Deck 9: Language and Communication

Question 1

The term semantics refers to

A)the sounds of a language.
B)the study of words and their meanings.
C)the structure of language.
D)the study of how people use language to communicate effectively.

Answer 1

the study of words and their meanings.

Question 2

Infants as young as __________ of age can distinguish phonemes.

A)1 month
B)6 months
C)1 year
D)2 years

Answer 2

1 month

Question 3

The sounds of a language are referred to as

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

Answer 3

phonology.

Question 4

The region of the brain that is necessary for combining words into meaningful sentences is known as

A)Wernicke's area.
B)the corpus callosum.
C)the occipital lobe.
D)Broca's area.

Question 5

The first deliberate attempts to initiate communication with others typically emerge at

A)birth.
B)5 months.
C)10 months.
D)15 months.

Question 6

__________ is/are a system that relates sounds (or gestures)to meaning.

A)Pragmatics
B)Phonology
C)Semantics
D)Language

Question 7

The term phonology refers to

A)the sounds of a language.
B)the study of words and their meanings.
C)the structure of a language.
D)the study of how people use language to communicate effectively.

Question 8

The basic building blocks of language that are used to form words are called

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

Question 9

Carter's vocabulary consists primarily of words like dog,mom,up,bottle,cookie,and go.Carter is using

A)a referential style of language.
B)an expressive style of language.
C)overextension.
D)underextension.

Question 10

DeLoache and her colleagues (1997)hid a toy in a full-size room and then asked 2 ½-year-olds to find the hidden toy in either a scale model of the room or in a scale model of the room that they had pretended to shrink.They found that 2 ½-year-olds

A)could not find the toy in either the shrinking room condition or the regular scale model condition.
B)could find the toy in the shrinking room condition,but not in the regular scale model condition.
C)could find the toy in the regular scale model condition,but not in the shrinking room condition.
D)could find the toy in both the regular model and shrinking room conditions.

Question 11

Research on the shape-bias theory of word learning found that once toddlers showed a shape bias - that is,they realized that a name applies to objects that have the same shape,but not to objects of the same color or material

A)this new knowledge confused them and slowed down language acquisition.
B)they used this knowledge to learn the rules of grammar faster.
C)they used this knowledge to learn new words faster.
D)they engaged in more underextension and overextension.

Question 12

Which of the following is an example of a phoneme?

A)"bababababa"
B)the "ing" in "playing"
C)"Me go."
D)the "d" sound in "dog"

Question 13

Infants who are younger than 6 months of age

A)do not need to experience speech sounds in their environment to be able to discriminate them.
B)must experience speech sounds in their environment to be able to discriminate them.
C)can discriminate only the sounds found in their native language.
D)cannot discriminate any speech sounds which explains why they cannot talk.

Question 14

When older children (age 4)talk to younger children (age 2)they use

A)simpler grammar but not more attention-getting words.
B)more attention-getting words but not simpler grammar.
C)simpler grammar and more attention-getting words.
D)their own speech.Four-year-old children do not alter their speech when talking to younger children.

Question 15

__________ is the study of how people use language to communicate effectively.

A)Phonology
B)Grammar
C)Semantics
D)Pragmatics

Question 16

The __________ approach says that children master grammar by imitating speech that they hear.

A)behaviorist
B)linguistic
C)cognitive
D)social interaction

Question 17

Which of the following represents the order in which the first steps to speech are taken?

A)cooing,intonation,first word,babbling
B)babbling,cooing,intonation,first word
C)cooing,intonation,babbling,first word
D)cooing,babbling,intonation,first word

Question 18

Roger is fascinated with learning the meanings of words.Roger has a keen interest in

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

Question 19

The rules that specify how words are combined to form sentences is

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

Question 20

At what age do infants generally experience a naming explosion during which they learn new words,particularly names of objects,much more rapidly?

A)around their first birthday
B)about 18 months
C)around their second birthday
D)during the preschool years

Question 21

Six-month-old Seiko is growing up in a home where Japanese is the only language spoken.Is she likely to be able to discriminate speech sounds that are used in English but are not used in Japanese?

