Deck 28: Language and Thought

Question 1

Which of the following has been argued by critics of ape language research?

A) Ape language is merely imitation of the trainer's behavior.
B) There is little evidence that apes can equal even a 3-year-old's ability to order words with proper syntax.
C) By seeing what they wish to see, trainers attribute greater linguistic ability to apes than actually exists.
D) All of these are arguments by critics.

Answer 1

All of these are arguments by critics.

Question 2

The two-word stage of language development typically begins at the age of ________ months.

A) 6
B) 10
C) 24
D) 36

Answer 2

24

Question 3

The English language has approximately ________ phonemes.

A) 25
B) 30
C) 40
D) 45

Answer 3

40

Question 4

When you add s to the word apple you are referring to more than one apple. This illustrates an English language rule of

A) semantics.
B) statistics.
C) syntax.
D) telegraphic speech.

Question 5

Which of the following BEST describes Chomsky's view of language development?

A) Language is an entirely learned ability.
B) Language is an innate ability.
C) Humans have a biological predisposition to acquire language.
D) There are no cultural influences on the development of language.

Question 6

In the English language, adjectives are typically placed before nouns as in "green car." This illustrates an English language rule of

A) semantics.
B) determinism.
C) syntax.
D) phonemes.

Question 7

Damage to ________ will usually cause a person to lose the ability to comprehend language.

A) any area of the brain
B) Broca's area
C) Wernicke's area
D) frontal lobe association areas

Question 8

Which of the following is NOT true of babbling?

A) It is imitation of adult speech.
B) It is the same in all cultures.
C) It typically occurs from about age 4 months to 1 year.
D) Babbling increasingly comes to resemble a particular language.

Question 9

In which of the following parts of the brain would a lesion most likely result in aphasia?

A) amygdala
B) hypothalamus
C) Wernicke's area
D) cerebellum

Question 10

Whorf's linguistic determinism hypothesis states that

A) language is primarily a learned ability.
B) language is partially an innate ability.
C) the size of a person's vocabulary reflects his or her intelligence.
D) our language shapes our thinking.

Question 11

Native German speakers who pronounce the English word "this" as "dis" are demonstrating their difficulty with an English

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

Question 12

Brain scans reveal that different ________ are activated when we process verbs rather than nouns.

A) prototypes
B) grammars
C) neural networks
D) critical periods

Question 13

Rico, the border collie, can fetch 200 items by name. If asked to retrieve a toy with a name he has never heard before, Rico will fetch a toy that is

A) a prototype.
B) new.
C) most easily available.
D) broken.

Question 14

The word "chimps" contains ________ phoneme(s) and ________ morpheme(s).

A) 5; 2
B) 6; 1
C) 2; 5
D) 1; 6

Question 15

As a result of an automobile accident, Jenny suffered damage to her cerebral cortex in Broca's area. Jenny is most likely to experience

A) auditory hallucinations.
B) memory loss.
C) aphasia.
D) paralysis of her left limbs.

Question 16

During a lecture, your professor says, "A child learns language as he interacts with caregivers." This generic use of the pronoun he is more likely to trigger images of males than of females. This best illustrates the impact of

A) language on thinking.
B) productive language on receptive language.
C) telegraphic speech on universal grammar.
D) outcome simulation on process simulation.

Question 17

Vocal sounds that are not included in one's native language first begin to disappear from usage during the ________ stage of language development.

A) one-word
B) two-word
C) telegraphic
D) babbling

Question 18

Using different words for two very similar objects enables people to recognize conceptual distinctions between the objects. This best illustrates

A) telegraphic speech.
B) linguistic determinism.
C) process simulation.
D) productive language.

Question 19

The older a person is when moving to a new country, the harder it is to learn the language. This best illustrates the importance of ________ for learning language.

