Question 1

Hannah uses the word cat to refer only to her cat,not to other cats.Hannah's mistake is an example of
A)fast mapping.
B)overregularization.
C)overextension.
D)underextension.

Accepted Answer

Defining a word too narrowly is an example of underextension.

Question 2

As children develop the ability to use symbols,they begin to talk and
A)no longer make underextension errors.
B)no longer make overregularization errors.
C)begin to be able to differentiate phonemes.
D)begin to use gestures.

Accepted Answer

Symbols include language (talking)and gestures.

Question 3

Overextensions
A)occur more often when children are producing words than when they are comprehending words.
B)occur when children define a word too narrowly.
C)are not influenced by feedback from parents.
D)become more common as children get older.

Accepted Answer

Overextensions are more common during word production than comprehension.

Question 4

A child's ability to make connections between new words and referents so rapidly that he or she cannot be considering all possible meanings for the new word is referred to as
A)overregularization.
B)underextension.
C)overextension.
D)fast mapping.

Accepted Answer

Children's ability to connect new words to their meanings so rapidly that they cannot be considering all possible meanings for the new word is termed fast mapping.

Question 5

Meredith has just begun to be able to use symbols to represent actions and objects.You would expect her to use
A)gestures,but not words.
B)words,but not gestures.
C)words and gestures.
D)neither words nor gestures.

Accepted Answer

Symbols include language (talking)and gestures,so you would expect her to use both.

Question 6

Defining a word too narrowly is known as
A)an overextension.
B)an underextension.
C)fast mapping.
D)overregularization.

Accepted Answer

Underextension is defining a word too narrowly.

Question 7

When do toddlers experience their first vocabulary spurt (naming explosion)?
A)between 12 and 16 months
B)between 18 to 20 months
C)between 2 and 2 ½ years
D)between 3 and 3 ½ years

Accepted Answer

At about 18 months,children experience a naming explosion during which they learn new words - particularly names of objects - much more rapidly than before.

Question 8

Which of the following is the best example of an overextension?
A)using the word "house" to refer only to the family's house
B)hearing the unfamiliar word "shoe" and concluding that it refers to objects that are worn on feet
C)using the word "horsie" to refer to all four-legged creatures
D)saying "I goed" instead of "I went"

Accepted Answer

Overextension means defining a word too broadly,so the best example is using the word "horsie" to refer to all four-legged creatures.

Question 9

When young children are learning new words,they
A)require many presentations of the new word to learn the correct referent.
B)systematically consider all possible hypotheses about the connection between the word and the correct referent.
C)are more likely to learn an object's name when adults look at the object while saying its name.
D)do not use sentence cues.

Accepted Answer

Joint attention,where the parent focuses on the object while saying its name helps children learn the object's name more easily.

Question 10

When Utsav is riding in the car with his mother,he will point at buses,vans,bikes,and trucks and say "car." This is an example of
A)an overextension.
B)an underextension.
C)fast mapping.
D)overregularization.

Accepted Answer

Defining a word too broadly is an example of overextension.

Question 11

The results of Gershkoff-Stowe and Smith's (2004)study demonstrated all of the following EXCEPT
A)the onset of the naming explosion occurred around the same time as the onset of shape bias.
B)once toddlers showed a shape bias,they used this knowledge to learn new words faster.
C)toddlers learn that paying attention to shape is a good way to learn object names.
D)word learning requires the use of built-in,language-specific,specialized mechanisms.

Accepted Answer

The results of the Gershkoff-Stowe and Smith study supports Smith's theory and the general idea that word learning may not require specialized mechanisms (e.g. ,fast mapping rules such as "unfamiliar words refer to objects that don't have names").

Question 12

The production of the first words is linked to the ability to
A)use symbols.
B)produce vowels.
C)produce consonants.
D)use intonation.

Accepted Answer

Production of the first word is linked to the ability to understand that words are symbols.

Question 13

Children use sentence cues to judge word meanings.Given this,how will 2-year-old Elena interpret the following sentence: "This is a Blick."
A)That "Blick" is a proper name.
B)That "Blick" is a nonsense word with no meaning.
C)That "Blick" is a category name.
D)That "Blick" is a verb.

Accepted Answer

Children use the rule that when an object already has a name and another name is given,the new name refers to a subcategory,so Michael should assume that a collie is a special type of dog.

