Practice Questions Language (Unit 7B And Appendix D)

Practice Questions Language (Unit 7B and Appendix D)

1. / The smallest distinctive sound unit of language is a:
A) / prototype.
B) / phenotype.
C) / morpheme.
D) / phoneme.
2. / Native German speakers who pronounce the English world “this” as “dis” are demonstrating their difficulty with an English:
A) / morphene.
B) / prototype.
C) / phoneme.
D) / heuristic.
3. / Morphemes are:
A) / the smallest speech units that carry meaning.
B) / the best examples of particular categories of objects.
C) / the smallest distinctive sound units of a language.
D) / rules for combining words into grammatically correct sentences.
4. / The word “cats” contains ______phoneme(s) and ______morpheme(s).
A) / 2; 1
B) / 4; 1
C) / 2; 4
D) / 4; 2
5. / Semantics refers to the:
A) / logical and methodical procedures for solving problems.
B) / orderly arrangement of words into grammatically correct sentences.
C) / simple thinking strategies that facilitate quick decision making.
D) / derivation of meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences.
6. / The rock musician was hit with a rotten egg while performing his latest hit song. The fact that you can recognize two different meanings for the word “hit” in the preceding sentence demonstrates the importance of:
A) / syntax.
B) / semantics.
C) / morphemes.
D) / prototypes.
7. / At some point during the babbling stage, infants begin to:
A) / imitate adult grammar.
B) / make speech sounds only if their hearing is unimpaired.
C) / speak in simple words that may be barely recognizable.
D) / lose their ability to discriminate sounds they never hear.
8. / In order to combine words into grammatically sensible sentences, we need to apply proper rules of:
A) / semantics.
B) / syntax.
C) / nomenclature.
D) / phonics.
9. / At the age of 15 months, Anita repeatedly cries “hoy” when she wants her mother to hold her. Anita is most likely in the ______stage of language development.
A) / syntactic
B) / babbling
C) / telegraphic speech
D) / one-word
10. / Telegraphic speech is most closely associated with the ______stage of language development.
A) / one-word
B) / babbling
C) / two-word
D) / phonetic
11. / B. F. Skinner emphasized the importance of ______in language acquisition.
A) / surface structure
B) / syntax
C) / reinforcement
D) / universal grammar
12. / Noam Chomsky has emphasized that the acquisition of language by children is facilitated by:
A) / an inborn readiness to learn grammatical rules.
B) / their ability to imitate the words and grammar modeled by parents.
C) / the learned association of word sounds with various objects, events, actions, and qualities.
D) / the positive reinforcement that adults give children for speaking correctly.
13. / It is difficult to explain language acquisition solely in terms of imitation and reinforcement because children:
A) / acquire language even in the absence of social interaction.
B) / resent being corrected for grammatical mistakes.
C) / overgeneralize grammatical rules, producing speech errors they have never heard before.
D) / employ telegraphic speech patterns before their second birthday.
14. / Chomksy suggested that diverse human languages share a:
A) / universal grammar.
B) / surface structure.
C) / outcome simulation.
D) / statistical concept.
15. / Whorf's linguistic determinism hypothesis emphasizes that:
A) / infancy is a critical period for language development.
B) / all languages share a similar grammar.
C) / our linguistic proficiencies influence our social status.
D) / words shape the way people think.
16. / Contemporary psychologists are most likely to criticize Whorf's linguistic determinism hypothesis for:
A) / overestimating the impact of thinking on language.
B) / overestimating the extent to which thinking occurs without language.
C) / underestimating the impact of language on thinking.
D) / underestimating the extent to which thinking occurs without language.
17. / It has been suggested that Alaskan Eskimos' rich vocabulary for describing snow enables them to perceive differences in snow conditions that would otherwise go unnoticed. This suggestion most clearly illustrates:
A) / inborn universal grammar.
B) / the representativeness heuristic.
C) / linguistic determinism.
D) / the framing effect.
18. / Beatrice and Allen Gardner taught the chimpanzee Washoe to communicate by means of:
A) / pictures.
B) / Morse code.
C) / sign language.
D) / English letters.
19. / Research on the language capabilities of apes clearly demonstrates that they have the capacity to:
A) / vocalize the most common vowel sounds.
B) / acquire language vocabulary as rapidly as most children.
C) / communicate meaning through the use of symbols.
D) / do all of the above.
20. / When choosing who should retrieve food for them, humans prefer someone who has witnessed it being hidden. Chimps do not. This best illustrates that chimps have a more limited:
A) / syntax.
B) / prototype.
C) / theory of mind.
D) / category hierarchy.

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