Deck 10: Language

Question 1

The study of the sounds used in language is usually referred to as

A) phonology.
B) semantics.
C) morphology.
D) acoustics.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Marcus is talking on the phone to his mother when a garbage truck drives by. As a result, he is unable to hear what his mom is saying for a few seconds. Which of the following is LEAST likely to help him figure out what his mother said?

A) previous knowledge of his mother's opinions and beliefs
B) his memory for the beginning of the sentence she was speaking when cut off
C) the context of the conversation
D) the fact that our minds fill in missing words, which is called the phonemic restoration effect

Answer 2

D

Question 3

If you put your fingers on your throat and produce a "z" sound, you will feel vibration. This vibration means the "z" sound is

A) a fricative.
B) nasal.
C) dependent on airflow from the nasal cavity.
D) voiced.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The term "voice-onset time" refers to the

A) age at which infants begin to produce vocal sounds.
B) time that elapses between successive syllables in ordinary speech.
C) average length of the pause between two people's utterances in a conversation.
D) amount of time that elapses between the moment air begins to flow at the start of speech sound and the moment at which voicing begins.

Question 5

To produce some sounds, the flow of air out of the lungs is interrupted by the lips; for other sounds, the flow is disrupted by the placement of the tongue and teeth. This feature of sound production is referred to as

A) place of articulation.
B) manner of production.
C) voicing.
D) speech locus.

Question 6

The term "categorical perception" refers to the fact that we are

A) better at hearing some categories of sounds than we are at hearing other categories.
B) skillful both in identifying categories of sounds and in categorizing the physical characteristics of those sounds.
C) better at hearing the difference between sounds from different categories than we are at distinguishing sounds from the same category.
D) highly sensitive to variations within a category but less sensitive to the contrast between categories.

Question 7

The process of "slicing" the stream of speech into successive syllables or words is called

A) sound segregation.
B) speech segmentation.
C) categorical perception.
D) articulation.

Question 8

In ordinary speech production, the boundaries between syllables or between words are usually

A) marked by momentary pauses.
B) marked by slight loudness changes.
C) marked by slight changes in pitch.
D) not marked, so they must be determined by the perceiver.

Question 9

In the word "cats" the "s" is

A) a morpheme.
B) a phoneme.
C) a morpheme and a phoneme.
D) neither a morpheme nor a phoneme.

Question 10

You are flipping through channels when you come upon a French-speaking station. You do not speak French and you are amazed at how quickly it is spoken. Which of the following factors is most important to your perception?

A) You are not able to segment the speech sounds into phonemes, making it sound faster.
B) You are not able to produce the speech, therefore you cannot perceive it correctly.
C) You do not know the appropriate pronunciation or syntax rules in French.
D) French phonemes overlap more than English phonemes, making it sound faster.

Question 11

A researcher creates a series of synthetic speech sounds gradually ranging, in uniformly small steps, from a "ta" sound at one extreme to a "da" sound at the other extreme. Participants are asked to identify each of these sounds. The researcher should expect to find that

A) as the sounds gradually shift from "ta" to "da," participants' pattern of responding gradually shifts from "ta" to "da."
B) participants identify sounds close to "ta" as "ta" and identify sounds close to "da" as "da," but they are unable to identify the sounds midway between the two.
C) participants' identification of the sounds midway between a standard "ta" and a standard "da" are heavily influenced by the identity of the sound they heard just previously.
D) participants' perceptions of the sounds show an abrupt transition, with all of the sounds closer to "ta" clearly identified as "ta" and all of the sounds closer to "da" clearly identified as "da."

Question 12

The perception of speech is made easier by all of the following EXCEPT that

A) there is impressively little variation from one speaker to the next.
B) the content of the speech we hear is often predictable on the basis of knowledge external to language.
C) the content of the speech we hear is often predictable because of the rules guiding which sounds go together.
D) most of the speech we hear employs a relatively small number of words, used over and over again.

Question 13

Phonemes that differ only in one production feature sound similar to each other, while phonemes that differ in several production features sound distinct. This suggests all of the following EXCEPT that

A) the features of speech production correspond to what listeners hear when listening to speech.
B) production and perception are linked.
C) errors are more likely when production features are more similar.
D) listeners should be able to detect speech sounds simply by isolating individual sounds.

Question 14

Often extraneous noise interferes with our ability to hear all speech sounds. If a brief burst of noise prevents a phoneme from being heard (e.g., "His *ame is Barry"), what is most likely to occur?

A) The listener will not understand the sentence.
B) The listener will be able to understand the sentence and will not realize that the burst of noise occurred.
C) The listener will be able to understand the sentence and will realize that a burst of noise occurred but will not know where the burst occurred.
D) The listener will be able to understand the sentence, will realize that a burst of noise occurred, and will know exactly which phoneme was missing.

