Deck 1: The Communication Process: Perception, Meaning, and Identity

Question 1

Communication is about mutual meaning making. It is also transactional and ___________.

A) unilateral
B) transmissive
C) a process
D) relentless
E) different in different countries

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The order of a basic linear process of communication follows the pattern ______.

A) source -> receiver
B) sound -> interpretation -> receiver
C) source -> decoder -> encoder
D) source -> interpretation -> receiver
E) source -> medium -> receiver

Answer 2

E

Question 3

Your professor is giving a lecture but uses technical jargon throughout the entire lecture confusing the class so no one knows what is going on. This is an example of ______ noise.

A) physical
B) semantic
C) psychological
D) physiological
E) phantasmic

Answer 3

B

Question 4

You are arguing with friends about political ideas but they will not listen to you or your ideas. This type of noise is ___________ noise.

A) physical
B) semantic
C) psychological
D) physiological
E) phantasmic

Question 5

Your doctor is talking to you about adopting a healthier diet, but you are so tired from studying the night before that you simply cannot focus on what she's saying. This is an example of __________ noise.

A) physical
B) semantic
C) psychological
D) physiological
E) phantasmic

Question 6

You spill a soda on your copy of the campus newspaper, and as you try to read page 2 the images and words from page one bleed through, making it impossible to read anything at all. This is an example of _________ noise.

A) physical
B) semantic
C) psychological
D) physiological
E) phantasmic

Question 7

Which model represents the most contemporary view of the communication process?

A) Transactional
B) Linear
C) Source dominated
D) Feedback loop
E) Articulated

Question 8

_______ models of communication suggest that messages travel in a more or less straight line from a source, through a medium, to a receiver.

A) Contemporary
B) Articulated
C) Transactional
D) Representational
E) Linear

Question 9

The type of model described in #8 can be described as ________ model of communication because it views the success of the communication effort as primarily within the sender's control.

A) an audience dominated
B) a feedback-free
C) a source-dominated
D) a feedback-dominated
E) an decoder-dominated

Question 10

Your friend shows you a funny comic she drew for the school paper. You examine it, get the joke, and smile at her. You have, in other words, successfully _________ her message.

A) decoded
B) articulated
C) presented
D) encoded
E) represented

Question 11

Your friend had a great idea for a comic for the school paper. She drew her idea and had it published by the school. She has, in other words, successfully _________ her message.

A) decoded
B) articulated
C) represented
D) encoded
E) presented

Question 12

Essential to the idea of the transactional view of communication is that ___________.

A) communication changes the communicators
B) all communication is unintentional
C) all communication is intentional
D) communication changes the send more than it does the receiver
E) when meaning is made the exchange of benefits soon follows

Question 13

Another word for co-culture is __________.

A) multicultural
B) side-culture
C) bounded culture
D) dominant culture
E) sub-culture

Question 14

Culture is the world made meaningful. It is socially __________ through communication.

A) uplifted and solidified
B) constructed and maintained
C) reinforced and embedded
D) challenged and strengthened
E) negotiated and destroyed

Question 15

Because people's culture offers them a wealth of information in all their interactions, making communication easier and more effective and efficient. As such, it ______ people to make meaning more deeply, more quickly, more mutually.

A) limits
B) liberates
C) differentiates
D) unites
E) reifies

Question 16

Perception requires all the following processes: organization, interpretation, and ___________.

A) bias
B) visual representation
C) classification
D) rumination
E) selection

Question 17

__________ is being aware of and creating meaning from the world around us.

A) Knowing
B) Remembering
C) Perception
D) Meaning making
E) Understanding

Question 18

The researchers who demonstrated that we cannot not communicate are collectively known as the ___________.

A) Hoveland group
B) Intentionality scholars
C) Postpositivists
D) Not-Not Group
E) Palo Alto Group

Question 19

Because we're incapable of processing the enormous tide of sensory stimuli that washes over us at all times, perception of the world around us requires ___________.

A) selection
B) focusing attention
C) immediacy
D) retention
E) ear buds

Question 20

______ are active organizations of past reactions or of past experiences.

A) Memories
B) Recollections
C) Schemas
D) Symbols
E) Fallacies

Question 21

When communicating we use schema to ______________.

A) create a plan of how to handle conflict
B) process and organize new information and experiences
C) get information from someone when we are confused
D) organize written words into similar groups
E) make sure we know right from wrong

Question 22

You are watching the news and the anchor is discussing the main occurrences of the day. This is an example of what kind of communication?

A) Relational
B) Representational
C) Presentational
D) Bounded-culture
E) Biased

Question 23

A ___________ is something that signals the presence of something specific; that is, it is more or less an objective substitute for that thing.

A) stereotype
B) sign
C) schema
D) symbol
E) type

Question 24

There is nothing inherently meaning "stop" in a piece of hexagonal red sheet metal, just as English speakers may have decided d-o-g signifies a canine, but Spanish speakers prefer p-e-r-r-o. These facts demonstrate that the meanings we assign to signs and symbols are __________.

A) confusing
B) personal
C) hierarchical
D) language-based
E) arbitrary

Question 25

Because no media portrayal can show every aspect/nuance of a phenomenon, Goffman called media representations ___________.

A) incomplete
B) mediated
C) biased
D) hyperritualized
E) visual

Question 26

When asked an uncomfortable question by an acquaintance at an office party, most people's reaction will result in a(n) _______________.

A) upshift to make the relationship feel more formal and less open
B) upshift to make the relationship feel more relaxed and personal
C) downshift to make the relationship feel more relaxed and personal
D) downshift to make the relationship feel more formal and less open
E) horizontal shift to maintain the status quo

Question 27

You're walking down the street in your state's capital city. You hear people with accents that seem quite at home there, but you also hear folks talking with a decidedly different accent. You instantly know they're visitors to your state. This is an example of culture's power to _______.

