Deck 10: The Evolution of Language

Question 1

One feature of language is that it allows us to lie; if we all lie people will ignore what everyone says. What is the problem with this from the point of view of language evolution?

A) Language could not be used to maintain such large groups
B) It would cause conflict between individuals
C) People could no longer make promises
D) Language will not be evolutionarily stable

Answer 1

Language will not be evolutionarily stable

Question 2

Natural Language and Natural Selection (1990) was written by:

A) Pinker & Bloom
B) Chomsky
C) Gopnik
D) Tomasello

Answer 2

Pinker & Bloom

Question 3

What is, according to Chomsky, the learnability argument?

A) Language learning is not possible without social interaction
B) Language learning is not possible without innate constraints
C) Language learning happens by trial and error
D) Language learning is the result of positive reinforcement not punishment

Answer 3

Language learning is not possible without innate constraints

Question 4

Lai et al. (2001) suggest that which gene on chromosome 7 may be implicated in specific language impairment:

A) WOLFP2
B) DOGP2
C) SHEEPP2
D) FOXP2

Question 5

According to Nagy and Anderson (1984) the average high-school student knows how many words?

A) 25,000
B) 35,000
C) 45,000
D) 65,000

Question 6

A big problem with investigating whether Specific Language Impairment (SLI) is genuinely specific to language is.

A) It is rare, so sample sizes tend to be small
B) SLI is not homogeneous, different people might show different underlying causes
C) There is debate as to what aspects of cognition are specific to language
D) b and c

Question 7

According to Baldwin et al (1996) it is not sufficient to learn the meaning of a word simply by pairing sound with object. What else is needed?

A) Joint attention
B) Repetition
C) Emphasis
D) Pointing

Question 8

Michael Tomasello has suggested that language is:

A) Like any other genetic artefact handed down by our ancestors
B) Unlike any other cultural artefact handed down by our ancestors
C) Like any other cultural artefact handed down by our ancestors
D) None of the above

Question 9

Changing the structure of words in order to reflect their grammatical role (e.g. dog → dogs, give → gave) is known as

A) Inflectional morphology
B) Derivational morphology
C) Syntactic morphology
D) Grammatical morphology

Question 10

The 'Wug' test was studied by:

A) Pinker & Bloom
B) Chomsky
C) Gopnik
D) Tomasello

Question 11

Language is very much like cooperation as it is possible that someone can free ride on useful information provided by other. Which of the following would NOT be a viable solution to this particular problem of language?

A) Indirect reciprocity
B) Reciprocity reciprocal altruism)
C) Inclusive fitness kin selection)
D) Manipulation

Question 12

Three theories as to why language evolved are:

A) Social grooming, altruism & mating mind
B) Social grooming, social contract & mating mind
C) Social grooming, social contract & altruism
D) Social grooming, social contract & reciprocity

Question 13

Which of the following is not a constraint on word learning?

A) Lexical assumption
B) Whole-object assumption
C) Mutual exclusivity assumption
D) Taxonomic assumption

Question 14

Which sounds are indistinguishable from one another to Spanish speakers?

A) 's' and 'th'
B) 'b' and 'p'
C) 'e' and 'i'
D) 'b' and 'v'

Question 15

In the statement 'the man who is wearing the brown apron is cooking sausages' the first occurrence of the word 'is' is part of the ____ phrase, the second occurrence is part of the _____ phrase.

A) verb, noun
B) preposition, verb
C) noun, verb
D) verb, preposition

Question 16

Communication (or language learning) by pointing things out in the environment is known as:

A) Localising
B) Gestural speech
C) Indexically
D) Ostension

Question 17

What is the problem with trying to unambiguously identify grammar genes?

A) Genes are often pleiotropic, one gene can have many different effects
B) It is difficult to define precisely what a gene is
C) Genes are often polygenic, grammar will require many genes
D) Grammar is the interaction of genes and environmental input

Question 18

Which of the following is not an Indo-European language?

A) Hindi
B) Turkish
C) German
D) Greek

Question 19

The sound 'b' is technically known as

A) A morpheme
B) A phoneme
C) A grapheme
D) A lexeme

Question 20

Dunbar proposes that language evolved in order for humans to manage large and complex groups (social networks). What is the average social network size proposed by Dunbar?

A) 50
B) 150
C) 200
D) 300