Question 15

Speech in a foreign language sounds very fast to a listener who is not familiar with the language. Which of the following statements does NOT accurately explain this fact?

A) Coarticulation makes speech seem slower in our own language, but not in a foreign language.
B) Unfamiliar listeners lack the skill necessary to segment the speech stream.
C) All speech is really an uninterrupted flow of sound.
D) Top-down knowledge facilitates perception and understanding of speech in a native language, but not in a foreign language.

Question 16

The plural for the word "pill" is pronounced with a "z" sound (it is pronounced "pillz"), but the plural for "pit" is pronounced with an "s" sound ("pits"). This contrast is governed by a rule of

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

Question 17

In some speech sounds, the flow of air out of the lungs is entirely interrupted for a moment; for other sounds, the flow of air is restricted but air continues to flow. This feature of sound production is referred to as

A) place of articulation.
B) manner of production.
C) voicing.
D) speech locus.

Question 18

"Coarticulation" refers to the fact that in producing speech

A) the movement of the tongue and lips must be carefully coordinated with the output of air from the lungs.
B) phonemes overlap, both in their production and in their sound pattern.
C) a single position of the tongue is used for several different speech sounds.
D) the tongue must be moved into its appropriate position simultaneously with the positioning of the teeth and lips.

Question 19

Which of these is NOT true of the principles of language?

A) A huge number of morphemes, words, and sentences can be created from only a few small units of language.
B) The various combinations of units within a language are governed by certain principles (e.g., "gst" is not a usual combination in the English language).
C) If a combination of consonants is forbidden in one particular language (e.g., "tl" at the beginning of a word in the English language), then it is also forbidden in every other language.
D) In order to speak a language, people must know the principles that govern the phonological combinations, as well as the vocabulary and grammar.

Question 20

The smallest units of language that carry meaning are called

A) morphemes.
B) phonemes.
C) phonetic elements.
D) words.

Question 21

Which of the following claims about phrase-structure rules is FALSE?

A) The rules govern the pattern of branching that is possible in a phrase-structure tree.
B) The rules determine whether the sentence is true or false.
C) Word sequences that break the rules are likely to be judged as ungrammatical.
D) The rules identify natural groupings of words within a sentence.

Question 22

The fact that languages across the world show the same pattern of regularities leads researchers to believe that

A) the pattern of learning across cultures is similar.
B) our vocal muscles determine our language development.
C) we have an innate biological heritage stipulating the structure of human language.
D) the word order of subject-verb-object occurs in all languages.

Question 23

A friend of yours is thinking of enrolling his four-year-old in a bilingual preschool, wherein the children are taught in English and in Mandarin. Would you support this move, and why? Make sure you include empirical evidence in your answer.

Question 24

Rules that describe the proper way to speak, or the way language is supposed to be, are called

A) rules of discourse.
B) pragmatic rules.
C) prescriptive rules.
D) syntax rules.

Question 25

The phrase-structure rule summarizes the fact that

A) whenever a sentence is uttered, it must be followed by a noun phrase and a verb phrase.
B) the subject of a sentence must specify both a noun phrase and a verb phrase.
C) a sentence can consist of either a noun phrase or a verb phrase.
D) a sentence consists of a noun phrase followed by a verb phrase.

Question 26

There is some evidence that being bilingual has other cognitive advantages. Which of the following is NOT one of those advantages?

A) improved executive control
B) better at avoiding distraction
C) improved ability to switch between tasks
D) improved long-term memory for everyday events

Question 27

Which of the following is NOT a principle that guides sentence parsing?

A) Decisions about the parsing of individual words are not made until the entire sentence has been heard.
B) In general, we assume that the sentences we hear will be in the active, not passive, voice.
C) Parsing makes use of the small function words (e.g., "that" and "which") to identify the sentence's phrase structure.
D) The semantics of the sentence are used as an aid in determining the source of the action and the recipient.

Question 28

A phrase-structure rule is a rule governing

A) whether a proposition is expressed as a declarative sentence or as a question.
B) whether a proposition is true or false.
C) what the constituents must be for any syntactic element of a sentence.
D) what contents can be expressed by a sentence.

Question 29

For fluent speakers of a language, rules of the language such as how to create new words are often

A) deliberately followed by speakers of a language.
B) developed through imitation.
C) unconscious yet are reliably followed by speakers of the language.
D) generally ignored.

Question 30

To parse a sentence, one needs to

A) figure out the sentence's meaning.
B) determine whether the sentence is true or false.
C) determine the syntactic role of each word in the sentence.
D) determine the implications of the sentence.

Question 31

d. several thousand.

Question 32

Which of the following is FALSE about the pattern of linguistic performance?

A) Performance often contains errors that the speaker knows how to correct.
B) Performance provides a direct assessment of the extent of one's linguistic knowledge.
C) Performance is influenced by slips, or mistakes, in language.
D) Performance often omits language patterns that the speaker is able to use but chooses not to use.

