Question 1

Which of the following methods would be the best way of determining whether an infant understands the syntactical inference of the sentence "Maria pats Grover"?
A) Ask the infant, "Who pats whom?"
B) Reinforce looking at Maria when the above sentence is presented and reinforce looking at Grover when the sentence "Grover pats Maria" is presented.
C) Use a selective looking experiment to determine whether the infant prefers to look at a video screen that shows events matching the verbal statement.
D) Compare the infant's response to 'Maria pats Grover" to her response to "Grover is patted by Maria."

Accepted Answer

Selective looking experiments are effective in studying infants' language comprehension, as they rely on the natural tendency of infants to look longer at scenes that match spoken descriptions, without requiring verbal responses.

Question 2

Children tend to generalize __________ but not __________.
A) function words; multisyllabic words
B) function words; single-syllabic words
C) factual information; new words
D) new words; factual information

Accepted Answer

Children tend to generalize new words but not factual information. This is because children are more likely to apply new words they learn to other similar contexts or objects, but they are less likely to generalize specific factual information without direct evidence or instruction.

Question 3

An experimenter points to an object and says "That's foff." What will children almost always guess that foff refers to?
A) some part of the object
B) the whole object
C) the material of which the object is made
D) the color of the object

Accepted Answer

Children typically assume that "foff" refers to the whole object, rather than a specific part, material, or color. This is known as the whole-object assumption, which is a common early language learning strategy.

Question 4

When does actual talking begin, on average, in children?
A) 3 months
B) between 10 and 20 months
C) 24 months
D) between 2 and 6 months

Accepted Answer

On average, children begin to talk between 10 and 20 months of age. Therefore, option B is the correct option. Option A is incorrect because by 3 months of age, infants can produce sounds such as cooing and babbling, but these are not considered actual words. Option C is incorrect because some children may begin to talk by 24 months, but waiting until then to speak would be considered delayed language development. Option D is incorrect because while infants may start making sounds and vocalizations by 2-6 months, they are not producing actual words at that stage.

Question 5

A selective looking experiment is one in which researchers observe an infant to determine which of two scenes the infant prefers. This type of experiment would be best suited to determining __________.
A) whether or not 2-year-olds can imitate three-word sentences
B) the rate at which infants will suck a pacifier to hear various phonemes
C) whether or not an infant still uses overregularizations
D) whether or not infants understand that "Maria pats Grover" means something different from "Grover pats Maria"

Accepted Answer

A selective looking experiment is used to determine infants' comprehension and discrimination abilities. In this particular case, the experiment is designed to test whether the infant can understand the difference between "Maria pats Grover" and "Grover pats Maria," which falls under the category of comprehension. Therefore, choice D is the best answer. The other choices are focused on other aspects of language acquisition such as imitation, phoneme discrimination, and overregularization, which are not directly related to comprehension or discrimination abilities.

Question 6

Which of the following words is the one-word speaker least likely to utter?
A) ball
B) Mama
C) be
D) no

Accepted Answer

While it is impossible to determine with certainty what a speaker may or may not say, "be" is less likely to be the one-word utterance of a speaker compared to the other options. "Ball" and "Mama" are commonly used by young children, while "no" is a common response to a negative statement or question. "Be" is a verb and does not necessarily serve as a standalone statement or response.

Question 7

Let's say you ask a 2-year-old child "Where's the doggie?" in a setting where there is no doggie in sight, not even a picture. How will the child respond?
A) by searching
B) by pointing to the nearest doglike object
C) by pointing to the object nearest in shape and size to a dog
D) Chances are, the child will not respond at all, since toddlers can't understand decontextualized language.

Accepted Answer

Toddlers can understand simple questions and commands even if the context is not immediately visible to them. They might start searching for the doggie upon being asked, indicating their understanding of the question and their ability to engage in a search behavior even when the object is not in direct sight.

Question 8

In normal speech, words and phonemes tend to overlap one another so that the sentence we are trying to interpret is nothing more than a long string of syllables without any pauses. In cases such as these, how are we able to understand the content of the sentence?
A) We hazard a guess as to where the breaks in the sentence should be.
B) We keep a mental record of which syllables occur right next to each other with unusual frequency.
C) We wait until the entire speech passage is finished and then try to decode the sentence.
D) We work through the speech passage on a trial-and-error basis as the passage occurs.

Accepted Answer

We keep a mental record of which syllables occur right next to each other with unusual frequency. This ability helps us parse continuous speech into recognizable words and phrases, despite the lack of clear pauses.

Question 9

Pretend you teach a child a new nonsense word by pointing to some novel object (a pair of pliers) and saying, "That's a bliff." To what other new objects will this same child now apply the "bliff" label?
A) any metal object
B) any object the same color as the pliers
C) any object about the same size as the pliers
D) any object about the same shape as the pliers

Accepted Answer

The child will likely apply the new nonsense word "bliff" to objects with a similar shape to the pliers, as this is the most salient feature that was used to introduce the new word.

