Children and Their Development 6th Edition Kail Test Bank

Chapter 9
Quick Quiz
1. The rules that specify how words are combined to form sentences is
a. phonology. c. syntax.
b. semantics. d. pragmatics.
2. Which of the following represents the order in which the first steps to speech are taken?
a. cooing, intonation, first word, babbling c. cooing, intonation, babbling, first word
b. babbling, cooing, intonation, first word d. cooing, babbling, intonation, first word
3. At what age do infants generally experience a naming explosion during which they learn new words,
particularly names of objects, much more rapidly?
a. around their first birthday c. around their second birthday
b. about 18 months d. during the preschool years
4. Research on the shape-bias theory of word learning found that once toddlers showed a shape bias — that is,
they realized that a name applies to objects that have the same shape, but not to objects of the same color or
material
a. this new knowledge confused them and slowed down language acquisition.
b. they used this knowledge to learn the rules of grammar faster.
c. they used this knowledge to learn new words faster.
d. they engaged in more underextension and overextension.
5. Carter’s vocabulary consists primarily of words like dog, mom, up, bottle, cookie, and go. Carter is using
a. a referential style of language. c. overextension.
b. an expressive style of language. d. underextension.
6. DeLoache and her colleagues (1997) hid a toy in a full-size room and then asked 2 ½-year-olds to find the
hidden toy in either a scale model of the room or in a scale model of the room that they had pretended to shrink.
They found that 2 ½-year-olds
a. could not find the toy in either the shrinking room condition or the regular scale model condition.
b. could find the toy in the shrinking room condition, but not in the regular scale model condition.
c. could find the toy in the regular scale model condition, but not in the shrinking room condition.
d. could find the toy in both the regular model and shrinking room conditions.
7. The __________ approach says that children master grammar by imitating speech that they hear.
a. behaviorist c. cognitive
b. linguistic d. social interaction
8. The region of the brain that is necessary for combining words into meaningful sentences is known as
a. Wernicke’s area. c. the occipital lobe.
b. the corpus callosum. d. Broca’s area.
9. The first deliberate attempts to initiate communication with others typically emerge at
a. birth. c. 10 months.
b. five 5 months. d. 15 months.
10. When older children (age four4) talk to younger children (age two2) they use
a. simpler grammar but not more attention-getting words.
b. more attention-getting words but not simpler grammar.
c. simpler grammar and more attention-getting words.
d. their own speech. Four-year-old children do not alter their speech when talking to younger children.
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Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Chapter 9 Quick Quiz Answers
1. Chapter Module: The Road to Speech
Answer: c Page(s): 278 Type: Factual Diff: Easy
Rationale: Syntax, rules that specify how words are combined to form sentences,
2. Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

Answer: d Page(s): 282-283 Type: Factual Diff: Moderate
Rationale: Cooing comes before babbling, then intonation is added to babbling, then comes the first word.
3. Chapter Module: Learning the Meanings of Words

Answer: b Page(s): 285 Type: Conceptual Diff: Moderate
Rationale: Children experience a naming explosion at 18 months.

Answer: c Page(s): 287-288 Type: Conceptual Diff: Hard
Rationale: Results indicated that once children showed shape bias, they used the knowledge to learn new
words faster.

Answer: a Page(s): 290 Type: Applied Diff: Moderate
Rationale: A referential style involves a vocabulary of mostly objects, persons, or actions.

Answer: b Page(s): 295 Type: Conceptual Diff: Moderate
Rationale: Young children are only able to find the model in the “shrinking room” condition.
7. Chapter Module: Speaking in Sentences

Answer: a Page(s): 299 Type: Conceptual Diff: Moderate
Rationale: This is a description of the behaviorist approach.
8. Chapter Module: Speaking in Sentences

Answer: d Page(s): 300 Type: Factual Diff: Moderate
Rationale: Broca’s area is a region of the brain that is necessary for combining words into meaningful
sentences.
9. Chapter Module: Using Language to Communicate

Answer: c Page(s): 305 Type: Factual Diff: Moderate
Rationale: The first deliberate attempt to communicate emerges typically at 10 months.
10. Chapter Module: Using Language to Communicate

Answer: c Page(s): 306 Type: Conceptual Diff: Moderate
Rationale: Children adjust their speech to the age of their listener, using simpler grammar and more attention-
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getting words with younger children.
Chapter 9
Language and Communication
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
9.1 __________ is/are a system that relates sounds (or gestures) to meaning.
a. Pragmatics c. Semantics
b. Phonology d. Language
Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

Answer: d Page(s): 277 Type: Conceptual Diff: Easy
Rationale: Defined broadly, language is a system that relates sound or gestures to meaning. Languages
are expressed in many forms — through speech, writing, and gestures.
9.2 The term phonology refers to

a. the sounds of a language.
b. the study of words and their meanings.
c. the structure of a language.
d. the study of how people use language to communicate effectively.

Answer: a Page(s): 277 Type: Conceptual Diff: Easy
Rationale: Phonology refers to the sounds of a language.
9.3 The sounds of a language are referred to as

a. semantics. c. phonology.
b. pragmatics. d. syntax.

Answer: c Page(s): 277 Type: Conceptual Diff: Easy
Rationale: Phonology refers to the sounds of a language.
9.4 The term semantics refers to

a. the sounds of a language.
b. the study of words and their meanings.
c. the structure of language.
d. the study of how people use language to communicate effectively.

Answer: b Page(s): 278 Type: Conceptual Diff: Easy
Rationale: Semantics is the study of words and their meaning.
9.5 Roger is fascinated with learning the meanings of words. Roger has a keen interest in
a. phonology. c. syntax.
b. semantics. d. grammar.

Answer: b Page(s): 278 Type: Applied Diff: Moderate
Rationale: Semantics is the study of the meaning of words.
9.6 __________ is the study of how people use language to communicate effectively.
a. Phonology c. Semantics
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b. Grammar d. Pragmatics

Rationale: Pragmatics is the study of how people use language to communicate effectively.
9.7 The basic building blocks of language that are used to form words are called
a. morphemes. c. lexicals.
b. grammars. d. phonemes.

Rationale: Phonemes are the basic building blocks of language — the unique sounds that can be joined
to create words.
9.8 Which of the following is an example of a phoneme?

a. “bababababa” c. “Me go.”
b. the “ing” in “playing” d. the “d” sound in “dog”

Answer: d Page(s): 278 Type: Applied Diff: Moderate
Rationale: A phoneme is a basic building block of language, a unique sound that can be used to create
words, so d is the best example.
9.9 Infants as young as __________ of age can distinguish phonemes.

a. one 1 month c. one 1 year
b. six 6 months d. two 2 years

Answer: a Page(s): 278 Type: Factual Diff: Moderate
Rationale: Even young infants (one1-month-olds) can distinguish phonemes.
9.10 Infants who are younger than six 6 months of age

a. do not need to experience speech sounds in their environment to be able to discriminate them.
b. must experience speech sounds in their environment to be able to discriminate them.
c. can discriminate only the sounds found in their native language.
d. cannot discriminate any speech sounds which explains why they cannot talk.

Rationale: Infants who are younger than six 6 months of age can distinguish sounds from every
language, but this ability disappears by about 11 or 12 months.
9.11 Six-month-old Seiko is growing up in a home where Japanese is the only language spoken. Is she likely to
be able to discriminate speech sounds that are used in English but are not used in Japanese?
a. She is not likely to ever be able to discriminate them.
b. She is likely to be able to discriminate them now, but will probably lose that ability when she gets older.
c. She is not likely to be able to discriminate them at this age, but should be able to when she gets older.
d. She is likely to be able to discriminate them throughout her life.

Rationale: Infants who are younger than six 6 months of age can distinguish sounds from every
language, but this ability disappears by about 11 or 12 months.
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9.12 When six6- to eight8-month-olds hear a word repeatedly in different sentences, later they
a. pay less attention to that word than to words they have not heard previously.
b. pay more attention to that word than to words they have not heard previously.
c. pay the same amount of attention to the previously heard word and new words.
d. cannot recognize sound patterns that they hear repeatedly.

Answer: b Page(s): 279 Type: Factual Diff: Moderate
Rationale: Research shows that infants pay more attention to repeated words than words they have not
previously heard.
9.13 Young infants seem to identify words by

a. paying attention to unusual combinations of syllables.
b. paying more attention to stressed syllables, rather than unstressed syllables.
c. paying more attention to words they have never heard before.
d. paying attention to the meaning of words.