A)She is not likely to ever be able to discriminate them.
B)She is likely to be able to discriminate them now,but will probably lose that ability when she gets older.
C)She is not likely to be able to discriminate them at this age,but should be able to when she gets older.
D)She is likely to be able to discriminate them throughout her life.

Question 22

Babbling refers to

A)speech-like sounds that consist of a vowel and consonant but that have no meaning.
B)the production of vowel-like sounds such as "ooooooo" or "ahhhhhhh."
C)a pattern of rising and falling pitch.
D)a distinctive style of speech adults use when talking to infants.

Question 23

Most children say their first words at about __________ of age.

A)6 months
B)12 months
C)18 months
D)24 months

Question 24

Intonation refers to

A)the production of vowel-like sounds.
B)the production of utterances that contain both vowel and consonant sounds.
C)a pattern of rising or falling pitch.
D)the repetition of a sound.

Question 25

The production of syllables that contain vowels and consonants is called

A)cooing.
B)babbling.
C)fast mapping.
D)intonation.

Question 26

Researchers have studied the impact on language development of cochlear implants in profoundly deaf children.They found that

A)children who received cochlear implants did not show any benefits to their language development.
B)cochlear implants replace other forms of therapy for deaf children.
C)almost all children showed large improvements in their language skills.
D)children who received cochlear implants acquired language at the same rate as children with normal hearing.

Question 27

Which of the following is TRUE of infant-directed speech?

A)Infants prefer adult-directed speech to infant-directed speech.
B)Only mothers use infant-directed speech.
C)Infant-directed speech seems to attract the infant's attention.
D)The use of infant-directed speech makes it more difficult for infants to identify speech sounds.

Question 28

Cooing refers to

A)single syllable utterances consisting of a consonant and vowel.
B)the production of vowel-like sounds such as "ooooooo" or "ahhhhhhh."
C)the repetition of a sound such as "dahdahdahdahdah."
D)a pattern of rising and falling pitch.

Question 29

Which of the following is TRUE of the development of babbling?

A)Infants produce complex speech sounds before simpler sounds.
B)Intonation is added to later babbling.
C)Early babbling contains combinations of many different sounds.
D)Babbling is the production of vowel-like sounds.

Question 30

Vowel-like utterances such as "oooooooo" and "ahhhhhhh" are referred to as

A)babbling.
B)intonation.
C)infant-directed speech.
D)cooing.

Question 31

Celia has noticed that her 7-month-old daughter has recently begun to raise and lower the pitch of her voice when she babbles so she sometimes sounds as if she is asking questions.Celia's daughter has added __________ to her babbling.

A)cooing
B)repetition
C)vowel sounds
D)intonation

Question 32

Seven-month-old Julius hears this conversation: John: I want to go swim.
John's dad: Do you want to swim in the pool?
John: No,I want to swim in the lake.
If Julius then hears the words "run" and "swim," what would you expect him to do?

A)pay more attention to "run" than to "swim"
B)pay more attention to "swim" than to "run"
C)pay equal attention to "run" and "swim"
D)say the words "run" and "swim"

Question 33

You visit your friend,Amy,and her 6-month-old son,Joey.You notice that when Amy talks to Joey she speaks slowly and with exaggerated changes in pitch and loudness.You think to yourself

A)"Amy had better stop talking that way or Joey is never going to learn to speak properly."
B)"Amy's making it easier for Joey to perceive the important sounds of our language by talking to him the way she does."
C)"Amy's correct to speak differently to Joey than she does to adults,but she should be speaking more quickly and with fewer changes in pitch and loudness."
D)"It bugs me when Amy talks that way to Joey,but it's not going to affect how well Joey perceives language,either positively or negatively."

Question 34

Infants pay more attention to

A)a referential style of language.
B)an expressive style of language.
C)adult-directed speech.
D)infant-directed speech.

Question 35

As infants develop

A)babbling shifts from single syllable utterances to combinations of different sounds.
B)the average length of each babbled sound decreases.
C)babbling tends to become more constant in pitch.
D)they shift from babbling to cooing.

