Question 1

Dalila is two years old and is able to construct simple sentences with a noun and a verb. For example, if she wants to be held, she goes to her mother, holds up her arms, and says, "Mommy, up." This type of sentence is called

Accepted Answer

Dalila's ability to construct simple sentences with a noun and a verb, such as "Mommy, up," is an example of telegraphic speech. This stage of language development typically involves short, simple sentences that convey a clear message with minimal words, resembling the concise nature of telegrams.

Question 2

Actors tend to avoid wishing each good luck before performances on account of a belief that doing so can result in something bad happening (often opting instead to use the phrase 'break a leg'). In other words, a superstition exists. Imagine an actor tells you they don't actually believe there is any real connection with wishing someone good luck and something going wrong, yet they still act as though this superstition is true. What would this be an example of?

Accepted Answer

This is an example of a belief bias because the actor behaves according to the superstition despite not believing in its validity, indicating that their actions are influenced by the common belief rather than their own logical reasoning or evidence.

Question 3

The symbols used in any given language (in English the symbols in question are called letters) were developed

Accepted Answer

The symbols used in languages, including letters in English, were developed arbitrarily. There is no direct connection between the shape of most letters and the sounds they represent, the shapes of objects, astrological charts, or specific aesthetic principles. The development of written symbols has been influenced by a variety of factors over time, including historical, cultural, and practical considerations, but the initial creation of these symbols is largely arbitrary.

Question 4

Whenever Leslie's father gets home before 6:00 p.m., she knows he finished work early and will probably be in a good mood. The last two times he came home early he took Leslie to dinner. Leslie hears her father's car pull into the garage at 5:30 p.m. and thinks, "We're going out to dinner!" Leslie is using

Accepted Answer

The answer of Whenever Leslie's father gets home before 6:00...

Question 5

The idea that language can influence and/or determine our thoughts is related to which idea?

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, and thus people's perceptions are relative to their spoken language.

Question 6

Sam enjoys action movies, science fiction novels, weightlifting, and football. One day Sam hopes to become an aerospace engineer or a physics professor. Based on this information, most people will assume that Sam is male due to the _____________ heuristic.

Accepted Answer

The representativeness heuristic is a mental shortcut that involves making a probability judgement by comparing an object or event to a prototype of the object or event. In this case, the activities and career aspirations mentioned are stereotypically associated with males, leading people to assume Sam is male based on the representativeness heuristic.

Question 7

Human children begin to master language without any formal instruction, and languages throughout the world have common underlying structural characteristics. These two things suggest an inborn tendency to learn language that has been termed a _____. On the other hand, various factors in the social environment may also assist with learning a language. Collectively, these social factors have been referred to by the term _____.

Accepted Answer

The correct terms are Language Acquisition Device (LAD) for the inborn tendency to learn language, and Language Acquisition Support System (LASS) for the social factors that assist with language learning.

Question 8

In 1965, Fred Smith wrote a management class paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. His professor gave him a C, because "the concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a C, [it] must be feasible." Smith ignored his professor's statement and founded Federal Express (FedEx), a company that is now worth more than $3 billion. Smith's professor wanted him to stick to business solutions that were proven, not come up with something "outside the box." In other words, Smith's professor was relying on a/an

Accepted Answer

Smith's professor was relying on a mental set, which is a framework for thinking about a problem based on prior experience and knowledge. The professor couldn't see beyond the established norms of the business world, thus limiting his ability to appreciate innovative solutions like Smith's proposal for FedEx.

Question 9

Olivia is writing an email to her professor. She writes it the same way she'd write an email to her friend. Her first line reads, "Hey, how u doing? Yr office hours aren't good for me. Can I pop over now?" What language rule has Olivia violated?

Accepted Answer

Olivia has violated the rules of pragmatics, which involve the use of language in social contexts and the ways in which people produce and comprehend meanings through language. Her informal tone and language are not appropriate for the context of communicating with a professor.

Question 10

In 1970, Spencer Silver was trying to formulate a strong adhesive for the 3M Company, and one of his failed attempts resulted in an extremely weak adhesive. Four years later, frustrated by how often his markers fell out of his church hymnal, Arthur Fry coated them with the adhesive. The markers stayed in place but could be peeled out of the book without damaging the pages. Post-it Notes are now one of the top five-selling office products. If Silver and Fry had just thrown the adhesive out because it hadn't done what it was supposed to, they would have been demonstrating

Accepted Answer

Functional fixedness is the inability to see an object being used for something other than what it was designed for. In this case, if Silver and Fry had discarded the adhesive because it didn't serve its intended strong adhesive purpose, they would have failed to see its potential for another use, which is a classic example of functional fixedness.

Question 11

Akio has decided to improve her health by incorporating exercise into her lifestyle. She tells her friend Ewan that she has taken up the sport of Tae Kwon Do. Ewan laughs and says, "That's not a sport! Sports have teams!" Akio disagrees, because, she says, "Any kind of organized physical activity is a sport, even if you're the only one doing it." Who is correct, and why?

