Psychology From Inquiry To Understanding Canadian 2nd Edition Lilienfeld Test Bank All Chapters
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1
Answer: d
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-1
Diff: 2
Page Ref: 296
Topic: Language, Thinking, and Reasoning: Getting Inside Our Talking Heads
Skill: Conceptual
2) The authors provide a brief conversation between two students discussing tickets for a
game. The inferences we make about this discussion indicate that
a. the ways in which language can be interpreted are extremely limited.
b. our ability to understand “slang” is very limited because it is a cognitively taxing
event.
c. most language use is quite literal.
d. our ability to understand language requires implicit skills in accessing knowledge
and interpreting phrases.
Answer: d
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-2
Diff: 2
Page Ref: 296
Topic: Language, Thinking, and Reasoning: Getting Inside Our Talking Heads
Skill: Factual
3) Newspaper headlines, such as “Killer Sentenced to Die for Second Time in 10 Years,”
may strike us as funny. From the perspective of language, this is because the phrase or
headline
a. lacks subject-verb agreement.
b. has no literal interpretation.
c. has ambiguous syntax.
d. is impossible to interpret.
Answer: c
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-3
Test Bank for Lilienfeld et al, Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding, 2ce
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.
2
Diff: 2
Page Ref: 296-297
Topic: Language, Thinking, and Reasoning: Getting Inside Our Talking Heads
Skill: Conceptual
Answer: a
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-4
Diff: 2
Page Ref: 296-297
Topic: How Does Language Work?
Skill: Conceptual
5) Language is
a. a communication system that requires little implicit processing.
b. rarely ambiguous.
c. a symbol system of communication.
d. a communication system that includes words, but not gestures.
Answer: c
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-5
Diff: 1
Page Ref: 296
Topic: How Does Language Work?
Skill: Factual
6) Carl is reading the newspaper and laughs when he sees the headline “Drunk Gets Nine
Months in Violin Case”. From the perspective of language, Carl most likely finds this
humourous because the phrase or headline
a. lacks subject-verb agreement.
b. has ambiguous syntax.
c. has no literal interpretation.
d. has ambiguous word interpretations.
Answer: d
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-6
Diff: 2
Type: MC
Page Ref: 296-297
Test Bank for Lilienfeld et al, Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding, 2ce
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.
3
Topic: Language, Thinking, and Reasoning: Getting Inside Our Talking Heads
Skill: Applied
Answer: a
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-7
Diff: 1
Page Ref: 296-297
Topic: How Does Language Work?
Skill: Factual
Answer: a
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-8
Diff: 1
Page Ref: 297
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Factual
9) The level of analysis of language that focuses on the sounds people use when then
speak and listen is called
a. morphemes.
b. phonemes.
c. syntax.
d. semantics.
Answer: b
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-9
Diff: 1
Page Ref: 297
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Factual
Test Bank for Lilienfeld et al, Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding, 2ce
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.
4
10) The level of analysis of language that focuses on the smallest units of meaningful
speech is called
a. morphemes.
b. phonemes.
c. syntax.
d. extralinguistic.
Answer: a
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-10
Diff: 1
Page Ref: 297
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Factual
11) The level of analysis of language that focuses on how words are combined to form
sentences is called
a. morphemes.
b. phonemes.
c. syntax.
d. extralinguistic.
Answer: c
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-11
Diff: 1
Page Ref: 297
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Factual
12) Dr. Doolittle is studying the order in which children around the world learn to make
the speech sounds used in their native languages, to see if there are common patterns.
Dr. Doolittle's approach to the analysis of language is at the level of
a. morphemes.
b. phonemes.
c. syntax.
d. extralinguistic.
Answer: b
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-12
Diff: 2
Page Ref: 297
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Applied
Test Bank for Lilienfeld et al, Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding, 2ce
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.
5
13) Mado is sad that she has lost the French-Canadian that her French-Canadian parents
spoke in her childhood. She knows many French-Canadian words, but she has
forgotten how to put them together into real French-Canadian sentences. Mado seems
to have a problem with French-Canadian
a. morphemes.
b. phonemes.
c. syntax.
d. extralinguistic information.