Question 36

Young infants seem to identify words by

A)paying attention to unusual combinations of syllables.
B)paying more attention to stressed syllables,rather than unstressed syllables.
C)paying more attention to words they have never heard before.
D)paying attention to the meaning of words.

Question 37

When using __________,adults speak slowly and with exaggerated changes in pitch and loudness.

A)a referential style
B)an expressive style
C)infant-directed speech
D)adult-directed speech

Question 38

Jenny just had her first baby and is wondering when he will begin producing different kinds of sounds.Which of the following should she expect him to produce first?

A)babbling
B)intonation
C)first word
D)cooing

Question 39

When 6- to 8-month-olds hear a word repeatedly in different sentences,later they

A)pay less attention to that word than to words they have not heard previously.
B)pay more attention to that word than to words they have not heard previously.
C)pay the same amount of attention to the previously heard word and new words.
D)cannot recognize sound patterns that they hear repeatedly.

Question 40

Which of the following statements about cochlear implants is CORRECT?

A)A cochlear implant replaces other forms of therapy for deaf children.
B)Because most children do not receive their cochlear implants until 4 or 5 years of age,their language skills were still substantially behind that of hearing children.
C)The benefits of a cochlear implant are the same for all children.
D)Language skills are not enhanced in children with cochlear implants.

Question 41

Hannah uses the word cat to refer only to her cat,not to other cats.Hannah's mistake is an example of

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

Question 42

As children develop the ability to use symbols,they begin to talk and

A)no longer make underextension errors.
B)no longer make overregularization errors.
C)begin to be able to differentiate phonemes.
D)begin to use gestures.

Question 43

Overextensions

A)occur more often when children are producing words than when they are comprehending words.
B)occur when children define a word too narrowly.
C)are not influenced by feedback from parents.
D)become more common as children get older.

Question 44

A child's ability to make connections between new words and referents so rapidly that he or she cannot be considering all possible meanings for the new word is referred to as

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

Question 45

Meredith has just begun to be able to use symbols to represent actions and objects.You would expect her to use

A)gestures,but not words.
B)words,but not gestures.
C)words and gestures.
D)neither words nor gestures.

Question 46

Defining a word too narrowly is known as

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

Question 47

When do toddlers experience their first vocabulary spurt (naming explosion)?

A)between 12 and 16 months
B)between 18 to 20 months
C)between 2 and 2 ½ years
D)between 3 and 3 ½ years

Question 48

Which of the following is the best example of an overextension?

A)using the word "house" to refer only to the family's house
B)hearing the unfamiliar word "shoe" and concluding that it refers to objects that are worn on feet
C)using the word "horsie" to refer to all four-legged creatures
D)saying "I goed" instead of "I went"

Question 49

When young children are learning new words,they

A)require many presentations of the new word to learn the correct referent.
B)systematically consider all possible hypotheses about the connection between the word and the correct referent.
C)are more likely to learn an object's name when adults look at the object while saying its name.
D)do not use sentence cues.

Question 50

When Utsav is riding in the car with his mother,he will point at buses,vans,bikes,and trucks and say "car." This is an example of

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

Question 51

The results of Gershkoff-Stowe and Smith's (2004)study demonstrated all of the following EXCEPT

A)the onset of the naming explosion occurred around the same time as the onset of shape bias.
B)once toddlers showed a shape bias,they used this knowledge to learn new words faster.
C)toddlers learn that paying attention to shape is a good way to learn object names.
D)word learning requires the use of built-in,language-specific,specialized mechanisms.

Question 52

The production of the first words is linked to the ability to

A)use symbols.
B)produce vowels.
C)produce consonants.
D)use intonation.

Question 53

Children use sentence cues to judge word meanings.Given this,how will 2-year-old Elena interpret the following sentence: "This is a Blick."

A)That "Blick" is a proper name.
B)That "Blick" is a nonsense word with no meaning.
C)That "Blick" is a category name.
D)That "Blick" is a verb.