Rationale: Young children pay more attention to stressed, rather than unstressed syllables.
9.14 Seven-month-old Julius hears this conversation:

John: I want to go swim. Formatted: Font: Italic
John’s dad: Do you want to swim in the pool?
John: No, I want to swim in the lake.
If Julius then hears the words “run” and “swim,” what would you expect him to do?
a. pay more attention to “run” than to “swim”
b. pay more attention to “swim” than to “run”
c. pay equal attention to “run” and “swim”
d. say the words “run” and “swim”

Answer: b Page(s): 280 Type: Applied Diff: Hard
Rationale: Research shows that infants pay more attention to repeated words than words they have not
previously heard, so Julius is likely to pay more attention to the word swim than run.
9.15 When using __________, adults speak slowly and with exaggerated changes in pitch and loudness.
a. a referential style c. infant-directed speech
b. an expressive style d. adult-directed speech

Rationale: In infant-directed speech, adults speak slowly and with exaggerated changes in pitch and
loudness.
9.16 Infants pay more attention to

a. a referential style of language. c. adult-directed speech.
b. an expressive style of language. d. infant-directed speech.

Answer: d Page(s): 280-281 Type: Factual Diff: Easy
Rationale: Infant-directed speech is designed to capture the attention of infants.
9.17 Which of the following is TRUE of infant-directed speech?

a. Infants prefer adult-directed speech to infant-directed speech.
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b. Only mothers use infant-directed speech.
c. Infant-directed speech seems to attract the infant’s attention.
d. The use of infant-directed speech makes it more difficult for infants to identify speech sounds.

Answer: c Page(s): 280-281 Type: Conceptual Diff: Moderate
Rationale: Infant-directed speech is designed to capture the attention of infants.
9.18 You visit your friend, Amy, and her six6-month-old son, Joey. You notice that when Amy talks to Joey she
speaks slowly and with exaggerated changes in pitch and loudness. You think to yourself
a. “Amy had better stop talking that way or Joey is never going to learn to speak properly.”
b. “Amy’s making it easier for Joey to perceive the important sounds of our language by talking to him the
way she does.”
c. “Amy’s correct to speak differently to Joey than she does to adults, but she should be speaking more
quickly and with fewer changes in pitch and loudness.”
d. “It bugs me when Amy talks that way to Joey, but it’s not going to affect how well Joey perceives
language, either positively or negatively.”

Answer: b Page(s): 280-281 Type: Applied Diff: Moderate
Rationale: Amy is using infant-directed speech, which is beneficial to Joey.
9.19 Researchers have studied the impact on language development of cochlear implants in profoundly deaf
children. They found that
a. children who received cochlear implants did not show any benefits to their language development.
b. cochlear implants replace other forms of therapy for deaf children.
c. almost all children showed large improvements in their language skills.
d. children who received cochlear implants acquired language at the same rate as children with normal
hearing.

Answer: c Page(s): 281-282 Type: Factual Diff: Moderate
Rationale: Cochlear implants have been proven to be beneficial to children’s language skills.
9.20 Which of the following statements about cochlear implants is CORRECT?

a. A cochlear implant replaces other forms of therapy for deaf children.
b. Because most children do not receive their cochlear implants until four 4 or five 5 years of age, their
language skills were still substantially behind that of hearing children.
c. The benefits of a cochlear implant are the same for all children.
d. Language skills are not enhanced in children with cochlear implants.

Rationale: Cochlear implants have been proven to be beneficial to children’s language skills, but they
do not bring language development up to the level of hearing children.
9.21 Vowel-like utterances such as “oooooooo” and “ahhhhhhh” are referred to as

a. babbling. c. infant-directed speech.
b. intonation. d. cooing.

Rationale: At two 2 months, infants begin to produce vowel-like sounds, a phenomenon known as
cooing.
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9.22 Jenny just had her first baby and is wondering when he will begin producing different kinds of sounds.
Which of the following should she expect him to produce first?
a. babbling c. first word
b. intonation d. cooing

Rationale: Cooing comes before babbling, intonation, and first words.
9.23 Cooing refers to

a. single syllable utterances consisting of a consonant and vowel.
b. the production of vowel-like sounds such as “ooooooo” or “ahhhhhhh.”
c. the repetition of a sound such as “dahdahdahdahdah.”
d. a pattern of rising and falling pitch.

Rationale: At two 2 months, infants begin to produce vowel-like sounds, a phenomenon known as
cooing.
9.24 The production of syllables that contain vowels and consonants is called
a. cooing. c. fast mapping.
b. babbling. d. intonation.

Rationale: Babbling appears at five 5 or six 6 months of age with a single consonant and vowel.
9.25 Babbling refers to

a. speech-like sounds that consist of a vowel and consonant but that have no meaning.
b. the production of vowel-like sounds such as “ooooooo” or “ahhhhhhh.”
c. a pattern of rising and falling pitch.
d. a distinctive style of speech adults use when talking to infants.

Rationale: Babbling appears at five 5 or s6ix months of age with a single consonant and vowel, then
combining different speech sounds.
9.26 As infants develop

a. babbling shifts from single syllable utterances to combinations of different sounds.
b. the average length of each babbled sound decreases.
c. babbling tends to become more constant in pitch.
d. they shift from babbling to cooing.

Rationale: Babbling shifts from single syllable utterances to combinations of different sounds and
intonation (rising and falling pitch) is added.
9.27 Which of the following is TRUE of the development of babbling?

a. Infants produce complex speech sounds before simpler sounds.
b. Intonation is added to later babbling.
c. Early babbling contains combinations of many different sounds.
d. Babbling is the production of vowel-like sounds.
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Answer: b Page(s): 282-283 Type: Factual Diff: Moderate
Rationale: Babbling shifts from single syllable utterances to combinations of different sounds and
intonation (rising and falling pitch) is added.
9.28 Intonation refers to

a. the production of vowel-like sounds.
b. the production of utterances that contain both vowel and consonant sounds.
c. a pattern of rising or falling pitch.
d. the repetition of a sound.

Rationale: The pattern of rising or falling pitch is known as intonation.
9.29 Celia has noticed that her seven7-month-old daughter has recently begun to raise and lower the pitch of her
voice when she babbles so she sometimes sounds as if she is asking questions. Celia’s daughter has added
__________ to her babbling.
a. cooing c. vowel sounds
b. repetition d. intonation

Answer: d Page(s): 282-283 Type: Applied Diff: Moderate
Rationale: The rise and fall of pitch is known as intonation.
9.30 Most children say their first words at about __________ of age.
a. six 6 months c. 18 months
b. 12 months d. 24 months
Chapter Module: Learning the Meanings of Words

Answer: b Page(s): 284 Type: Factual Diff: Easy
Rationale: The first recognizable word usually occurs around the first birthday.
9.31 The production of the first words is linked to the ability to

a. use symbols. c. produce consonants.
b. produce vowels. d. use intonation.

Answer: a Page(s): 284-285 Type: Conceptual Diff: Moderate
Rationale: Production of the first word is linked to the ability to understand that words are symbols.
9.32 As children develop the ability to use symbols, they begin to talk and
a. no longer make underextension errors. c. begin to be able to differentiate phonemes.
b. no longer make overregularization errors. d. begin to use gestures.

Answer: d Page(s): 284-285 Type: Conceptual Diff: Easy
Rationale: Symbols include language (talking) and gestures.
9.33 Meredith has just begun to be able to use symbols to represent actions and objects. You would expect her
to use
a. gestures, but not words. c. words and gestures.
b. words, but not gestures. d. neither words nor gestures.

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Answer: c Page(s): 284-285 Type: Applied Diff: Moderate
Rationale: Symbols include language (talking) and gestures, so you would expect her to use both.
9.34 When do toddlers experience their first vocabulary spurt (naming explosion)?
a. between 12 and 16 months c. between two 2 and 2 ½ years
b. between 18 to 20 months d. between three 3 and 3 ½ years

Rationale: At about 18 months, children experience a naming explosion during which they learn new
words — particularly names of objects — much more rapidly than before.
9.35 A child’s ability to make connections between new words and referents so rapidly that he or she cannot be
considering all possible meanings for the new word is referred to as
a. overregularization. c. overextension.
b. underextension. d. fast mapping.

