Deck 8: Language and Thought

Question 1

Which of the following theorists encouraged the study of cognitive activity which helped lead to the cognitive revolution in the 1950s?

A) Sigmund Freud
B) John Watson
C) Herbert Simon
D) B. F. Skinner

Answer 1

Herbert Simon

Question 2

Which of the following statements is LEAST accurate?

A) Humans are capable of producing about 100 phonemes.
B) A letter of the alphabet is represented by more than one phoneme if it has more than one pronunciation.
C) All languages use all of the phonemes of which humans are capable.
D) Phonemes are combined into morphemes.

Answer 2

All languages use all of the phonemes of which humans are capable.

Question 3

When the word "oat" is changed to the word "boat," the number of

A) phonemes and morphemes are both increased.
B) phonemes stays the same, but the number of morphemes is increased.
C) phonemes increases, but the number of morphemes stays the same.
D) phonemes decreases, but the number of morphemes increases.

Answer 3

phonemes increases, but the number of morphemes stays the same.

Question 4

Cognition refers to

A) focusing awareness on a narrow range of stimuli or events.
B) the use of language in a social context.
C) widely shared beliefs that are transmitted socially across generations.
D) the mental processes involved in acquiring and using knowledge.

Question 5

When the word "jar" is changed to the word "jars," the number of

A) phonemes increases, but the number of morphemes stays the same.
B) phonemes stays the same, but the number of morphemes is increased.
C) phonemes and morphemes are both increased.
D) phonemes decreases, but the number of morphemes increases.

Question 6

The 1950s brought a "cognitive revolution" in psychology because

A) some theorists recognized that an exclusive focus on observable behavior would yield an incomplete picture of human functioning.
B) it was finally recognized that cognition is a uniquely human capability.
C) introspection became more objective and reliable as a research tool.
D) behaviorists recognized that language could not be studied objectively.

Question 7

The English language contains approximately

A) 100 morphemes.
B) 40 morphemes.
C) 100 phonemes.
D) 40 phonemes.

Question 8

The smallest unit of meaning in a language is

A) the phoneme.
B) the word.
C) the phrase.
D) the morpheme.

Question 9

During the first half of the 20th century,the study of cognition was discouraged because

A) earlier studies using the method of introspection had yielded unreliable results.
B) of the theoretical dominance of psychodynamic theories.
C) cognition was not considered to be a psychological function.
D) language acquisition was viewed as an innate process that could not be studied empirically.

Question 10

Three-year-old Johnny used to say "mikk" when he wanted a drink of milk.Now he is able to say "milk" quite clearly.In this instance,Johnny has made a gain in his use of

A) phonemes.
B) syntax.
C) morphemes.
D) linguistic heuristics.

Question 11

The word "psychology" consists of

A) ten morphemes, one for each letter of the alphabet used.
B) one morpheme, for the entire word.
C) three morphemes, one for each syllable.
D) two morphemes: "psych," and "ology."

Question 12

Last Halloween,4-year-old Jillian called the decorations at her house "punkins." This year she is able to say "pumpkins" when she describes them.In this instance,Jillian has made a gain in her use of

A) syntax.
B) morphemes.
C) linguistic heuristics.
D) phonemes.

Question 13

Semantics is the component of language concerned with

A) understanding the meaning of words and word combinations.
B) specifying rules for how words can be arranged into sentences.
C) creating novel messages from a finite number of symbols.
D) correctly pronouncing the prefixes, suffices, and root words of a language.

Question 14

The fact that language has rules that govern the arrangement of words into phrases and sentences refers to the

A) generative aspect of language.
B) phonemic aspect of language.
C) continuity aspect of language.
D) structured aspect of language.

Question 15

Our ability to reason constitutes primarily

A) a behavioral activity.
B) a cognitive activity.
C) a learned activity.
D) an objective activity.

Question 16

Symbols that convey meaning,plus rules for combining those symbols that can be used to generate an infinite variety of messages are known as

A) language.
B) telegraphic speech.
C) an overextention.
D) semantics.

