Language and Communication

Question 1

communication

Answer 1

conveying present information

types: verbal and nonverbal

Question 2

what is the basis of verbal communication?

Answer 2

language

Question 3

language

Answer 3

system of symbols for communication and thought
exchanges information across time and space (past, present, and future)
can transmit accumulated knowledge

Question 4

symbol

Answer 4

a representation containing meaning without correspondence to perception

Question 5

units of language

Answer 5

phonemes
morphemes
syntax

Question 6

phonemes

Answer 6

sounds

100 in total; 43 used in English

Question 7

morphemes

Answer 7

meaning

examples: words

Question 8

syntax

Answer 8

grammar; arrangement of words

Question 9

what parts of speech are considered both phonemes and morphemes?

Answer 9

prefixes and suffixes

Question 10

what are the brain structures involved in language?

Answer 10

Broca’s area (language production)
Wernicke’s area (language comprehension)
BOTH STRUCTURES ARE IN THE LEFT HEMISPHERE

Question 11

what are the four ideas about the relation between language and thought?

Answer 11

identity
modularity
general resource
whorfian

Question 12

identity

Answer 12

language and thought are identical

Question 13

modularity

Answer 13

language and thought are two separate entities

Question 14

general resource

Answer 14

language is a subset of thought

Question 15

whorfian

Answer 15

thought is a subset of language

Question 16

what do collectivist societies have more words for?

Answer 16

interpersonal emotions

Question 17

what do individualistic societies have more words for?

Answer 17

intrapersonal emotions

Question 18

stages of language development

Answer 18

babbling speech sounds 
babbling that resembles the household language
one-word
telegraphic speech 
complete sentences

Question 19

systematic errors in grammar

Answer 19

overextensions
underextensions
overregularizations

Question 20

overextension

Answer 20

overly wide use of words

Question 21

underextension

Answer 21

overly narrow use of words

Question 22

overregularization

Answer 22

generalization of grammatical rules to irregular cues

Question 23

critical period

Answer 23

time beyond which the phenomenon will not appear

Question 24

sensitive period

Answer 24

time of maximal sensitivity for a phenomenon

Question 25

behaviorist theory of language development

Answer 25

language learning is the same as all operant conditioning

key person: B.F. Skinner

Question 26

nativist theory of language development

Answer 26

language acquisition device (LAD)
humans have innate abilities to acquire language
key person: Noam Chomsky

Question 27

interactionist theory of language development

Answer 27

language acquisition support system (LASS)

innate facility for language is supplemented by external support

Question 28

what skills do nonhuman have in communication?

Answer 28

receptive

productive

Question 29

receptive skill

Answer 29

following human conditioning

Question 30

productive skill

Answer 30

communication objects, states, and places

Question 31

what are the limitations of nonhuman language use?

Answer 31

vocab size
term abstractness
generativity
displacement