Question 10

Reena is 2 months old. Sam is 6 months old. Trish is 14 months old. Which of the following alternatives is most likely TRUE regarding these infants' ability to distinguish between phonemes that are not specific to their own language?
A) All these infants can distinguish between phonemes that are not specific to their own language.
B) None of these infants can distinguish between phonemes that are not specific to their own language.
C) Only Reena can distinguish between phonemes that are not specific to her own language.
D) Only Reena and Sam can distinguish between phonemes that are not specific to their own language.

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that infants between the ages of 6-12 months can distinguish between phonemes that are not specific to their own language. Therefore, both Sam and Reena can make this distinction. However, by 14 months, infants' ability to distinguish between non-native phonemes begins to decline, so Trish may no longer have this ability. Therefore, option D - only Reena and Sam can distinguish between phonemes that are not specific to their own language - is the most likely to be true. Option A is incorrect because it includes Trish, who may not have this ability. Option B is incorrect because research has shown that infants in this age range can make this distinction. Option C is also incorrect because Sam is also likely to have this ability.

Question 11

Almost invariably, children's first utterances are __________.
A) function words such as "the"
B) two words long (for instance, "go home")
C) one word long, such as "hi" or "bird"
D) formed around the "e" vowel sound ("eat")

Accepted Answer

Research shows that children's first words are generally one syllable and one word such as "hi" or "mama." This is because children typically start by identifying and mastering simple, high frequency words before moving on to more complex language constructions.

Question 12

An 8-month-old infant listens to audiotape recordings of nonsense sounds, "bobusis metapog bobusis pogmeta bobusis," for 2 minutes. Which of the following is likely to be true in this situation?
A) The infant will perceive "bobusis" as a word and will show surprise if "bobumet" is presented.
B) The infant will perceive "metapog" as a word and will show surprise if "pogmeta" is presented.
C) The infant will perceive "bobumet" as a word and will show surprise if "bobupog" is presented.
D) The infant will be unable to distinguish between any of the syllables because only a few of them are presented in regular sequence.

Accepted Answer

Infants are capable of recognizing patterns and regularities in the sounds they hear, which helps them in the early stages of language acquisition. In this scenario, "bobusis" is repeated multiple times, making it likely that the infant will perceive it as a distinct unit or "word." If a new, unfamiliar combination such as "bobumet" is introduced, the infant may show surprise due to the violation of the expected pattern, indicating an early understanding of word boundaries and the ability to detect when a different or unfamiliar sound sequence is presented.

Question 13

A man is using a snake (the plumbing tool) to clear out a clogged drain, and a 3-year-old English-speaking child is watching. The child is asked, "See what this man is doing? Can you show me sebbing?" How will the child most likely respond?
A) by pointing to the snake
B) by pointing to the man
C) by making the same movements as the man feeding the snake down the drain
D) he will not have any idea how to respond since the word has no actual English meaning

Accepted Answer

C) Children often learn through context and mimicry. In this scenario, the child is likely to interpret "sebbing" as the action being demonstrated by the man, which is feeding the snake down the drain, and thus may attempt to mimic those movements.

Question 14

Which of the following clues is a youngster most likely to use to discover the meaning of the question "Can you see me fiffining?"
A) the syntax
B) the sounds of unusual phonemes
C) the number of phonemes in the word
D) the word length and complexity

Accepted Answer

The syntax, or the structure of the sentence, provides context clues that can help a youngster infer the meaning of an unfamiliar word like "fiffining" by understanding its role within the sentence.

Question 15

What does it mean to say that toddlers can understand decontextualized language?
A) They are able to think about objects on superordinate and subordinate levels.
B) They are able to think about objects that are absent.
C) They no longer make overregularization errors.
D) They no longer believe that each concept has only one word that refers to it.

Accepted Answer

Decontextualized language refers to language that is not tied to the immediate context or present situation. Toddlers who understand decontextualized language are able to understand and use language to talk about things that are not present or immediate, such as events in the past or future, or hypothetical situations. This ability demonstrates advanced linguistic and cognitive development, as they are able to understand abstract concepts and think about things that are not in their immediate environment.

Question 16

Let's say a child uses his own dog's name (Bob) to refer to his neighbor's dog. This phenomenon is termed __________.
A) extending
B) multilevel parsing
C) overgeneralization
D) habitualizing

Accepted Answer

Overgeneralization is the phenomenon where a child uses a word or grammar rule in a broader context than it should be used. In this case, the child is using the name of his own dog to refer to another dog, which is an overgeneralization of the word "Bob" to include all dogs the child encounters.

Question 17

Quianna is 1 month old. Which alternative below CORRECTLY describes her ability to distinguish sounds?
A) Quianna is unable to distinguish between phonemes unless they are phonemes that are native to her language.
B) Quianna can distinguish between most or all phonemes, even those not used in her native language.
C) Depending on her culture, Quianna may be able to distinguish between phonemes that are not used in her native language.
D) Whether Quianna can distinguish between phonemes that are not used in her native language depends on her intelligence.

