Deck 13: Language Comprehension

Question 1

While reading,readers fixate on:

A) every word.
B) almost every word.
C) familiar words only.
D) unfamiliar words only.

Answer 1

almost every word.

Question 2

The order of the three stages of language comprehension is:

A) parsing,perception,utilization.
B) parsing,utilization,perception.
C) perception,parsing,utilization.
D) utilization,parsing,perception.

Answer 2

perception,parsing,utilization.

Question 3

According to the principle of immediacy of interpretation,we immediately interpret _____ as we encounter them.

A) words
B) verbs
C) nouns
D) concrete nouns

Answer 3

words

Question 4

Language comprehension involves:

A) much of the brain.
B) only the left hemisphere.
C) only the right hemisphere.
D) only Broca's and Wernicke's areas.

Question 5

What are the two basic sources of syntactic information that guide us in parsing sentences?

Question 6

What is the principle of minimal attachment?

Question 7

What evidence suggests that the identification of constituent structure is important to parsing?

Question 8

Why are we aware that we reinterpret some ambiguous sentences,but not others?

Question 9

_____ refers to using background knowledge to interpret the linguistic input for storage.

A) Comprehension
B) Perception
C) Parsing
D) Utilization

Question 10

Comprehenders have the best memory for _____ constituent(s)of a sentence.

A) the first
B) the last
C) both the first and last
D) Comprehenders have equal memory for every constituent of a sentence.

Question 11

_____ refers to transforming the linguistic input into a mental representation.

A) Comprehension
B) Perception
C) Parsing
D) Utilization

Question 12

Why are elaborative inferences more problematic than bridging inferences?

Question 13

How do English speakers and German speakers differ in their use of syntactic cues?

Question 14

_____ refers to maintaining attention to the linguistic input.

A) Comprehension
B) Perception
C) Parsing
D) Utilization

Question 15

What is a bridging inference? What is an elaborative inference?

Question 16

How are phrases processed?

Question 17

Distinguish between transient ambiguity and permanent ambiguity.

Question 18

When we read,we pause between:

A) words.
B) phrases.
C) clauses.
D) sentences.

Question 19

The basic units of a sentence are called:

A) words.
B) phrases.
C) clauses.
D) constituents.

Question 20

What is the principle of immediacy of interpretation?

Question 21

Individuals often need extra time at a _____ boundary to complete semantic processing.

A) word
B) phrase
C) clause
D) sentence

Question 22

A participant reads "Lena clapped the kitten Vick." The researcher should expect to see a(n):

A) N400.
B) P600.
C) R800.
D) N400 and a P600.

Question 23

The _____ is an indicant of difficulty in syntactic processing.

A) N400
B) N600
C) P400
D) P600

Question 24

In the sentence "The cat the dog chased was orange," "the dog chased" is an example of a:

A) center-embedded sentence.
B) complex constituent.
C) parsing referent.
D) utilization referent.

Question 25

A participant reads "Lena clapped the kitten to Vick." The researcher should expect to see:

A) an N400.
B) a P600.
C) both an N400 and a P600.
D) neither an N400 nor a P600.

Question 26

Garden-path sentences are an example of a _____ ambiguity.

A) parsing
B) permanent
C) transient
D) utilization

Question 27

Strohner and Nelson (1974)had 2- and 3-year-olds use toys to act out the following sentences: (1)The cat chased the mouse.
(2)The mouse chased the cat.
How were these sentences interpreted?

A) The children interpreted both sentences to mean that the cat chased the mouse.
B) The children interpreted both sentences to mean that the mouse chased the cat.
C) The children interpreted the correct meaning for each sentence.
D) The children interpreted the opposite meaning for each sentence.

Question 28

Young children rely:

A) more on semantic patterns than on syntactic patterns.
B) more on syntactic patterns than on semantic patterns.
C) only on syntactic patterns.
D) equally on semantic and syntactic patterns.

Question 29

A participant reads "Lena gave the kitten Vick." The researcher should expect to see:

A) an N400.
B) a P600.
C) both an N400 and a P600.
D) neither an N400 nor a P600.

