PSY 357 Exam 2 GVSU Questions with
Complete Solutions|| GRADED A+||
LATEST UPDATE 2026
Understand how the assumptions made by Orwell in 1984 illustrate the concept of
linguistic determinism. -CORRECTANSWER The words that are available to us will
determine how we think. If these words go away, we won't have those thoughts.
Linguistic determinism is the concept that language and its structures limit and
determine human knowledge or thought, as well as thought processes such as
categorization, memory, and perception.
How many words do Eskimos have for snow, according to Whorf? How many words to
Eskimos have for snow, according to Pullum? Is it truly different than the number of
words that
any other culture has for snow? -CORRECTANSWER Whorf believes there are at least
7 different words for snow that Eskimos use.
Pullum believes that there are 2 different words for snow that Eskimos use.
It is not truly different than what other cultures have for snow. In fact, English may have
more words than Eskmos do, such as snow, slush, sleet, blizzard, etc. Pullum suggests
that this is the case because Eskimos expect snow to be their background. Even beach
bums, Pullum says, only have one word for sand.
,What sequence of events led to so many reputable sources being wrong about the
number of
Eskimo words for snow? What role did Whorf himself play in this sequence? What have
been the
consequences of this sequence of events, in terms of common cultural
(mis)understandings about
the facts of this phenomenon? -CORRECTANSWER According to Laura Martin:
People are very apt to believe anything about other cultures that are unfamiliar, so it is
not surprising that the rumor continues.
Franz Boas started the rumor by likening the multitude of words to using the same root
in English for various forms of water.
Then, Benjamin Whorf made bold claims that Eskimos have far many more words for
snow than English does and he inflated Boas' number from four to seven.
This claim was reprinted many times.
It ended up being refuted by Roger Brown who said there are only three words for snow
(even tho his claim is misguided according to Pullum, perhaps because he read the
report wrong).
Carol Eastman- there are many words. False reports then continued.
Martin documents 9-200 words. Pullum says that it is an unpopular opinion to say the
truth now with all of this false info.
, Know in detail how each of these supports or does not support the Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis:
__a) Whorf's observation that Eskimos have many words for snow -
CORRECTANSWER Doesn't support the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis because they don't
actually have more words than in English for snow. He does not discuss an enriched
knowledge about snow, which should be present if the Inuit population has all of these
other words for snow, making their "snow thought" more intense and knowledgeable as
a population.
_3) Know in detail how each of these supports or does not support the Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis: __b) Rosch's color categorization study -CORRECTANSWER This study
does not support the weak version of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. This is because light
or dark is perceived equally.
__3) Know in detail how each of these supports or does not support the Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis: __c) The English/Chinese bilingual categorization study (with cows,
chickens, grass) -CORRECTANSWER Supports the weak version of the Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis. This is because the categorization depended on the language used/culture
based on.
__3) Know in detail how each of these supports or does not support the Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis: __d) Roberson et al.'s color categorization study -CORRECTANSWER
Roberson et al.'s color categorization study supports the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis as
Complete Solutions|| GRADED A+||
LATEST UPDATE 2026
Understand how the assumptions made by Orwell in 1984 illustrate the concept of
linguistic determinism. -CORRECTANSWER The words that are available to us will
determine how we think. If these words go away, we won't have those thoughts.
Linguistic determinism is the concept that language and its structures limit and
determine human knowledge or thought, as well as thought processes such as
categorization, memory, and perception.
How many words do Eskimos have for snow, according to Whorf? How many words to
Eskimos have for snow, according to Pullum? Is it truly different than the number of
words that
any other culture has for snow? -CORRECTANSWER Whorf believes there are at least
7 different words for snow that Eskimos use.
Pullum believes that there are 2 different words for snow that Eskimos use.
It is not truly different than what other cultures have for snow. In fact, English may have
more words than Eskmos do, such as snow, slush, sleet, blizzard, etc. Pullum suggests
that this is the case because Eskimos expect snow to be their background. Even beach
bums, Pullum says, only have one word for sand.
,What sequence of events led to so many reputable sources being wrong about the
number of
Eskimo words for snow? What role did Whorf himself play in this sequence? What have
been the
consequences of this sequence of events, in terms of common cultural
(mis)understandings about
the facts of this phenomenon? -CORRECTANSWER According to Laura Martin:
People are very apt to believe anything about other cultures that are unfamiliar, so it is
not surprising that the rumor continues.
Franz Boas started the rumor by likening the multitude of words to using the same root
in English for various forms of water.
Then, Benjamin Whorf made bold claims that Eskimos have far many more words for
snow than English does and he inflated Boas' number from four to seven.
This claim was reprinted many times.
It ended up being refuted by Roger Brown who said there are only three words for snow
(even tho his claim is misguided according to Pullum, perhaps because he read the
report wrong).
Carol Eastman- there are many words. False reports then continued.
Martin documents 9-200 words. Pullum says that it is an unpopular opinion to say the
truth now with all of this false info.
, Know in detail how each of these supports or does not support the Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis:
__a) Whorf's observation that Eskimos have many words for snow -
CORRECTANSWER Doesn't support the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis because they don't
actually have more words than in English for snow. He does not discuss an enriched
knowledge about snow, which should be present if the Inuit population has all of these
other words for snow, making their "snow thought" more intense and knowledgeable as
a population.
_3) Know in detail how each of these supports or does not support the Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis: __b) Rosch's color categorization study -CORRECTANSWER This study
does not support the weak version of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. This is because light
or dark is perceived equally.
__3) Know in detail how each of these supports or does not support the Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis: __c) The English/Chinese bilingual categorization study (with cows,
chickens, grass) -CORRECTANSWER Supports the weak version of the Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis. This is because the categorization depended on the language used/culture
based on.
__3) Know in detail how each of these supports or does not support the Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis: __d) Roberson et al.'s color categorization study -CORRECTANSWER
Roberson et al.'s color categorization study supports the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis as