question 1

Let's say that I ask you to tell me what you are going to do this summer. You say that you plan to take a trip to Europe. What property of language does your description of your plans illustrate?

Accepted Answer

Displacement is the property of language that allows speakers to talk about things that are not present in the immediate environment, such as future plans or events.

Question 2

LAD is to LASS as

Accepted Answer

"LAD" (Language Acquisition Device) is an innate mechanism, while "LASS" (Language Acquisition Support System) refers to learned or environmental support for language learning.

Question 3

You are trying to unscrew the battery cover on your alarm clock, but you do not have a screwdriver. If you realize that a dime can be used as a screwdriver and then use it, you have avoided the problem of

Accepted Answer

Functional fixedness is a cognitive bias that limits a person to using an object only in the way it is traditionally used. By using a dime as a screwdriver, you have overcome this bias.

Question 4

Let's say that I ask you to tell me what you did last summer. You say that you took a trip to Europe. What property of language does your description of your trip illustrate?

Accepted Answer

Displacement is the property of language that allows speakers to talk about things that are not present in the immediate environment, such as past events or distant locations.

Question 5

Josh really wants to lose about 30 pounds. So he figures out that all he needs to do is lose a pound a day for a month and he'll be there. Josh has just engaged in

Accepted Answer

Josh is using a means-ends analysis by setting a specific goal (losing 30 pounds) and identifying a means to achieve it (losing a pound a day).

Question 6

You are about to buy a lottery ticket and you want to choose your favourite numbers 37, 18, 4, 7, 25, and 42. Your friend says that instead you should choose 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. This does not seem like a good choice to you so you just choose your favourite numbers. Why might you prefer your favourite numbers?

Accepted Answer

Choosing numbers that seem more random or less sequential, like your favourite numbers, might feel more representative of a random lottery draw, even though all combinations have the same probability.

Question 7

Peter strongly believes that global warming is a hoax. So he tends to only hang out with friends who think the same, and refuses to read any "balanced" scientific reports. Peter is demonstrating the concept of

Accepted Answer

Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek out information that confirms one's existing beliefs and to ignore or discount information that contradicts those beliefs.

Question 8

The 2-year old will speak using a sentence consisting of just a noun and a verb. This is referred to as

Accepted Answer

Telegraphic speech is a stage in language development where young children use two-word sentences, typically consisting of a noun and a verb, to convey meaning.

Question 9

Inductive reasoning is to deductive reasoning as

Accepted Answer

Inductive reasoning involves making generalizations based on specific observations (bottom-up), while deductive reasoning involves applying general principles to reach specific conclusions (top-down).

Question 10

Professor Jones believes that language constrains the way in which we think. We cannot think of anything in complex terms if we do not have complex language. Jones apparently is a believer in

Accepted Answer

The linguistic relativity hypothesis, also known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, suggests that the structure of a language affects its speakers' world view or cognition, implying that language constrains thought.

Question 11

If you were solving a problem and wanted to guarantee that you reached the correct solution, it would be best to use

Accepted Answer

An algorithm is a step-by-step procedure that guarantees a correct solution if followed correctly.

Question 12

Which of the following is FALSE regarding mental imagery?

Accepted Answer

Mental rotation is a well-documented phenomenon where individuals can rotate mental images in their mind, demonstrating that it is indeed possible to mentally rotate images.

Question 13

Which of the following is NOT a component of wisdom?

Accepted Answer

A long life with challenges and tests is not a component of wisdom itself, but rather a potential source or context for developing wisdom. Wisdom typically involves understanding, knowledge, and the ability to manage uncertainty.

Question 14

You have a bag of walnuts, but unfortunately, no nutcracker. Suddenly, you realize that the brick on the floor could be used to open the walnuts so you use it. You have just avoided the problem of

Accepted Answer

Functional fixedness is the cognitive bias that limits a person to using an object only in the way it is traditionally used. By using a brick to open walnuts, you avoided this bias.

Question 15

How many morphemes are in the word "airlines"?

Accepted Answer

The answer of How many morphemes are in the word...

Question 16

If you have a mental framework for the behaviour of "going out to dinner", we would refer to this framework as

Accepted Answer

A script is a type of schema that outlines the expected sequence of events in a particular context, such as going out to dinner.

Question 17

Josh really wants to lose about 30 pounds. So he figures out that he needs to identify methods to lose weight, the best time of the day to work out, and how many pounds he will aim for in one week. Josh has just engaged in

Accepted Answer

The answer of Josh really wants to lose about 30...

Question 18

You absolutely must solve a problem and you must get the right answer. Thus, you should use

Accepted Answer

An algorithm is a step-by-step procedure that guarantees a correct solution to a problem if followed correctly.

Question 19

How many morphemes are in the word "unquestionable"?

Accepted Answer

The word "unquestionable" has three morphemes: "un-" (a prefix meaning "not"), "question" (a root meaning "to ask"), and "-able" (a suffix meaning "able to be").

Question 20

The sentence "Make me a coffee." has

Accepted Answer

The sentence "Make me a coffee." has one surface structure and two deep structures. The surface structure is the sentence as it is written. The two deep structures are: 1) The speaker wants the hearer to make a coffee for the speaker. 2) The speaker wants the hearer to make a coffee for someone else.

Quiz 9: Language and Thinking