Question 17

During the first half of the 20th century,the study of cognition was discouraged because

A) earlier studies using the method of introspection had reliably mapped the structure of consciousness.
B) of the theoretical dominance of behaviorism.
C) cognition was not considered to be a psychological function.
D) language acquisition was viewed as an innate process that could not be studied empirically.

Question 18

The area of psychology that refers broadly to mental processes or thinking is

A) introspection.
B) cognition.
C) mentalism.
D) intelligence.

Question 19

Phonemes are the smallest units of ____ in a spoken language; morphemes are the smallest units of ____ in a language.

A) sound; meaning
B) sound; syntax
C) meaning; sound
D) meaning; syntax

Question 20

The component of language that would be evident if an individual recognizes that "give" and "take" have opposite meanings is

A) syntax.
B) phonology.
C) generativity.
D) semantics.

Question 21

When an infant produces repetitive consonant-vowel combinations such as "babababa," the infant is

A) using baby talk.
B) cooing.
C) babbling.
D) speaking.

Question 22

After the first word is spoken,

A) vocabulary immediately grows at an extremely rapid pace.
B) further increases in vocabulary occur very slowly and steadily.
C) vocabulary growth is slow for several months and then speeds up dramatically.
D) no further vocabulary growth takes place until around 18 months.

Question 23

Which of the following situations would lead you to suspect that the child has a language development problem?

A) A one-year-old child understands a few words and can say a few words.
B) A two-year-old child babbles and uses a few words.
C) A three-year-old child uses grammar correctly around 75% to 80% of the time.
D) A five-year-old child can use language much better than a chimpanzee.

Question 24

Last year,5-year-old Alonda would say "No he coming" when explaining to her younger sister that their older brother would be staying home.Now Alonda will tell her sister "He's not coming." This example illustrates that Alonda has made gains in her use of

A) linguistic relativity.
B) phonemes.
C) morphemes.
D) syntax.

Question 25

The requirement that a declarative sentence have both a noun phrase and a verb phrase is an example of a

A) rule of syntax.
B) transformational rule.
C) morpheme.
D) heuristic.

Question 26

Ashley is just starting to show signs of understanding the meanings of familiar words.Based on research that has investigated milestones in language development,you should expect that Ashley is approximately

A) 6 weeks old.
B) 3 months old.
C) 8 months old.
D) 14 months old.

Question 27

You are at a daycare center and you hear three 12-month-old babies babbling,each baby from a different ethnic/linguistic background (Asian,Hispanic,and Caucasian).The babbling of each of these infants

A) will sound very similar, because maturation is the major determinant of language acquisition during the first year.
B) will consist mainly of vowel sounds, because consonant sounds don't usually emerge until 14 months of age.
C) will consist mainly of two-word phrases (telegraphic speech).
D) will sound very different, with each child's babbles sounding quite similar to the parents' native language.

Question 28

The smallest speech units in a language that can be distinguished perceptually are

A) morphemes.
B) phonemes.
C) sounds.
D) words.

Question 29

The two sentences "The boy hit the ball" and "The ball was hit by the boy" are the same in regard to

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

Question 30

Syntax refers to rules for

A) arranging words into phrases and sentences.
B) combining phonemes to form morphemes.
C) using words symbolically.
D) combining morphemes into words.

Question 31

The two sentences "Tom hit John" and "John hit Tom" are the same in regard to

A) syntax.
B) symbolic structure.
C) morpheme structure.
D) semantics.

Question 32

The sentence,"The nervous the stared thick at exam student" would be virtually impossible for an English speaker to understand because the sentence violates the rules of English

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

Question 33

If you were to compare adult language ability with the language ability speech of infants under 6 months of age you should expect to find that

A) infants distinguish more morphemes than adults do.
B) adults distinguish more phonemes than infants do.
C) infants distinguish more phonemes than adults do.
D) adults and infants both distinguish the same number of phonemes.

Question 34

If Beth is a typical infant,she will first show signs of understanding the meaning of familiar words such as Beth,milk,and Mommy at about ____ months of age.

