PSYCH 1X03 - Language Test Questions and Answers Already Passed Latest Update 2025-
2026
According to the textbook, which of the following is the most accurate example of an
overregularization in the form of telegraphic speech in children?
A)A child with a pet dog was introduced to a cat for the first time, at which point she proclaimed
"Dog!"
B)A child accidentally broke a vase of flowers and when asked about what happened by her
mother, she responds "Glass breaked!"
C)A child is experiencing teething pain and when asked where the pain is coming from, he
responds "Teeths!"
D)A child is feeling very hungry, and when his mother passes by, the child screams "Mommy
hungry!" - Answers B. C is an example of an overregularization error, this would be considered a
single word being used to indicate the meaning of an entire sentence, and this is part of the
holophrastic phase. Telegraphic speech involves the use of short phrases that contain crucial
information, such as "Teeths hurt!"
Which of the following hypotheses would a researcher investigate if they were seeking to
provide evidence that supports the innate mechanism theory?
A)An area in the brain involved in the understanding of spoken language shows more activity in
response to speech compared to non-speech sounds in newborn babies.
B)The frequency of overextensions and underextensions in developing children is dependent on
the frequency of reinforcement in instrumental conditioning.
C)Infants are better able to recognize phonemes from an unfamiliar language if they imitated
these sounds from their parents while learning their first few words.
D)The more complex the sentence a gorilla creates, the more activity occurs in a specific brain
region which is thought to be the language acquisition device. - Answers C. If the area of the
brain that is responsible for understanding spoken language shows more activity in response to
speech sounds compared to non-speech sounds in newborn babies, it suggests that infants are
pre-wired to recognize speech. This supports the innate mechanism theory.
"The rude necklace fed chairs by the sun." Which of the following is true regarding this sentence?
,A)The sentence has semantics but is syntactically incorrect.
B)The sentence follows syntax but is semantically meaningless.
C)The word "sun" is comprised of three morphemes.
D)The word "necklace" is comprised of two phonemes. - Answers B. The sentence has syntax
but not semantics; it follows the rules of grammar but communicates no meaning.
Which of the following statements is true regarding the structure of these words?
A)The word elephants contains 1 morpheme and 7 phonemes.
B)The word keychains contains 3 morphemes and 6 phonemes.
C)The world elephants contains 1 phoneme and 7 morphemes.
D)The word keychains contains 3 phonemes and 6 morphemes. - Answers B. A morpheme is
the smallest unit of sound that contains information, whereas phonemes are the smallest units
of language. Elephants contains two morphemes — /elephant/s/ — and eight phonemes —
/e/l/e/ph/a/n/t/s.
Which of the following best describes a benefit to the language development of infants resulting
from baby talk, or "infant-directed speech", as indicated by the research in your textbook by Dr.
Laurel Trainor at McMaster University?
A)The characteristic high-pitched voice usage is easier for infants to understand, and so they
are more willing to engage in conversation.
B)Paired with appropriate facial expressions, infant-directed speech can help to shape the
social behaviour of infants.
C)The exaggerated changes in pitch helps infants discriminate between vowel sounds, aiding in
the learning of vowel sound categories.
D)The slowed speed at which infant-directed speech is delivered allows infants to perceive
proper segmentation between spoken words. - Answers C. This style of talking has been shown
to be beneficial to infants in that it helps them learn the categories of vowel sounds.
Which of the following statements best describes perceptual narrowing?
A)The pattern of perceptual narrowing suggests that there exists an innate basis for phoneme
, discrimination in infancy that is influenced by experience.
B)The pattern of perceptual narrowing suggests that phoneme discrimination is solely
influenced by innate mechanisms.
C)The pattern of perceptual narrowing suggests that the ability to discriminate between
phonemes does not diminish with age.
D)The pattern of perceptual narrowing suggests that an innate basis for phoneme
discrimination is unlikely. - Answers A. Infants display universal phoneme sensitivity, which
suggests that there exists an innate basis for phoneme discrimination. However, this ability to
discriminate between virtually all phonemes is lost later on in childhood, which suggests that
learning and experience also play a role.
Which of the following is true of segmentation research?
A)Infants who showed strong segmentation skills later in life knew many expressive words at
age two—a strong negative correlation.
B)Infants who showed strong segmentation skills early in life knew fewer expressive words at
age two—a strong positive correlation.
C)Infants who showed strong segmentation skills early in life knew many expressive words at
age two—a strong positive correlation.
D)Infants who showed strong segmentation skills early in life knew many expressive words at
age two—a strong negative correlation. - Answers C. Infants who showed strong segmentation
skills early on had a larger expressive vocabulary at age two. Infants who showed segmentation
skills only later on had a smaller expressive vocabulary at age two. There is thus a strong
positive correlation between early segmentation and expressive vocabulary.
Which of the following best describes two criteria of language?
A)Productive means that a system of rules and grammar is used to produce new words; Regular
refers to the use of a system of rules and grammar to govern the arrangement of sentences.
B)Productive means that a system of rules and grammar is used to produce new words;
Arbitrary means that words do not resemble their meanings.
C)Regular refers to the use of a system of rules and grammar to govern the arrangement of
words in a sentence; Arbitrary means that words do not resemble their meanings.