Answer: c
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-13
Diff: 3
Page Ref: 297
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Applied
14) What are the basic units of sound that compose the words in a language?
a. Lingmemes
b. Morphemes
c. Phonemes
d. Anomias
Answer: c
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-14
Diff: 1
Page Ref: 297
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Factual
Answer: d
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-15
Diff: 1
Page Ref: 297
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Factual
16) Consider the English word "rereading." Which of these is one phoneme in that word?
Test Bank for Lilienfeld et al, Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding, 2ce
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.
6
a. “read”
b. “re”
c. “r”
d. “rea”
Answer: c
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-16
Diff: 3
Page Ref: 297-298
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Conceptual
17) The smallest units of speech that contain meaning are called
a. lingmemes.
b. morphemes.
c. phonemes.
d. anomias.
Answer: b
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-17
Diff: 1
Page Ref: 297
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Factual
18) Consider the English word "rereading." Which of these is one morpheme in that
word?
a. Reading
b. Re
c. R
d. Rea
Answer: b
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-18
Diff: 3
Page Ref: 297-298
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Conceptual
19) Basic units of sound are called __________; basic units of meaning are called
__________.
a. phonemes, syntax
b. phonemes, morphemes
Test Bank for Lilienfeld et al, Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding, 2ce
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.
7
c. morphemes, phonemes
d. morphemes, syntax
Answer: b
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-19
Diff: 1
Page Ref: 297
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Factual
20) Almost all words in any language contain more __________ than __________.
a. phonemes, syntax
b. phonemes, morphemes
c. morphemes, phonemes
d. morphemes, syntax
Answer: b
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-20
Diff: 2
Page Ref: 297-298
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Conceptual
21) A study of morphemes shows the first words babies learn to speak in any language
typically refer to
a. actions they enjoy doing (eat, run, play).
b. how things look or feel (red, big, hot).
c. how they feel (hungry, frightened, lonely).
d. specific objects or people (mama, doggie, truck).
Answer: d
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-21
Diff: 2
Page Ref: 297-298
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Factual
22) The analysis of how words are combined together to form grammatical sentences and
phrases is at the level of
a. morphemes.
b. phonemes.
c. syntax.
d. semantics.
Test Bank for Lilienfeld et al, Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding, 2ce
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.
8
Answer: c
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-22
Diff: 1
Page Ref: 297-298
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Factual
Answer: c
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-23
Diff: 1
Page Ref: 297-298
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Factual
24) Which of these levels of analysis is most directly related to the fact that "the boy ate
the chicken" and "the chicken ate the boy" mean very different things?
a. Morphemes
b. Phonemes
c. Syntax
d. Extralinguistic information
Answer: c
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-24
Diff: 2
Page Ref: 297-298
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Conceptual
Answer: d
Type: MC
Test Bank for Lilienfeld et al, Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding, 2ce
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.
9
Answer: a
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-26
Diff: 1
Page Ref: 297-298
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Factual
27) How many morphemes are there in the sentence “I predicted it”?
a. 4
b. 6
c. 5
d. 7
Answer: c
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-27
Diff: 3
Page Ref: 297-298
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Applied
28) You are learning Russian in preparation for a trip next summer. Although you are
doing a good job recognizing the written signs you need to know, you are having
trouble with the sounds of the Russian language. Which of the following aspects of
language is giving you trouble?
a. Phonemes
b. Morphemes
c. Syntax
d. Semantics
Answer: a
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-28
Test Bank for Lilienfeld et al, Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding, 2ce
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.
10
Diff: 3
Page Ref: 297-298
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Applied
29) The system of rules that governs how we assign meaning to the morphemes we use is
called
a. semantics.
b. syntax.
c. phonology.
d. regularization.
Answer: a
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-29
Diff: 1
Page Ref: 297-298
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Factual
30) The system of rules that governs how we combine words to form grammatical
sentences is called
a. semantics.
b. syntax.
c. phonology.
d. regularization.
Answer: b
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-30
Diff: 1
Page Ref: 297-298
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Factual
Answer: b
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-31
Diff: 1
Page Ref: 297-298
Test Bank for Lilienfeld et al, Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding, 2ce
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.
11
Answer: a
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-32
Diff: 1
Page Ref: 297-298
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Conceptual
Answer: b
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-33
Diff: 1
Page Ref: 297-298
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Factual
34) When speakers of English add “ed” to a verb to indicate past tense, they are applying
a. a dialectical marker.
b. a prefix.
c. a morpheme.
d. a phoneme.
