All human languages feature utterances that can be characterized as cu

All human languages feature utterances that can be characterized as curses: verbal exclamations in response to surprise, anger, or frustration. Traditionally, neuroscientists believed that verbal cursing behavior was modulated by the same speech centers in the brain that initiate and control other forms of speech. More recent research, however, has begun to produce conclusions inconsistent with that assumption.

Which of the following pieces of evidence, if true, contradicts the belief that verbal cursing behavior originates in the same speech centers as other types of speech?


A. The frequency of verbal cursing behavior and the readiness with which individuals curse correlate with the frequency of verbal cursing behavior exhibited by their parents or other primary caregivers.

B. While some people demonstrate verbal cursing behavior readily in response to relatively low levels of stimuli, other people hardly ever curse at all.

C. When people move from one social group to another, the frequency of their verbal cursing behavior varies in response to the level prevalent in different groups.

D. People who have suffered damage or loss to the physical mechanisms required to produce speech, the larynx or parts of the mouth, still exhibit gestures and expressions associated with verbal cursing behavior when frustrated.

E. Aphasiacs, people who have suffered damage to speech centers in the brain and are unable to speak normally, still exhibit verbal cursing behavior when under stress.