Week 5

Question 1

Language:

Answer 1

System of signals, signs, and symbols, with rules that allow intelligible
encoding and decoding

Question 2

Communication:

Answer 2

Transmission of a signal that conveys information – the information
conveyed to the recipient often benefits the sender

Question 3

nonhuman primates - Teaching them language

Answer 3

Attempts to teach nonhuman primates (e.g., chimps, gorillas, bonobos) language
have had very limited success – chimpanzee vocal tract cannot produce human
language, so researchers instead rely on ASL and lexigrams. Evidence suggests that
nonhuman primate language lacks syntax and is limited to the level of a 2 year old
human

Question 4

Critical Period:

Answer 4

Lack of exposure to language prior to puberty compromises normal
language development.

Evidence from feral/abused children suggests that if children are not exposed to
language before puberty (e.g., Victor, Genie), they will fail to acquire it. However if a
child is exposed to language before the onset of puberty (e.g., Isabelle), language
develops to be indistinguishable from ‘normal’

Question 5

Syntax

Answer 5

Syntax refers to the grammatical structure of sentences and the rules for building sentences out of words;

Question 6

Semantics

Answer 6

Semantics refers to the meanings of words, phrases, and
sentences

Question 7

Phonology and phonemes

Answer 7

Phonology refers to the sound pattern of language, including the basic elements (phonemes) and the rules for their combination;

Question 8

Morphology and morphemes

Answer 8

Morphology refers to the study of Morphemes (basic units of meaning)

Question 9

Pragmatics

Answer 9

Pragmatics refers to the rules for how literal meaning is changed by social rules/context;

Question 10

Phrase structure

Answer 10

Phrase structure describes the syntactic structure of sentences using a
hierarchical structure based on the syntactic constituents (e.g., verbs, adjectives,
nouns)