Deck 19: Extension: A - Language

Question 1

Results of imaging studies have led to the conclusion that verb generation is:

A) solely a function of Broca's area.
B) solely a function of the temporal cortex.
C) associated with activity in both the frontal and temporal cortex.
D) mediated by networks in the right hemisphere.

Answer 1

associated with activity in both the frontal and temporal cortex.

Question 2

The effects of direct electrical stimulation of the cortex on language functions have been confirmed using the noninvasive technique of:

A) transcranial magnetic stimulation.
B) functional MRI.
C) positron emission tomography.
D) electroconvulsive therapy.

Answer 2

transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Question 3

Members of the KE family with the mutated form of FOXP2 show impaired performance on tests:

A) of only verbal IQ.
B) of only nonverbal IQ.
C) of verbal and nonverbal IQ.
D) measuring orofacial movements.

Answer 3

of verbal and nonverbal IQ.

Question 4

According to MacNeilage, the critical ability associated with the development of language in humans involved changes in the:

A) brain, leading to greater visuospatial abilities.
B) vocal tract, allowing a greater range of formants.
C) brain, leading to a greater range of emotional vocalizations.
D) brain, leading to fine motor control and greater articulation.

Question 5

The fundamental sounds in a language are called:

A) morphemes.
B) lexicals.
C) phonemes.
D) vowels.

Question 6

Studies of the KE family strongly implicate the gene known as _____ in human language ability.

A) FOXP2
B) LOXP2
C) FOXL2
D) FROGP2

Question 7

What we call "grammar" is referred to by linguists as:

A) syntax.
B) semantic.
C) discourse.
D) lexicon.

Question 8

Changes that have occurred to the human vocal tract through the course of evolution allow humans to produce a wide range of speech sounds known as:

A) formants.
B) phonemes.
C) morphemes.
D) morphants.

Question 9

Studies using transcranial magnetic stimulation have suggested a close relationship between areas responsible for:

A) language and eye movements.
B) language and mouth movements.
C) hand movements and mouth movements.
D) language and consciousness.

Question 10

A patient who has difficulty finding words and has laborious, slow, and halting speech is showing signs of:

A) nonfluent aphasia.
B) fluent aphasia.
C) transcortical syndrome.
D) word deafness.

Question 11

A patient who can comprehend speech, produce meaningful speech, and repeat speech but has great difficulty in finding the names of objects likely has sustained damage to the:

A) posterior parietal lobe.
B) inferior frontal lobe.
C) inferior temporal lobe.
D) superior temporal lobe.

Question 12

Which of the following four abilities proposed to be necessary for language is MOST likely to depend on the mirror neuron system?

A) categorization
B) category labeling
C) sequencing of behaviors
D) mimicry

Question 13

Cases of brain damage in deaf individuals who use sign language suggest that the organization of gestural language:

A) has its focus in the right parietal cortex, along with other spatial functions.
B) is inconclusive, as no particular pattern has emerged.
C) is very similar to that for spoken language, with the left hemisphere dominant for both.
D) Actually, no such cases exist, but it would be interesting if they did.

Question 14

Results from electrical stimulation and imaging studies of conscious patients suggest that:

A) localizationist theories that posit strict separation of speech comprehension and production are incorrect.
B) localizationist theories that posit strict separation of speech comprehension and production are largely correct.
C) speech areas occupy a smaller proportion of cortical areas than originally thought on the basis of lesion studies.
D) there is surprisingly little variation in the organization of cortical language areas among subjects.

Question 15

The Gardners have used _____ in their research with Washoe, the chimp.

A) keyboard communication
B) American sign language
C) Pidgin sign language
D) keyboard communication, American sign language, and Pidgin sign language

Question 16

The vocal intonation that helps us understand the literal meaning of what people say is termed:

A) prosody.
B) semantics.
C) syntax.
D) discourse.

