All GRE Subject Test: Psychology Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #11 : Language
Telegraphic speech, where morphemic usage is limited to very short usage, is commonly seen in adults as a symptom of which of the following?
Dysarthria
Nominal aphasia
All of these
Non-fluent aphasia
Word salad
Non-fluent aphasia
Non-fluent aphasia, such as Broca's aphasia, is often triggered by damage due to stroke or other cardiovascular problem, and often produces the short, morpheme-absent language typical of telegraphic speech.
Example Question #12 : Language
Which of the following correctly mirrors the types of inflectional morphemes below:
Possessive. . . Superlative. . . Past Tense. . . Past Participle
Zach's. . . Strongest. . . Proven. . . Joined
Its. . . Highest. . . Waited. . . Waited
None of these
Mine. . . Greater. . . Held. . . Swinging
Cars. . . Grandest. . . Ran. . . Jumps
Its. . . Highest. . . Waited. . . Waited
The answer makes more sense when you realize that the past tense and past participle of the verb wait are both waited. Consider the sentences "I waited for John for half an hour" and "I had waited for John for half an hour" -- both grammatically correct, but implying different things about the present.
Example Question #13 : Language
One generally agreed-upon difference between phonemes and morphemes is best described by which of the following?
Phonemes are more limited in number than morphemes
None of these
Morphemes cannot be learned until phonemes are mastered
Morphemes are generally necessary to express complex ideas, whereas phonemes are sufficient for simplistic communication
Everyone across the world uses the same set of phonemes, but morphemes vary wildly
Phonemes are more limited in number than morphemes
Phonemes are the basic units of sound that distinguish one word from another in a particular language. The number of phonemes the human mouth and vocal cords can produce is limited by physiology. Within this limit, an extremely high number of morphemes can be produced.
Example Question #14 : Language
One known phoneme-based difficulty in learning English is best identified by which of the following?
The relative lack of vowel phonemes compared to other languages
The very large amount of consonant phonemes compared to other languages
The fact that English phonemes rarely correspond to the alphabet that produces them
The fact that there are many phonemes to learn for only a few morphemes
All of these
The fact that English phonemes rarely correspond to the alphabet that produces them
Some languages, such as Arabic, benefit from having their phonemes developed at nearly the same time as their alphabet, so that each letter directly or almost directly corresponds to the sound it makes in the language. English uses a slightly modified form of the Latin alphabet, originally designed with Latin phonemes in mind, and thus poorly represents its 26 letters phonemically. This causes great difficulty for speakers of more phonetically aligned languages.
Example Question #1 : Syntax
Which of the following best describes the difference between semantics and pragmatics?
None of these
Semantics refers to the learning of sounds and words, whereas pragmatics refers to the learning of phrases and sentences
Semantics refers to the learning of different sentence structures, whereas pragmatics refers to paragraph structures
Semantics refers to the learning of different word meanings, whereas pragmatics refers to the actual use of different words
Pragmatics refers to different word meanings, whereas semantics refers to the learning of different word uses
Semantics refers to the learning of different word meanings, whereas pragmatics refers to the actual use of different words
Semantics refers to the fact that children must learn combinations of phonemes that represent certain events, people, or objects. Pragmatics refers to the usage of different words, phrases, and slang terms. Children must learn how tone of voice and modulation can shape the meaning of a sentence. The same sentence might mean two different things in different contexts.
Example Question #2 : Syntax
Which of the following best describes the difference between semantics and pragmatics?
Semantics refers to the learning of sounds and words, whereas pragmatics refers to the learning of phrases and sentences
Semantics refers to the learning of different sentence structures, whereas pragmatics refers to paragraph structures
None of these
Semantics refers to the learning of different word meanings, whereas pragmatics refers to the actual use of different words
Pragmatics refers to different word meanings, whereas semantics refers to the learning of different word uses
Semantics refers to the learning of different word meanings, whereas pragmatics refers to the actual use of different words
Semantics refers to the fact that children must learn combinations of phonemes that represent certain events, people, or objects. Pragmatics refers to the usage of different words, phrases, and slang terms. Children must learn how tone of voice and modulation can shape the meaning of a sentence. The same sentence might mean two different things in different contexts.
Example Question #1 : Speech Perception & Processing
Following a stroke, a patient has difficulty understanding others' communications. This would most likely be diagnosed as which of the following disorders?
Dyslexia
Wernicke's aphasia
Broca's aphasia
Language processing disorder
Wernicke's aphasia
Wernicke's aphasia hinders one's ability to understand language. It is directly linked with damage to a particular part of the brain known as Wernicke's area. By contrast, Broca's area is linked to humans' ability to produce language. Broca's aphasia, in turn, is a diagnosis related to issues with language production, rather than comprehension.
Example Question #2 : Speech Perception & Processing
Which specific neuroanatomical region is known to heavily influence language comprehension?
Broca's Area
Parietal lobe and temporal lobe junction
Thalamus
Vocalization region of motor areas
Wernicke's Area
Wernicke's Area
Wernicke's area, located in the region known commonly as Brodmann 22 or at the junction of the temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes, has been found to contribute to language comprehension. Patients with Wernicke's aphasia can speak, but not comprehend language.
Example Question #15 : Language
Adrian is a four-year-old boy. He wants to say, "May I have some juice?", but accidentally says, "May I haves some juiced?" Which type of error has Adrian committed?
Sound-exchange error
Word-exchange error
Morpheme-exchange error
Spoonerism
Lexical selection error
Morpheme-exchange error
In a morpheme-exchange error (morphemic error), two or more morphemes (-er, -s, -ed, etc.) exchange places. These kinds of errors often occur in children or those learning a morpheme-heavy language like English for the first time.
Example Question #16 : Language
The term paralinguistics refers to which of the following?
Unspoken features of spoken communication
Languages of Indonesian origin
Ancient methods of communication such as petroglyphs
Languages other than a speaker's first language
Unspoken features of spoken communication
It is always of great help to know a large range of prefixes and suffixes when heading into standardized exams. Note that “para” means besides or outside of, therefore, paralinguistics are those vocal (excluding actual words) and non-vocal elements of communication that carry meaning. Elements of paralinguistics include pitch, rate of speech, fluency of speech, volume, and a host of signs and sounds that work to color what we are saying.
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