Answer: d Page(s): 285 Type: Conceptual Diff: Moderate
Rationale: Children’s ability to connect new words to their meanings so rapidly that they cannot be
considering all possible meanings for the new word is termed fast mapping.
9.36 Fast mapping denotes the phenomenon that

a. words are associated with objects so rapidly that children are not systematically evaluating all possible
meanings of a word.
b. children have identified concepts prior to language; words are used as symbols to denote these concepts.
c. children are more likely to learn words consisting of sounds they have already mastered.
d. children often understand words before they are able to produce them in their own speech.

Rationale: Children’s ability to connect new words to their meanings so rapidly that they cannot be
considering all possible meanings for the new word is termed fast mapping.
9.37 When young children are learning new words, they

a. require many presentations of the new word to learn the correct referent.
b. systematically consider all possible hypotheses about the connection between the word and the correct
referent.
c. are more likely to learn an object’s name when adults look at the object while saying its name.
d. do not use sentence cues.

Rationale: Joint attention, where the parent focuses on the object while saying its name helps children
learn the object’s name more easily.
9.38 Barry tells his three3-year-old son, Billy, the name of an unfamiliar object. You would expect Billy to
a. use rules to link the word with its meaning.
b. not use any rules to determine the meaning of the word.
c. need to hear the new word many times before he learns its correct meaning.
d. systematically evaluate all possible hypotheses regarding the correct meaning of the word.

Rationale: Young children use a variety of rules to help link words with their meanings.
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9.39 Which of the following is a CORRECT statement concerning the rules children use to learn new words?
a. If an unfamiliar word is heard in the presence of objects that already have names and objects that do not,
the word refers to one of the objects that does not have a name.
b. A name refers to a part of an object, not the whole object.
c. A name refers to one particular object not to all objects of the same type.
d. If an object already has a name and another name is presented, the new name is incorrect.

Rationale: Answer a is the only correct rule that young children use, as they believe that names refer to
whole objects and all objects of the same type.
9.40 According to the rules that young children use to learn the meanings of new words, when Ravisha points to
a picture of a boy in a blue shirt and says “boy” her 13-month-old son will assume that the word “boy”
refers to
a. the boy. c. the color blue.
b. the boy’s shirt. d. the book that Ravisha is reading.

Answer: a Page(s): 286 Type: Applied Diff: Hard
Rationale: Because children use the rule that the name belongs to the whole object, her son will assume
that she means the boy.
9.41 Two-year-old Michael already knows the meaning of the word dog. One day when he is at a park with his
mother, they see a dog and his mother points to the dog and says, “That’s a collie.” Michael is likely to
conclude that
a. his mother does not know what a dog is.
b. all dogs are called collies.
c. a collie is a special type of dog.
d. collie refers to some part of the dog, such as its head or tail or neck.

Answer: c Page(s): 286 Type: Applied Diff: Hard
Rationale: Children use the rule that when an object already has a name and another name is given, the
new name refers to a subcategory, so Michael should assume that a collie is a special type of dog.
9.42 Children use sentence cues to judge word meanings. Given this, how will two2-year-old Elena interpret the
following sentence: “This is a Blick.”
a. That “Blick” is a proper name.
b. That “Blick” is a nonsense word with no meaning.
c. That “Blick” is a category name.
d. That “Blick” is a verb.

Answer: c Page(s): 287 Type: Applied Diff: Hard
Rationale: Children use the rule that when an object already has a name and another name is given, the
new name refers to a subcategory, so Michael should assume that a collie is a special type of dog.
9.43 The results of Gershkoff-Stowe and Smith’s (2004) study demonstrated all of the following EXCEPT
a. the onset of the naming explosion occurred around the same time as the onset of shape bias.
b. once toddlers showed a shape bias, they used this knowledge to learn new words faster.
c. toddlers learn that paying attention to shape is a good way to learn object names.
d. word learning requires the use of built-in, language-specific, specialized mechanisms.

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Answer: d Page(s): 287-288 Type: Conceptual Diff: Hard
Rationale: The results of the Gershkoff-Stowe and Smith study supports Smith’s theory and the general
idea that word learning may not require specialized mechanisms (e.g., fast mapping rules such as
“unfamiliar words refer to objects that don’t have names”).
9.44 Defining a word too narrowly is known as

a. an overextension. c. fast mapping.
b. an underextension. d. overregularization.

Rationale: Underextension is defining a word too narrowly.
9.45 Hannah uses the word cat to refer only to her cat, not to other cats. Hannah’s mistake is an example of
a. fast mapping. c. overextension.
b. overregularization. d. underextension.

Rationale: Defining a word too narrowly is an example of underextension.
9.46 When children make the mistake of defining a word too broadly, it is referred to as
a. overregularization. c. underextension.
b. overextension. d. fast mapping.

Rationale: Overextension is defining a word too broadly.
9.47 When Utsav is riding in the car with his mother, he will point at buses, vans, bikes, and trucks and say
“car.” This is an example of
a. an overextension. c. fast mapping.
b. an underextension. d. overregularization.

Rationale: Defining a word too broadly is an example of overextension.
9.48 Which of the following is the best example of an overextension?

a. using the word “house” to refer only to the family’s house
b. hearing the unfamiliar word “shoe” and concluding that it refers to objects that are worn on feet
c. using the word “horsie” to refer to all four-legged creatures
d. saying “I goed” instead of “I went”

Answer: c Page(s): 289 Type: Applied Diff: Moderate
Rationale: Overextension means defining a word too broadly, so the best example is using the word
“horsie” to refer to all four-legged creatures.
9.49 Overextensions
a. occur more often when children are producing words than when they are comprehending words.
b. occur when children define a word too narrowly.
c. are not influenced by feedback from parents.
d. become more common as children get older.
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Rationale: Overextensions are more common during word production than comprehension.
9.50 Both overextensions and underextensions

a. occur more often when children are producing words than when they are comprehending words.
b. occur more often as children move away from attentional cues and toward language and social cues for
word learning.
c. disappear gradually as children refine meanings for words with more exposure to language.
d. become more common as children get older.

Rationale: Naming errors become less frequent with age.
9.51 The ability to remember speech sounds briefly is known as

a. phonological memory. c. expressive memory.
b. referential memory. d. fast mapping.

Rationale: One reason the vocabulary size varies so much for normal 18-month-olds is because children
vary in their ability to remember speech sounds.
9.52 The naming explosion typically occurs at 18 months, but the timing of this event varies widely for
individual children. Which of the following is NOT correct regarding individual differences in word
learning?
a. Twin studies find that vocabulary size is more similar in identical twins than in fraternal twins
indicating a role for genetics.
b. Children have larger vocabularies when they are exposed to high-quality language.
c. Children who have difficulty remembering speech sounds accurately find word learning
particularly challenging.
d. Children learn fewer words when their parents’ speech is rich in different words and is
grammatically sophisticated.

Rationale: Children learn more words when their parents’ speech is rich and grammatically
sophisticated. The more words that children hear, the better.
9.53 Eighteen-month-old Zach’s vocabulary consists mainly of words that are the names of objects, persons, or
actions. Zach has a(n) __________ style of learning language.
a. expressive c. social
b. referential d. fast mapping

Answer: b Page(s): 290 Type: Applied Diff: Easy
Rationale: A referential style is used when words are mainly names of objects, persons, or actions.
9.54 Youngsters with a referential style of language-learning

a. use language primarily as a social tool.
b. have a high percentage of question words (what, where) in their vocabularies.
c. have vocabularies that are dominated by the names of objects, persons, or actions.
d. have balanced vocabularies containing words used for questions, social-interactions, and names.
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Rationale: A referential style is used when words are mainly names of objects, persons, or actions.
9.55 Children with expressive language-learning styles

a. have vocabularies that primarily consist of the names of objects, people, and actions.
b. have vocabularies that consist of many social phrases.
c. use language as an intellectual tool.
d. have vocabularies that contain few question words, such as “what.”

Rationale: An expressive language style has a vocabulary primarily of social phrases.
9.56 Eighteen-month-old Lenny’s vocabulary contains some words that are names for objects, but also has many
social phrases such as “I want it” and “Go away.” Lenny has a(n) __________ style of learning language.
a. intellectual c. referential
b. fast mapping d. expressive

Rationale: An expressive language style has a vocabulary primarily of social phrases.
9.57 Children with a referential style of learning language use language mainly as a(n) __________ tool whereas
children with an expressive style of learning language use language primarily as a(n) __________ tool.
a. adult-directed; child-directed c. intellectual; social
b. child-directed; adult-directed d. social; intellectual

Rationale: The referential style is more of an intellectual tool, while the expressive style is more of a
social tool.
9.58 Kim has an expressive style of learning language. Ellie has a referential style of learning language. You
would expect to find that
a. Kim knows more words that are names, but Ellie knows more social phrases.
b. Kim knows more social phrases, but Ellie knows more words that are names.
c. Kim knows more words that are names, but Ellie knows more question words.
d. Kim and Ellie’s vocabularies both contain equal numbers of words that are names, social phrases, and
question words.