Question 33

The rules governing the sequence of words in forming phrases and sentences are rules of

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

Question 34

Descriptive rules

A) make "proper" or "good" judgments about language.
B) are much like prescriptive rules.
C) are mostly used by new speakers who do not yet understand slang or common expressions.
D) describe how English is structured.

Question 35

You take a trip to Mexico with your friend for spring break. You do not speak any Spanish, but your friend has taken one semester. While out one night, you comment that everyone in Mexico speaks so quickly, but your friend disagrees. Considering the fact that you both hear the same individuals talking, why do you perceive the speech so differently? What factors contribute to your friend's perception and to your perception?

Question 36

The claim that "language is generative" is the claim that

A) it is always possible to generate new sounds to add to the language.
B) the units of language can be combined and recombined to create vast numbers of new linguistic entities.
C) language can be used to generate new knowledge and new discoveries.
D) scholars have been able to invent an unlimited number of new words, allowing them to express any concept they wish.

Question 37

Sentences such as "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously" indicate that

A) not all sentences need to have a verb phrase.
B) it is possible for a sentence to have an irregular phrase structure.
C) the semantic content of a sentence governs its syntactic form.
D) a sentence can be grammatical even if it is meaningless.

Question 38

Bob does very well on all of his English papers and is praised for his skilled writing. However, when he is around his friends he says things like "ain't" and "like" often, though his sentences are still grammatical. When writing he is following ________, while when speaking he is following ________.

A) prescriptive rules; prohibitive rules
B) syntax; descriptive rules
C) prescriptive rules; descriptive rules
D) prescriptive rules; linguistic universals

Question 39

Which of the following provides an example of phrase-structure ambiguity?

A) I saw the bear with my binoculars. (Who had the binoculars?)
B) He paid a lot for the ball. (Was it a round toy or a formal party?)
C) She loves a good whine. (This can be heard as "a good wine.")
D) We saw it. (The reference of "it" is unspecified.)

Question 40

Which of the following would be considered a garden-path sentence?

A) This is it.
B) Dogs need cats are silly.
C) The woman was terribly happy, but she knew it couldn't last for long, because for as long as she could possibly remember everything in her life had ended badly.
D) Fat people eat accumulates.

Question 41

Knowing about how language is ordinarily used is technically called

A) pronominalization.
B) conversational implications.
C) pragmatics.
D) psycholinguistics.

Question 42

The text argues that children's overregularization errors are caused by a(n)

A) immature brain.
B) overreliance on a linguistic rule that precedes a mature understanding of when rules apply.
C) loss of previous understanding of irregular forms of words.
D) lack of (even unconscious) understanding of linguistic rules.

Question 43

Which of the following is NOT consistent with the idea that children learn language even if their communication with adults is not linguistic?

A) Children born deaf without the opportunity to learn sign language invent their own gestural language.
B) Humans begin the language-learning process with a head start.
C) Children have the brain structures in place at birth to facilitate language learning.
D) Children learn languages more quickly than adults.

Question 44

In the 1950s, the anthropologist Benjamin Whorf argued that our language determines the possible range of our thoughts. In subsequent decades, Whorf's theories

A) have been repeatedly supported, with examples coming from many different content areas.
B) have been supported by the discovery that different cultures describe spatial arrangements in different ways and seem unable to learn new ways to describe these arrangements.
C) have found little specific support, with the implication that language may guide our thoughts and memories but does not influence what it is possible for us to think.
D) seem correct for some domains (e.g., color perception) but not for other domains (e.g., thinking about spatial relations).

Question 45

Participant M speaks a language with a variety of color words, while Participant Q speaks a language that only differentiates between light and dark. Who is more likely to have more specific color discrimination?

A) Participant M
B) Participant Q
C) They will have equal color perception.
D) We cannot tell based on this evidence.

Question 46

Although we may contain the necessary neural substrates for language, humans will NOT develop language skill unless they

A) have another human with whom to communicate.
B) attend school.
C) reach the critical age of five.
D) are exposed to music.

Question 47

In speaking, the pattern of pauses and the rise and fall of pitch are technically referred to as

A) prosody.
B) musicality.
C) stress patterns.
D) expressiveness.

Question 48

Stephen and Stephanie both have problems with speech. Stephen's disorder is characterized with speech such as, "Um . . . the . . . ahhh . . . I want . . . green . . . it's green. . . ." Stephanie's disorder is characterized with speech such as, "It is easy because . . . boys are looking but they look . . . see the cat is with the boys and machines and purple." Stephen is most likely suffering from ________ while Stephanie is suffering from ________.

