COGSCI 180 MIDTERM EXAM 2026 WITH 100%
COMPLETE SOLUTIONS
associationist view - answers-associations between verbal behaviors and rewards through
positive reinforcement
everything about lang is learned
frontal lobe - answers-thinking, memory, behavior, movement
parietal lobe - answers-language and touch
temporal lobe - answers-hearing, learning, and feelings
occipital lobe - answers-vision
cerebellum - answers-balance and coordination
brain stem - answers-breathing, heart rate, temperature
superior/dorsal - answers-to the top
posterior/caudal - answers-to the back
inferior/ventral - answers-to the bottom
1
, anterior/rostral - answers-to the front
four problems with associationist account - answers-stimulus independence, productivity,
systematicity, novelty
hierarchical - answers-a sentence is broken down into abstract constituents which can be
further broken down
recursive - answers-allow for repeated application of certain rules that can operate on the
output of other rules, which can form infinite loops. explains productivity
combinatoric - answers-phrase structure rules are defined and can be recombined in open-
ended ways
cognitive/Chomskian account of language - answers-there are innate structures that aid us in
learning language. use abstract combinatoric rules that are largely innate (universal
grammar/phrase structure grammars)
Chomsky's two critical observations of language - answers-language has a unique pattern of
universality, rules of language are combinatoric and made using highly abstract categories
universality - answers-language exists in all human societies
within a group, everyone of normal intelligence develops lang
languages have same complexity everywhere
supports innatenes bc: how else would we explain this?
2
COMPLETE SOLUTIONS
associationist view - answers-associations between verbal behaviors and rewards through
positive reinforcement
everything about lang is learned
frontal lobe - answers-thinking, memory, behavior, movement
parietal lobe - answers-language and touch
temporal lobe - answers-hearing, learning, and feelings
occipital lobe - answers-vision
cerebellum - answers-balance and coordination
brain stem - answers-breathing, heart rate, temperature
superior/dorsal - answers-to the top
posterior/caudal - answers-to the back
inferior/ventral - answers-to the bottom
1
, anterior/rostral - answers-to the front
four problems with associationist account - answers-stimulus independence, productivity,
systematicity, novelty
hierarchical - answers-a sentence is broken down into abstract constituents which can be
further broken down
recursive - answers-allow for repeated application of certain rules that can operate on the
output of other rules, which can form infinite loops. explains productivity
combinatoric - answers-phrase structure rules are defined and can be recombined in open-
ended ways
cognitive/Chomskian account of language - answers-there are innate structures that aid us in
learning language. use abstract combinatoric rules that are largely innate (universal
grammar/phrase structure grammars)
Chomsky's two critical observations of language - answers-language has a unique pattern of
universality, rules of language are combinatoric and made using highly abstract categories
universality - answers-language exists in all human societies
within a group, everyone of normal intelligence develops lang
languages have same complexity everywhere
supports innatenes bc: how else would we explain this?
2