Rationale: Expressive = social phrases and referential = naming words.
9.59 Which of the following statements is TRUE regarding the influence of the environment on language
development?
a. The frequency of parental speech is not related to the size of a child’s vocabulary.
b. Naming objects that are the focus of a child’s attention is not related to word learning.
c. Children who are passively exposed to television shows, such as cartoons have larger vocabularies than
other children.
d. Questioning children while reading to them forces them to identify the meanings of new words.

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Rationale: Frequency of parental speech, naming objects for children, and TV that requires active
involvement (e.g., “Sesame Street”) are related to better language development, as is questioning children
while reading to them.
9.60 Which of the following is positively related to the size of a child’s vocabulary?
a. having parents who speak to the child infrequently
b. reading written material
c. rarely asking children questions
d. viewing cartoons on television

Rationale: Higher levels of reading of written material are positively correlated with larger
vocabularies. Lack of speech or questions from parents and frequent cartoon viewing are negatively
correlated.
9.61 Joanne and Dennis want to do all they can to expand their preschooler son’s vocabulary. Which of the
following would you recommend to them?
a. When reading stories, simply read the story and do not ask him questions.
b. Have him watch “Sesame Street” regularly.
c. Have him watch “Sesame Street” only occasionally.
d. Have him watch many cartoons.

Rationale: Of the choices given, Joanne and Dennis should have their child watch “Sesame Street”
regularly, as it promotes active involvement of children in language development.
9.62 Which of the following is NOT correct regarding the impact of video on word learning?
a. Preschool children who regularly watch “Sesame Street” usually have larger vocabularies than
preschoolers who watch “Sesame Street” occasionally.
b. Television shows that promote word learning are those that tell a story or directly ask questions of the
viewer (e.g., “Dora the Explorer”).
c. The benefit of television shows on word learning is greatest when preschoolers watch them with adults
because the video becomes the focus of joint attention.
d. Most cartoons benefit word learning as much as other television shows like “Thomas the Tank Engine”
or “Blue’s Clues”.

Rationale: Cartoons have no benefit for language learning.
9.63 Deloache and colleagues (2010) conducted an experiment to determine the impact of exposure to infant-
oriented videos on word learning. Which of the following is correct regarding the results of their
experiment?
a. Infants learned the most words when parents taught them directly rather than through video.
b. Exposure to words through video produced greater word learning than through the control condition.
c. Exposure to words in the control condition produced greater word learning than through the video
condition.
d. Infants learned equally as many words through video as they did when their parents taught them directly.

Answer: a Page(s): 291-292 Type: Factual Diff: Moderate
Rationale: Their findings indicate that the video was ineffective in promoting word learning. In the
words of Deloach et al., “the degree to which babies actually learn from baby videos is negligible.”
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9.64 Which of the following is NOT one of the reasons for why baby videos seem to have no benefit for infants’
word learning?
a. Videos for infants are poorly designed.
b. Videos for infants are insufficient to support language processing and are developmentally inappropriate.
c. Infants 12 to 18 months of age have limited understanding of relationships between real objects and their
depictions in photographs and videos.
d. Infants 12 to 18 months of age spend very little time watching videos.

Rationale: Infants spend more than one hour a day watching videos (while preschoolers watch more
than two hours per day). The time spent watching the video has little impact on the benefit of word
learning.
9.65 Bilingual children

a. have lower IQ scores than monolingual children.
b. do not understand the fine points of grammar as well as monolingual children.
c. are at a linguistic disadvantage when they begin elementary school.
d. are more likely than monolingual children to understand that words are simply arbitrary symbols.

Rationale: Because they are learning two languages, bilingual children are more likely to realize that
words have meaning as symbols.
9.66 Nicole is being raised in a home where both English and Spanish are spoken. She is likely to
a. learn language at the same rate as a child who is learning only one language.
b. learn language more slowly at first because she will mix words from the two languages, but will be as
proficient or better in language skill than monolingual children later in childhood.
c. learn language more quickly at first because she is exposed to more words but have less proficient
language skills than monolingual children later in childhood.
d. be delayed in her language growth throughout infancy and childhood.

Rationale: Bilingual children learn language more slowly at first, but then become more proficient or
even better in language skill than monolingual children.
9.67 You are on a committee formed to make a recommendation to a school system about how to best help non-
English-speaking children master both academic content and English. Based on research in this area, what
language would you recommend be used for instruction?
a. English only
b. the children’s native language only
c. both English and the children’s native language
d. either English or the children’s native language, it does not matter which one is used

Rationale: Research shows that bilingual education is best provided in both English and the child’s
native language.
9.68 The study by DeLoache and her colleagues (1997) that used a “shrinking machine” demonstrated that
young children’s trouble with scale models is due to their
a. poor imagination skills.
b. trouble dealing with models as symbolic representation.
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c. inability to remember the location of the hidden toy.
d. difficulty in comprehending adult-directed speech.

Answer: c Page(s): 295 Type: Factual Diff: Hard
Rationale: Young children find it very difficult to think of a model as an object and as a symbol, they
cannot find the hidden toy (even when the model is an exact replica of the full-size room). However,
when children can think of the model as the room, they readily find the toy.
9.69 A language’s rules for combining words to create sentences are referred to as
a. telegraphic speech. c. grammatical morphemes.
b. semantic bootstrapping. d. syntax.
Chapter Module: Speaking in Sentences

Rationale: Syntax is a language’s rules for combining words to create sentences.
9.70 __________ refers to using only words directly relevant to meaning.

a. Semantic bootstrapping c. Overregularization
b. A grammatical morpheme d. Telegraphic speech

Rationale: Telegraphic speech consists of only words directly relevant to meaning (like telegrams of
days gone by).
9.71 Who is most likely to be using telegraphic speech?

a. six6-month-old Linda c. three3-year-old Lucinda
b. 18-month-old Lorna d. five5-year-old Louisa

Rationale: Telegraphic speech is most common at 18 months.
9.72 When Angela says “Me down” instead of “I would like to get down,” she is using
a. overregularization. c. telegraphic speech.
b. a grammatical morpheme. d. underextension.

Rationale: Using only words directly relevant to meaning is telegraphic speech.
9.73 Which of the following is an example of telegraphic speech?

a. “Baby hungry.”
b. the “ing” in “kicking”
c. using the word “car” to refer to trucks, vans, and automobiles
d. using the word “dog” to refer only to the family dog

9.74 The production of two-word speech

a. usually occurs around the first birthday.
b. is haphazard and is not based on any rules.
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c. follows rules that are very different from language to language.
d. often is called telegraphic speech.

9.75 Children use rules such as “agent + action,” “action + object,” “action + location,” and
“attribute + entity” to
a. form grammatical morphemes. c. use semantic bootstrapping.
b. form two-word sentences. d. produce overregularizations.

Answer: b Page(s): 297 Type: Conceptual Diff: Hard
Rationale: These are all rules that children use to form simple, two-word sentences.
9.76 __________ are words or endings of words (such as -ed or -ing) that make a sentence grammatical.
a. Overextensions c. Grammatical morphemes
b. Underextensions d. Overregularizations

Rationale: Grammatical morphemes are words or endings of words that make a sentence grammatical.
9.77 A child who says “I am eating my lunch” instead of “Me eat” is using
a. telegraphic speech. c. overregularization.
b. overextension. d. grammatical morphemes.

Answer: d Page(s): 297 Type: Conceptual Diff: Moderate
Rationale: This child is using words or endings of words (-ing) to make the sentence grammatically
correct — this is known as a grammatical morpheme.
9.78 Children’s use of grammatical morphemes is based primarily on

a. learning individual words. c. inflection.
b. the use of rules. d. telegraphic speech.

Rationale: Grammatical morphemes are based on rules.
9.79 Berko’s classic study in which she showed children a nonsense object labeled a “wug” and then presented
the child with a picture of two of these objects to see how the child would supply the plural form of “wug”
demonstrated that preschool
a. children’s use of grammatical morphemes is based on rules.
b. children do not use inflection.
c. children’s language is not based on rules.
d. children acquire a rule for using “un + verb” to reverse or stop the action of a verb.