Accepted Answer

DAkio's perspective aligns with a broader definition of sport that includes individual physical activities, not just team sports. The derivation of the word "sport" from "disport" supports the idea that sports can be any form of physical amusement or diversion, not limited to team activities.

Question 12

Miguel is taking an introductory French course and has to complete several oral comprehension labs. These involve listening to audio recordings of French conversations while writing down everything that is said. Although he can recognize most of the French vocabulary words when they're already written down, Miguel finds it extremely difficult to understand when those words are said by the people in the recordings. His biggest obstacle seems to be breaking up the audio into singular coherent words. What process is Miguel struggling with?

Accepted Answer

Miguel is struggling with speech segmentation, which is the process of identifying the boundaries between words, syllables, or phonemes in spoken natural languages. This is a common challenge for language learners when transitioning from reading and writing to listening and speaking.

Question 13

Charlotte is a jeweller. A friend asks if she knows where violet diamonds come from. Charlotte replies that she has never seen a violet diamond, so they must not exist. Charlotte's _________________ reasoning may be in error.

Accepted Answer

Charlotte is using inductive reasoning, which involves making generalizations based on specific observations. In this case, she concludes that violet diamonds do not exist because she has never seen one, which is an example of inductive reasoning that may lead to incorrect conclusions.

Question 14

In 1970, Spencer Silver was trying to formulate a strong adhesive for the 3M Company, and one of his failed attempts resulted in an extremely weak adhesive. Four years later, frustrated by how often his markers fell out of his church hymnal, Arthur Fry coated them with Silver's adhesive. The markers stayed in place but could be peeled out of the book without damaging the pages. Post-it Notes are now one of the top five-selling office products in the United States. Fry's novel approach is a good example of

Accepted Answer

Fry's novel approach to using a weak adhesive for a new purpose (book markers that could be easily removed) exemplifies divergent thinking, which involves thinking about a problem in a novel or unusual way and generating creative solutions.

Question 15

Ingrid tried to darken her naturally blond hair with store-bought colour and accidentally dyed it black. When she and her friend Minka go to the gym, she notices a woman looking in their direction. "Everybody's staring at me!" she says. "Ingrid," Minka replies, "you pick out the one woman in the whole gym who's staring, just to prove your point!" By looking for evidence that confirms what she believes rather than evidence that does not, Ingrid is relying on the

Accepted Answer

Ingrid is demonstrating confirmation bias by focusing on information that supports her belief (that everyone is staring at her because of her hair) and ignoring information that contradicts it (the fact that not everyone is staring). This cognitive bias involves seeking out, interpreting, favoring, and recalling information in a way that confirms one's preexisting beliefs or hypotheses.

Question 16

Sasha drives whenever she must travel, because she's terrified that if she were to travel in a plane it would crash. Statistics show that there are 40,000 deaths per year in automobile accidents and only about 200 in air transport, but news programs tend to sensationalize plane crashes and minimize car wrecks. As a result, people like Sasha can easily call to mind examples of plane crashes. They are relying on the

Accepted Answer

Sasha is influenced by the availability heuristic, which means she judges the likelihood of events based on how easily examples come to mind. In this case, the frequent media coverage of plane crashes makes those events more memorable, leading her to overestimate the risk of flying compared to driving.

Question 17

While trying to learn what a dog is, Arash mentally compares every animal to his family's new puppy. If the animal is similar enough, he decides that it is also a dog. Arash's puppy serves as a _______________ for the concept of dog.

Accepted Answer

Arash's puppy serves as a prototype for the concept of a dog. A prototype is a mental image or best example of a category. By comparing other animals to his puppy, Arash is using his puppy as the standard or typical example to identify other dogs.

Question 18

Kirima moved to Germany with her parents and little brother Leif when she was 13 and Leif was 4. Ten years later, both Kirima and Leif speak German and English, but Leif is more fluent with German than is Kirima and he has no accent in either language. This

Accepted Answer

This scenario supports the idea of a sensitive period for language acquisition, where younger children, like Leif, are more adept at learning languages to a native-like level compared to older individuals, such as Kirima.

Question 19

Tallulah has just started learning how to play the piano. Although she doesn't have a piano at home, she can still think about the sequence of key presses she needs to make to correctly play a scale. This allows her to engage in some limited rehearsal without ever even touching a piano. To accomplish this, she uses _____ thought.

Accepted Answer

Motoric thought involves thinking about movements or actions, such as the sequence of key presses on a piano, without actually performing them. This type of thought allows individuals to mentally rehearse physical activities.

Question 20

Which of the following was not a benefit of bilingualism suggested by research discussed in your textbook?

Accepted Answer

All the options (A, B, C, D) reflect benefits of bilingualism discussed in various research studies, indicating that bilingual individuals may have advantages in cognitive processing, reading, and understanding symbolic systems, as well as in tasks requiring the inhibition of irrelevant information.

Quiz 9: Language and Thinking