A) statistical learning
B) mental age
C) outcome simulations
D) a critical period

Question 20

Introductory psychology students facing a midterm exam one week later spent five minutes each day visualizing themselves reading their assigned chapters, going over their notes, and eliminating study distractions. This ________ simulation had a ________ effect on their exam scores.

A) process; negative
B) outcome; positive
C) process; positive
D) outcome; negative

Question 21

Which of the following is true regarding the relationship between thinking and language?

A) "Real" thinking requires the use of language.
B) People sometimes think in images rather than in words.
C) A thought that cannot be expressed in a particular language cannot occur to speakers of that language.
D) All of these statements are true.

Question 22

The study in which people who immigrated to the United States at various ages were compared in terms of their ability to understand English grammar found that

A) age of arrival had no effect on mastery of grammar.
B) those who immigrated as children understood grammar as well as native speakers.
C) those who immigrated as adults understood grammar as well as native speakers.
D) whether English was spoken in the home was the most important factor in mastering the rules of grammar.

Question 23

One reason an English-speaking adult may have difficulty pronouncing Russian words is that

A) the vocal tracts of English- and Russian-speaking people develop differently in response to the demands of the two languages.
B) although English and Russian have very similar morphemes, their phonemic inventories are very different.
C) although English and Russian have very similar phonemes, their morphemic inventories are very different.
D) after the babbling stage, a child who hears only English stops uttering other phonemes.

Question 24

Language refers to the

A) smallest distinctive sound units.
B) rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences.
C) spoken, written, or signed words and the ways they are combined to communicate meaning.
D) rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes.

Question 25

The bilingual advantage refers to the fact that people who are fluent in two languages are better at

A) inhibiting their attention to irrelevant information.
B) acquiring large vocabularies in both languages.
C) thinking in images.
D) all of these abilities.

Question 26

The linguistic determinism hypothesis is challenged by the finding that

A) chimps can learn to communicate spontaneously by using sign language.
B) people with no word for a certain color can still perceive that color accurately.
C) the Eskimo language contains a number of words for snow, whereas English has only one.
D) infants' babbling contains many phonemes that do not occur in their own language and that they therefore cannot have heard.

Question 27

Complete the following: -ed is to sh as ________ is to ________.

A) phoneme; morpheme
B) morpheme; phoneme
C) grammar; syntax
D) syntax; grammar

Question 28

Human infants display a remarkable ability to learn statistical aspects of speech. Specifically, research studies have shown that they

A) are quickly able to recognize syllable sequences that appear repeatedly.
B) respond to changes in the pitch of a speaker's voice.
C) pay less attention to a same-gender voice.
D) do all these things.

Question 29

Several studies have indicated that the generic "he"

A) tends for children and adults alike to trigger images of both males and females.
B) tends for adults to trigger images of both males and females, but for children to trigger images of males.
C) tends for both children and adults to trigger images of males but not females.
D) for both children and adults triggers images of females about one-fourth of the time it is used.

Question 30

Phonemes are the basic units of ________ in language.

A) sound
B) meaning
C) grammar
D) semantics

Question 31

Syntax refers to the

A) sounds in a word.
B) rules for grouping words into sentences.
C) rules by which meaning is derived from sentences.
D) overall rules of a language.

Question 32

Deaf children who are not exposed to sign language until they are teenagers

A) are unable to master the basic words of sign language.
B) learn the basic words but not how to order them.
C) are unable to master either the basic words or syntax of sign language.
D) never become as fluent as those who learned to sign at a younger age.

Question 33

Which of the following is cited by Chomsky as evidence that humans are born with a predisposition to learn language?

A) Children master the complicated rules of grammar with ease.
B) Different languages do not have the same grammatical building blocks.
C) Children make unpredictable mistakes as they acquire language.
D) Children raised in isolation from language spontaneously begin speaking words.

Question 34

Regarding the relationship between thinking and language, which of the following most accurately reflects the position taken in the text?

A) Language determines everything about our thinking.
B) Language determines the way we think.
C) Thinking without language is not possible.
D) Thinking affects our language, which then affects our thought.