Answer: c
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-34
Diff: 3
Page Ref: 297-298
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Conceptual
Test Bank for Lilienfeld et al, Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding, 2ce
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.
12
35) Which of the following is not one of the four levels of analysis that we use in
producing language?
a. Phonemes
b. Morphemes
c. Semantics
d. Syntax
Answer: c
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-35
Diff: 1
Page Ref: 297-298
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Factual
36) Hawaiian words tend to consist of repetitions of only a few phrases (such as
kakahiaka for morning) because the language contains a very small number of
____________.
a. phonemes
b. morphemes
c. grammatical rules
d. phonesthemes
Answer: a
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-36
Diff: 2
Page Ref: 297-298
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Conceptual
Answer: b
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-37
Diff: 3
Page Ref: 297-298
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Conceptual
38) From the following items, which is the best example of syntax?
Test Bank for Lilienfeld et al, Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding, 2ce
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.
13
a. A textbook
b. A conversation
c. PowerPoint bullets
d. A lecture
Answer: a
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-38
Diff: 3
Page Ref: 297-298
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Conceptual
Answer: b
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-39
Diff: 2
Page Ref: 297-298
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Factual
40) According to the Cross-Linguistic Table 8.2 in your book, which phoneme is distinct
in Arabic but not English?
a. R and L
b. K and Kh
c. D and T
d. S and Z
Answer: b
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-40
Diff: 3
Page Ref: 298
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Factual
Test Bank for Lilienfeld et al, Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding, 2ce
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.
14
c. language forms that share a common origin, but that have varied pronunciation,
vocabulary, and syntax.
d. language forms that are based on another language, but that do not have a
syntactic structure of their own.
Answer: c
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-41
Diff: 2
Page Ref: 298-299
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Factual
42) Rosario lives in southern Italy and Genero lives in northern Italy. Both speak Italian
and can understand each other, but their language varies according to their
geographical areas. What feature of language reflects these variations?
a. Phonesthemes
b. Syntax
c. Dialect
d. Extralinguistic information
Answer: c
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-42
Diff: 2
Page Ref: 298-299
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Applied
43) Mike is from British Columbia and Mary Ann is from Nova Scotia. Mike sometimes
makes fun of Mary Ann’s “maritime accent” and the way she pronounces certain
words. In this example, Mike is noticing differences in _______________.
a. syntax
b. dialect
c. morphemes
d. phonesthemes
Answer: b
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-43
Diff: 3
Page Ref: 298-299
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Applied
Test Bank for Lilienfeld et al, Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding, 2ce
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.
15
44) Your friend sends you a text message on your cell phone that says “This is just
horrible!” In order to interpret what your friend is meaning, you often need
_____________ to help you understand what is going on.
a. phonesthemes
b. syntax
c. extralinguistic information
d. dialect
Answer: c
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-44
Diff: 2
Page Ref: 298
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Conceptual
Answer: d
Type: MC
Diff: 2
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-45
Page Ref: 298
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Conceptual
46) Although extralinguistic information is not a formal part of language, it does serve
the purpose of
a. generally providing entertainment value, which captures our attention.
b. assisting in interpretation.
c. distracting us from the emotional aspects of communication.
d. providing literal and factual information.
Answer: b
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-46
Diff: 3
Page Ref: 298
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Factual
Test Bank for Lilienfeld et al, Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding, 2ce
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.
16
a. phonetics.
b. grammar.
c. context.
d. added morphemes.
Answer: c
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-47
Diff: 2
Page Ref: 298
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Factual
48) Our co-worker says, “It's awful in here.” To understand what she means, we must
a. examine the morphemes in the statement to determine the smaller units of
meaning in the sentence.
b. ignore nonverbal cues so that we are not distracted.
c. parse the grammatical structure of her comment.
d. take into account extralinguistic information, such as location and facial
expressions.
Answer: d
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-48
Diff: 2
Page Ref: 298
Topic: The Features of Language
Skill: Conceptual
49) Language requires tremendous resource use on the part of the brain. For this reason,
________ theorists believe that language must offer adaptive advantage.
a. evolutionary
b. cognitive
c. psychoanalytic
d. behaviourist
Answer: a
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-49
Diff: 2
Page Ref: 299-300
Topic: How Did Language Come About and Why?
Skill: Factual
50) A key difficulty in explaining how language evolved is the ________ phonemes,
words, and rules of syntax.