Question 14

Two-year-old Michael already knows the meaning of the word dog.One day when he is at a park with his mother,they see a dog and his mother points to the dog and says,"That's a collie." Michael is likely to conclude that
A)his mother does not know what a dog is.
B)all dogs are called collies.
C)a collie is a special type of dog.
D)collie refers to some part of the dog,such as its head or tail or neck.

Accepted Answer

Children use the rule that when an object already has a name and another name is given,the new name refers to a subcategory,so Michael should assume that a collie is a special type of dog.

Question 15

Fast mapping denotes the phenomenon that
A)words are associated with objects so rapidly that children are not systematically evaluating all possible meanings of a word.
B)children have identified concepts prior to language;words are used as symbols to denote these concepts.
C)children are more likely to learn words consisting of sounds they have already mastered.
D)children often understand words before they are able to produce them in their own speech.

Accepted Answer

Children's ability to connect new words to their meanings so rapidly that they cannot be considering all possible meanings for the new word is termed fast mapping.

Question 16

Which of the following is a CORRECT statement concerning the rules children use to learn new words?
A)If an unfamiliar word is heard in the presence of objects that already have names and objects that do not,the word refers to one of the objects that does not have a name.
B)A name refers to a part of an object,not the whole object.
C)A name refers to one particular object not to all objects of the same type.
D)If an object already has a name and another name is presented,the new name is incorrect.

Accepted Answer

Answer a is the only correct rule that young children use,as they believe that names refer to whole objects and all objects of the same type.

Question 17

When children make the mistake of defining a word too broadly,it is referred to as
A)overregularization.
B)overextension.
C)underextension.
D)fast mapping.

Accepted Answer

Overextension is defining a word too broadly.

Question 18

Both overextensions and underextensions
A)occur more often when children are producing words than when they are comprehending words.
B)occur more often as children move away from attentional cues and toward language and social cues for word learning.
C)disappear gradually as children refine meanings for words with more exposure to language.
D)become more common as children get older.

Accepted Answer

Naming errors become less frequent with age.

Question 19

Barry tells his 3-year-old son,Billy,the name of an unfamiliar object.You would expect Billy to
A)use rules to link the word with its meaning.
B)not use any rules to determine the meaning of the word.
C)need to hear the new word many times before he learns its correct meaning.
D)systematically evaluate all possible hypotheses regarding the correct meaning of the word.

Accepted Answer

Young children use a variety of rules to help link words with their meanings.

Question 20

According to the rules that young children use to learn the meanings of new words,when Ravisha points to a picture of a boy in a blue shirt and says "boy" her 13-month-old son will assume that the word "boy" refers to
A)the boy.
B)the boy's shirt.
C)the color blue.
D)the book that Ravisha is reading.

Accepted Answer

Because children use the rule that the name belongs to the whole object,her son will assume that she means the boy.

Quiz 9: Language and Communication

Hannah uses the word cat to refer only to her cat,not to other cats.Hannah's mistake is an example of

As children develop the ability to use symbols,they begin to talk and

Overextensions

A child's ability to make connections between new words and referents so rapidly that he or she cannot be considering all possible meanings for the new word is referred to as

Meredith has just begun to be able to use symbols to represent actions and objects.You would expect her to use

Defining a word too narrowly is known as

When do toddlers experience their first vocabulary spurt (naming explosion) ?

Which of the following is the best example of an overextension?

When young children are learning new words,they

When Utsav is riding in the car with his mother,he will point at buses,vans,bikes,and trucks and say "car." This is an example of

The results of Gershkoff-Stowe and Smith's (2004) study demonstrated all of the following EXCEPT

The production of the first words is linked to the ability to

Children use sentence cues to judge word meanings.Given this,how will 2-year-old Elena interpret the following sentence: "This is a Blick."

Two-year-old Michael already knows the meaning of the word dog.One day when he is at a park with his mother,they see a dog and his mother points to the dog and says,"That's a collie." Michael is likely to conclude that

Fast mapping denotes the phenomenon that

Which of the following is a CORRECT statement concerning the rules children use to learn new words?

When children make the mistake of defining a word too broadly,it is referred to as

Both overextensions and underextensions

Barry tells his 3-year-old son,Billy,the name of an unfamiliar object.You would expect Billy to

According to the rules that young children use to learn the meanings of new words,when Ravisha points to a picture of a boy in a blue shirt and says "boy" her 13-month-old son will assume that the word "boy" refers to