Question 1

A major difference between human language and animal communication systems is that animals tend to only use communication when absolutely necessary for immediate survival, whereas humans talk for the sake of talking.

Accepted Answer

This statement is not entirely accurate. While it is true that many animals primarily use communication for survival purposes, some species do use communication for social bonding, finding mates, and other non-survival related reasons. Additionally, humans do use language for survival purposes (e.g. warning others of danger) and not all human communication is "for the sake of talking." There is often a purpose or intention behind human communication, whether it is to convey information, express emotions, or build relationships.

Question 2

Bransford and Johnson (1972) presented participants with confusing passages to read.They found that having an organizing title aided recall.

Accepted Answer

Bransford and Johnson's study did find that an organizing title aided recall, as it provided a framework for participants to mentally organize and remember the information in the confusing passages they were presented with.

Question 3

Morphology refers to sounds and how they are used in a language.

Accepted Answer

Morphology refers to the study of the structure of words and how they are formed, including the use of prefixes, suffixes, and other grammatical markers. It does not specifically refer to sounds. Phonology is the study of sounds in a language.

Question 4

In a Basque-English multilingual, it was shown that a Basque word like "bazkaria" (meaning lunch) can prime English words like "dinner." This supports the:

Accepted Answer

This phenomenon supports the single-store view of bilingual representation, suggesting that words from both languages are stored in a unified cognitive system, allowing for cross-linguistic priming effects.

Question 5

Cross-language priming studies show that:

Accepted Answer

Cross-language priming studies have consistently shown that words related in meaning (semantic priming) do prime similar words in a bilingual's other language. This phenomenon is referred to as cross-linguistic semantic priming. Phonological priming can also work across languages, but the evidence for it is less consistent than for semantic priming.

Question 6

Which is an example of a fuzzy category?

Accepted Answer

Asian-Americans is an example of a fuzzy category because it includes people of different nationalities, ethnicities, languages, and cultures, and the boundaries between them are not clear-cut or well-defined. Some Asian-Americans may identify with multiple categories or none at all, depending on their background and experiences. In contrast, all isosceles triangles and whole numbers are well-defined categories with clear criteria and boundaries.

Question 7

A prototype forms this in our representation of categories.

Accepted Answer

A prototype is considered the central characteristic or best example of a category, representing the most typical features of that category.

Question 8

Research shows that the best way for adults to learn a new language is:

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that immersion in a language is the most effective way for adults to learn a new language. This involves being surrounded by and constantly exposed to the language, whether that be through living in a foreign country, attending classes taught in the target language, or actively seeking out opportunities to use and practice the language with native speakers. The submersion method and audiolingual method are outdated and less effective approaches, while the submersible method is not a valid method for language learning.

Question 9

An associative model means that we represent information in semantic memory in terms of connections among units of information.

Accepted Answer

An associative model, also known as a network model, is a way of representing information in semantic memory by creating connections or associations among units of information. This allows for easier retrieval of related information and can lead to more efficient and effective processing of information.

Question 10

In an experiment in which all the participants were Economics and History majors, it was found that the name "Keynes" (a famous economist) led to faster judgments about economic terms than did the name "Churchill." This is an example of:

Accepted Answer

This is an example of spreading activation in an associative network, which suggests that the activation of one node (such as the name "Keynes") can spread to other related nodes in the network (such as economic terms).

Question 11

According to prototype theory, prototypes activate the retrieval of subordinate exemplars.

Accepted Answer

Prototype theory suggests that when we encounter a new object, we classify it by comparing it to an average representation (prototype) of a category, rather than retrieving specific examples (subordinate exemplars) of that category.

Question 12

When an infant uses the word "chair" just to the chair and not the chair and the floor underneath it, this is an example of the:

Accepted Answer

The whole-object assumption is the idea that when children learn a new word, they assume it refers to the whole object and not just a part of it. In this scenario, the infant is using the word "chair" to refer to the entire object and not just the chair and the floor underneath it.

Question 13

Research shows that the best way for adults to learn a new language is the immersion method.

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that the immersion method, where a person is fully surrounded and immersed in a foreign language environment, is the most effective way for adults to learn a new language.

Question 14

In an experiment on prototypes and semantic priming, Miles and Minda (2012) found that priming:

Accepted Answer

The answer of In an experiment on prototypes and semantic...

Question 15

Lexical memory is a working memory system.

Accepted Answer

Lexical memory refers to the mental representation and storage of words and their meanings in long-term memory, not in working memory. Working memory is a temporary storage system that allows us to hold and manipulate information for a short period of time, usually a few seconds to a minute.

Question 16

Lexical memory is our mental dictionary.

Accepted Answer

Lexical memory is indeed our mental dictionary, where we store information about words, their meanings, and how to use them in language.

Question 17

Feature comparison theory states that we compare the lemma to the lexeme.

Accepted Answer

Feature comparison theory is about comparing the features of concepts or categories in cognitive psychology, not about comparing lemmas to lexemes.

Question 18

In a neuroimaging study on semantic-verification tasks, Raposo et al.found that:

Accepted Answer

Raposo et al.'s study on semantic-verification tasks highlighted the involvement of specific brain regions during sentence verification, particularly noting increased activity in areas of the left prefrontal lobe and areas of the left medial temporal lobe. This finding suggests the importance of these regions in processing and verifying the semantic content of sentences.

Question 19

In a sentence verification task, participants decide as quickly as possible if a sentence is true or false.

Accepted Answer

In a sentence verification task, participants are asked to determine the truthfulness of a sentence as quickly as possible.

Question 20

Which of these statements about music and semantic memory is true?

Accepted Answer

Research shows that melodic structure is important in determining meaning in semantic memory for music.

Quiz 5: Semantic Memory