Test Bank for Lilienfeld et al, Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding, 2ce
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.
17
Answer: d
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-50
Diff: 1
Page Ref: 299-300
Topic: How Did Language Come About and Why?
Skill: Factual
Answer: d
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-51
Diff: 1
Page Ref: 299-300
Topic: How Did Language Come About and Why?
Skill: Factual
52) Using the word hee-haw to describe the sound that a donkey makes is an example of
a. a morphological marker.
b. anomia.
c. onomatopoeia.
d. a dialect.
Answer: c
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-52
Diff: 2
Page Ref: 299-300
Topic: How Did Language Come About and Why?
Skill: Conceptual
53) The textbook authors note that the word for mother in most languages begins with an
“m” or “n” sound. They speculate that this may be because
a. they all derive from the Latin word mater.
b. these are the most common phonemes in all languages.
c. all languages have the same origin.
Test Bank for Lilienfeld et al, Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding, 2ce
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.
18
Answer: d
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-53
Diff: 2
Page Ref: 299-300
Topic: How Did Language Come About and Why?
Skill: Conceptual
54) Words that use the “sn” sound sequence and are nose-related, such as sneeze, snort,
snooze, and snot are referred to as
a. onomatopoeia.
b. morphemes.
c. phonemes.
d. phonesthemes.
Answer: d
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-54
Diff: 2
Page Ref: 299
Topic: How Did Language Come About and Why?
Skill: Factual
55) A collection of words such as slide, slip, slick, slid, sled, and slippery are an example
of ____________.
a. phonemes
b. morphemes
c. holophrases
d. phonesthemes
Answer: d
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-55
Diff: 2
Page Ref: 299
Topic: How Did Language Come About and Why?
Skill: Conceptual
56) Juanita read the children’s story No Such Things repeatedly to her daughter
Aliquandra when she was in the womb. Once Aliquandra was born, Juanita noticed
that her daughter sucked on her pacifier much more when she would read No Such
Things to her relative to other stories. What is the best explanation for why this
occurs?
Test Bank for Lilienfeld et al, Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding, 2ce
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.
19
a. Babies prefer novel stimuli and tend to pay less attention to stories that they have
heard repeatedly.
b. Babies can hear inside the womb and are able to recognize songs or stories once
they are born.
c. Babies respond to the sound of their mother’s voice only, and do not show
preference for stories.
d. Babies prefer melodic sounds relative to other noise and display more activity to
rhyming stories.
Answer: b
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-56
Diff: 3
Page Ref: 300-302
Topic: How Do Children Learn Language?
Skill: Applied
57) The best predictor of whether someone will achieve fluency in a second language is
a. the simplicity of the second language's structure.
b. IQ.
c. motivation.
d. age of acquisition.
Answer: d
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-57
Diff: 2
Page Ref: 300-301
Topic: How Do Children Learn Language?
Skill: Factual
58) Using the ________ paradigm, researchers have found that infants can recognize
sounds to which they were exposed in utero.
a. Cat in the Hat
b. habituation
c. high-amplitude sucking
d. auditory cliff
Answer: c
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-58
Diff: 2
Page Ref: 300
Topic: How Do Children Learn Language?
Skill: Factual
Test Bank for Lilienfeld et al, Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding, 2ce
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.
20
Answer: b
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-59
Diff: 3
Page Ref: 300
Topic: How Do Children Learn Language?
Skill: Factual
Answer: a
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-60
Diff: 3
Page Ref: 300-301
Topic: How Do Children Learn Language?
Skill: Factual
61) Which of the following provides the strongest support for both the nature and nurture
sides of language acquisition?
a. All babies have the innate capacity for language in the brain, but are dependent on
the environment to be able to express and produce any speech sounds or words.
b. Without attention and reinforcement from their parents, babies would fail to
develop language past the point of non-specific babbling sounds.
c. All babies initially share the same basic phoneme categories, regardless of their
parents’ native language, but only use phonemes specific to the language they have
heard by about 10 months of age.
d. Babies cannot process speech sounds and noise until approximately 5 months of
age as their temporal lobes and auditory cortices are still forming and developing
neural connections.
Answer: c
Type: MC
Question ID: Lil 2ce 8.1-61
Diff: 3
Page Ref: 300-301
Test Bank for Lilienfeld et al, Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding, 2ce
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.
