D 570 Exam 3 V2 | D 570 Cognitive Psychology |
Actual Q&A with Rationale (D570 Exam 3) |
Western Governors University
1. Which term refers to the smallest unit of sound that can distinguish one word from
another in a specific language?
A. Morpheme
B. Syntax
C. Phoneme
D. Lexicon
Correct Answer: C
Explanation: Phonemes are the basic sound units of language. While they do not carry
meaning themselves, changing a phoneme changes the meaning of a word, such as bit
versus pit. This distinction is a foundational concept in the cognitive study of phonology
and speech perception.
2. In the study of language, what is the term for the smallest unit that carries meaning?
A. Phoneme
B. Syntax
C. Grapheme
D. Morpheme
,Correct Answer: D
Explanation: Morphemes are the building blocks of meaning, including roots, prefixes, and
suffixes. For example, the word ‘refilled’ contains three morphemes: ‘re’, ‘fill’, and ‘ed’.
Understanding morphemes is critical for identifying how cognitive processes decode
linguistic information.
3. A patient who can produce speech sounds but has difficulty organizing them into
meaningful sentences likely suffers from damage to which area?
A. Broca’s area
B. Wernicke’s area
C. Occipital lobe
D. Basal ganglia
Correct Answer: A
Explanation: Broca’s aphasia is characterized by non-fluent, labored, and hesitant speech,
though comprehension remains relatively intact. This area in the frontal lobe is essential
for the production of grammatical speech. Cognitive neuropsychology uses these deficits to
map specific language functions to brain regions.
4. Wernicke’s aphasia is most closely associated with which of the following symptoms?
A. Inability to produce any sound
B. Fluent speech that lacks meaning
, C. Labored and slow speech production
D. Difficulty in recognizing written faces
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: Patients with Wernicke’s aphasia produce speech that is phonologically
correct and fluent but semantically empty, often referred to as word salad. This condition
results from damage to the temporal lobe, which is responsible for language
comprehension. It highlights the dissociation between the structure of speech and the
meaning of speech.
5. What is the primary focus of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
A. Language development is purely innate.
B. The structure of a language determines or influences the speaker’s thought processes.
C. All humans share a universal grammar.
D. Problem solving is independent of linguistic ability.
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, or linguistic relativity, suggests that the
language we speak shapes how we perceive the world. While the strong version
(determinism) is debated, the weak version (influence) is widely studied in cognitive
psychology. This theory examines the intersection of linguistic structures and cognitive
categorization.
Actual Q&A with Rationale (D570 Exam 3) |
Western Governors University
1. Which term refers to the smallest unit of sound that can distinguish one word from
another in a specific language?
A. Morpheme
B. Syntax
C. Phoneme
D. Lexicon
Correct Answer: C
Explanation: Phonemes are the basic sound units of language. While they do not carry
meaning themselves, changing a phoneme changes the meaning of a word, such as bit
versus pit. This distinction is a foundational concept in the cognitive study of phonology
and speech perception.
2. In the study of language, what is the term for the smallest unit that carries meaning?
A. Phoneme
B. Syntax
C. Grapheme
D. Morpheme
,Correct Answer: D
Explanation: Morphemes are the building blocks of meaning, including roots, prefixes, and
suffixes. For example, the word ‘refilled’ contains three morphemes: ‘re’, ‘fill’, and ‘ed’.
Understanding morphemes is critical for identifying how cognitive processes decode
linguistic information.
3. A patient who can produce speech sounds but has difficulty organizing them into
meaningful sentences likely suffers from damage to which area?
A. Broca’s area
B. Wernicke’s area
C. Occipital lobe
D. Basal ganglia
Correct Answer: A
Explanation: Broca’s aphasia is characterized by non-fluent, labored, and hesitant speech,
though comprehension remains relatively intact. This area in the frontal lobe is essential
for the production of grammatical speech. Cognitive neuropsychology uses these deficits to
map specific language functions to brain regions.
4. Wernicke’s aphasia is most closely associated with which of the following symptoms?
A. Inability to produce any sound
B. Fluent speech that lacks meaning
, C. Labored and slow speech production
D. Difficulty in recognizing written faces
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: Patients with Wernicke’s aphasia produce speech that is phonologically
correct and fluent but semantically empty, often referred to as word salad. This condition
results from damage to the temporal lobe, which is responsible for language
comprehension. It highlights the dissociation between the structure of speech and the
meaning of speech.
5. What is the primary focus of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
A. Language development is purely innate.
B. The structure of a language determines or influences the speaker’s thought processes.
C. All humans share a universal grammar.
D. Problem solving is independent of linguistic ability.
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, or linguistic relativity, suggests that the
language we speak shapes how we perceive the world. While the strong version
(determinism) is debated, the weak version (influence) is widely studied in cognitive
psychology. This theory examines the intersection of linguistic structures and cognitive
categorization.