Accepted Answer

At 1 month old, infants like Quianna can distinguish between most or all phonemes, including those not used in their native language. This ability typically narrows as they grow older and become more attuned to the specific sounds of their native language(s).

Question 18

What is a child likely to assume when an experimenter points to two objects that have the same shape but are different colors?
A) The child will think that the two objects have the same linguistic label.
B) The child will assume no relation between the two.
C) The child will ignore the shapes and focus on the colors.
D) The child will assume that the two objects have different labels but are related on a subordinate level.

Accepted Answer

Children tend to assume that objects with the same shape share the same linguistic label, a phenomenon known as the shape bias. This reflects their understanding of how language categorizes objects based on shape rather than color or size.

Question 19

Your text describes a study in which two-day-old babies were exposed to recordings of normal or backward speech. Blood flow in the babies' brains was measured. Dr. Lalonde wishes to replicate the study. Rather than measuring blood flow, however, Dr. Lalonde wishes to examine the brain's metabolism of glucose. What might Dr. Lalonde predict?
A) Glucose metabolism should increase in the left hemisphere when either the normal or backward speech is played.
B) Glucose metabolism should increase in the right hemisphere when either the normal or backward speech is played.
C) Glucose metabolism should increase in the left hemisphere when the normal speech is played, but not when the backward speech is played.
D) Glucose metabolism should increase in the left hemisphere when the normal speech is played and in the right hemisphere when the backward speech is played.

Accepted Answer

The study found that normal speech activated left hemisphere blood flow in the babies' brains. Since glucose metabolism is an indicator of brain activity, it is likely that glucose metabolism will also increase in the left hemisphere when normal speech is played. However, since backward speech does not activate the left hemisphere, it is unlikely that there will be an increase in glucose metabolism in that area of the brain when backward speech is played. Therefore, Dr. Lalonde would predict that glucose metabolism should increase in the left hemisphere when the normal speech is played, but not when the backward speech is played.

Question 20

Your text describes a study in which researchers played recordings of normal or backward speech to two-day-old babies. The researchers then measured blood flow in the babies' brains. Which of the following alternatives correctly names and labels the variables in this study?
A) experimental variable-normal or backward speech ; control variable-blood flow
B) experimental variable-blood flow ; control variable-normal or backward speech
C) independent variable-normal or backward speech; dependent variable-blood flow
D) independent variable-blood flow; dependent variable-normal or backward speech

Accepted Answer

The independent variable is the normal or backward speech played to the babies, as this is what is being manipulated by the researchers. The dependent variable is the blood flow in the babies' brains, as this is what is being measured as a result of the manipulation of the independent variable. The term "control variable" is not appropriate in this study, as there is not a variable being held constant for comparison.

Quiz 10: Language

Which of the following methods would be the best way of determining whether an infant understands the syntactical inference of the sentence "Maria pats Grover"?

Children tend to generalize but not .

An experimenter points to an object and says "That's foff." What will children almost always guess that foff refers to?

When does actual talking begin, on average, in children?

A selective looking experiment is one in which researchers observe an infant to determine which of two scenes the infant prefers. This type of experiment would be best suited to determining __________.

Which of the following words is the one-word speaker least likely to utter?

Let's say you ask a 2-year-old child "Where's the doggie?" in a setting where there is no doggie in sight, not even a picture. How will the child respond?

In normal speech, words and phonemes tend to overlap one another so that the sentence we are trying to interpret is nothing more than a long string of syllables without any pauses. In cases such as these, how are we able to understand the content of the sentence?

Pretend you teach a child a new nonsense word by pointing to some novel object (a pair of pliers) and saying, "That's a bliff." To what other new objects will this same child now apply the "bliff" label?

Reena is 2 months old. Sam is 6 months old. Trish is 14 months old. Which of the following alternatives is most likely TRUE regarding these infants' ability to distinguish between phonemes that are not specific to their own language?

Almost invariably, children's first utterances are __________.

An 8-month-old infant listens to audiotape recordings of nonsense sounds, "bobusis metapog bobusis pogmeta bobusis," for 2 minutes. Which of the following is likely to be true in this situation?

A man is using a snake (the plumbing tool) to clear out a clogged drain, and a 3-year-old English-speaking child is watching. The child is asked, "See what this man is doing? Can you show me sebbing?" How will the child most likely respond?

Which of the following clues is a youngster most likely to use to discover the meaning of the question "Can you see me fiffining?"

What does it mean to say that toddlers can understand decontextualized language?

Let's say a child uses his own dog's name (Bob) to refer to his neighbor's dog. This phenomenon is termed __________.

Quianna is 1 month old. Which alternative below CORRECTLY describes her ability to distinguish sounds?

What is a child likely to assume when an experimenter points to two objects that have the same shape but are different colors?

Your text describes a study in which researchers played recordings of normal or backward speech to two-day-old babies. The researchers then measured blood flow in the babies' brains. Which of the following alternatives correctly names and labels the variables in this study?