Rationale: Grammatical morphemes are based on rules.
9.80 __________ occurs when children apply rules to words that are exceptions to the rule.
a. An underextension c. Overregularization
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b. An overextension d. Semantic bootstrapping

Rationale: Additional evidence that children master grammar by learning rules comes from
preschoolers’ overregularization — applying rules to words that are exceptions to the rule.
9.81 Which of the following is an example of overregularization?

a. mans c. children’s
b. women d. mice

Rationale: Mans is using the -s as plural rule to a word that is an exception.
9.82 Which child showed overregularization?

a. Rachel, who said “I goed to the store” c. Clarissa, who said “I went to the store”
b. Whitney, who said “Me go” d. Isabelle, who said “I go to the store every day”

Rationale: Answer b is telegraphic speech, while c and d are grammatically correct, so a is the
overregularization (“goed” instead of went).
9.83 The order in which children acquire grammatical morphemes depends on

a. the complexity of the morpheme with the acquisition of simpler morphemes occurring before that of
more complex morphemes.
b. the frequency of occurrence of the morpheme in the language.
c. the frequency with which children’s parents use the morpheme.
d. the age at which children begin speaking.

Answer: a Page(s): 298 Type: Conceptual Diff: Hard
Rationale: Acquisition of grammatical morphemes follows a developmental trend from simplest to
hardest.
9.84 Which grammatical morpheme would you expect a child to learn last?
a. adding -ed to indicate past tense c. adding -ing to denote ongoing action
b. adding -s to indicate plural d. the various form of the verb to be

Rationale: Acquisition of grammatical morphemes follows a developmental trend from simplest to
hardest. Answers a through c are fairly simple rules, while the conjugation of the verb to be is fairly
difficult.
9.85 Children’s first questions

a. are marked by intonation alone.
b. are formed by attaching a wh- word to the beginning of the sentence without the required auxiliary verb.
c. are formed by attaching a wh- word and the required auxiliary verb to the beginning of a sentence.
d. are formed haphazardly in forms that cannot be predicted.

Rationale: When children first start asking questions, they use intonation alone.
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9.86 Which would occur first in language development?
a. comprehension of passive sentences c. use of intonation to indicate a question
b. use of negation d. use of embedded sentences

Rationale: The use of intonation to indicate a question occurs fairly early, while a, b, and d are more
complicated and acquired later.
9.87 Which of the following grammatical forms have most children mastered by the time they enter
kindergarten?
a. Forming sentences with the required auxiliary verb before the subject
b. Using negation
c. Using embedded sentences
d. Children have usually mastered all of the above grammatical forms by the time they enter kindergarten.

Rationale: Between three3- and 3 ½-years-old children learn a, and between ages three 3 to six 6
children learn b and c. By kindergarten, most children will have mastered all three grammatical forms.
9.88 Behaviorist learning theorists propose that

a. language is learned through imitation and reinforcement.
b. children have an inborn mechanism to help them learn grammar.
c. there is a critical period for learning language.
d. grammatical rules are too complex for children to infer solely on the basis of speech they hear.

Rationale: Behaviorism operates on principles of imitation, reinforcement, and punishment.
9.89 Dr. White is a learning theorist who believes that language is learned purely through imitation and
reinforcement. Which of the following would she have the most difficulty explaining?
a. children learning the language that is spoken by their family members, rather than a different language
b. children producing many more sentences than they have ever heard
c. children who watch Sesame Street having larger vocabularies than children who do not watch
Sesame Street
d. children learning words more rapidly if their parents speak to them frequently

Rationale: Answers a, c, and d are all based on environmental influences on language development that
can be explained by behaviorism, whereas b cannot be explained by environmental influences.
9.90 According to linguists, which of the following statements reflects how children acquire grammar?
a. Children learn grammar by means of reinforcement and imitation.
b. The human brain is not specialized to process language.
c. Humans seem to be innately prepared to process language and learn grammar.
d. Language can be acquired easily at any time during one’s life.

Rationale: Humans seem to be innately prepared to process language and learn grammar, as evidenced
by specialized language centers in the brain and critical periods for language development.
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9.91 Much evidence supports the theory that children’s acquisition of grammar is guided by innate mechanisms.
Which of the following does NOT support this theory?
a. Children sometimes imitate adult speech.
b. Only humans learn grammar readily.
c. Regions of the brain are specialized for processing language.
d. There is a critical period for learning language.

Answer: a Page(s): 300-301 Type: Conceptual Diff: Hard
Rationale: The fact that children sometimes imitate adult speech gives more evidence for a behaviorist
perspective, whereas the others support the innate mechanism theory.
9.92 Research in which chimpanzees are trained to use language reveals all of the following EXCEPT that
a. chimpanzees can be taught to communicate using gestures.
b. chimpanzees can communicate using plastic chips as words.
c. chimpanzees cannot master anything beyond the simplest of grammatical rules.
d. acquisition of language by humans need not involve any innate mechanisms.

Answer: d Page(s): 300 Type: Conceptual Diff: Hard
Rationale: Chimpanzee research supports the idea that humans possess innate mechanisms for learning
grammar, because only humans learn grammar readily.
9.93 Rita was kept in a closet and not allowed to speak until she was 13 years old. How would you expect her
language to be affected?
a. Rita’s language would probably be normal because language develops through innate processes.
b. Rita’s language would probably be primitive when she was found, but with intensive language training
she would eventually learn most of the rudiments of grammar.
c. Rita’s language would probably be primitive when she was found, and even with intensive language
training, her language mastery would be limited because she would be past the critical period for
learning language.
d. Rita would probably have developed a complex language of her own and would be able to be taught a
standard language as well as any 13-year-old could be taught a foreign language.

Answer: c Page(s): 300-301 Type: Applied Diff: Moderate
Rationale: Because language appears to have a critical period of development, Rita would probably
never have more than a limited language mastery.
9.94 Which of the following statements about language development is TRUE?

a. The period from birth to about age 12 is critical for learning language.
b. Foreign languages can be as easily mastered during adulthood as in childhood.
c. Nonhumans can learn grammar as easily as humans if sufficient imitation and reinforcement is used.
d. All areas of the brain appear to be involved in language processing.

Rationale: The critical period for language development appears to be from birth to 12 years.
9.95 The findings that specific regions of the brain are involved in language processing, that only humans learn
grammar readily, and that there is a critical period for learning language all support the idea
a. that language is learned primarily through imitation and reinforcement.
b. that there is an inborn grammar-learning device.
c. that children use powerful cognitive mechanisms to find recurring patterns in speech they hear.
d. that language learning takes place through social interactions.
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Answer: b Page(s): 300-301 Type: Conceptual Diff: Hard
Rationale: All of these can be taken as evidence that there is an inborn grammar-learning device;
otherwise these would not be as likely to be seen.
9.96 According to the __________ approach, children use powerful cognitive mechanisms that allow them to
find recurring patterns in the speech they hear.
a. behaviorist c. linguistic
b. social interaction d. cognitive

Rationale: The cognitive approach to language learning focuses on the cognitive mechanisms used by
children.
9.97 According to the cognitive approach, children learn grammar by all of the following EXCEPT
a. relying on language-specific mechanisms.
b. noting regularities in speech.
c. participating in linguistically rich interactions.
d. using semantic bootstrapping.

Rationale: According to the cognitive account of grammar learning, as long as children have adequate
exposure to different grammatical forms, they can infer the underlying grammatical rules. Semantic
bootstrapping is part of the linguistic approach in that children are born knowing nouns and they use this
knowledge to infer grammatical rules.
9.98 Noel believes that children master grammar in the context of interactions with adults in which both parties
want improved communication. Noel’s beliefs fit best with the
a. cognitive approach. c. social interaction approach.
b. linguistic approach. d. behaviorist approach.

Rationale: Noel’s beliefs fit in with a Vygotskian approach (social interaction).
9.99 What advice would you give to parents interested in promoting their child’s language development?
a. Make language-learning a serious business. Do not mix it with playtime.
b. When a child is slow to complete a sentence, finish it for him.
c. Rephrase a child’s ungrammatical remark to show the correct grammar.
d. Encourage children to use vague words such as “stuff” or “somebody.”