Question 54

Two-year-old Michael already knows the meaning of the word dog.One day when he is at a park with his mother,they see a dog and his mother points to the dog and says,"That's a collie." Michael is likely to conclude that

A)his mother does not know what a dog is.
B)all dogs are called collies.
C)a collie is a special type of dog.
D)collie refers to some part of the dog,such as its head or tail or neck.

Question 55

Fast mapping denotes the phenomenon that

A)words are associated with objects so rapidly that children are not systematically evaluating all possible meanings of a word.
B)children have identified concepts prior to language;words are used as symbols to denote these concepts.
C)children are more likely to learn words consisting of sounds they have already mastered.
D)children often understand words before they are able to produce them in their own speech.

Question 56

Which of the following is a CORRECT statement concerning the rules children use to learn new words?

A)If an unfamiliar word is heard in the presence of objects that already have names and objects that do not,the word refers to one of the objects that does not have a name.
B)A name refers to a part of an object,not the whole object.
C)A name refers to one particular object not to all objects of the same type.
D)If an object already has a name and another name is presented,the new name is incorrect.

Question 57

When children make the mistake of defining a word too broadly,it is referred to as

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

Question 58

Both overextensions and underextensions

A)occur more often when children are producing words than when they are comprehending words.
B)occur more often as children move away from attentional cues and toward language and social cues for word learning.
C)disappear gradually as children refine meanings for words with more exposure to language.
D)become more common as children get older.

Question 59

Barry tells his 3-year-old son,Billy,the name of an unfamiliar object.You would expect Billy to

A)use rules to link the word with its meaning.
B)not use any rules to determine the meaning of the word.
C)need to hear the new word many times before he learns its correct meaning.
D)systematically evaluate all possible hypotheses regarding the correct meaning of the word.

Question 60

According to the rules that young children use to learn the meanings of new words,when Ravisha points to a picture of a boy in a blue shirt and says "boy" her 13-month-old son will assume that the word "boy" refers to

A)the boy.
B)the boy's shirt.
C)the color blue.
D)the book that Ravisha is reading.

Question 61

Children with expressive language-learning styles

A)have vocabularies that primarily consist of the names of objects,people,and actions.
B)have vocabularies that consist of many social phrases.
C)use language as an intellectual tool.
D)have vocabularies that contain few question words,such as "what."

Question 62

Which of the following is NOT one of the reasons for why baby videos seem to have no benefit for infants' word learning?

A)Videos for infants are poorly designed.
B)Videos for infants are insufficient to support language processing and are developmentally inappropriate.
C)Infants 12 to 18 months of age have limited understanding of relationships between real objects and their depictions in photographs and videos.
D)Infants 12 to 18 months of age spend very little time watching videos.

Question 63

Kim has an expressive style of learning language.Ellie has a referential style of learning language.You would expect to find that

A)Kim knows more words that are names,but Ellie knows more social phrases.
B)Kim knows more social phrases,but Ellie knows more words that are names.
C)Kim knows more words that are names,but Ellie knows more question words.
D)Kim and Ellie's vocabularies both contain equal numbers of words that are names,social phrases,and question words.

Question 64

Joanne and Dennis want to do all they can to expand their preschooler son's vocabulary.Which of the following would you recommend to them?

A)When reading stories,simply read the story and do not ask him questions.
B)Have him watch "Sesame Street" regularly.
C)Have him watch "Sesame Street" only occasionally.
D)Have him watch many cartoons.

Question 65

A language's rules for combining words to create sentences are referred to as

A)telegraphic speech.
B)semantic bootstrapping.
C)grammatical morphemes.
D)syntax.

Question 66

Which of the following is NOT correct regarding the impact of video on word learning?

A)Preschool children who regularly watch "Sesame Street" usually have larger vocabularies than preschoolers who watch "Sesame Street" occasionally.
B)Television shows that promote word learning are those that tell a story or directly ask questions of the viewer (e.g. ,"Dora the Explorer").
C)The benefit of television shows on word learning is greatest when preschoolers watch them with adults because the video becomes the focus of joint attention.
D)Most cartoons benefit word learning as much as other television shows like "Thomas the Tank Engine" or "Blue's Clues".

