Deck 28: A: Language and Thought

Question 1

Spoken, written, or signed words and the ways they are combined to communicate meaning constitute

A) semantics.
B) syntax.
C) grammar.
D) language.

Answer 1

language.

Question 2

Word meaning is to word order as ________ is to ________.

A) concept; prototype
B) phoneme; grammar
C) morpheme; phoneme
D) semantics; syntax

Answer 2

semantics; syntax

Question 3

Two-year-old Dirk's sentences-"Dad come," "Mom laugh," and "Truck gone"-are examples of

A) babbling.
B) receptive language.
C) telegraphic speech.
D) universal grammar.

Answer 3

telegraphic speech.

Question 4

Syntax refers to the

A) correct arrangement of words into grammatically sensible sentences.
B) derivation of meaning from sounds.
C) smallest speech unit that carries meaning.
D) the effect of thinking on language.

Question 5

The smallest speech units that carry meaning are called

A) phonemes.
B) morphemes.
C) prototypes.
D) concepts.

Question 6

When Fred pronounced the words "this" and "that," he noticed that they share a common

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

Question 7

In the words "lightly," "neatly," and "shortly," the "ly" ending is a(n)

A) algorithm.
B) phoneme.
C) morpheme.
D) prototype.

Question 8

The spontaneous utterance of a variety of sounds by infants is called

A) universal grammar.
B) babbling.
C) telegraphic speech.
D) syntax.

Question 9

Children begin to demonstrate that they know how to put words in a sensible order during the ________ stage.

A) babbling
B) syntactic
C) two-word
D) universal grammar

Question 10

At 17 months of age, Julie says "wada" whenever she wants a drink of water. Julie is most likely in the ________ stage of language development.

A) syntactic
B) babbling
C) one-word
D) telegraphic speech

Question 11

Which of the following best illustrates productive language?

A) word comprehension
B) telegraphic speech
C) process simulation
D) insight

Question 12

During the earliest stage of speech development, infants

A) speak in single words that may be barely recognizable.
B) imitate adult syntax.
C) make some speech sounds that do not occur in their parents' native language.
D) alternate equally between verbal and manual babbling.

Question 13

A European visitor to the United States asked a taxi driver, "Can you please a ride to the airport me give?" This visitor has apparently not yet mastered the ________ of the English language.

A) phonemes
B) syntax
C) semantics
D) morphemes

Question 14

The English language has ________ letters than phonemes, and the consonant phonemes generally carry ________ information than the vowel phonemes.

A) more; more
B) fewer; more
C) more; less
D) fewer; less

Question 15

The ability to comprehend the meaning of speech is called

A) syntax.
B) productive language.
C) receptive language.
D) semantics.

Question 16

A system of rules for deriving meaning from sounds and for ordering words into sentences is called

A) grammar.
B) an algorithm.
C) receptive language.
D) linguistic determinism.

Question 17

Babies' first demonstration of productive language occurs

A) prior to the babbling stage.
B) during the babbling stage.
C) during the one-word stage.
D) during the two-word stage.

Question 18

The beginning of babies' receptive language development is best illustrated by their capacity to

A) recognize the distinctive sound of their own voice.
B) match another person's distinctive mouth movements with the appropriate sounds.
C) babble only sounds that are part of the household language.
D) comprehend the meaning of languages they have never experienced.

Question 19

When her teacher mentioned the arms race, Krista understood that the word "arms" referred to weapons and not to body parts. Krista's correct interpretation best illustrates the importance of

A) semantics.
B) syntax.
C) morphemes.
D) prototypes.

Question 20

Phonemes are

A) the best examples of particular categories of objects.
B) the smallest distinctive sound units of a language.
C) rules for combining words into grammatically correct sentences.
D) the smallest speech units that carry meaning.

Question 21

Damage to different cortical areas results in different forms of aphasia. This best illustrates that language processing involves multiple

A) prototypes.
B) semantics.
C) critical periods.
D) neural networks.

Question 22

The fact that all human languages have nouns, verbs, and adjectives led Noam Chomsky to refer to

A) linguistic determinism.
B) universal grammar.
C) telegraphic speech.
D) statistical learning.

Question 23

If our capacity to form concepts depends on our verbal memory, this would best illustrate

A) productive language.
B) universal grammar.
C) telegraphic speech.
D) linguistic determinism.

Question 24

After two minutes of exposure to an unbroken monotone string of nonsense syllables, infants could recognize three-syllable sequences that appeared repeatedly. This best illustrates the importance of ________ in language development.

A) process simulation
B) babbling
C) statistical learning
D) telegraphic speech

Question 25

The part of the left temporal lobe that is involved in understanding language is known as

A) Broca's area.
B) the motor cortex.
C) Wernicke's area.
D) the sensory cortex.

