Week One

Question 1

Communication

Answer 1

the transmission of information from one source to another

Question 2

Language

Answer 2

A system of symbols that convey meaning because of shared rules

Question 3

Linguistics

Answer 3

Structure of language

Descriptive rather than prescriptive

Question 4

Linguists try to :

Answer 4

Describe language

Account for what people say and find acceptable

Question 5

Focus of Psychology of Language:

Answer 5

the study of the psychological processes by which people acquire and use language

Question 6

Psych of language addresses:

Answer 6

Comprehension

Production

Acquisition

Question 7

Ultimate goals of psycholinguistics

Answer 7

To develop an integrated account of:

how users of language produce/understand language

children acquire these abilities so quickly

Question 8

Why haven’t these goals been met?

Answer 8

Language is a complex system

Research techniques are sometimes inadequate

Question 9

Phonemes

Answer 9

smallest unit of sound

Question 10

Phonetics

Answer 10

speech sounds and how they are articulated

Question 11

Phonology

Answer 11

how sounds are used and categorised within a language

Question 12

Phonotactics

Answer 12

The rules for combining sounds within a language

Question 13

Intonation

Answer 13

the rise and fall of the voice in speaking

e.g. she spoke English with a German intonation

Question 14

Prosody

Answer 14

patterns of intonation and stress

In English, prosody can distinguish grammatical contrasts

Question 15

Morphemes

Answer 15

smallest units of meaning

Question 16

Morphology

Answer 16

the study of how words are built up from morphemes

Question 17

Free morphemes

Answer 17

can stand alone

Question 18

Bound morphemes

Answer 18

cannot stand alone but still add meaning

e.g. -ing

Question 19

Semantics

Answer 19

word meanings in our mental lexicon

Question 20

Function words

Answer 20

have ambiguous meaning

prepositions, articles, pronouns

Question 21

Content words

Answer 21

carry the most meaning

e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs

Question 22

Syntax

Answer 22

rules for combining words into sentences

understand all words in a sentence as well as what they mean when combined

Question 23

Pragmatics

Answer 23

language in real world context

Question 24

What does pragmatics include?

Answer 24

word choice/interpretation according to the situation

guides use of language in context, such as in politeness systems

Question 25

What is register in pragmatics?

Answer 25

appropriate level of written or spoken language for a given situation

Question 26

Discourse

Answer 26

verbal or written interaction longer than a single utterance unit of language longer than a single sentence

Question 27

Listener/reader of discourse

Answer 27

must go beyond understanding single words and phrases must evaluate discourse in terms of particular context and prior knowledge

Question 28

Metalinguistics

Answer 28

thinking about language

Question 29

how many languages are still spoken?

Answer 29

2,700 to 10,000

Question 30

Inclusion of new words includes

Answer 30

borrowing from other languages giving new meanings to old words inventing new words

Question 31

modalities of language

Answer 31

spoken language: part of being human; all cultures written language: relatively recent; some cultures; differs in nature of representation signed language : some cultures

Question 32

Where did language come from?

Answer 32

natural selection changing skull shape allowed articulatory apparatus to develop

Question 33

Vocal-auditory channel

Answer 33

communication occurs by producer speaking and receiver hearing

Question 34

broadcast transmission and directional reception

Answer 34

signal travels out in space but localised by listener

Question 35

rapid fading

Answer 35

signal rapidly disappears

Question 36

interchangeability

Answer 36

speakers can receive and transmit message

Question 37

complete feedback

Answer 37

speakers can access their productions

Question 38

discreteness

Answer 38

vocabulary is made of discrete units

Question 39

tradition

Answer 39

can be both taught and learned

Question 40

duality of patterning

Answer 40

meaningless basic units gain meaning when combined into sequences

Question 41

specialisation

Answer 41

energy of signal is irrelevant to meaning

Question 42

semanticity

Answer 42

signals have meaning: relate to features of the world

Question 43

learnability

Answer 43

the speaker of one language can learn another

Question 44

prevarication

Answer 44

language provides the ability to lie and deceive

Question 45

arbitrariness

Answer 45

neutral symbols that don't resemble what they stand for

Question 46

displacement

Answer 46

the system can refer to things remote in time and space

Question 47

reflectiveness

Answer 47

we can communicate about the communication system itself

Question 48

openness/creativity/productivity

Answer 48

the ability to invent new messages

Question 49

What is animal communication dependent on?

Answer 49

context and/or stimulus vocalisations occupe under very specific conditions

Question 50

What species communicate?

Answer 50

bees birds dolphins whales non - human primates

Question 51

how many distinct vocal sounds can vervet monkeys produce?

Answer 51

36 generally determined by circumstances

Question 52

Birds language

Answer 52

alarm cry when they see a predator questions to if this is displacement or continued fear

Question 53

How do bees produce language?

Answer 53

In the form of various dances

Question 54

What is the action of a round dance?

Answer 54

turning in circles

Question 55

What is the message of a round dance?

Answer 55

nectar is close to the hive

Question 56

What is the action of a waggle dance?

Answer 56

tail wiggles side to side

Question 57

What is the message of a waggle dance?

Answer 57

nectar is far from the hive

Question 58

Is language species specific?

Answer 58

no animal appears to include all the design features of human language in its own form of language

Question 59

how many words could Alex (African grey parrot) produce?

Answer 59

80

Question 60

how could chimps be taught to produce language?

Answer 60

sign language button pressing token manipulation