Question 30

The _____ is an indicant of difficulty in semantic processing.

A) N400
B) N600
C) P400
D) P600

Question 31

The dominant syntactic cue in English is:

A) inflection.
B) word order.
C) phrase order.
D) clause order.

Question 32

Caplan et al.(2000)found greater activation in _____ with center-embedded sentences.

A) Broca's area
B) Wernicke's area
C) Brodmann area 10
D) Brodmann area 17

Question 33

Broca's area is usually found to be more active when individuals deal with:

A) simple sentences.
B) complex sentences.
C) semantic ambiguities.
D) syntactic ambiguities.

Question 34

The sentence "The bass is a dull gray" is an example of a _____ ambiguity.

A) parsing
B) permanent
C) transient
D) utilization

Question 35

When semantic and syntactic information conflict,comprehenders _____ rely on the plausible semantic interpretation of the sentence.

A) always
B) sometimes
C) rarely
D) never

Question 36

It takes _____ to program an eye movement.

A) 20 msec
B) 200 msec
C) 2000 msec
D) 20 sec

Question 37

The sentence "The old fly for less" is an example of a _____ ambiguity.

A) parsing
B) permanent
C) transient
D) utilization

Question 38

Difficulty in both semantic and syntactic processing are indicated by a(n):

A) N400.
B) P600.
C) R800.
D) N400 and a P600.

Question 39

The meaning of a sentence is defined in terms of the _____ structure.

A) word
B) phrase
C) clause
D) sentence

Question 40

ERP recordings indicate that semantic and syntactic violations elicit:

A) different responses in different locations in the brain.
B) different responses in the same locations in the brain.
C) the same responses in different locations in the brain.
D) the same responses in the same locations in the brain.

Question 41

Loftus and Zanni (1975)found that:

A) choice of article affects listeners' beliefs.
B) choice of article does not affect listeners' beliefs.
C) using the article a affects listeners' beliefs.
D) using the article the affects listeners' beliefs.

Question 42

_____ are made automatically.

A) Direct statements
B) Bridging inferences
C) Elaborative inferences
D) Forward inferences

Question 43

According to the modularity position:

A) there is an initial phase in which we only process semantics.
B) there is an initial phase in which we only process syntax.
C) there is an initial phase in which we process both semantics and syntax.
D) semantics and syntax are combined at all levels of processing.

Question 44

It is optional whether people will make:

A) direct statements.
B) backward inferences.
C) bridging inferences.
D) elaborative inferences.

Question 45

Gina is looking at the bus schedule.She needs to go to the mall to buy a dress to wear to the prom.The sentence "Gina is looking at the bus schedule" corresponds to Kintsch's:

A) surface level.
B) propositional level.
C) situational model.
D) unambiguous level.

Question 46

When an ambiguous word is presented,readers select a meaning within:

A) 70 msec.
B) 200 msec.
C) 700 msec.
D) 7 sec.

Question 47

Gina is looking at the bus schedule.She needs to go to the mall to buy a dress to wear to the prom.The sentence "Gina is going to take the bus to the mall" corresponds to Kintsch's:

A) surface level.
B) propositional level.
C) situational model.
D) unambiguous level.

Question 48

Gina is looking at the bus schedule.She needs to go to the mall to buy a dress to wear to the prom.The sentence "Gina is going to buy a dress" corresponds to Kintsch's:

A) surface level.
B) propositional level.
C) situational model.
D) unambiguous level.

Question 49

Loftus and Zanni (1975)had participants watch a film of an automobile accident.They found that participants were more likely to report a broken headlight when asked:

A) "Did you see a broken headlight?"
B) "Did you see her broken headlight?"
C) "Did you see his broken headlight?"
D) "Did you see the broken headlight?"

Question 50

Given "The splinter was removed quickly.Shelly liked the new tweezers," the sentence "Shelly's mom removed the splinter" is an example of a(n):

A) direct statement.
B) backward inference.
C) bridging inference.
D) elaborative inference.

