Deck 9: Language

Question 1

Which of the following belong to Hockett's linguistic universals?

A) Linguisitc intuition
B) Arbitrariness
C) Linguistic relativity
D) Encoding

Answer 1

Arbitrariness

Question 2

Which of the following is associated with the concept of "arbitrariness"?

A) Interchangeability
B) Connections that are learned
C) Discreteness
D) Iconic communication

Answer 2

Connections that are learned

Question 3

The language people know reflects how they think about the world around them:

A) Semantic functionality
B) Encoding specificity
C) The case grammar approach
D) The Whorf hypothesis

Answer 3

The Whorf hypothesis

Question 4

Whorf's proposal that the language you know shapes the way you think about events in the world around you:

A) Semantic functionality
B) Encoding specificity
C) Case grammar
D) Linguistic relativity

Question 5

Shift, exchange, and blend are examples of:

A) Speech planning
B) Linguistic universals
C) Speech errors
D) Transformational grammar rules

Question 6

"To pour a peer" is an illustration of what type of speech error:

A) Exchange
B) Shift
C) A blend
D) Perseveration

Question 7

Your basic knowledge of the rules of sound combinations in English refers to your:

A) Discreteness
B) Phonemic competence
C) Productive vocabulary
D) Receptive vocabulary

Question 8

The fact that spoken sounds change depending on what sound precedes and follows it:

A) Bad planning
B) Infant perceptual errors
C) Speech-to-sound correspondence rules
D) The problem of invariance

Question 9

Emilio's friend called him from his cell phone. There was a lot of interference on the line, and Emilio heard his friend say "I'm driving but can talk because the lights are ....". Even though Emilio did not hear the last word, he knew it was "red" because of:

A) Prescriptive grammar
B) The "problem of invariance"
C) Transformational grammar rules
D) Context effects

Question 10

Which of the following is associated with transformational grammar?

A) Phrase structure rules
B) Semantic roles
C) Linguistic universals
D) The problem of invariance

Question 11

Convert the deep structure of a sentence into a sentence ready to be spoken:

A) Syntactic structures
B) Phrase structures.
C) Transformational rules
D) Underlying propositions

Question 12

Mental lexicon refers to:

A) Words and their meaning
B) Phrase structures
C) Grammar
D) Sentence planning

Question 13

A brain-damaged patient whose speech is nonfluent, but whose comprehension is relatively spared, probably suffers from:

A) Conduction aphasia
B) Wernike's aphasia
C) Alexia
D) Broca's aphasia

Question 14

The phrase "The horse liked carrots" contains ________ morphenes.

A) 6
B) 5
C) 8
D) 7

Question 15

When the politician told the journalist "Don't print that or I won't sue you", he was uttering a:

A) Perverse threat
B) Threat
C) Disordered threat
D) Conjunctive statement

Question 16

A disruption of language in which a person is unable to repeat what he/she has just heard:

A) Broca's aphasia
B) Conduction aphasia
C) Production aphasia
D) Expressive aphasia

Question 17

This ability is impaired in Wernicke's aphasia:

A) Comprehension
B) Repetition
C) Naming
D) Syntax

Question 18

Chomsky proposed that:

A) Language is learned through reinforcement
B) Language includes a hierarchical phrase structure
C) Children learn language through imitation
D) The underlying basis of language differs across cultures

Question 19

Garden path sentences:

A) Lead people astray
B) Explain the problem of invariance
C) Facilitate understanding
D) Are common in people with Wernike's aphasia

Question 20

When people read garden path sentences, their eyes tend to:

A) Skip rapidly across the text
B) Fixate longer on the later phrases
C) Only fixate on the middle part of the sentence
D) Fixate longer on the early sentences

Question 21

Features and characteristics that are common to all known languages are called:

A) Linguistic universals
B) Transformational rules
C) Invariant properties
D) Linguistic relativity

Question 22

Marco has just applied to graduate school. He intends to study how people understand words, and how language affects their behaviour. Marco will probably work within the field of:

A) Sensation and perception
B) Cultural psychology
C) Neuropsychology
D) Psycholinguistics

Question 23

When Francis said "visiting relative can be a nuisance", Jane misunderstood because the sentence:

A) Was invariant
B) Was a garden path sentence
C) Was ambiguous
D) Had shallow structure

Question 24

Mary is conducting her doctoral research with a group of people on a small island in the South Pacific. She points to all the different colours in a multicoloured painting and asks the inhabitants to name each colour. Mary finds they report the same number of colours as they use in their language. Her results:

A) Support the Worf hypothesis
B) Contradict the Worf hypothesis
C) Support the problem of invariance
D) Contradict the problem of invariance

Question 25

Place of articulation is the place in the vocal tract where the disruption of airflow takes place.

Question 26

People have implicit knowledge of how sounds are combined.

Question 27

In language, discreteness refers to the fact that there is no inherent connection between a symbol and the concept to which it refers.

Question 28

Research shows that bilingualism is associated with a four year delay in the onset of dementia.

Question 29

In psycholinguistics, what is the "problem of invariance".

Question 30

Language features or characteristics that are common to all known languages are called ________.

Question 31

What is the difference between linguistics and psycholinguistics?

Question 32

Name the three basic levels of analysis that are used in language comprehension.

Question 33

Identify one weaknesses of the transformational grammar approach.

Question 34

The disruption of language caused by a brain-related disorder is known as ________.

Question 35

What is the "mental lexicon"?

Question 36

Define a garden path sentence and provide one example.

Question 37

Describe Worf's linguistic relativity hypothesis. Include both the strong and the weak version.

Question 38

How do the effects caused by damage in Wernicke's and Broca's areas differ? Be sure to use appropriate technical terms.

Question 39

How do the approaches of transformational grammar and case grammar differ?

Question 40

Ellen Bialystok and colleagues have shown that learning a second language in childhood benefits people as they age. Describe this benefit and the possible reasons proposed for the finding.