Interpersonal Communication
Basic Elements
Basic Elements
The transactional model of communication specifies that interactions between people unfold in a context. All of the following are part of the context for communication transactions, EXCEPT:
a. The participants’ personal qualities
b. The physical setting
c. The time of day
d. The cultural environment
a. The participants' personal qualities
When you are with your very best friends, you have your own inside jokes, gestures, and means of communicating that are not necessarily familiar to other people. This is because your friend group is a ___.
a. cultural institution
b. standpoint
c. speech community
d. speech code
c. speech community
Which stage of perception and listening involves critically analyzing information to determine how truthful, authentic, or believable you judge it to be?
a. attending
b. organizing
c. evaluating
d. interpreting
c. evaluating
Which of the following analogic characteristics of nonverbal communication suggests that meaningful nonverbal behaviors can be emitted without conscious construction of the message?
a. variable intensity
b. simultaneous transmission
c. spontaneous transmission
d. automatic processing
c. spontaneous transmission
What type of emotions occur in situations in which more than one primary emotion is present?
a. basic emotions
b. blended emotions
c. arousal emotions
d. pleasant emotions
b. blended emotions
Eric got a text from his girlfriend stating that she would have to cancel their date tonight. He immediately texted back, “If that’s how you feel, then I guess I don’t want to be with you anyway.” He quickly regretted his decision and called her up to apologize. Although she accepted his apology and forgave him, his message has continued to place a strain on their relationship months after the fact. Which principle of interpersonal communication does this demonstrate?
a. Interpersonal communication is continuous
b. Interpersonal communication is dynamic
c. Interpersonal communication is imperfect
d. Interpersonal communication is irreversible
d. Interpersonal communication is irreversible
Valerie grew up in a culture in which she was expected to choose a career that would benefit her family and community first and foremost, and only then benefit herself. Her primary consideration in her career choice is how her decision will benefit the groups she belongs to. Which of the following best describes Valerie’s cultural orientation?
a. Valerie is from an uncertainty-seeking culture
b. Valerie is from an uncertainty-avoidant culture
c. Valerie is from a culture high in individualism
d. Valerie is from a culture high in collectivism
d. Valerie is from a culture high in collectivism
As the driver of a car, you tend to notice and pay attention to traffic signals, other cars on the road, and the speed and operation of your vehicle. As a passenger in the car, you may be less likely to notice these stimuli and more likely to notice things like billboards along the road, shops or restaurants where you might want to stop, and which song is playing on the radio. Which factor affecting the selection stage of perception explains why you notice some things as a driver that you wouldn't notice as a passenger, and vice versa?
a. intensity of stimuli
b. point of view
c. consistency with expectations
d. inconsistency with norms
b. point of view
Which category of nonverbal cues refers to body position and body motions?
a. kinesics
b. haptics
c. proxemics
d. chronemics
a. kinesics
Carey was recently dumped by his girlfriend and he's having a tough time coping with the situation. He has been feeling depressed and lonely without Stella in his life. What type of social emotions did Carey experience in response to his break-up?
a. affectionate emotions
b. self-conscious emotions
c. melancholic emotions
d. hostile emotions
c. melancholic emotions
Which of the following standards for interpersonal communication competence focuses on whether you produce the desired outcomes you seek?
a. fidelity
b. appropriateness
c. ethics
d. effectiveness
d. effectiveness
Which of the following forms of culturally significant discourse refers to carefully scripted performances that mark culturally significant events?
a. myths
b. social melodramas
c. rituals
d. all of the above are correct
c. rituals
What type of listening are you engaged in when you focus on another person’s feelings to understand what they must be going through?
a. discriminatory listening
b. comprehensive listening
c. evaluative listening
d. active-empathic listening
d. active-empathic listening
When you come in to work one day, you find one of your co-workers is in the break room clutching a fistful of tissues with a tear-stained face. When you ask her what’s wrong, she smiles and says in a shaky voice, “Oh, nothing. I’m fine.” Which of the following reflects what she accomplished in her combination of verbal and nonverbal cues?
a. complementing
b. contradicting
c. accenting
d. substituting
b. contradicting
Which emotion are you most likely to feel when something of value has been lost and can’t be recovered?
a. anger
b. sadness
c. fear
d. shame
b. sadness
Research tells us that people who make a lot of eye contact during conversations are perceived as more credible and trustworthy. Given that credibility goes up as eye contact increases, what type of relationship exists between these two variables?
a. curvilinear association
b. positive association
c. negative association
d. nonsignificant association
b. positive association
Oscar has a tendency to bite his fingernails when he is feeling nervous. All his friends and family members know this about Oscar; however, he is not aware of his own habit. According to the Johari Window, in which “quadrant” of Oscar’s self is his nail-biting habit located?
a. the open self
b. the blind self
c. the hidden self
d. the unknown self
b. the blind self
What type of attribution assumes that personal forces or characteristics of individuals are at the root of their behavior?
a. external attribution
b. internal attribution
c. unstable attribution
d. uncontrollable attribution
b. internal attribution
In the English language, the word “apple” is used to represent a piece of fruit with a stem, seeds, and a thin red skin that can be eaten raw or baked into a pie. There is no inherent reason, however, for calling this fruit an “apple.” It could just as easily have been called an orange, a banana, or a tomato. What does this suggest about the nature of language?
a. Language is abstract
b. Language is ambiguous
c. Language is arbitrary
d. Language is consequential
c. Language is arbitrary
What is the action tendency associated with the emotion embarrassment?
a. attack
b. retreat
c. make amends
d. escape
d. escape
Which type of research method for studying interpersonal communication involves the researcher observing a group of people, either as an anonymous bystander or by participating in interpersonal interactions, and taking detailed notes on the communication experience?
a. Ethnography
b. Interviews
c. Interaction studies
d. Experiments
a. Ethnography
According to the communication theory of identity, identity has multiple layers. Which layer of identity captures the social groups and organizations that a person associates with him or herself?
a. personal layer
b. enactment layer
c. relational layer
d. communal layer
d. communal layer
Which of the following statements correctly describes the dominance-submissiveness dimension of relational messages?
a. It addresses the degree to which one person controls or has status over the other.
b. It addresses the degree to which one person likes or dislikes the other.
c. It addresses how engaged each person is in the interaction.
d. All of the above are correct.
a. It addresses the degree to which one person controls or has status over the other.
Which of Grice’s maxims suggests that communicators should make contributions to conversation that are pertinent to the topic?
a. Maxim of quantity
b. Maxim of quality
c. Maxim of relevance
d. Maxim of manner
c. Maxim of relevance
Jealousy is a blended emotion that involves varying degrees of love, anger, and fear. When people experience mostly anger as part of their jealousy feelings, which of the following outcomes is most likely?
a. They are compelled to express their devotion to the relationship, which increases relationship satisfaction.
b. They are compelled to express their plans to get revenge, which decreases relationship satisfaction.
c. They are compelled to avoid communication with the partner, which decreases relationship satisfaction.
d. None of the above is correct.
b. They are compelled to express their plans to get revenge, which decreases relationship satisfaction.