Deck 9: Language and Communication

Question 1

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

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

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The sounds of a language are referred to as

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

Answer 2

C

Question 3

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.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

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 5

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 6

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 7

Infants as young as __________ of age can distinguish phonemes.

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

Question 8

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

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

Question 9

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 10

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 11

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

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

Question 12

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

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

Question 13

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 14

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 15

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.

Question 16

When 7- 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 17

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 18

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 19

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 20

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

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

Question 21

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 22

The production of syllables that contain vowels and consonants is called

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

Question 23

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 24

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 25

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 26

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 27

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 28

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 29

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 30

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 31

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 32

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 33

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 34

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 35

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

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

Question 36

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 37

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 38

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 39

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 40

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 41

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 42

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
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".
E)g., "Dora the Explorer").

Question 43

Defining a word too narrowly is known as

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

Question 44

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 45

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 an) __________ style of learning language.

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

Question 46

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 47

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

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

Question 48

The ability to remember speech sounds briefly is known as

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

Question 49

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 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

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 52

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 53

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 54

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 55

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

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

Question 56

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 57

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 58

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 59

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 60

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 61

Children use rules such as "agent + action," "action + object," "action + location," and "attribute + entity" to

A) form grammatical morphemes.
B) form two-word sentences.
C) use semantic bootstrapping.
D) produce overregularizations.

Question 62

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.

Question 63

Which grammatical morpheme would you expect a child to learn last?

A) adding -ed to indicate past tense
B) adding -s to indicate plural
C) adding -ing to denote ongoing action
D) the various form of the verb to be

Question 64

__________ are words or endings of words such as -ed or -ing) that make a sentence grammatical.

A) Overextensions
B) Underextensions
C) Grammatical morphemes
D) Overregularizations

Question 65

The production of two-word speech

A) usually occurs around the first birthday.
B) is haphazard and is not based on any rules.
C) follows rules that are very different from language to language.
D) often is called telegraphic speech.

Question 66

A child who says "I am eating my lunch" instead of "Me eat" is using

A) telegraphic speech.
B) overextension.
C) overregularization.
D) grammatical morphemes.

Question 67

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 68

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 child showed overregularization?

A) Rachel, who said "I goed to the store"
B) Whitney, who said "Me go"
C) Clarissa, who said "I went to the store"
D) Isabelle, who said "I go to the store every day"

Question 70

__________ refers to using only words directly relevant to meaning.

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

Question 71

Berko's classic study in which she showed children a nonsense object labeled a "wug" and then presented the child with a picture of two of these objects to see how the child would supply the plural form of "wug" demonstrated that preschool

A) children's use of grammatical morphemes is based on rules.
B) children do not use inflection.
C) children's language is not based on rules.
D) children acquire a rule for using "un + verb" to reverse or stop the action of a verb.

Question 72

Which of the following is an example of overregularization?

A) mans
B) women
C) children's
D) mice

Question 73

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 74

__________ occurs when children apply rules to words that are exceptions to the rule.

A) An underextension
B) An overextension
C) Overregularization
D) Semantic bootstrapping

Question 75

Children's use of grammatical morphemes is based primarily on

A) learning individual words.
B) the use of rules.
C) inflection.
D) telegraphic speech.

Question 76

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 77

Which of the following is an example of telegraphic speech?

A) "Baby hungry."
B) the "ing" in "kicking"
C) using the word "car" to refer to trucks, vans, and automobiles
D) using the word "dog" to refer only to the family dog

Question 78

When Angela says "Me down" instead of "I would like to get down," she is using

A) overregularization.
B) a grammatical morpheme.
C) telegraphic speech.
D) underextension.

Question 79

Who is most likely to be using telegraphic speech?

A) 6-month-old Linda
B) 18-month-old Lorna
C) 3-year-old Lucinda
D) 5-year-old Louisa

Question 80

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.