Question 35

Researchers taught the chimpanzee Washoe and the gorilla Koko to communicate by using

A) various sounds.
B) plastic symbols of various shapes and colors.
C) sign language.
D) all of these methods.

Question 36

Telegraphic speech is typical of the ________ stage.

A) babbling
B) one-word
C) two-word
D) three-word

Question 37

The smallest distinctive sound unit of language is a

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

Question 38

According to the text, language acquisition is best described as

A) the result of conditioning and reinforcement.
B) a biological process of maturation.
C) an interaction between biology and experience.
D) a mystery of which researchers have no real understanding.

Question 39

Children first demonstrate a rudimentary understanding of syntax during the ________ stage.

A) babbling
B) one-word
C) two-word
D) three-word

Question 40

Our ability to learn a new language

A) diminishes with age.
B) is limited by a sharply defined critical period.
C) remains constant throughout our lives.
D) depends on the language.

Question 41

At the age of 15 months, Anita repeatedly cries "hoy" when she wants her mother to hold her. Anita is most likely in the ________ stage of language development.

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

Question 42

Semantics refers to the

A) logical and methodical procedures for solving problems.
B) orderly arrangement of words into grammatically correct sentences.
C) simple thinking strategies that facilitate quick decision making.
D) rules by which we derive meaning from sounds.

Question 43

Using barely recognizable syllables to communicate meaning best illustrates a 12-month-old's developing capacity for

A) syntax.
B) telegraphic speech.
C) productive language.
D) framing.

Question 44

Telegraphic speech is most closely associated with the ________ stage of language development.

A) one-word
B) babbling
C) two-word
D) semantic

Question 45

The earliest stage of speech development is called the ________ stage.

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

Question 46

In the words "helped" and "called," the "ed" ending is a(n)

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

Question 47

The system of rules in a language that enables us to understand and communicate with others is called

A) semantics.
B) telegraphic speech.
C) grammar.
D) a prototype.

Question 48

English words are constructed from about ________ different phonemes.

A) 5
B) 6
C) 26
D) 40

Question 49

The rock musician was hit with a rotten egg while performing his latest hit song. The fact that you can recognize two different meanings for the word "hit" in the preceding sentence demonstrates the importance of

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

Question 50

The word "cats" contains ________ phoneme(s) and ________ morpheme(s).

A) 2; 1
B) 4; 1
C) 2; 4
D) 4; 2

Question 51

Infants are first able to discriminate speech sounds during the ________ stage.

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

Question 52

Morphemes are

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

Question 53

The various vowel sounds that can be placed between a "t" and an "n" produce words such as tan, ten, tin, and ton. These various vowel sounds represent different

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

Question 54

At some point during the babbling stage, infants begin to

A) imitate adult grammar.
B) communicate in telegraphic speech.
C) speak in simple words that may be barely recognizable.
D) lose their ability to discriminate sounds they never hear.

Question 55

Which of the following would be most characteristic of a 2-year-old's telegraphic speech?

A) "a doggy"
B) "eat apple"
C) "to store"
D) "ball pretty"

Question 56

To combine words into grammatically sensible sentences, we need to apply proper rules of

A) semantics.
B) syntax.
C) simulation.
D) phonics.

Question 57

The ability to produce words is to productive language as the ability to comprehend speech is to ________ language.

A) sign
B) grammatical
C) receptive
D) telegraphic

Question 58

Mentally segmenting other's spoken sounds into individual words best illustrates a 7-month-old's capacity for

A) telegraphic speech.
B) receptive language.
C) fixation.
D) productive language.

Question 59

Lavonne was careful to avoid the use of dangling participles and run-on sentences in her essay because she did not want to lose points for faulty

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

Question 60

No matter what language we first use, our first words are mostly

A) verbs.
B) adverbs.
C) adjectives.
D) nouns.