Question 51

A _____ model consists of the major points of the story.

A) propositional
B) situation
C) story
D) surface

Question 52

According to the interactive processing position,semantics and syntax are combined:

A) at all levels of processing.
B) at the lower levels of processing.
C) at the higher levels of processing.
D) during the initial phase of language processing.

Question 53

_____ is one in which a listener connects a current utterance to preceeding utterances.

A) A direct statement
B) A bridging inference
C) An elaborative inference
D) A forward inference

Question 54

Comprehenders consider:

A) only one candidate for the referent of a pronoun.
B) multiple candidates for the referent of a pronoun and use semantic cues to select a referent.
C) multiple candidates for the referent of a pronoun and use syntactic cues to select a referent.
D) multiple candidates for the referent of a pronoun and use semantic and syntactic cues to select a referent.

Question 55

Comprehenders process a negative by:

A) first processing the negation,then the embedded supposition,and then the negation again.
B) first processing its negation and then the embedded supposition.
C) first processing its embedded supposition and then the negation.
D) processing the embedded supposition and the negation together.

Question 56

Describe each stage of language comprehension.

Question 57

Unambiguous sentences result in _____ activiation of Broca's area (compared with ambiguous sentences).

A) greater
B) less
C) equal
D) no

Question 58

_____ is one in which a listener integrates a current utterance with his own world knowledge.

A) A direct statement
B) A backward inference
C) A bridging inference
D) An elaborative inference

Question 59

Given "The splinter was removed quickly.Shelly's mom used new tweezers," the sentence "Shelly's mom removed the splinter" is an example of a(n):

A) direct statement.
B) bridging inference.
C) elaborative inference.
D) forward inference.

Question 60

The presentation of an ambiguous word,such as bank:

A) immediately activates the more common meaning of the word.
B) immediately activates the less common meaning of the word.
C) immediately activates both meanings of the word.
D) activates neither meaning of the word.Meaning is selected only after context is provided.

Question 61

What evidence suggests that we combine semantics and syntax when interpreting a sentence?

Question 62

Bridging inferences are made automatically.

Question 63

Describe the bases for resolving pronominal reference.

Question 64

According to this finding regarding language comprehension ability,people try to extract meaning out of each word as it arrives and do not wait until the end of a sentence,or even the end of a phrase,to decide how to interpret a word.

A) the simultaneous comprehension principle
B) the principle of immediacy of interpretation
C) the law of parsing primacy
D) the rule of initial language coding

Question 65

Which is NOT one of the three steps that has been identified as part of the language comprehension process?

A) perceptual processes
B) coding
C) parsing
D) utilization

Question 66

What is a center-embedded sentence? Provide two examples.

Question 67

The N400 is an indicant of difficulty in syntactic processing.

Question 68

The more difficult a sentence,the more time participants take to detect a target phoneme.

Question 69

What evidence suggests that we begin to interpret a sentence before we encounter the main verb?

Question 70

What evidence suggests that the syntactic and semantic processes are separable?

Question 71

Listeners process a negative by first processing the negation and then the embedded supposition.

Question 72

Resolution of a pronoun reference lasts beyond the reading of the pronoun itself.

Question 73

Activity in Broca's area increases when participants encounter a permanent ambiguity.

Question 74

The P600 is an indicant of difficulty in semantic processing.

Question 75

Compare the modularity and interactive-processing positions.Which position is correct? Why?

Question 76

Broca's area is usually more active when dealing with less complex sentence structures.

Question 77

Participants have the best memory for the first major constituent.

Question 78

There are no limits on how many elaborative inferences can be made.

Question 79

Describe the Graf and Torrey (1966)experiment on parsing.What do the findings suggest?

Question 80

Which is the event-related potentials (ERP)wave that is measured shortly after a word in a sentence is processed? The magnitude of this wave is an indication of how much effort is being put into the processing of the word.

A) A3
B) Q1
C) N400
D) QRS