Deck 13: Interpersonal Communication Culture and Change

Question 1

Which is NOT one of the characteristics of the worldview of most Americans?

A) Americans tend to believe that the natural and civilized worlds are closely related and unified and cannot be separated.
B) Americans tend to see nature as something that can be mastered and exploited.
C) Americans place a high value on science and technology.
D) Americans expect material comforts.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Effort-optimism means:

A) if you are clever enough, it is possible to achieve most goals without too much effort.
B) hard work pays off.
C) luck is the only way to achieve material well-being.
D) people should make the effort to be pleasant and happy when dealing with others.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which is characteristic of mainstream American views of communication?

A) Public speakers should be modest about their qualifications.
B) Conflict should be avoided.
C) In close relationships, people should express personal feelings.
D) None of the above

Answer 3

C

Question 4

A call-and-response pattern is:

A) a tendency to ignore or screen telephone calls, making communication difficult.
B) a tendency to speak in loud voices when in public, giving others the impression that one is loud or aggressive.
C) a tendency for minority group children to be reluctant to answer questions when called upon by a teacher from a majority group.
D) an interaction pattern between speaker and listener in which each of the speaker's statements is punctuated by verbal and nonverbal expressions from listeners.

Question 5

Sounding is:

A) a way of finding out people's attitudes without directly asking them.
B) another term for the call-and-response pattern.
C) a form of folk singing used to celebrate tradition.
D) a game of verbal insults.

Question 6

People brought up in the culture of poverty tend to believe:

A) if one works hard, goals can be achieved.
B) emotions should be repressed and kept private.
C) money should be saved and rarely spent.
D) the future is difficult to envision, so one should live for the present.

Question 7

Which is NOT a characteristic of prejudice?

A) It is a generalized evaluation of out-group members.
B) It is negative in tone.
C) It is based on individual experience with out-group members.
D) It is held in place by biased perceptions.

Question 8

Which is NOT one of the cognitive models associated with prejudice?

A) Discounting
B) Negative interpretation
C) Objective experimentation
D) Exaggeration

Question 9

When Tom sees his friends sitting in the sun drinking, he sees them relaxing. When he sees out-group members doing the same, he sees their behavior as lazy and shiftless. This is an example of:

A) discounting.
B) negative interpretation.
C) objective experimentation.
D) exaggeration.

Question 10

When Alvin finds out an outgroup member is intelligent and successful, he dismisses this as an exception that proves the role that outgroup members are generally unintelligent failures. This is an example of:

A) discounting.
B) negative interpretation.
C) objective experimentation.
D) exaggeration.

Question 11

When Julie sees outgroup members having a friendly argument, she interprets it as a violent fight. This is an example of:

A) discounting.
B) negative interpretation.
C) objective experimentation.
D) exaggeration.

Question 12

The biased cognitive model whereby people attribute out-group members' negative behaviors to dispositional rather than situational causes is an example of:

A) the fundamental attribution error.
B) polarization.
C) exaggeration.
D) negative interpretation.

Question 13

Which is NOT a way prejudices are communicated?

A) News items often encourage unwarranted fear of out-group members.
B) Out-group members are often given too much coverage so that in-group members become too familiar and bored with them.
C) Everyday topics related to the way out-group members live their lives are often ignored.
D) All of the above

Question 14

Which of the following kinds of comment was NOT seen as offensive by the people interviewed by Jack Daniels?

A) One of my best friends is a member of your race.
B) I'm not a member of your race, but I know exactly how you feel.
C) You people don't have it so bad.
D) None; all were considered offensive.

Question 15

Which is NOT a barrier to cross-cultural communication?

A) Assuming everyone is similar
B) Overemphasizing differences through polarization
C) Ethnocentrism
D) None; all are barriers.

Question 16

Which is true of individualist cultures?

A) Freedom and creativity are encouraged.
B) Politeness and obedience are stressed.
C) An equality norm is used in distributing rewards.
D) All of the above

Question 17

The colonial period was characterized by which of the following?

A) Personal space and privacy were severely limited.
B) The basic unit was the nuclear family.
C) Most production of household goods was done in urban factories.
D) Individualism and nonconformity were encouraged.

Question 18

Which is true of colonial America?

A) It was a matriarchal society.
B) Behavior that we should consider rude or crude today was quite common.
C) Colonial Americans were extremely clean.
D) The discussion of sex was discouraged.

Question 19

Which is true of the early industrial period?

A) Industrialization first occurred in the early 20th century.
B) Young men and women left the safety of small rural communities to move to urban centers.
C) People were extremely self-confident and secure.
D) All of the above.

Question 20

Which is true of the 19th-century home?

A) Nineteenth-century Americans saw their lives as occurring in two spheres, one controlled by men and one by women.
B) People had little regard for the home and felt it was a prison.
C) All education was supervised and controlled by the father.
D) All of the above

Question 21

In which time period did showing character become an important aspect of the self?

A) Pre-colonial
B) Colonial
C) Early industrial
D) Modern

Question 22

In the early industrial period:

A) America was a consumer society and Americans were encouraged to go into debt.
B) the home was seen as a haven in a heartless world.
C) advertising entered its Golden Age.
D) people were encouraged to express individuality.

Question 23

In the 20th century:

A) personal fulfillment became a relational goal.
B) pluck, charm, and personality were emphasized.
C) friendliness and openness became key communication skills.
D) all of the above

Question 24

Which of the following is not a perception of poverty culture in the United States, according to Dodd?

