Question 1

Maylin and her friend are reading the same book on American politics and meet weekly to talk about it.The process of combining sentences into paragraphs,chapters,books,conversations,and debates is collectively referred to as

Accepted Answer

A)   incubation.
B)   morphophonemics.
C)   syntax.
D)   discourse. D

Question 2

We develop a syllogism which states that all soccer players are men,Alex is a soccer player;therefore,Alex is a man." Is this statement logically correct?

Accepted Answer

A)   We don't know,because we don't know if Alex is really a man or a woman.
B)   We don't know,because we don't know if Alex is really a soccer player.
C)   The facts are true,but the logic involved may not be correct.
D)   The logic is correct,but the facts involved may not be true. D

Question 3

If we were to use brain imaging to study brain activity when our subject is thinking about a baseball field,then when we show him a picture of a baseball field,we would see that some of the same neurons fire in both situations.These neurons are called

Accepted Answer

A)   metacognitive neurons.
B)   divergent neurons.
C)   rotational neurons.
D)   imagery neurons. D

Question 4

Diet pills and fads generate millions of dollars in revenue each year,yet Canadians are more overweight than ever.One of the problems is that few people plan intermediate steps to move themselves from being overweight to a healthy weight.They may know that diet and exercise are key,but they fail to plan when,where,and how often to exercise,or to keep themselves motivated over the long term.In other words,they are not using the ________________ heuristic.

Accepted Answer

A)   algorithm
B)   representativeness
C)   availability
D)   subgoal analysis

Question 5

In French,the phrase "haven't the police found you yet?" is written "la police,ne t'a pas encore trouvé?" Since French speakers arrange words differently from English speakers,the literal translation is "the police,not you have yet found?" In other words,French and English speakers use different rules,called ________________,to govern word order.

Accepted Answer

A)   morphemes
B)   phonemes
C)   syntax
D)   displacement

Question 6

Nadalia is a physician who works in the emergency room at a local hospital.In medical school,she learned a variety of schemas that help her decide who needs immediate care,what kinds of sicknesses patients have,and how best to treat them.Her patients rely on her to know what to do to help them.As Nadalia's knowledge of emergency medicine develops,her brain functioning will change to increase her

Accepted Answer

A)   processing efficiency.
B)   short-term memory capacity.
C)   mental rotation.
D)   sensory memory time.

Question 7

The symbols used in any given language (in English the symbols in question are called letters)were developed

Accepted Answer

A)   based on the shapes we make with our mouths to pronounce them.
B)   based on the shapes of objects in the part of the world where the language developed.
C)   based on astrological charts.
D)   arbitrarily.

Question 8

Sasha drives whenever she must travel,because she's terrified that if she were to travel in a plane it would crash.Statistics show that there are 40,000 deaths per year in automobile accidents and only about 200 in air transport,but news programs tend to sensationalize plane crashes and minimize car wrecks.As a result,people like Sasha can easily call to mind examples of plane crashes.They are relying on the

Accepted Answer

A)   representativeness heuristic.
B)   availability heuristic.
C)   base rate analysis.
D)   confirmation bias.

Question 9

Though research supports the idea that there is some innate biological mechanism that helps us learn language,the social environment is so crucial that it has been called a

Accepted Answer

A)   Language Acquisition Device (LA
D)  .
B)   Language Learning Link (LLL) .
C)   Syntax Acquisition Adapter (SA
A)  .
D)   Language Acquisition Support System (LASS) .

Question 10

Dalila is two years old and is able to construct simple sentences with a noun and a verb.For example,if she wants to be held,she goes to her mother,holds up her arms,and says,"Mommy,up." This type of sentence is called

Accepted Answer

A)   cooing.
B)   telegraphic speech.
C)   babbling.
D)   phoneme.

Question 11

Tallulah is taking a dance class,so she mentally reviews the dance steps as she drives home.She is using __________________ thought.

Accepted Answer

A)   imaginal
B)   motoric
C)   contextual
D)   propositional

Question 12

Mitch has been asked to develop a new product to serve an unmet need in American culture.He has several ideas,but none of them are quite right.Mitch's friend finally suggests that Mitch "sleep on it." Mitch agrees,and spends the remainder of the weekend thinking about other things.On Monday morning,Mitch looks over his notes and realizes the solution to his problem.The period of time in which Mitch let his subconscious work on the problem is referred to as

Accepted Answer

A)   incubation.
B)   generativity.
C)   representativeness.
D)   functional fixedness.

Question 13

Oliver is filling out an online job application for an administrative position with a local law firm.He has never written a professional letter before,so he writes it the same way he'd write any email.His first line reads,"Hey,how u doin? Parents say I gotta find a job,& the one on yr site looks kewl." What language rule has Oliver violated?

Accepted Answer

A)   Chomsky's theory
B)   pragmatics
C)   speech segmentation
D)   morphophonemics

Question 14

Tremayne plans to ask his girlfriend to marry him.He wants his proposal to be perfect,so he mentally rehearses the words he will say to her.This kind of thinking is referred to as

Accepted Answer

A)   imaginal.
B)   motoric.
C)   contextual.
D)   propositional.

Question 15

Mathias works for an architectural firm that has been asked to build an office building on a particular lot.The lot is accessible from the road on three sides,and the client is unsure which way the building should face.Since the building has already been designed,Mathias is able to imagine it facing in different directions.By doing so,he can evaluate the pros and cons of each direction.Mathias is using

Accepted Answer

A)   incubation.
B)   linguistic relativity.
C)   mental rotation.
D)   motherese.

Question 16

Though chimpanzees and apes seem to be able to use symbolic gestures (i.e. ,sign language)to convey meaning,some researchers question whether they really understand how to communicate about events and objects that are not physically present;that is,whether they understand

Accepted Answer

A)   generativity.
B)   displacement.
C)   syntax.
D)   surface structure.

Question 17

Aysha's professor announces that the next exam will be in an essay format.Aysha doesn't believe she writes well,so she sees essay tests as difficult and unfair.Aysha has thus judged the exam without ever seeing it,using a

Accepted Answer

A)   functional fixedness.
B)   schema.
C)   confirmation bias.
D)   subgoal analysis.

Question 18

As an elder among the Intuit,Acadia is treated with great respect for her knowledge about human nature and relationships,her appreciation of different people's values,her understanding of lifespan contexts,and her ability to deal with uncertainty.Acadia has what researchers refer to as

Accepted Answer

A)   intelligence.
B)   expertise.
C)   mental rotation.
D)   wisdom.

Question 19

Though he spoke no English,Miguel emigrated to the United States for a job.At first,conversations of native English speakers seemed to him to run together into one long word,but now he can hear where each word begins and ends.This process is called

Accepted Answer

A)   morphophonemics.
B)   phonemics.
C)   speech segmentation.
D)   pragmatics.

Question 20

Akio has decided to improve her health by incorporating exercise into her lifestyle.She tells her friend Ewan that she has taken up the sport of Tae Kwon Do.Ewan laughs and says,"That's not a sport! Sports have teams!" Akio disagrees,because,she says,"Any kind of organized physical activity is a sport,even if you're the only one doing it." Who is correct,and why?

Accepted Answer

A)   Neither is objectively correct.Personal experience has taught each of them a different prototype for the concept of sport.
B)   Ewan,because the word sport would not be plural most of the time if it referred to individual activities.
C)   Ewan,because the word sports is always short for "sports teams."
D)   Akio,because the word is derived from the Middle English word disport,which means to amuse or divert oneself.

Exam 9: Language and Thinking