Question 17

In the view of Kimura and others, much of the cortex devoted to language production in the left hemisphere probably evolved as elaborations of:

A) parietal lobe circuits involved with location of visual stimuli.
B) premotor cortex circuits involved in face and hand gestures.
C) orbital cortex circuits involved with categorization.
D) memory circuits in the temporal lobe.

Question 18

Language is a combination of the following four abilities:

A) categorization, mimicry, sequencing behavior, and theory of mind.
B) sequencing behavior, categorization, mimicry, and category labeling.
C) prosody, sequencing behavior, mimicry, and object recognition.
D) object recognition, mimicry, sequencing behavior, and self-awareness.

Question 19

Although nonhuman primates most certainly can communicate orally with each other and with humans (if trained), these utterances seem to lack any significant:

A) syntax.
B) semantic aspects.
C) emotional overtones.
D) reliability from one time to another.

Question 20

Several lines of evidence suggest that humans developed spoken language in the last:

A) 20 million years.
B) 200,000 years.
C) 2 million years.
D) 30,000 years.

Question 21

According to the dual - route theory of reading, a person who can read all familiar words without difficulty but cannot read novel words is using the:

A) phonological route.
B) lexical route.
C) letter naming route.
D) prosodic route.
Answer Key

Question 22

An alternative hypothesis for fluent aphasia posited by Dronkers and colleagues suggests that the role of the cortex of Wernicke's area is:

A) long-term memory for semantic categories.
B) identical to that of Broca's area.
C) short-term memory for mouth movements.
D) short-term memory for speech sounds.

Question 23

According to analyses of language lateralization, the only language function found to be localized strictly in the left hemisphere is:

A) prosody.
B) speech perception.
C) syntax.
D) semantic representations.

Question 24

The model - building approach to understanding the reasons for dyslexia proposes the existence of:

A) a fundamental deficit in attentional processes.
B) multiple, interacting subsystems.
C) a single hierarchical language pathway for reading.
D) multiple, independent subsystems.

Question 25

One fact emerging from the study of brain and language is that grammar is intimately connected with:

A) proper tagging of categories with phonemic tags.
B) automatic cognitive processes in the temporal lobe.
C) the use of verbs.
D) noun storage in the frontal lobe.

Question 26

Speech arrest has been observed in conjunction with electrical stimulation of which subcortical structure?

A) the pulvinar nucleus of the thalamus
B) the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus
C) the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala
D) mammillary bodies

Question 27

Damage to the right hemisphere affects aspects of language, including:

A) sequencing of speech.
B) speech rhythm perception.
C) generation and perception of prosody.
D) syntactic organization.

Question 28

A neuropsychologist might choose to administer the Token Test to:

A) comprehensively define the extent of a language deficit.
B) screen for problems with motivation and emotion.
C) quickly assess whether a language deficit is present.
D) screen for the genetic bases for a language disorder.

Question 29

The most appropriate diagnosis for a 10 - year - old child who continually makes mistakes in reading aloud, such that semantically related words are substituted for the printed word (e.g., "puppy" is read as "dog" and "woman" is read as "mother"), would be:

A) attentional dyslexia.
B) word aphasia.
C) phonological dyslexia.
D) deep dyslexia.

Question 30

Reduced verbal fluency and difficulties in comprehension and production of prosody have been reported following damage to the:

A) right orbitofrontal cortex.
B) left orbitofrontal cortex.
C) right insular cortex.
D) left insular cortex.

Question 31

Aphasias are most commonly seen following blockage of the _____ cerebral artery.

A) right-posterior
B) left-anterior
C) left-middle
D) right-middle

Question 32

Tests of language abilities in split - brain subjects show that the right hemisphere has:

A) good language production but poor comprehension abilities.
B) good language comprehension but poor production abilities.
C) good language production and comprehension capabilities.
D) all the elements required for fluent American sign language use.

Question 33

Dronkers and colleagues conclude that apraxia of speech is caused by damage to:

A) Broca's area.
B) the insula.
C) the cerebellum.
D) the frontal lobe.