Test Bank
Chapter 6: Toddlerhood – Exploring the World and Experimenting with Language
Multiple Choice
1. A _____________________________ contains a series of symbols that compose a word, the
sound of a word, the meaning of a word, and its part of speech.
a. Semantic map
b. Semantic feature
c. Lexical entry
d. Lexicon
2. A _____________________________ is an idiosyncratic wordlike production that children
use consistently and meaningfully but that do not approximate adult forms.
a. Neologism
b. Pseudoword
c. Protoword
d. Phonetically consistent form
3. A _____________________________ is one that indicates a precise referent and has stable
meaning across different contexts, such as waving “bye–bye.”
a. Referential gesture
b. Deictic gestures
c. Mirror gestures
d. Idiosyncratic gestures
4. The term __________________________ describes the age by which 50% of children can
produce a given sound in multiple positions in words in an adultlike way.
a. Phonemic norms
b. Customary age of production
c. Age of production
d. Age of mastery
5. ______________________________ are systematic, rule-governed patterns that characterize
toddlers’ speech.
a. Immature speech errors
b. Speech sound errors
c. Phonological processes
d. Articulation errors
6. ______________________________ is the process by which children change one sound in a
syllable so it takes on the features of another sound in the same syllable.
a. Reduplication
b. Fronting
c. Backing
d. Assimilation
7. Children typically suppress several phonological processes by age _______________.
a. 1 year
b. 1 ½ years
c. 2 years
d. 3 years
8. A(n) ______________________________ is a developmental time frame during which
language abilities are emerging and changing.
a. Transitional period
b. Age of acquisition
c. Phonetic learning period
d. Critical period
9. The 50-word mark usually co-occurs, with the appearance of children’s first
________________________.
a. Protoconversations
b. Grammatical morphemes
c. Interrogatives
d. Narratives
10. Children begin to use the prepositions in and on at around _____________.
a. 1 year
b. 2 years
c. 3 years
d. 3 ½ years
11. The two-word stage marks the true beginning of ______________________.
a. Pragmatics
b. Syntax
c. Conversation
d. Interaction
12. The principle of __________________________ states that words symbolize objects,
actions, events, and concepts.
a. Extendability
b. Conventionality
c. Reference
d. Object scope
13. The principle of __________________________ states that for children to communicate
successfully, they must adopt the terms that people in their language community understand.
a. Extendability
b. Conventionality
c. Reference
d. Object scope
14. The principle of _________________________ conveys that words label categories of
objects and not just the original exemplar.
a. Extendability
b. Conventionality
c. Reference
d. Object scope
15. Toddlers’ ability to pick up words after only a few incidental exposures or even a single
exposure is called ____________________________.
a. Domain-general learning
b. Concept mapping
c. Fast mapping
d. Domain-specific learning
16. A(n) __________________________________ is the part a word plays in an event.
a. Thematic role
b. Agent
c. Theme
d. Source
17. Toddlers make ______________________________ when they extend a word they know to
other words that are perceptually similar.
a. Categorical overextensions
b. Relational overextensions
c. Analogical overextensions
d. Phonological overextensions
18. Toddlers overgeneralize about _________________ of all new words.
a. 10%
b. 25%
c. 33%
d. 50%
19. When a child truly thinks a horse and a cow are the same kind of animal and thus uses the
word horse to label a cow because they know the word horse, this is an example of
_________________________.
a. A pragmatic error
b. A category membership error
c. A retrieval error
d. The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
20. ____________________________ functions are used to control other people’s behavior.
a. Regulatory
b. Instrumental
c. Heuristic
d. Personal
21. Later-born children exhibit more advanced ____________________________.
a. Syntax
b. Social language skills
c. Conversational skills
d. Semantics
22. Toddlers from lower SES backgrounds have _____________________________.
a. Longer MLUs
b. Larger vocabularies
c. Fewer phonological processes
d. Shorter MLUs
23. Clinicians may use a _________________________________ to determine whether a child
has a language disorder, and if so, to learn more about the nature of the disorder.
a. Comprehensive language evaluation
b. Language screening
c. Progress monitoring
d. Observational rating scale
Essay
1. What do false belief tasks assess?
2. Name two phonological processes most likely to continue after others have been suppressed.
3. What is the difference between novel nonneighbors and novel neighbors?
4. What is the Quinean conundrum?
5. What is the principle of novel name-nameless category?
6. What is an act-out task?
7. What is ecological validity?
ANSWER KEY
Chapter 6: Toddlerhood – Exploring the World and Experimenting with Language
Multiple Choice