Exam 3 Vocab - Study Guide Terms

Question 1

Babbling

Answer 1

Intentional vocalizations that lack specific meaning, produced by young children when they are learning a language (language-specific phonemes).

Question 2

Bilingualism

Answer 2

The state of being able to speak two languages.

Question 3

Critical Period

Answer 3

A time at which learning can easily occur.

Question 4

Dialect

Answer 4

A subdivision, or version, of a language that may be associated with a geographical location or socioeconomic group.

Question 5

Idiolect

Answer 5

The version of a language that a speaker speaks, which is unique to that speaker.

Question 6

Language/Verbal Comprehension

Answer 6

The process of decoding language back into thoughts. Identify individual sounds (phonemes) → group sounds into words → group words into sentences → understand meaning.

Question 7

Language/Verbal Fluency

Answer 7

The process of converting thoughts into language. Generate thought/idea → create sentence → transform appropriate words → produce appropriate sounds.

Question 8

Linguistic Determinism

Answer 8

The claim that the language you speak will determine, or limit, the way you think.

Question 9

Linguistic Relativity

Answer 9

The hypothesis that people who speak different languages think differently as a result, or that language influences your thought but does not limit it.

Question 10

Morpheme

Answer 10

A string of one or more phonemes that makes up the smallest units of meaning in a language.

Question 11

Overextensions

Answer 11

When a person learning a language - often a child - uses a word in a broader context than appropriate.

Question 12

Phoneme

Answer 12

The smallest (basic) unit of sound that makes a meaningful difference in a language. The elementary sounds of our language.

Question 13

Vowel Phonemes

Answer 13

Speech sounds produced with relatively unrestricted airflow through the pharynx and oral cavity.

Question 14

Consonant Phonemes

Answer 14

Speech sounds produced by restricting airflow at one part or another along the path of airflow from the vocal cords.

Question 15

Manner of Articulation

Answer 15

Nature of restrictions on airflow. Stops (blocking vocal tract), fricatives (narrowing vocal tract), affricatives (closing then opening), nasals (directing airflow through nose).

Question 16

Place of Articulation

Answer 16

Where vocal flow is restricted. Bilabial (between lips), dental (between tongue and teeth), alveolar (between tongue and alveolar ridge), glottal (between two vocal folds).

Question 17

Spectrograms

Answer 17

Visual representation of the spectrum and amplitude of frequencies in a sound over time.

Question 18

Categorical Perception

Answer 18

A phenomenon in which certain stimuli (especially speech) are perceived categorically rather than continuously, despite a continuous variation in their form.

Question 19

Phonemic Restoration

Answer 19

A person fails to notice an interruption in speech because their perceptual mechanism restores the missing phonemes.

Question 20

The Segmentation Problem

Answer 20

There are not always spaces between words while we speak. Rather, most speech is a continual stream of information. How do we break it down into perceivable units of words?

Question 21

Variability of Speakers

Answer 21

The differences in acoustic characteristics among speakers, such as speaking rate, intensity, and affect.

Question 22

Coarticulation

Answer 22

A phoneme’s influence on the acoustic properties of another, due to articulatory movements required to produce them in a sentence. Your preparation to say one phoneme influences the acoustic properties of another.

Question 23

Pragmatics

Answer 23

The meaning of words and sentences in context, where the surrounding language may change the meaning of the word or sentence.

Question 24

Semantics

Answer 24

The meaning of words and sentences, typically the definitional meaning.

Question 25

Sociolect

Answer 25

A version of a language that is associated with a particular social group.

Question 26

Syntax

Answer 26

The list of rules that allows you to construct grammatical sentences in a given language.

Question 27

Expected Utility Theory

Answer 27

Under uncertainty, we make decisions based on the probability of an outcome and how good or bad it would be if that outcome were to occur. Our behavior doesn't necessarily follow this theorem.

Question 28

Affective Forecasting

Answer 28

We predict that we will feel more extremely than we actually do about future events.

Question 29

Hot Hand Fallacy

Answer 29

People believe that a string of successes or losses is likely to continue.

Question 30

Gambler's Fallacy

Answer 30

Things that haven't happened in a while are "due" to happen.

Question 31

Heuristics

Answer 31

Mental shortcuts people often use to make decisions. The majority of the time, these will lead to correct decisions.

Question 32

Anchoring and Adjustment

Answer 32

The tendency to tie decisions to an often irrelevant starting point and adjust away from it (e.g., Mississippi river, moon, Milwaukee)

Question 33

Representativeness

Answer 33

A strategy for making categorical judgments about a given person or target based on how closely they match the typical/average member of the category, while ignoring the underlying base rate (e.g., Linda, Tim, Lawrence).

Question 34

Availability

Answer 34

The tendency to estimate the probability of an event by the ease with which instances can be brought to mind (e.g., firearm deaths, letter k, insanity pleas).

Question 35

Prospect Theory

Answer 35

A model that predicts how people make decisions under uncertainty. It demonstrates that losses loom larger than gains, we're risk averse when it comes to gains vs risk-prone when it comes to losses, and that reference point matters.

Question 36

The Paradox of Choice

Answer 36

We have more options now than ever before, which is presumably good, but we're not benefiting from this psychologically (too many choices).

Question 37

Reproductive Thinking

Answer 37

Applying proven techniques and approaches following patterns that have proven to be successful.

Question 38

Dual Process Theory

Answer 38

System 1: Intuition 1) Processes information rapidly 2) Requires little working memory capacity 3) Uses heuristics System 2: Reasoning 1) Deliberate information processing 2) Requires working memory capacity 3) Can override heuristics

Question 39

Transition Probabilities

Answer 39

Predict the statistical likelihood that one segment of a word (e.g., syllable) will follow or precede another.