Another random document with
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impediments industry suffers under, and which are brought about
through the overwhelming mass of Patents, for the most part taken
out with a view to swindling speculation, the unpleasant experience
acquired by those who take all legal means so as subsequently to
contest and defend Patents granted without previous inquiry being
made, have led to a reaction of public opinion in favour of abolishing
the system.
The unsatisfactory and quite abnormal state of all matters
connected with Patents in England and France had, years ago,
claimed the most earnest attention of the legislators, and led to
practical deliberations on the necessity and the means of effective
improvements. The French Government introduced a Bill in 1858, to
the effect that the hearing of objections to Patents applied for might,
as much as possible, take place previous to the same being granted.
A similar system which is in force in England has, however, proved
inadequate in that country, and the commission which, in 1863,
made a detailed statement as to the merits of the existing Patent-
Law, recommended the adoption of official inquiry.
Under the circumstances, it can hardly be the question at all, for
the North German Confederation, to admit of the mere “application
system.” Nor can the imposition of high taxes [on patentees?] (not
taking into account their inconsistency with the real object of
Patents) be considered a sufficient corrective of the system, after the
experience acquired in England on this head.
Both the inquiry and application systems having proved defective,
the conclusion is arrived at, that the difficulties cannot be overcome
by means of altering certain details in the institution, but rather arise
out of constitutional infirmities of the institution itself. The Patent
system makes such distinctions necessary as are now practically
inadmissible, and the impracticability of which is by no means
removed through merely transferring the evil from one side to the
other. It must be granted that if artificial contrivances be at all
required to adequately remunerate an inventor for the services
rendered to society, they cannot be hit upon in this direction without
hurting all important interests.
That the final step of repealing Patents altogether should not yet
have been taken anywhere, in spite of the leading theoretical and
practical authorities having urged it, may be easily explained by the
fact that we have to deal with an institution which very long ago has
taken root in the usage of the industrial nations, and to which
tradition ascribes most of the immense progress industry has taken
during its existence. To this may be added the apprehension lest the
country which would take the lead in the matter might find itself at a
disadvantage with the remainder.
Generally speaking, the anticipation of a profitable use to be made
of an invention for one’s exclusive benefit is, no doubt, a powerful
incitement for the inventive genius, and equally is it admitted that to
temporary Patent-right we owe the successive improvements on
many a useful invention.
Experience has, however, taught that in most instances Patents do
not fulfil their mission; that on the whole they have not proved an
actual benefit, either to the proprietor or the public; that the profits
have gone just as often into the pockets of strangers as into those of
the able inventor. When chiefly ascribing the progress made by
industry through technical improvements in many of the countries
where extensive regulations of Patent-right are provided, to the
incitement consequent upon the protection afforded by Patents, the
fact is overlooked that the great inventions made in old times, as well
as the scientific discoveries which in the modern era paved the way
for industry, have perfectly done without any such incitements.
Against the stimulating influence of monopoly upon individuals, we
must, however, in a period so extremely favourable to industrial
progress, not underrate the very important point, that it also checks
the quick and fertile development of a new thought, which, when
totally free, might be expected to spring up in a higher degree from
the competing labours of all. Of course, it is impossible to say
whether in England, Belgium, France, and the United States,
industry, if supported by other favourable stipulations, might not have
taken an equal development without the protection of Patents; but
we have at all events an illustration of this being the fact in
Switzerland, where the absence of Patents has not at all been found
prejudicial to the public at large. The records of the latter country
may dispel all apprehension lest the abolition of Patents should
place national industry on an unequal and disadvantageous footing
with foreign. If Germany be foremost in the indicated direction, we
must, it is true, be alive to the very likely occurrence of her standing,
at least for some time to come, isolated on her platform. A
favourable result of the movement in either England or France can
hardly be looked for at a very early date, considering the state of
public opinion prevailing in those countries, as well as the large
individual interests at stake, owing to the wide scope for protection
arising out of their Patent system, while at the same time it is yet a
fact worthy of remark, that neither England nor France have been
able to make up their minds as to reforming a system the numerous
defects of which are universally recognised. In Germany the same
difficulties do not present themselves to the same extent, the less
prolixity of our Patent institution not affecting the industrial part of the
nation in nearly the same ratio. The whole system in this country has
been less active in all directions; proof of this is given by the
statistics of Patents, as compared with those taken out abroad. The
actual items in 1867 were as follows:—