A) 5
B) 8
C) 10
D) 12

Question 35

Babies start babbling at about what age?

A) birth
B) 1 month
C) 3 months
D) 6 months

Question 36

Valerie is 18 months old.Her productive vocabulary probably consists of

A) fewer than 3 words.
B) 3 to 50 words.
C) 100 to 200 words.
D) about 500 words.

Question 37

Three month old infants can

A) distinguish phonemes from all languages; including those they do not hear in their own languages.
B) readily discriminate between phonemes in their native language, but not in other languages.
C) recognize common word forms.
D) produce but not understand simple words like "mama" and "papa."

Question 38

In language development,babbling refers to producing

A) different cries to signify different kinds of discomfort.
B) a wide variety of phonemes and consonant-vowel combinations.
C) sound by placing the tongue near the back of the mouth.
D) random combinations of words.

Question 39

A child's first words are generally spoken at about what age?

A) 3 to 5 months
B) 6 to 8 months
C) 10 to 13 months
D) 18 to 21 months

Question 40

If your psychology professor gives students two separate grades on their essay questions on exams,one for content or meaning and the other for grammar,the first grade can be said to refer to the ____ and the second grade to the ____ of the essays.

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

Question 41

Two-year-old Owen rushes into the kitchen and tells his sister: "Baby throw.Baby bad." He wants her to know that his baby brother is bad because he just threw his toys on the floor.Owen's communication illustrates the use of

A) overregularization.
B) telegraphic speech.
C) semantic slanting.
D) underextension.

Question 42

Robert knows how to say "red," but when his cousin asks him to name the colors of the cars that drive past their house,he says red for the red cars,the blue cars,the green cars,and the black cars.Robert's use of this word illustrates

A) fast mapping.
B) telegraphic speech.
C) babbling.
D) overextension.

Question 43

A child who says,"I sawed a cat in the yard," is making which of the following errors?

A) overextension
B) underextension
C) overregularization
D) underregularization

Question 44

Seven-year-old Tracy heard a joke in school and asks you: "How could you find a lost dog in the woods?" When you are stumped,she tells you: "You stand near a tree and listen for the bark." Tracy's play on words indicates that she is developing

A) metalinguistic awareness.
B) psycholinguistic skills.
C) linguistic relativity.
D) the ability to use linguistic heuristics.

Question 45

A child who uses "wented" as the past tense of the verb "to go"

A) is using a metalinguistic transformation.
B) is probably still at the stage of using semantic slanting.
C) is using a general rule in an irregular case where it does not apply.
D) is using motherese to express the past tense.

Question 46

If you were to compare adult speech with the speech of infants under 4 months of age you should expect to find that

A) infants produce more morphemes than adults do.
B) adults are capable of producing more phonemes than infants are.
C) infants distinguish more phonemes than adults do.
D) adults and infants both use the same number of phonemes.

Question 47

Kailee has learned the word "kitty," but she uses this word when she is referring to cats,bunnies,squirrels,and other small furry animals.Kailee's use of this word illustrates

A) overextension.
B) fast mapping.
C) telegraphic speech.
D) babbling.

Question 48

You are listening to 2-year-old Annie as she says "No eat.No like." She is trying to let you know that she is not going to eat her broccoli because she doesn't like it.Annie's communication illustrates the use of

A) underextension.
B) telegraphic speech.
C) semantic slanting.
D) overregularization.

Question 49

Metalinguistic awareness refers to

A) the ability to recognize one's own grammatical errors.
B) the ability to reflect on the use of language.
C) knowledge of which verbs are irregular.
D) awareness of the role of positive reinforcement in language acquisition.

Question 50

Four-year-old Nina says: "I runned all the way home." This MOST likely indicates that

A) Nina has forgotten the correct way to form the past tense.
B) Nina hears improper verb forms spoken in her home.
C) Nina is still relying on telegraphic speech to convey meaning.
D) Nina is overregularizing a grammatical rule.