A) Unseen forces control destiny.
B) Police are allies.
C) Emotions should be expressed.
D) Money is spent now, not saved.

Question 25

The media perpetuate prejudices by:

A) sensational writing.
B) limiting minority voices.
C) reporting minority events from a majority viewpoint.
D) all of the above

Question 26

Ethnocentrism refers to:

A) an assumption that everyone is like us.
B) a negative social attitude held by members of one group toward another.
C) a belief that our culture is better than any other.
D) none of the above

Question 27

A good example of role-related behavior is:

A) the way we react to age.
B) the way we react to being female or male.
C) the way we react to authority.
D) all of the above

Question 28

All of the following are dimensions the authors of our text use to describe cultural difference except:

A) activity orientation.
B) constraints on communication styles.
C) connections to others.
D) attitudes toward time.

Question 29

In his most recent speech, Senator Williams encouraged his audience to believe that they had control over their own destinies and could accomplish anything. The Senator is probably speaking to members of a:

A) control culture.
B) internal culture.
C) constraint culture.
D) external culture.

Question 30

The phrase "one does not make the wind, but is blown by it" would be attractive to members of a:

A) control culture.
B) internal culture.
C) constraint culture.
D) external culture.

Question 31

Betsy's culture views her as equal to her peers but values highly her unique musical ability. The values of Betsy's culture can best be described as:

A) horizontal collectivism.
B) horizontal individualism.
C) vertical individualism.
D) vertical collectivism.

Question 32

Andrew gives a presentation to his classmates that displays a circular, indirect communication pattern. Instead of stating his thesis at the beginning of his speech, he recites a lengthy narrative that establishes the context for his underlying point. Andrew's communication style would best fit into a:

A) low-context culture.
B) direct culture.
C) high-context culture.
D) indirect culture.

Question 33

Which of the following is not a factor that Marcyliena Morgan attributes to the development of the African-American verbal style?

A) Adaptation of African styles of interaction during slavery
B) Face-to-face rules for black/white interaction enforced prior to the end of segregation
C) Urbanization and popular culture's role in the coalescence of a national black youth identity
D) Rejection of traditional African communication styles

Question 34

Avoidance of direct eye contact by a Latino/a can be used to signify:

A) disrespect.
B) attentiveness.
C) inattentiveness.
D) agreement.

Question 35

All of the following are possible correct interpretations of the silence of a Native American except:

A) assurance.
B) thoughtfulness.
C) respect.
D) ambiguity.

Question 36

As a general rule, Americans tend to value objectivity, rationality, and concreteness in communication.

Question 37

Compared to people from other countries, Americans place little value on the accumulation of material goods.

Question 38

Because Americans believe in effort-optimism, they also believe that if people fail it is their own fault.

Question 39

Americans are too individualistic to be conformists.

Question 40

Americans value individuality and self-reliance.

Question 41

People who are members of the culture of poverty are daring and risky and embrace innovation.

Question 42

Most people enjoy communicating with people who are different and seek out people with different worldviews.

Question 43

Many people who are strongly prejudiced have never had personal experiences with the targets of their prejudices.

Question 44

Although culture affects interpretive, role, goal, and message competence, it cannot affect the way we view the self.

Question 45

There are cultures in which men are considered more emotional and intuitive than women.

Question 46

Members of task-oriented cultures believe that self-worth can be measured by how much one has accomplished.

Question 47

The colonial period extends from around 1780 to 1830.

Question 48

In colonial times, love was a duty, something one learned after marriage.

Question 49

In colonial times, men were considered more controlled, rational, and moral than women.

Question 50

In the 19th century, women were seen as morally superior to men.

Question 51

Effort-optimism is the belief that if you work hard enough, you can achieve any goal.

Question 52

Kochman's studies suggest that blacks and whites hold different views of argument and discussion.

Question 53

Cross-cultural communication focuses on interaction with people from different countries.

Question 54

Control cultures believe nature is something to be mastered.

Question 55

A culture where the group is the primary focus and members of the culture maintain a strict status hierarchy is known as horizontal collectivism.

Question 56

America is a low-context culture.

Question 57

All European-Americans speak standard AE.

Question 58

Linguist Geneva Smitherman believes that approximately 80 percent of the black community has used AAVE, regardless of socioeconomic status.

Question 59

European-American language patterns are typically more passionate than those of black Americans.

Question 60

It is acceptable to beckon both children and adults with finger gestures in Asian-American cultures.

Question 61

What is "Playing the Dozens," and how does this "game" speak to the importance of cross-cultural communication? Be sure to identify what the merits of this ritual are.

Question 62

How do members of the culture of poverty differ from affluent society? What kinds of communication problems can result from contact between these groups?

Question 63

Contrast conditions in the colonial and early industrial periods? How did these conditions lead to differences in interpersonal relationship formation and maintenance?

Question 64

What are some ways people can improve their ability to communicate both with people from other nations and with people from other cultures within our own country?

Question 65

Apply the communicative competence model to historical change. Be sure to include all five competencies.

Question 66

What is culture, and how does it affect interpersonal interaction?

Question 67

What are the defining characteristics of prejudice? What kind of biased models hold it in place?

Question 68

Describe how cultural difference can shape an individual's worldview, focusing on the five dimensions of cultural difference noted in your text.

Question 69

Discuss the development and usage of African-American Vernacular English. Be sure to mention the differences between AAVE and American English, and provide an explanation of call-and-response patterns.