A) Wernicke's aphasia; Broca's aphasia
B) Wernicke's aphasia; specific language impairment
C) Broca's aphasia; Wernicke's aphasia
D) specific language impairment; Broca's aphasia

Question 49

Linguistic rules seem to be the source of children's overregularization errors. This sort of error is visible, for example, whenever a child

A) uses a regular sequence of words to express an idea even though a different sequence would be more effective.
B) sees a squirrel and says, "There's a cat!"
C) says, "I goed," or, "He runned."
D) fails to distinguish between similar speech sounds.

Question 50

Research has shown that genetic factors contribute to language acquisition. For example, some people have an inherited syndrome known as specific language impairment. These people typically

A) have underdeveloped muscles needed for speech production.
B) have damage to Wernicke's area.
C) are less likely to learn and use the rules of linguistics.
D) also show an impairment in intelligence.

Question 51

The notion that language influences thought, called linguistic relativity, is controversial because

A) there is debate about the role that memory plays in linguistic relativity.
B) much of the supportive evidence can be explained via attention mechanisms.
C) the evidence supporting it is probably forged.
D) it is nearly impossible to test accurately.

Question 52

Mike suffered damage to the left frontal lobe of his brain and now has a difficult time speaking or writing. Mike most likely has

A) Wernicke's aphasia.
B) fluent aphasia.
C) Broca's aphasia.
D) anomia.

Question 53

Barbara is 6 years old and has normal intelligence and muscle control, but she has a hard time understanding and producing language. She likely has

A) Broca's aphasia.
B) anomia.
C) Wernicke's aphasia.
D) specific language impairment.

Question 54

In some cases factors outside the language (e.g., the setting in which a sentence occurs) can help us understand garden-path sentences. These factors are referred to as

A) syntactic organization.
B) noun phrasing.
C) wording.
D) extralinguistic context.

Question 55

Unlike other forms of animal communication, human communication includes

A) sounds that are linked to ideas.
B) syntax.
C) someone to listen.
D) gestures.

Question 56

In one study of sentence parsing, electroencephalogram (EEG) was used to record electrical activity when participants heard sentences that were either correct, had a semantic anomaly, or had a statement that contained false information. The evidence from that study suggests that

A) electrical activity is the same, regardless of the content of the sentence.
B) our previous knowledge of the world influences how we parse sentences.
C) errors in syntax are worse than errors of semantics.
D) incorrect statements are associated with lower levels of brain activity than correct statements.

Question 57

Garden-path sentences illustrate that

A) reading is difficult.
B) interpreting a sentence as each word arrives may lead to errors.
C) meaning changes depending on the situation.
D) we should wait until the end of a sentence to interpret the meaning.

Question 58

Nonfluent aphasia, in which a patient has good language comprehension but disrupted speech production, is typically associated with damage to

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

Question 59

The evidence about animal language suggests that

A) animals do not communicate.
B) no animals, besides humans, can learn language.
C) some animals can use language at a very basic level (akin to a three- or four-year-old).
D) with enough training, some animals can acquire language skills similar to a human adult.

Question 60

Parsing is LEAST likely to be influenced by

A) semantics.
B) statistical probabilities in the language.
C) context.
D) the number of words in a sentence.

Question 61

Describe the factors that contribute to language learning in children. What factors facilitate language learning? What factors or tendencies can lead to problems?

Question 62

Compare and contrast the linguistic functions of Broca's and Wernicke's areas. Include in your discussion the physiological correlates of the areas and the subsequent behavioral changes that are associated with damage to the areas.

Question 63

It was noted that there is not a one-to-one correspondence between speech production and speech perception, which should make perceiving speech very difficult. Describe the factors that contribute to this problem, and then describe the factors that can facilitate our ability to perceive speech.

Question 64

You are enjoying lunch with a friend on a patio one fine spring afternoon. Right in the middle of her sentence, a loud motorcycle speeds by, preventing you from hearing a key word. However, you don't notice the obstruction. Explain how this happens, from a speech perception perspective.

Question 65

It is likely that you speak very differently to your grandmother than you do to your friends. Define the rules that govern your language choices, and describe how the situation influences which rules you use.

Question 66

Explain why a sentence like "The man who hunts ducks out on the weekends" is likely to be initially misinterpreted by many readers.

Question 67

Lindsie, a three-year-old, is being taught English and Spanish at the same time. Which of the following facts about Lindsie's language acquisition is true?

A) Lindsie will learn one language more quickly than the other language.
B) Lindsie will likely become confused and mix up the languages.
C) Lindsie will learn both languages as quickly and easily as she would if she was learning just one language.
D) Lindsie will not be able to learn two languages simultaneously.

Question 68

Do chimpanzees have the biological ability to produce language the way that humans do? Consider both the cerebral and anatomical requirements in your answer.

Question 69

Describe the various ways that top-down processing contributes to speech perception. How can this occasionally lead us astray?