Question 51

The fact that overextensions are more common in children's production of words than in their comprehension of words implies that overextensions occur because

A) toddlers must rely on a very limited vocabulary to express themselves.
B) toddlers can't consistently identify objects to which different words apply.
C) children's vocabulary growth occurs at such a rapid pace.
D) toddlers cannot yet combine words into sentences.

Question 52

Telegraphic speech normally includes only

A) nouns.
B) verbs.
C) nouns and verbs.
D) nouns, verbs, and articles.

Question 53

Fast mapping is

A) the development of a mental representation of one's environment.
B) the pacing activity associated with genetics, allowing for anticipation of motivational events.
C) the type of play a child engages in at an early age.
D) mapping words to underlying concepts after only one exposure.

Question 54

Which of the following statements is MOST accurate?

A) Overregularizations occur only in English, which has numerous irregular verbs.
B) Overregularizations reflect the fact that children do not acquire the rules of grammar in a single leap.
C) Overregularizations increase when school-age children are formally taught subtle exceptions to grammatical rules.
D) Overregularizations are less common in children's comprehension of words than in their production of words.

Question 55

Jenna is 14 months old and uses only "bottle,no,up,bye-bye,mama,and dada" when she talks.However,when the family is on their way to visit Jenna's grandmother,and her father tells Jenna to get her blue bunny from the bedroom and bring it with her,Jenna quickly runs to get the bunny.This episode demonstrates that

A) toddlers' receptive vocabularies are larger than their productive vocabularies.
B) toddlers' productive vocabularies are larger than their receptive vocabularies.
C) infants have difficulty pronouncing phonemes they have never heard.
D) Jenna is able to overextend her current vocabulary.

Question 56

Which of the following statements is MOST accurate?

A) Although telegraphic speech is not unique to the English language, it is not a cross-culturally, universal aspect of language development.
B) The emergence of telegraphic speech is unique to the English language.
C) The emergence of telegraphic speech is a cross-culturally, universal aspect of language development.
D) Telegraphic speech is more prevalent in Western cultures than in non-Western cultures.

Question 57

Underextension would be evident if a three-year-old child

A) used a word too broadly.
B) used telegraphic speech to communicate complex ideas.
C) used a word too narrowly.
D) failed to utilize fast mapping.

Question 58

Fast mapping in children's language skills has been suggested to be related to all of the following EXCEPT children's

A) development of a mental representation of one's environment.
B) improved articulation skills.
C) improved understanding of syntax.
D) underlying cognitive development.

Question 59

Dean ate ice cream for the first time yesterday.All day today he has been asking for ice cream.This would be an example of

A) metalinguistic awareness.
B) fast mapping.
C) overextension.
D) semantic slanting.

Question 60

An 8-year-old shows irony and sarcasm in his speech by saying "That's just great,I'm a regular Michael Jordan!" after he misses a free throw in a basketball game; this suggests that his ____ has improved.

A) metalinguistic awareness
B) psycholinguistic skills
C) linguistic relativity
D) ability to use linguistic heuristics

Question 61

At dinner three-year-old Bobby overhears his father tell the waitress that his tasty hamburger was delicious.The next day Bobby tells his mother that the grilled-cheese sandwich she made him for lunch was delicious.Apparently,Bobby learned the word delicious through the process of

A) fast mapping.
B) overextension.
C) underextension.
D) telegraphic speech.

Question 62

Joe is a bilingual elementary school student.Relative to his monolingual peers,Joe is likely to excel on tasks requiring

A) working memory.
B) processing speed.
C) social intelligence.
D) vocabulary.

Question 63

Critics of the research with Washoe and other chimps that were taught ASL focused on whether

A) the chimps were able to generate phonemes required for true language.
B) the chimps had truly acquired the rules of language.
C) the chimps were able to understand the semantics or the meanings of the words they were producing.
D) ASL could be considered a true language.

Question 64

Which child is exhibiting underextension?

