Language

Question 1

Define Language

Answer 1

Language is the meaningful arrangement of sounds. Psycholinguistics is the study of the psychology of language.

Question 2

Phonemes

Answer 2

Discrete sounds that make up words but carry no meaning such as “ee”, “p”, or “sh”. Infants first make these sounds when learning language. Phonics is learning to read by sounding out the phonemes. All words in a language are created from basic phonological rules of sound combinations

Question 3

Morphemes

Answer 3

Made up of Phonemes; the smallest units of meaning in language. Words or parts of words that have meanings and cannot be further divided are morphemes.
ex: boy, in, come,-ing

Question 4

Phrase

Answer 4

A phrase is a group of words that when put together function as a single syntactic part of a sentence.
ex: “walking the dog” is a noun phrase that could function as the subject of a sentence if it were followed by a verb.

Question 5

Syntax

Answer 5

The arrangement of words intro sentences as prescribed by a particular language

Question 6

Grammar

Answer 6

The overall rules of the interrelationship between morphemes and syntax that make up a certain language.

Question 7

Morphology

Answer 7

Aka Morphological rules. Grammar rules; how to group morphemes

Question 8

Prosody

Answer 8

Tone inflections, accents, and other aspects of pronunciation that carry meaning. prosody is the icing on the cake of grammar and meaning. Infants can more easily differentiate between completely different sounds than between expressions of the same sound.

Question 9

Noam Chomsky

Answer 9

The most important figure in psycholinguistics. His transformational grammar differentiates between surface structure and deep structure in language.

Question 10

Transformational Grammar

Answer 10

Created by Noam Chomsky, it differentiates between surface structure and deep structure in language. Surface structure is the way words are organized. The deep structure or the underlying meaning of each sentence stays the same.

Question 11

Language Acquisition Device

Answer 11

Chomsky’s most famous contribution to psycholinguisitcs was his idea of an innate language acquisition device. Chomsky proposed that humans have an inborn ability to adopt generative grammar rules of the language that they hear.

Question 12

Why was Noam Chomsky’s Language Acquisition Device so important and controversial?

Answer 12

It was so important and controversial in that it is a native or genetic interpretation. According to Chomsky, children need only to be exposed to a language in order to easily apply the LAD.

Question 13

Overregularization

Answer 13

The overapplication of grammar rules.

ex: children think plural always recquire an “-s” as in sheeps and it to a word that doesn’t need it like sheep.

Question 14

Overextension

Answer 14

The generalizing with names for things. This is often done through chaining characteristics rather than through logic.
ex: A three year old may call any furry thing a “doggie”

Question 15

Telegraphic Speech

Answer 15

Refers to speech without any articles or extras, similar to how it would be in a telegram
ex: “Me go.”

Question 16

Holophrastic Speech

Answer 16

When a young child uses one word to convey a whole sentence.

ex: A child may use “me” to mean “give that to me”

Question 17

How do girls and boys compare when learning language?

Answer 17

Girls are faster and more accurate with language learning than boys are.

Question 18

Are bilingual children faster or slower at language learning?

Answer 18

slower

Question 19

What are the language acquisition milestones?

Answer 19

• 1 year: Speaks first word(s)
• 2 years: >50 spoken words, usually in two- (and then three-) word phrases
• 3 years: 1,000 word vocabulary, but has many grammatical errors
• 4 years: grammar problems are random exceptions

Question 20

Whorfian Hypothesis

Answer 20

Created by Benjamin Whorf that posited that language, or how a culture says things, influences that cultures perspective. This has been used as as an argument for the importance of nonsexist language. Research is mixed on how true this is though

Question 21

Roger Brown

Answer 21

Researched the areas of social, developmental and linguistic psychology. He found that children’s understanding of grammatical rules develop as they make hypotheses about how syntax works and then self correct with experience

Question 22

Katherine Nelson

Answer 22

Found that language really begins to develop with the onset of active speech rather than during the first year of only listening.

Question 23

Willliam Labov

Answer 23

Studied “black” English (now known as Ebonics) and found that it had its own complex internal structure. Its is not simply incorrect English

Question 24

Lev Vygotsky and Alexander Luria

Answer 24

Russia’s best-known psychologists, studied the development of word meanings and found them to be complex and altered by interpersonal experiences. They also asserted that language is a tool involved in (not just a byproduct of) the development of abstract thinking

Question 25

Charles Osgood

Answer 25

Studied Semantics or word meanings. He created semantic differential charts which allowed people to plot the meanings of words on graphs. the results were that people with similar backgrounds and interests plotted words similarly. This indicates that words have similar connotations for cultures or subcultures