D)Regular refers to the use of a system of rules and grammar to govern the arrangement of
2026
According to the textbook, which of the following is the most accurate example of an
overregularization in the form of telegraphic speech in children?
A)A child with a pet dog was introduced to a cat for the first time, at which point she proclaimed
"Dog!"
B)A child accidentally broke a vase of flowers and when asked about what happened by her
mother, she responds "Glass breaked!"
C)A child is experiencing teething pain and when asked where the pain is coming from, he
responds "Teeths!"
D)A child is feeling very hungry, and when his mother passes by, the child screams "Mommy
hungry!" - Answers B. C is an example of an overregularization error, this would be considered a
single word being used to indicate the meaning of an entire sentence, and this is part of the
holophrastic phase. Telegraphic speech involves the use of short phrases that contain crucial
information, such as "Teeths hurt!"
Which of the following hypotheses would a researcher investigate if they were seeking to
provide evidence that supports the innate mechanism theory?
A)An area in the brain involved in the understanding of spoken language shows more activity in
response to speech compared to non-speech sounds in newborn babies.
B)The frequency of overextensions and underextensions in developing children is dependent on
the frequency of reinforcement in instrumental conditioning.
C)Infants are better able to recognize phonemes from an unfamiliar language if they imitated
these sounds from their parents while learning their first few words.
D)The more complex the sentence a gorilla creates, the more activity occurs in a specific brain
region which is thought to be the language acquisition device. - Answers C. If the area of the
brain that is responsible for understanding spoken language shows more activity in response to
speech sounds compared to non-speech sounds in newborn babies, it suggests that infants are
pre-wired to recognize speech. This supports the innate mechanism theory.
"The rude necklace fed chairs by the sun." Which of the following is true regarding this sentence?
,A)The sentence has semantics but is syntactically incorrect.
B)The sentence follows syntax but is semantically meaningless.
C)The word "sun" is comprised of three morphemes.
D)The word "necklace" is comprised of two phonemes. - Answers B. The sentence has syntax
but not semantics; it follows the rules of grammar but communicates no meaning.
Which of the following statements is true regarding the structure of these words?
A)The word elephants contains 1 morpheme and 7 phonemes.
B)The word keychains contains 3 morphemes and 6 phonemes.
C)The world elephants contains 1 phoneme and 7 morphemes.
D)The word keychains contains 3 phonemes and 6 morphemes. - Answers B. A morpheme is
the smallest unit of sound that contains information, whereas phonemes are the smallest units
of language. Elephants contains two morphemes — /elephant/s/ — and eight phonemes —
/e/l/e/ph/a/n/t/s.
Which of the following best describes a benefit to the language development of infants resulting
from baby talk, or "infant-directed speech", as indicated by the research in your textbook by Dr.
Laurel Trainor at McMaster University?
A)The characteristic high-pitched voice usage is easier for infants to understand, and so they
are more willing to engage in conversation.
B)Paired with appropriate facial expressions, infant-directed speech can help to shape the
social behaviour of infants.
C)The exaggerated changes in pitch helps infants discriminate between vowel sounds, aiding in
the learning of vowel sound categories.
D)The slowed speed at which infant-directed speech is delivered allows infants to perceive
proper segmentation between spoken words. - Answers C. This style of talking has been shown
to be beneficial to infants in that it helps them learn the categories of vowel sounds.
Which of the following statements best describes perceptual narrowing?
A)The pattern of perceptual narrowing suggests that there exists an innate basis for phoneme
, discrimination in infancy that is influenced by experience.
B)The pattern of perceptual narrowing suggests that phoneme discrimination is solely
influenced by innate mechanisms.
C)The pattern of perceptual narrowing suggests that the ability to discriminate between
phonemes does not diminish with age.
D)The pattern of perceptual narrowing suggests that an innate basis for phoneme
discrimination is unlikely. - Answers A. Infants display universal phoneme sensitivity, which
suggests that there exists an innate basis for phoneme discrimination. However, this ability to
discriminate between virtually all phonemes is lost later on in childhood, which suggests that
learning and experience also play a role.
Which of the following is true of segmentation research?
A)Infants who showed strong segmentation skills later in life knew many expressive words at
age two—a strong negative correlation.
B)Infants who showed strong segmentation skills early in life knew fewer expressive words at
age two—a strong positive correlation.
C)Infants who showed strong segmentation skills early in life knew many expressive words at
age two—a strong positive correlation.
D)Infants who showed strong segmentation skills early in life knew many expressive words at
age two—a strong negative correlation. - Answers C. Infants who showed strong segmentation
skills early on had a larger expressive vocabulary at age two. Infants who showed segmentation
skills only later on had a smaller expressive vocabulary at age two. There is thus a strong
positive correlation between early segmentation and expressive vocabulary.
Which of the following best describes two criteria of language?
A)Productive means that a system of rules and grammar is used to produce new words; Regular
refers to the use of a system of rules and grammar to govern the arrangement of sentences.
B)Productive means that a system of rules and grammar is used to produce new words;
Arbitrary means that words do not resemble their meanings.
C)Regular refers to the use of a system of rules and grammar to govern the arrangement of
words in a sentence; Arbitrary means that words do not resemble their meanings.
D)Regular refers to the use of a system of rules and grammar to govern the arrangement of