Rationale: Rephrasing is a good tip for parents. They should make learning fun, allow children to finish
their own sentences, and encourage specific words.
9.100 When does conversational turn-taking between parents and children usually begin?
a. before or soon after infants say their first word
b. when children are about two 2 years of age
c. when children are about three 3 years of age
d. when children begin school
Chapter Module: Using Language to Communicate

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Answer: a Page(s): 304-305 Type: Factual Diff: Moderate
Rationale: Conversational turn-taking begins at about one 1 year, soon after children say their first
word, but it is not mastered until later.
9.101 Turn taking

a. is not encouraged by parents until after children say their first words.
b. is apparent in preschoolers who expect that a comment will be followed by a response.
c. does not occur spontaneously in conversations between children and adults until after children have
entered school.
d. is discouraged when parents take both the speaker and listener roles.

Rationale: Turn-taking is apparent in preschoolers, and occurs spontaneously in conversation at about
age two2.
9.102 Three-year-old Steven walks up to his father, who is reading the newspaper, and says “Look at this picture,
Daddy!” If his father does not respond, Steven is likely to
a. repeat his remark to try again to get a response.
b. keep talking about his picture as if his father had answered.
c. walk away.
d. think his comment does not deserve a response.

Rationale: Preschoolers expect a response, so if his father doesn’t respond, Steven is likely to repeat his
remark.
9.103 When four4-year-olds talk to two2-year-olds, they

a. talk the same as when they talk to peers or adults.
b. tend to talk more to the two-year-olds than they do to adults.
c. use more attention-getting devices than when they talk to adults.
d. use grammar that is too complex for two-year-olds.

Rationale: Four-year-olds adjust their speech to fit the listener, so they are likely to use more attention-
getting devices with younger children.
9.104 When four4-year-olds describe a toy to a two2-year-old, they

a. use fewer attention-getting phrases than they do with an adult listener.
b. use longer sentences than they do with an adult listener.
c. use simpler grammar than they do with an adult listener.
d. do not adjust their speech when talking to a younger child.

Rationale: Four-year-olds adjust their speech to fit the listener, so they are likely to use simpler
grammar with younger children.
9.105 Hannah is a school-aged child. Which of the following would you expect to be TRUE of Hannah’s
communication skills?
a. Hannah is likely to speak differently to adults and peers.
b. Hannah will not consider a listener’s skill when she formulates a message.
c. Hannah will give the same message to listeners who are familiar or unfamiliar with a topic.
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d. Hannah will have very little understanding of the factors that should be considered in constructing a clear
message.

Rationale: Older children (school-aged) adjust their speech to fit the listener, so they are likely to speak
differently to adults and peers.
9.106 School-aged children

a. do not change their messages for listeners who are familiar or unfamiliar with a topic.
b. speak to adults and peers in the same manner.
c. who are African American are more likely to use Black English with African American peers.
d. do not adjust their speech to the age of the listener.

Rationale: School-aged children adjust their speech to fit the listener, so African American children are
more likely to use Black English with African American peers.
9.107 When presented with a message that is vague or confusing, young children frequently
a. ask the speaker to clarify the message.
b. do not realize that the message is ambiguous.
c. are able to understand what the speaker intended.
d. rephrase the statement in an indirect attempt to get a clarification.

Answer: b Page(s): 307 Type: Factual Diff: Hard
Rationale: Young children are not highly-skilled listeners, and they are not likely to realize that the
message is ambiguous.
9.108 In the case of understanding metaphors, young children

a. cannot understand even simple metaphors.
b. can understand simple metaphors, but not ones based on abstract relations.
c. can understand metaphors that are based on abstract relations.
d. develop this understanding very rapidly.

Rationale: Young children can understand simple (concrete) metaphors, but not abstract ones.
9.109 Brittany is six 6 years old. Which of the following is she MOST likely to be able to do?
a. detect ambiguities in messages c. understand abstract metaphors
b. understand sarcasm solely from the context d. understand concrete metaphors

Rationale: Young children can understand simple (concrete) metaphors, but not abstract ones.
9.110 Children’s understanding of sarcasm

a. occurs only when a mocking or overly enthusiastic tone of voice is present.
b. occurs only when a comment does not match the context of the comment.
c. does not differ from adults’ understanding of sarcasm.
d. is well developed by the time children enter school.

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Rationale: Children have a more limited understanding of sarcasm, and are likely to understand it only
when a mocking or overly enthusiastic tone of voice is present.
9.111 Cheyenne makes a sarcastic comment, but does not use a mocking or overly enthusiastic tone of voice.
Who is likely to realize that sarcasm is intended?
a. 25-year-old Stephen
b. 25-year-old Stephen and 15-year-old Emily
c. 25-year-old Stephen, 15-year-old Emily, and 9-year-old Stuart
d. 25-year-old Stephen, 15-year-old Emily, 9-year-old Stuart, and 4-year-old Rachel

Rationale: Adolescents and adults usually understand sarcasm that doesn’t use a mocking tone of voice,
but younger children will not understand it.
TRUE/FALSE QUESTIONS
9.112 Phonemes include both consonant and vowel sounds.

Answer: True Page(s): 278 Type: Factual Diff: Moderate
Rationale: Phonemes are the unique sounds that can be joined to create words.
9.113 Infants as young as one 1 month can discriminate different sounds.

Answer: True Page(s): 278 Type: Factual Diff: Easy
Rationale: Infants can distinguish most speech sounds, many of them by as early as one 1 month after
birth.
9.114 Young infants cannot discriminate sounds that they have never heard before.

Answer: False Page(s): 279 Type: Factual Diff: Moderate
Rationale: Until about six 6 months of age, infants can distinguish sounds that they have never heard
before (such as those in a foreign language).
9.115 By 11 or 12 months of age, children of English-speaking parents cannot discriminate speech sounds that are
not found in English.

Rationale: As babies grow and are more exposed to a particular language, they only notice the
linguistic distinctions that are meaningful in their own language.
9.116 Infants prefer adult-directed speech to infant-directed speech.

Answer: False Page(s): 281 Type: Factual Diff: Easy
Rationale: Infants prefer infant-directed speech because it attracts infants’ attention because it’s slower
pace and accentuated changes provide infants with increasingly more salient language clues.
9.117 Deaf infants often babble in sign.
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Rationale: Deaf infants seem to master sign language in much the same way and about at the same pace
that hearing children master spoken language. Deaf 10-month-olds often babble in sign — the signs are
meaningless, but resemble the tempo and duration of real signs.
9.118 Cooing involves combining vowel and consonant sounds.

Rationale: Cooing involves only vowel sounds.
9.119 Common early words denote food, toys, and greetings.

Rationale: Early vocabulary words include terms for mother and father, greetings (Hi, bye-bye), food
and toys (juice, ball).
9.120 The use of symbols is not related to language development.

Answer: False Page(s): 284 Type: Conceptual Diff: Moderate
Rationale: The use of symbols is related to language development because language is a symbol system.
9.121 Toddlers who are more advanced in their use of gestures tend to have a less complex spoken language.

Answer: False Page(s): 285 Type: Conceptual Diff: Moderate
Rationale: Toddlers who are more advanced in their use of gestures tend to have a more complex
spoken language.
9.122 At about 12 months of age, many children experience a naming explosion.

Rationale: At about 18 months, many children experience their first naming explosion.
9.123 Children are more likely to learn a word name when adults are not looking at an object when they name it.

Rationale: Children are more likely to learn a word name when adults use joint attention.
9.124 When an unfamiliar word is heard, children will assume that the word refers to an object that is present that
does not have a name.

Rationale: If an unfamiliar word is heard in the presence of objects that already have names, and
objects that don’t, the word refers to one of the objects that doesn’t have a name.
9.125 Children assume that a name refers to a whole object and not the parts of an object.

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Rationale: A name refers to a whole object, not its parts or its relation to other objects, and refers not
just to this particular object, but to all objects of the same type.
9.126 If an object already has a name and another name is presented, children will assume that the new name
denotes a subcategory of the original name.

Rationale: If an object already has a name and another name is presented, the new name denotes a
subcategory of the original name.
9.127 If a child knows the word dinosaur and sees that one dinosaur is consistently called Dino, the child will
conclude that Dino is the name of the dinosaur.

Rationale: Given many similar category members, a word applied consistently to only one of them is a
proper noun.
9.128 Preschool children ignore sentence cues when learning the meanings of words.

Rationale: Preschool children use sentence cues when learning the meaning of words.
9.129 Young children do not use an object’s shape to help learn its name.