A) Abby, who uses the word "swing" when referring to all the pieces of playground equipment on the playground
B) Brenda, who uses the word "car" only when referring to her mother's car
C) Cindy, who uses the word "doggie" when referring to both her dog Fido and her grandmother's cat Fluffy
D) Debbie, who uses the word "doggie" when referring to both her dog Fido and her grandmother's dog Spot

Question 65

Which of the following statements is the BEST example of telegraphic speech?

A) I eated a cookie
B) Cookie
C) I wanted a cookie
D) Give cookie

Question 66

Which of the following is the BEST example of overregularization?

A) I eated a cookie
B) Cookie
C) I wanted a cookie
D) Give cookie

Question 67

Results from studies in which researchers have attempted to teach chimpanzees to use non-verbal language (i.e.,sign language or communication boards)indicate that

A) chimpanzees are incapable of acquiring non-verbal communication.
B) some chimpanzees have appeared to learn many words, and have combined words in appropriate ways.
C) chimpanzees are capable of learning language to a level equivalent to that seen in 10-year-old children.
D) chimpanzees can use non-verbal methods to communicate with other chimps, but not with humans.

Question 68

Young children have a larger receptive vocabulary than productive vocabulary.In other words,they ____ more words than they ____.

A) hear; speak
B) speak; understand
C) understand; speak
D) understand; hear

Question 69

The primary disadvantage that bilingual learners have relative to monolingual learners is in the domain of

A) working memory
B) processing speed
C) abstract reasoning
D) problem solving

Question 70

Which of the following is LEAST likely to be one of the first words a child would learn?

A) juice
B) eat
C) ball
D) red

Question 71

The process by which a child learns a new word after only one exposure to the word is

A) fast mapping.
B) logical reasoning.
C) underextension.
D) overextension.

Question 72

Kanzi's ability to distinguish between "Pour the Coke in the lemonade" and "Pour the lemonade in the Coke" illustrates an understanding of

A) neither syntax nor semantics.
B) semantics, but not syntax.
C) both syntax and semantics.
D) syntax, but not semantics.

Question 73

The most impressive attempts to teach language to chimpanzees have involved teaching chimps to use

A) spoken English.
B) American Sign Language (ASL).
C) Universal Sign Language (USL).
D) geometric symbols on a computer-monitored keyboard.

Question 74

Which of the following statements concerning the ability of animals to acquire language is false?

A) some language-like skills have been taught to a number of species
B) questions remain concerning whether the language-like behavior of animals demonstrate all the critical properties of language
C) animals have never shown behavior that suggests an understanding of grammatical rules
D) the ability to use language - in a very basic, primitive way - may not be entirely unique to humans

Question 75

When a child incorrectly uses a word to describe a wider set of objects or actions than the word is meant to describe,the child is making an error of

A) overregularization.
B) overextension.
C) underextension.
D) fast mapping.

Question 76

Which of the following has NOT been described as a language-related behavior exhibited by Savage-Rumbauugh's star pupil,the chimpanzee Kanzi?

A) Kanzi acquired a vocabulary of hundreds of words and used thousands of word combinations
B) Kanzi developed comprehension of simple English sentences shown on a computer monitor
C) Kanzi developed comprehension of spoken English
D) Kanzi exhibited understanding and use of grammatical rules

Question 77

The vocabulary spurt typically begins at around

A) 6-10 months.
B) 10-15 months.
C) 18-24 months.
D) 24-30 months.

Question 78

Recent research suggests that bilingual persons learn another language ___________ monolingual persons.

A) much more slowly than
B) slightly more slowly than
C) at about the same pace as
D) more quickly than

Question 79

Bilingualism is associated with all of the following EXCEPT

A) enhanced processing speed.
B) reduced risk of dementia.
C) higher metalinguistic awareness.
D) increased working memory capacity.

Question 80

Evidence from research studies investigating bilingualism suggests that

A) bilinguals score higher than monolinguals in analytical reasoning and metalinguistic awareness.
B) bilingualism has a significant, negative effect on overall language development.
C) bilinguals are faster than monolinguals in language-processing speed.
D) bilinguals score lower than monolinguals in selective attention and cognitive flexibility.