Question 67

Deloache and colleagues (2010)conducted an experiment to determine the impact of exposure to infant-oriented videos on word learning.Which of the following is correct regarding the results of their experiment?

A)Infants learned the most words when parents taught them directly rather than through video.
B)Exposure to words through video produced greater word learning than through the control condition.
C)Exposure to words in the control condition produced greater word learning than through the video condition.
D)Infants learned equally as many words through video as they did when their parents taught them directly.

Question 68

The study by DeLoache and her colleagues (1997)that used a "shrinking machine" demonstrated that young children's trouble with scale models is due to their

A)poor imagination skills.
B)trouble dealing with models as symbolic representation.
C)inability to remember the location of the hidden toy.
D)difficulty in comprehending adult-directed speech.

Question 69

Which of the following statements is TRUE regarding the influence of the environment on language development?

A)The frequency of parental speech is not related to the size of a child's vocabulary.
B)Naming objects that are the focus of a child's attention is not related to word learning.
C)Children who are passively exposed to television shows,such as cartoons have larger vocabularies than other children.
D)Questioning children while reading to them forces them to identify the meanings of new words.

Question 70

Eighteen-month-old Lenny's vocabulary contains some words that are names for objects,but also has many social phrases such as "I want it" and "Go away." Lenny has a(n)__________ style of learning language.

A)intellectual
B)fast mapping
C)referential
D)expressive

Question 71

Children with a referential style of learning language use language mainly as a(n)__________ tool whereas children with an expressive style of learning language use language primarily as a(n)__________ tool.

A)adult-directed;child-directed
B)child-directed;adult-directed
C)intellectual;social
D)social;intellectual

Question 72

The naming explosion typically occurs at 18 months,but the timing of this event varies widely for individual children.Which of the following is NOT correct regarding individual differences in word learning?

A)Twin studies find that vocabulary size is more similar in identical twins than in fraternal twins indicating a role for genetics.
B)Children have larger vocabularies when they are exposed to high-quality language.
C)Children who have difficulty remembering speech sounds accurately find word learning particularly challenging.
D)Children learn fewer words when their parents' speech is rich in different words and is grammatically sophisticated.

Question 73

__________ refers to using only words directly relevant to meaning.

A)Semantic bootstrapping
B)A grammatical morpheme
C)Overregularization
D)Telegraphic speech

Question 74

You are on a committee formed to make a recommendation to a school system about how to best help non-English-speaking children master both academic content and English.Based on research in this area,what language would you recommend be used for instruction?

A)English only
B)the children's native language only
C)both English and the children's native language
D)either English or the children's native language,it does not matter which one is used

Question 75

Eighteen-month-old Zach's vocabulary consists mainly of words that are the names of objects,persons,or actions.Zach has a(n)__________ style of learning language.

A)expressive
B)referential
C)social
D)fast mapping

Question 76

Youngsters with a referential style of language-learning

A)use language primarily as a social tool.
B)have a high percentage of question words (what,where)in their vocabularies.
C)have vocabularies that are dominated by the names of objects,persons,or actions.
D)have balanced vocabularies containing words used for questions,social-interactions,and names.

Question 77

The ability to remember speech sounds briefly is known as

A)phonological memory.
B)referential memory.
C)expressive memory.
D)fast mapping.

Question 78

Which of the following is positively related to the size of a child's vocabulary?

A)having parents who speak to the child infrequently
B)reading written material
C)rarely asking children questions
D)viewing cartoons on television

Question 79

Bilingual children

A)have lower IQ scores than monolingual children.
B)do not understand the fine points of grammar as well as monolingual children.
C)are at a linguistic disadvantage when they begin elementary school.
D)are more likely than monolingual children to understand that words are simply arbitrary symbols.

Question 80

Nicole is being raised in a home where both English and Spanish are spoken.She is likely to

A)learn language at the same rate as a child who is learning only one language.
B)learn language more slowly at first because she will mix words from the two languages,but will be as proficient or better in language skill than monolingual children later in childhood.
C)learn language more quickly at first because she is exposed to more words but have less proficient language skills than monolingual children later in childhood.
D)be delayed in her language growth throughout infancy and childhood.