Answer: False Page(s): 287-288 Type: Factual Diff: Moderate
Rationale: Children use the knowledge about object shape to learn new words faster.
9.130 Calling all four-legged animals doggie is an example of underextension.

Rationale: This is an example of overextension.
9.131 Overextension occurs more frequently when children are comprehending words than when they are
producing words.

Rationale: Overextension is more common in word production, it may actually reflect another fast-
mapping rule that children follow: “If you can’t remember the name for an object, say the name of a
related object.”
9.132 Children who have difficulty remembering speech sounds accurately find word learning particularly
challenging.

Rationale: Since word learning involves associating meaning with an unfamiliar sequence of speech
sounds, this is not surprising.
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9.133 Expressive children’s vocabularies include a large percentage of words that are names of objects, people, or
actions.

Rationale: This describes referential speech.
9.134 Children with a referential style use language as a social tool.

Rationale: This describes expressive speech.
9.135 Naming objects that are the focus of a child’s attention can help the child learn new words.

Rationale: Parents can help children learn new words by naming objects that are the focus of a child’s
attention.
9.136 Children whose parents asked them questions while reading a story to them were more likely to
comprehend and produce target words than those whose parents only read to them.

Rationale: Questioning forces children to identify meanings of new words and practice saying them.
9.137 Infant-oriented videos (like Baby Einstein) are effective in promoting infants’ word learning before 18
months of age.

Rationale: Most of the evidence suggests that before 18 months of age, infant-oriented videos are not
effective in promoting infants’ word learning.
9.138 Children are most likely to learn new words when they participate in activities that force them to
understand the meanings of new words and use those new words.

Rationale: Infants learn more words when they engage in joint attention and when they see the relation
between the new words and their own lives.
9.139 Bilingualism is very confusing for children and, consequently, bilingual children show more cognitive
deficits than monolingual children.

Answer: False Page(s): 293-294 Type: Factual Diff: Moderate
Rationale: Bilingual children may develop language more slowly, but it is not confusing for them, nor
does it lead to cognitive deficits. As they get older, it has many benefits.
9.140 Young children do not understand the relation between scale models and the objects they represent.

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Rationale: The ability to use scale models develops early in the preschool years.
9.141 The production of two-word speech does not follow any rules.

Rationale: Telegraphic speech follows a variety of rules.
9.142 Children learn general rules about grammatical morphemes.

Rationale: Children learn general rules about grammatical morphemes. Learning different tenses for
individual verbs — one by one — would be remarkably slow.
9.143 Two mans is an example of overregularization.

Rationale: Overregularization is applying rules to words that are exceptions to the rule.
9.144 Adding -s and -ing are simple grammatical morphemes that are mastered at an early age.

Rationale: The rules governing grammatical morphemes range from fairly simple to very complex. The
rule for plurals the first grammatical morphemes that children master. Adding –ing is also mastered
early.
9.145 During the stage of two-word speech, children use wh- words when asking questions.

Rationale: During the stage of two-word speech, children mostly use intonation when asking questions.
9.146 A specific area of the brain, usually the left hemisphere, plays a critical role in processing language.

Rationale: Broca’s area, a region in the left frontal cortex, is necessary for combining words into
meaningful sentences.
9.147 Chimpanzees learn grammar as easily as young children.

Rationale: Chimpanzees have a lot of difficulty learning even the simplest grammatical rules.
9.148 People can easily acquire language at any point in life.

Answer: False Page(s): 300-301 Type: Factual Diff: Easy
Rationale: The critical period for language development is between birth and 12 years. After that,
children have difficulty developing language.
312
9.149 Individuals master the grammar of a foreign language at the level of a native speaker only if they are
exposed to the language prior to adolescence.

Rationale: A critical period for language exists. The period from birth to about 12 years is a critical
period for acquiring language generally and mastering grammar particularly.
9.150 According to the cognitive view, children learn language by searching across many examples stored
in memory.

Answer: True Page(s): 301-302 Type: Factual Diff: Moderate
Rationale: Some researchers believe that children learn grammar through powerful cognitive skills that
help them rapidly detect regularities in their environments, including patterns in the speech they hear.
9.151 By three 3 years of age, children understand that a comment should be followed by a response.

Rationale: By age three3, children have progressed to the point that if a listener fails to reply promptly,
the child repeats his or her remarks in order to elicit a response.
9.152 Infants’ early attempts to communicate include pointing, touching, or making noises.

Rationale: Infants at 10 months of age may touch or point to an object while simultaneously looking at
another person — a first attempt to communicate with others.
9.153 Preschool children do not adjust their messages when their listeners lack critical information.

Rationale: Preschool children are able to adjust messages based on their listeners.
9.154 School-age children are more likely to be polite to adults and demanding with peers.

Rationale: School-age children speak differently to adults and peers.
9.155 Most toddlers understand that one’s reply to comments should be related to the comment.

Rationale: Toddlers are not the greatest listeners, and their replies don’t always relate to the comment.
9.156 Children cannot understand metaphors based on abstract relations until they can reason abstractly.

Rationale: Young children easily understand simple metaphors. More complex metaphors require that
children make connections based on abstract relations. Only when children gain the necessary content
knowledge do they understand metaphors based on abstract relations.
313
9.157 School-age children can detect sarcasm from the speaker’s tone of voice but not from the context of the
sarcastic comment.

Rationale: When people emphasize sarcasm by speaking in mocking or overly enthusiastic tones,
school-age children can detect their meaning. However, if sarcasm must be detected solely from the
context, only adolescents and adults are likely to understand the real meaning of the remark.
SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS
9.158 Name and briefly describe the four different elements of language.

Page(s): 277-278 Type: Conceptual Diff: Easy
Answer: A good answer will be similar to the following:
• Phonology — the sounds of language
• Semantics — the study of words and their meaning
• Syntax — rules that specify how words are combined to form sentences
• Pragmatics — the communicative function of language and the rules that lead to effective
communication
9.159 What is infant-directed speech and how is it related to infant language development?

Page(s): 280-281 Type: Conceptual Diff: Moderate
In infant-directed speech, adults speak slowly and with exaggerated changes in pitch and loudness.
Infant-directed speech attracts infant’ attention more than adult-directed speech and helps them
perceive the sounds that are fundamental to their language. Infant-directed speech provides
infants with increasingly salient language cues because of its slower pace and accentuated
changes. Infant-directed speech provides infants with good examples of vowels, which may help
them learn to distinguish these sounds.
9.160 What are some of the rules that children use for learning new words?

Page(s): 286 Type: Conceptual Diff: Moderate
• If an unfamiliar word is heard in the presence of objects that already have names and objects that
do not, the word refers to one of the objects that doesn’t have a name.
• A name refers to a whole object, not its parts or its relation to other objects and refers not just to
this particular object, but to all objects of the same type.
• If an object already has a name and another name is presented, the new name denotes a
subcategory of the original name.
• Given many similar category members, a word applied consistently to only one of them is a proper
noun.
9.161 Describe and give an example of the two naming errors that children make when learning new words.
When do these errors occur? When do these errors go away?

314
• Underextension — defining a word too narrowly.
o Using car to refer only to the family car.
• Overextension — defining a word too broadly.
o Using car to refer to buses and trucks.
• Overextension is common between one 1 and three 3 years of age. It occurs more frequently
when children are producing words than when they are comprehending words.
• Both underextension and overextension disappear gradually as youngsters refine meanings for
words with more exposure to the language.
9.162 Children sometimes have distinctive styles of learning language. Name and describe two styles of learning
language.

Answer: A good answer will include the following key points:
• Referential style — Children with this style of learning language tend to have vocabularies
dominated by words that are the names of objects, persons, or actions. They use language
primarily as an intellectual tool, a means of talking about objects.
• Expressive style — Children with this style have vocabularies that include some names, but also
many social phrases that are used like a single word. Children with an expressive style use
language as more of a social tool, a way of enhancing interactions with others.
9.163 What can adults do during their interactions with children to promote children’s language development?

Page(s): 303 Type: Applied Diff: Moderate
• Talk with children frequently and treat them as partners in conversation. That is, try talking with
children interactively, not directively.
• Use a child’s speech to show new language forms. Expand a child’s remark to introduce new
vocabulary or new grammatical forms. Rephrase a child’s ungrammatical remark to show the
correct grammar.
• Encourage children to go beyond minimal use of language. Have them answer questions in
phrases and sentences, not single words. Have them replace vague words with more descriptive
ones.
• Listen. Do not attempt to complete children’s sentences for them, let children express themselves.
Pay attention to what children are saying and respond appropriately.
• Make language fun. Use books, rhymes, songs, jokes, and foreign words to increase interest in
language.
9.164 Effective communication is important throughout life. Give and explain three guidelines for effective oral
communication.