Question 61

Research on the language capabilities of apes clearly demonstrates that they have the capacity to

A) vocalize the most common vowel sounds.
B) acquire language vocabulary as rapidly as most children.
C) communicate through the use of symbols.
D) do all of these things.

Question 62

Infants can learn the difference between syllable sequences that follow an ABA pattern (such as ga-ti-ga) and those that follow an ABB pattern (such as wo-fe-fe). This best illustrates the infant's capacity for

A) telegraphic speech.
B) statistical learning.
C) a productive language.
D) linguistic determinism.

Question 63

A stroke may impair the ability to speak distinctly without harming the ability to read because different language functions depend on different

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

Question 64

Noam Chomsky suggested that all human languages share a(n)

A) universal grammar.
B) neural network.
C) outcome simulation.
D) algorithm.

Question 65

Deaf culture advocates are most likely to object to the use of cochlear implants for

A) children who were deaf prior to learning any language.
B) adults who have experienced a loss of both vision and language.
C) children who have never learned sign language.
D) adults whose hearing becomes impaired later in their lives.

Question 66

After Miguel's recent automobile accident, doctors detected damage to his cerebral cortex in Broca's area. It is likely that Miguel will have difficulty

A) remembering past events.
B) speaking fluently.
C) reading.
D) understanding other people when they speak.

Question 67

Blind people are ________ accurate than sighted people at locating a sound source with one ear plugged, and blind musicians are ________ likely than sighted ones to develop perfect pitch.

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

Question 68

Human language appears to have evolved from

A) cultural diversity.
B) gestured communication.
C) a process simulation.
D) a critical period.

Question 69

The part of the cerebral cortex that directs the muscle movements involved in speech is known as

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

Question 70

By about age 7, those who have not been exposed to either a spoken or a signed language gradually lose their ability to master any language. This illustrates the importance of ________ for language acquisition.

A) a critical period
B) an outcome simulation
C) telegraphic speech
D) linguistic determinism

Question 71

A football quarterback simultaneously calculates receiver distances, player movements, and weather conditions. This best illustrates the activity of multiple

A) critical periods.
B) morphemes.
C) neural networks.
D) symbols.

Question 72

After Paul's snow-skiing accident, doctors detected damage to his cerebral cortex in Wernicke's area. Because of the damage, Paul is most likely to experience difficulty in

A) remembering past events.
B) pronouncing words correctly.
C) understanding what others are saying.
D) recognizing familiar faces.

Question 73

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

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

Question 74

An impairment of language is known as

A) a fixation.
B) telegraphic speech.
C) babbling.
D) aphasia.

Question 75

The best evidence that there is a critical period for language acquisition is the fact that

A) infants babble sounds that occur in their parents' native language.
B) toddlers maintain a capacity to discriminate language sounds they have never heard.
C) people most easily master the grammar of a second language during childhood.
D) preschoolers typically fail to use proper syntax.

Question 76

Animal trainers' expectations may have led them to interpret some chimpanzees' signs as indicative of greater linguistic ability than is warranted. This best illustrates the shortcoming of

A) an algorithm.
B) a critical period.
C) a process simulation.
D) linguistic determinism.

Question 77

Noam Chomsky attributed children's ability to pick up language so readily to

A) trial and error.
B) intuition.
C) outcome simulations.
D) a built-in readiness to learn grammar rules.

Question 78

Beatrice and Allen Gardner taught the chimpanzee Washoe to communicate by means of

A) pictures.
B) Morse code.
C) sign language.
D) English letters.

Question 79

Compared with deaf children exposed to sign language from birth, those who first learn sign language as teens are less likely to

A) correctly imitate the signs they are shown.
B) use signs to indicate concrete objects.
C) mentally associate signs with written words.
D) comprehend grammatical subtleties of sign language.

Question 80

In several studies, people with hearing loss, especially those not wearing hearing aids, have reported being ________ socially engaged and ________ often experiencing others' irritation.

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