Language in Mind (2nd Edition .) by Julie
Sedivy — Complete Psycholinguistics Test
Bank Guide (Chapters 1-12)”
Chapter Title
1 Science, Language, and the Science of Language
2 Origins of Human Language
3 Language and the Brain
4 Learning Sound Patterns
5 Learning Words
6 Learning the Structure of Sentences
7 Speech Perception
8 Word Recognition
9 Understanding Sentence Structure and Meaning
10 Speaking: From Planning to Articulation
11 Bilingualism, Multilingualism, Language Mixing
12 Language Disorders: Aphasia, Dyslexia, and More
1. The theoretical perspective that humans‘ ability to learn language is not the result of innate or genetically
based predisposition that evolved specifically for language, but an aspect of our cognitive abilities,
,including general abilities of learning and memory is known as
a. anti-nativist theory.
b. linguistic theory.
c. psychodynamic theory.
d. evolutionary theory.
Answer: a
Textbook Reference: 2.1 Why Us?
Bloom’s Level: 1. Remembering
2. Which language researcher attempted to define language with 16 characteristics, or design features, of
spoken human language?
a. Chomsky
b. Hockett
c. Pinker
d. Darwin
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 2.1 Why Us?
Bloom’s Level: 1. Remembering
3. Bees introduced into a hive of bee species different from their own will likely ―dance‖ according to
,a. the new hive style.
b. their own unique style, unrelated to past experience.
c. the style of their own genetic ancestors.
d. a combination of old and new styles.
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 2.1 Why Us?
Bloom’s Level: 1. Remembering
4. Which of Hockett‘s design features of human language can also be attributed to honeybee
communication?
a. Arbitrariness
b. Duality of patterning
c. Reflexiveness
d. Interchangeability
Answer: d
Textbook Reference: 2.1 Why Us?
Bloom’s Level: 4. Analyzing
5. Experiments in which apes are taught a language or symbolic system indicate that apes can
a. learn to use symbols to communicate, but only if they are not arbitrary.
b. learn to use words accurately, but only to refer to objects that are physically present.
c. use combinations of familiar symbols to express new concepts.
d. combine words into sentences as well as a human 3-year-old is able to.
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 2.1 Why Us?
Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying
6. Even though vervet monkeys seem to be able to produce specific distress calls from birth without the
benefit of experience, they acquire the ability to respond appropriately to those calls only after several
months of life, presumably due to experience. This finding suggests that
a. human language and vervet calls arise from different cognitive mechanisms.
b. vervet calls are a direct evolutionary precursor of human language.
, c. the ability to produce human language is innate but the ability to understand it is not.
d. human infants need a great deal of exposure to language before they can understand it, but less exposure
is needed to produce it.
Answer: a
Textbook Reference: 2.1 Why Us?
Bloom’s Level: 5. Evaluating
7. An example of Hockett‘s productivity characteristic in non-human primate communication would be
demonstrated by an ape making the sign for
a. banana in order to ask a researcher for a banana.
b. banana when the researcher points to a banana.
c. sweet sausage when asked to identify a banana before having learned the sign for banana.
d. door when asked to identify a banana.
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 2.1 Why Us?
Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying
8. The awareness between two or more individuals that they are paying attention to the same thing is known
as
a. homesign.
b. linguistic code.
c. universal grammar.
d. joint attention.
Answer: d
Textbook Reference: 2.2 Social Underpinnings of Language
Bloom’s Level: 1. Remembering
9. Given a choice between two buckets in which only one bucket contains a treat, a chimpanzee will be
likely to choose a bucket that a human reached for a bucket that a human pointed to.
a. less; than
b. more; than
c. equally; as
Sedivy — Complete Psycholinguistics Test
Bank Guide (Chapters 1-12)”
Chapter Title
1 Science, Language, and the Science of Language
2 Origins of Human Language
3 Language and the Brain
4 Learning Sound Patterns
5 Learning Words
6 Learning the Structure of Sentences
7 Speech Perception
8 Word Recognition
9 Understanding Sentence Structure and Meaning
10 Speaking: From Planning to Articulation
11 Bilingualism, Multilingualism, Language Mixing
12 Language Disorders: Aphasia, Dyslexia, and More
1. The theoretical perspective that humans‘ ability to learn language is not the result of innate or genetically
based predisposition that evolved specifically for language, but an aspect of our cognitive abilities,
,including general abilities of learning and memory is known as
a. anti-nativist theory.
b. linguistic theory.
c. psychodynamic theory.
d. evolutionary theory.
Answer: a
Textbook Reference: 2.1 Why Us?
Bloom’s Level: 1. Remembering
2. Which language researcher attempted to define language with 16 characteristics, or design features, of
spoken human language?
a. Chomsky
b. Hockett
c. Pinker
d. Darwin
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 2.1 Why Us?
Bloom’s Level: 1. Remembering
3. Bees introduced into a hive of bee species different from their own will likely ―dance‖ according to
,a. the new hive style.
b. their own unique style, unrelated to past experience.
c. the style of their own genetic ancestors.
d. a combination of old and new styles.
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 2.1 Why Us?
Bloom’s Level: 1. Remembering
4. Which of Hockett‘s design features of human language can also be attributed to honeybee
communication?
a. Arbitrariness
b. Duality of patterning
c. Reflexiveness
d. Interchangeability
Answer: d
Textbook Reference: 2.1 Why Us?
Bloom’s Level: 4. Analyzing
5. Experiments in which apes are taught a language or symbolic system indicate that apes can
a. learn to use symbols to communicate, but only if they are not arbitrary.
b. learn to use words accurately, but only to refer to objects that are physically present.
c. use combinations of familiar symbols to express new concepts.
d. combine words into sentences as well as a human 3-year-old is able to.
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 2.1 Why Us?
Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying
6. Even though vervet monkeys seem to be able to produce specific distress calls from birth without the
benefit of experience, they acquire the ability to respond appropriately to those calls only after several
months of life, presumably due to experience. This finding suggests that
a. human language and vervet calls arise from different cognitive mechanisms.
b. vervet calls are a direct evolutionary precursor of human language.
, c. the ability to produce human language is innate but the ability to understand it is not.
d. human infants need a great deal of exposure to language before they can understand it, but less exposure
is needed to produce it.
Answer: a
Textbook Reference: 2.1 Why Us?
Bloom’s Level: 5. Evaluating
7. An example of Hockett‘s productivity characteristic in non-human primate communication would be
demonstrated by an ape making the sign for
a. banana in order to ask a researcher for a banana.
b. banana when the researcher points to a banana.
c. sweet sausage when asked to identify a banana before having learned the sign for banana.
d. door when asked to identify a banana.
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 2.1 Why Us?
Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying
8. The awareness between two or more individuals that they are paying attention to the same thing is known
as
a. homesign.
b. linguistic code.
c. universal grammar.
d. joint attention.
Answer: d
Textbook Reference: 2.2 Social Underpinnings of Language
Bloom’s Level: 1. Remembering
9. Given a choice between two buckets in which only one bucket contains a treat, a chimpanzee will be
likely to choose a bucket that a human reached for a bucket that a human pointed to.
a. less; than
b. more; than
c. equally; as
