Chapter 9
Quick Quiz
1. The rules that specify how words are combined to form sentences is
a. phonology. c. syntax.
b. semantics. d. pragmatics.
2. Which of the following represents the order in which the first steps to speech are taken?
a. cooing, intonation, first word, babbling c. cooing, intonation, babbling, first word
b. babbling, cooing, intonation, first word d. cooing, babbling, intonation, first word
3. At what age do infants generally experience a naming explosion during which they learn new words,
particularly names of objects, much more rapidly?
a. around their first birthday c. around their second birthday
b. about 18 months d. during the preschool years
4. Research on the shape-bias theory of word learning found that once toddlers showed a shape bias — that is,
they realized that a name applies to objects that have the same shape, but not to objects of the same color or
material
a. this new knowledge confused them and slowed down language acquisition.
b. they used this knowledge to learn the rules of grammar faster.
c. they used this knowledge to learn new words faster.
d. they engaged in more underextension and overextension.
5. Carter’s vocabulary consists primarily of words like dog, mom, up, bottle, cookie, and go. Carter is using
a. a referential style of language. c. overextension.
b. an expressive style of language. d. underextension.
6. DeLoache and her colleagues (1997) hid a toy in a full-size room and then asked 2 ½-year-olds to find the
hidden toy in either a scale model of the room or in a scale model of the room that they had pretended to shrink.
They found that 2 ½-year-olds
a. could not find the toy in either the shrinking room condition or the regular scale model condition.
b. could find the toy in the shrinking room condition, but not in the regular scale model condition.
c. could find the toy in the regular scale model condition, but not in the shrinking room condition.
d. could find the toy in both the regular model and shrinking room conditions.
7. The __________ approach says that children master grammar by imitating speech that they hear.
a. behaviorist c. cognitive
b. linguistic d. social interaction
8. The region of the brain that is necessary for combining words into meaningful sentences is known as
a. Wernicke’s area. c. the occipital lobe.
b. the corpus callosum. d. Broca’s area.
9. The first deliberate attempts to initiate communication with others typically emerge at
a. birth. c. 10 months.
b. five months. d. 15 months.
10. When older children (age four) talk to younger children (age two) they use
a. simpler grammar but not more attention-getting words.
b. more attention-getting words but not simpler grammar.
c. simpler grammar and more attention-getting words.
d. their own speech. Four-year-old children do not alter their speech when talking to younger children.