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Chapter 8 Self-Test

Question 1

Of the following items, which is at the highest category level?

Vessels

Glasses

Mugs

Bowls

Question 2

Which of the following is the best example of a fuzzy category?

Even numbers

Rock music

Minerals

Crimes

Question 3

Which of the following could not be categorized as a morpheme of the English language?

anti

dis

ris

Question 4

Which of the following sentences is syntactically incorrect?

The yellow computer cried softly.

A naked tree sings tunelessly.

The hairy rake happily galloped.

Hungry a man voraciously ate lunch.

Question 5

Chomsky claimed that humans possess an evolved biological mechanism that enables them to acquire language and that they therefore inherit the universal rules of all languages. Which of the following recent findings is simultaneously true and argues against his claim?

Psychologists have not identified any brain structures related to language processing.

Linguists have found that the rules of grammar are, in fact, not universal.

Psychologists have found that language is processed in several areas of the brain.

Twins can create syntactically correct language with one another, even in the absence of rewards.

Question 6

Here are four findings presented in the chapter. (1) Grammar is not as universal as Chomsky thought; (2) research indicates that Australians describe one another with more adjectives and fewer state verbs than do South Koreans; (3) we can learn at least some rules of grammar through rewards; and (4) we can also learn grammar through statistical language learning. Which of the following conclusions do these particular findings lead us to draw?

The ability to acquire language is entirely innate.

The environment plays a very small role in language acquisition.

Culture plays a large role in shaping language.

Skinner’s theory of language acquisition is most useful.

Question 7

How has brain-imaging evidence enhanced our understanding of the functioning of Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas?

It suggested, among other things, that other brain areas are also responsible for language processing.

It confirmed, among other things, the belief that these brain areas are only responsible for language processing.

It suggested, among other things, that everyone’s brains look the same when processing language.

It confirmed, among other things, the belief that these brain areas are the only ones responsible for language processing.

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Question 8

On what basis did researchers claim that Nim Chimpsky’s use of sign language was not an example of true language use?

Nim lacked the physical ability to produce human sounds.

Nim’s manual dexterity was bad, so his signs were ambiguous in their meaning.

Nim could not produce novel combinations of signs to convey meaning.

Nim was not even able to imitate simple signs.

Question 9

Schadenfreude is a German term that refers to the pleasure we derive from others’ pain. For example, people may experience schadenfreude when their presidential candidate wins, especially if it means a bitter defeat for the other side. There is no term for this emotional experience in the English language, though it has become increasingly popular as a borrowed word. If the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis is true, which of the following would also be true?

We’ve always had this emotional experience, but not the word to express it.

Prior to our having learned of this term, we may not have experienced this emotion.

Other English words do an inadequate job describing this emotion, but we still experience it.

Our experience of this emotion will be much less extreme now that we have a word for it.

Question 10

Your teacher tells you that she has an arithmetic rule in mind that characterizes a sequence of three numbers: 2, 4, and 6. You can test your theory of the rule by naming any three numbers and she will tell you whether you are correct. Your theory is that the rule is any three even numbers that ascend in order. If you let confirmation bias guide your theory-testing, which three numbers will you name?

1, 3, 5

6, 8, 10

6, 18, 30

5, 3, 1

Question 11

Suppose you saw in a shopping mall a woman you had never seen before whose hair, nails, and clothing were black and who had several face and ear piercings and tattoos. You immediately figured that she was a tattoo artist, which is very rare, rather than a college student, which is much more common. What heuristic does this illustrate?

Representativeness

Availability

Mental accounting

Framing effects

Question 12

An individual rejects an offer to go to the movies because she has already been twice that week and instead suggests she and her friend go to dinner, where she spends the same amount of money she would have spent if she had gone to the movies. Which of the following heuristics was she relying upon when she rejected the movie offer?

Representativeness

Availability

Mental accounting

Framing effects

Question 13

What is the trade-off of allowing heuristics to guide our processing?

On the one hand, they are an efficient way to make judgments; on the other, they may lead to errors.

There is no trade-off; heuristics always lead us to make accurate judgments.

On the one hand, they lack efficiency; on the other, they consistently lead to the best judgments.

There is no trade-off; heuristics always lead us to make inaccurate judgments.

Question 14

If there is such a thing as general intelligence, g, then how should scores on the four subscales of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS; Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Reasoning, Working Memory, and Processing Speed) be related?

Verbal Comprehension and Perceptual Reasoning should be positively correlated and Working Memory and Processing Speed negatively correlated.

Verbal Comprehension and Working Memory should be positively correlated and Perceptual Reasoning and Processing Speed negatively correlated.

All the scales should be positively correlated with one another except for Processing Speed, which should be uncorrelated with any subscale.

All the scales should be positively correlated with one another.

Question 15

Which of the following conclusions about the effects of genes and the environment on intelligence is supported by research described in this chapter?

Intelligence is entirely shaped by heredity.

Intelligence is entirely shaped by the environment.

Intelligence is shaped by an interaction of genes and environment.

We do not yet know what causes some people to have more intelligence than others.