Question 26

Left hemisphere damage to Wernicke's area is most likely to contribute to

A) aphasia.
B) universal grammar.
C) linguistic determinism.
D) telegraphic speech.

Question 27

Research on the language capabilities of apes indicates that they cannot

A) translate spoken words into signs.
B) acquire a vocabulary of more than two dozen signs.
C) use signs to communicate with other members of their own species.
D) grammatically order language symbols as well as most 3-year-old children.

Question 28

When older people with hearing loss must expend effort to hear words, they have a(n) ________ capacity to comprehend them and a(n) ________ capacity to remember them.

A) enhanced; enhanced
B) reduced; reduced
C) enhanced; reduced
D) reduced; enhanced

Question 29

Those who learn sign language as teens never become as fluent as children exposed to sign language from birth. This best illustrates the importance of ________ for mastering language.

A) linguistic determinism
B) telegraphic speech
C) a critical period
D) universal grammar

Question 30

People can simultaneously process many aspects of sensory information such as color, depth, movement, and form. This best illustrates the function of multiple

A) prototypes.
B) neural networks.
C) critical periods.
D) simulations.

Question 31

Chimpanzees are capable of learning to

A) understand spoken words.
B) communicate with gestures.
C) string signs together into a meaningful sequence.
D) do all of these things.

Question 32

After she suffered a stroke, Mrs. Jacobitz had so much difficulty speaking that she had to communicate by writing. This suggests that her brain damage occurred in

A) the occipital lobe.
B) Broca's area.
C) the temporal lobe.
D) Wernicke's area.

Question 33

Gestures are especially likely to be associated with speech that has ________ content.

A) bilingual
B) spatial
C) prototypical
D) familiar

Question 34

Noam Chomsky argues that children's readiness to learn language is a(n)

A) telegraphic speech.
B) outcome simulation.
C) universal grammar.
D) biological predisposition.

Question 35

Which of the following was cited by Whorf as evidence in support of the linguistic determinism hypothesis?

A) The generic pronoun "he" is just as likely to trigger images of women as of men.
B) People with no words for colors can still perceive color differences.
C) The Hopi cannot readily think about the past because their language has no past tense for verbs.
D) Chimpanzees can use signs and gestures to communicate with other members of their own species.

Question 36

After a skydiving accident, Laurie was unable to make sense of other people's speech. It is likely that she suffered brain damage to

A) the motor cortex.
B) Broca's area.
C) the occipital lobe.
D) Wernicke's area.

Question 37

Which linguistic theorist was most impressed by the underlying similarities of all human language systems?

A) Beatrice Gardner
B) Benjamin Whorf
C) Noam Chomsky
D) Paul Broca

Question 38

Research suggests that humans can most easily master the grammar of a second language during

A) childhood.
B) adolescence.
C) early adulthood.
D) late adulthood.

Question 39

Broca's area is typically located in the left ________ lobe.

A) frontal
B) occipital
C) temporal
D) parietal

Question 40

The auditory cortex is especially likely to become responsive to visual input for those who

A) hear with the aid of a cochlear implant.
B) see with the aid of eyeglasses.
C) have been deaf from birth.
D) have been blind from birth.

Question 41

When English-speaking Canadian children were taught only in French during their early school years, researchers found that they experienced a(n)

A) confused sense of cultural identity.
B) improvement in intellectual aptitude.
C) slight loss of verbal fluency in English.
D) smaller-than-average improvement in mathematical ability.

Question 42

Bilingual people have a somewhat ________ vocabulary in each language than do people who speak a single language, and bilingual people are ________ able to inhibit their attention to irrelevant information than are monolingual people.

A) larger; better
B) smaller; less
C) larger; less
D) smaller; better

Question 43

Imagining a physical experience activates some of the same ________ that is (are) also active during the actual experience.

A) communication centers
B) receptive language
C) neural networks
D) universal grammar

Question 44

The women's basketball team at the University of Tennessee improved in free-throw shooting after practicing

A) outcome simulations.
B) mental imagery.
C) telegraphic speech.
D) determinism.

Question 45

Perceived differences between various shades of color are greater if people assign a different name to each hue. This best illustrates the influence of

A) universal grammar on language acquisition.
B) algorithms on receptive language.
C) critical periods on language acquisition.
D) language on thinking.

Question 46

Leland's language does not distinguish between "family love" and "romantic love," so he has difficulty realizing that he deeply loves his sister. Which of the following is most relevant to Leland's difficulty?

A) critical periods
B) telegraphic speech
C) universal grammar
D) linguistic determinism

Question 47

Introductory psychology students were more likely to achieve a good midterm exam grade if prior to the exam they repeatedly practiced visual imagery that involved

A) receptive language.
B) an outcome simulation.
C) productive language.
D) a process simulation.