• People should take turns, alternating as speaker and listener.
• A speaker’s remarks should relate to the topic and be clear to the listener.
• A listener should pay attention and let the speaker know if his or her remarks do not make sense.
ESSAY QUESTIONS
315
9.165 Describe infant speech perception during the first year of life.

Page(s): 278-281 Type: Conceptual Diff: Moderate
Infants can distinguish many phonemes (such as “t” and “e”) as early as one 1 month after birth.
Infants can discriminate speech sounds they have never heard before, such as those that are not used in
the language spoken in their home. They will lose this ability sometime around one 1 year of age. This
suggests that although they are biologically capable of hearing the entire range of phonemes, they
begin to notice only the linguistic distinctions that are spoken in the language to which they are
exposed. Infants are able to identify recurring patterns of sounds — words. They pay more attention to
words they have heard repeatedly than to words they have not previously heard.
9.166 Your sister and brother-in-law have a newborn baby and they are wondering when she will begin talking.
They hope that it will occur soon, so they have begun saying mama and dada to their daughter. What can
you tell them about the course of language development during the first year of life?

Page(s): 282-283 Type: Applied Diff: Moderate
Your sister and brother-in-law will have a few months to wait until their daughter is talking because
most babies say their first words around their first birthdays. Even though it will be months before their
daughter says her first words she will begin to make language-like sounds within the next few months.
Around two 2 or three 3 months, babies start producing vowel-like sounds that are called cooing.
Around five 5 or six 6 months of age, babies start combining vowels with consonants to produce
babbling. Early babbling consists of single syllables but later babbling consists of combinations of
syllables. Around seven 7 months of age, intonation (rising and falling pitch) is added to babbling.
This intonation will mimic the intonation found in the language that the child hears. Around the first
birthday, advanced babbling will become early words.
9.167 Your friends Tom and Susan have an 18-month-old daughter, Lynda, who has a vocabulary of
approximately 50 words. Almost all of Lynda’s words are names of objects, people, or actions. Tom and
Susan wonder if this is normal. What can you tell them about the different language-learning styles?

Lynda sounds as if she has a referential language-learning style because most of the words in her
vocabulary are the names of objects, people, and actions. In contrast, children who have an expressive
language-learning style have a higher percentage of social phrases that are used in social interactions.
Referential children use language as an intellectual tool but expressive children use it as a social tool.
In other words, Lynda’s language development is normal and typical of that of referential children.
9.168 Your friend Angelina wants to know what she can do to stimulate her son Mario’s development. What
should Angelina do in her interactions with Mario and how should she structure his home environment to
maximize his language development?

Angelina should speak frequently to Mario. Parents who speak frequently with their children provide
their children with more opportunities to learn words. Language development also is fostered when
parents name objects or activities that are the focus of a child’s attention. Reading books to a child
increases the child’s encounters with unfamiliar words that leads to an increase in vocabulary. Also,
asking Mario questions while reading to him will force him to identify the meanings of new words.
316
The type of television shows that Mario watches may influence his language development. Watching
television shows like “Sesame Street” in which Mario can actively participate and is challenged to use
his emerging language skills probably will lead to improved language development.
9.169 Your friend just found out she is expecting her first child. You are excited to get her a gift for the new
baby. You see a bunch of Baby Einstein videos at the store. Given when you know about word learning,
should you buy the videos for your friend?

Most of the current evidence suggests that before 18 months of age, infant-oriented videos like
Baby Einstein are not effective in promoting infants’ word learning. The research of DeLoache
and colleagues (2010) found that infants learned the most words when parents taught infants
directly. Regularly daily exposure to words through the video produced no greater word learning
than through incidental, casual exposure to words. Based on their research, the video was
ineffective in promoting word learning. Infants under two 2 years of age have limited
understanding of relations between real objects and their depictions in photographs and videos.
They have a difficult time relating what they see to what they experienced in their own lives. So,
don’t buy the videos explicitly to help with word learning.
9.170 Your friends Kumi and Hugh have a 6six-month-old son, Joe. Kumi is a native speaker of Japanese and
Hugh is a native speaker of English. They are thinking about raising Joe to be bilingual but they are
wondering if there are any benefits or drawbacks to this. What can you tell Kumi and Hugh about the
impact of bilingualism on language development?

Initially, language development in bilingual children may be slower than that of monolingual children
but there are many benefits in the long run. When one1- and two2-year-olds are reared in a bilingual
home, their language development often progresses slowly at first because they mix words from both
languages. By three 3 or four 4 years of age, however, children can separate the two languages. During
the elementary-school years, most bilingual children have a better understanding of many aspects of
language such as understanding fine points of grammar and understanding that words are arbitrary
symbols. So, in the long run Joe will not be harmed and should benefit from his bilingual upbringing.
9.171 Learning theorists’ claim that language is learned strictly through imitation and reinforcement has been
challenged by other theorists who propose that an inborn mechanism helps children learn grammar. Give an
example of a language phenomenon that learning theory has difficulty explaining and describe evidence
that supports the notion of an inborn grammar-learning device.

Page(s): 299-301 Type: Conceptual Diff: Hard
• One problem for learning theorists is how to explain the fact that children produce novel sentences
and grammar — sentences that are not simply imitations of sentences they’ve heard earlier.
• According to the semantic bootstrapping theory, children are born knowing that nouns usually
refer to people or objects, and that verbs are actions. They use this knowledge to infer
grammatical rules.
• Evidence supporting the notion of an inborn language-learning device:
o Specific regions of the brain are known to be involved in language processing. The fact
that specific areas in the brain have well-defined functions for language make it plausible
that children have specialized neural circuits that help them learn grammar.
317
o Only humans learn grammar readily. If grammar is learned solely through imitation and
reinforcement, then it should be possible to teach rudimentary grammar to nonhumans.
Efforts to teach grammar to chimpanzees have failed, suggesting that children rely upon
some type of inborn mechanism to master grammar.
o There is a critical period for learning language, based on cases of isolated children and
from studies of individuals learning second languages. The period from birth to about age
12 is critical for acquiring language and mastering grammar, suggesting that the neural
mechanisms involved in learning grammar may function only during infancy and
childhood.
o The development of grammar is tied to the development of vocabulary. The mastery of
grammar is closely related to vocabulary growth, in a way that suggests both are part of a
common, emerging language system. The tight coupling of vocabulary and grammar in
adopted and bilingual child goes well with the idea that the development of vocabulary is
regulated by a common, language-specific system.
318

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Chapter 9

2. Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

3. Chapter Module: Learning the Meanings of Words

4. Chapter Module: Learning the Meanings of Words

5. Chapter Module: Learning the Meanings of Words

6. Chapter Module: Learning the Meanings of Words

7. Chapter Module: Speaking in Sentences

8. Chapter Module: Speaking in Sentences

9. Chapter Module: Using Language to Communicate

10. Chapter Module: Using Language to Communicate

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

9.2 The term phonology refers to

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

9.3 The sounds of a language are referred to as

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

9.4 The term semantics refers to

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

9.8 Which of the following is an example of a phoneme?

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

9.9 Infants as young as __________ of age can distinguish phonemes.

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

9.10 Infants who are younger than six 6 months of age

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

9.13 Young infants seem to identify words by

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

9.14 Seven-month-old Julius hears this conversation:

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

9.16 Infants pay more attention to

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

9.17 Which of the following is TRUE of infant-directed speech?

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

9.20 Which of the following statements about cochlear implants is CORRECT?

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

9.21 Vowel-like utterances such as “oooooooo” and “ahhhhhhh” are referred to as

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

9.23 Cooing refers to

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

9.25 Babbling refers to

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

9.26 As infants develop

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

9.27 Which of the following is TRUE of the development of babbling?

9.28 Intonation refers to

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

Chapter Module: The Road to Speech

Chapter Module: Learning the Meanings of Words

9.31 The production of the first words is linked to the ability to

Chapter Module: Learning the Meanings of Words

Chapter Module: Learning the Meanings of Words

Chapter Module: Learning the Meanings of Words

Chapter Module: Learning the Meanings of Words

Chapter Module: Learning the Meanings of Words

9.36 Fast mapping denotes the phenomenon that

Chapter Module: Learning the Meanings of Words