A) limit
B) liberate
C) differentiate
D) unite
E) politicize

Question 28

You really want to look good for your friend's parents. It's the first time you're meeting them. So you decide to hold off a bit on dying your hair that lovely shade of green you saw in the Star Trek movie. This is an example of culture's power to__________.

A) limit
B) liberate
C) differentiate
D) unite
E) politicize

Question 29

There is no better argument against the source-dominated perspective on communication than the idea that ___________.

A) most sources are only as effective as their ideas.
B) you cannot not communicate
C) feedback, encoding, and decoding are pretty much the same thing
D) meaning making requires perception
E) most sources never get the results they want

Question 30

Your new classmate is a tall blonde student. You soon learn from her that her GPA is a 3.8 and you discover you're surprised that she's that smart. You have engaged in ___________.

A) schema shifting
B) reverse snobbery
C) culture clashing
D) ethnocentrism
E) stereotyping

Question 31

A stop sign is a stop sign-rather than a stop symbol-because it is a more-or-less ________ substitution for something else, in this case, an official order to stop your car.

A) objective
B) subjective
C) mandatory
D) official
E) culture-specific

Question 32

K-N-I-F-E is a ________ for a cutting implement. A knife stuck into your car tire by an angry neighbor is a _________ of that anger.

A) symbol/sign
B) representation/presentation
C) sign/symbol
D) presentation/representation
E) symbol/presentation

Question 33

The three elements of the triangle of meaning are the referent, the sign or symbol, and the ____________.

A) object
B) signified
C) reference
D) representation
E) encoding

Question 34

In the triangle of meaning, the element that stands in for the _______ is the sign or symbol.

A) reference
B) referent
C) signified
D) representation
E) encoding

Question 35

Although communication can be____________ (describing or conveying some objective fact or information), it is almost always_______ (someone's version of the facts or information).

A) presentational/representational
B) symbolic/signified
C) representational/presentational
D) signified/symbolic
E) encoded/decoded

Question 36

You think you're the funniest person you know, yet no one ever gets your jokes. You eventually realize that you are not that funny. This is symbolic interaction's _______ in operation.

A) power of framing
B) many selves
C) mind, self, and society
D) looking glass
E) ego deflation

Question 37

_________ are specific sets of expectations we use to make sense of specific social situations in which we may find ourselves.

A) Frames
B) Referents
C) References
D) Symbolic environments
E) Representations

Question 38

Mead explained how people learn about themselves and the world around them through interaction with others using a _________metaphor. That is one context in which we come to value ourselves to the extent that our role is respected by others.

A) team sports
B) business
C) client/doctor
D) deep sea
E) college classroom

Question 39

In describing the operation of symbolic interaction, Mead argued that there are two important "others" to whom we look to better understand ourselves. Our sense of how others see us is our ___________.

A) looking glass self
B) idealized other
C) significant other
D) generalized other
E) wished-for self

Question 40

In describing the operation of symbolic interaction, Mead argued that there are two important "others" to whom we look to better understand ourselves. Influential people in the different situations in which we find ourselves are our _________.

A) looking glass self
B) idealized other
C) significant other
D) generalized other
E) wished-for self

Question 41

The quote, "I am not what I think I am and I am not what you think I am; I am what I think that you think I am," suggests that in any conversation there are actually 6 selves present: You, the Other, what You think of the Other, What the Other thinks of You, What You think the Other thinks of You, and ________.

A) What the Other's family thinks of You
B) What the Other thinks You think of Him or Her
C) What various Significant others think of You
D) What various Significant others think of the Other
E) What the Wished-for Self thinks of You

Question 42

In symbolic interaction, ___________ are any objects to which we can refer to make meaning.

A) social cues
B) participatory symbols
C) social objects
D) meaning-making objects
E) referents

Question 43

Goffman's frame analysis argues that we become adept at reading __________ through communication with others in our culture, and as a result allow us to fine tune our presentations of ourselves.

A) social cues
B) participatory symbols
C) social objects
D) meaning-making objects
E) metaphors

Question 44

We use communication to meet many goals other than developing and maintaining our sense of self. We also communicate to _________; that is, communication is our primary means of interaction and we are dependent on the sight and sound of others.

A) build and maintain relationships
B) have influence
C) be human
D) exchange information
E) buy products

Question 45

We use communication to meet many goals other than developing and maintaining our sense of self. We also communicate to _________; that is, we are always persuading.

A) build and maintain relationships
B) have influence
C) be human
D) exchange information
E) buy products

Question 46

We use communication to meet many goals other than developing and maintaining our sense of self. We also communicate to _________; that is, we are always exploring new people, places, and things and communication is our primary tool of discovery.

A) build and maintain relationships
B) have influence
C) be human
D) exchange information
E) buy products

Question 47

We use communication to meet many goals other than developing and maintaining our sense of self. We also communicate to _________; that is, communication binds and defines the ties we have with friends, family, and important others.

A) build and maintain relationships
B) have influence
C) be human
D) exchange information
E) buy products

Question 48

You and a friend pass in the hall and you offer up a hearty "What's up?" Certainly you wanted to acknowledge your friend, but you were also exercising communication's power to ___________.

A) shape his perception of you
B) pass the time effectively
C) downshift the encounter
D) demonstrate courtesy
E) shape your perception of your friend

Question 49

Every culture has its own definitions of attractiveness. But even if you do not accept your culture's view of attractiveness, if those around you do, ___________.

A) it is your cultural responsibility to alter their views
B) there is little doubt that males and females will differ on those views
C) it affects how you see yourself
D) you could easily upshift
E) you can move somewhere else

Question 50

The perspective on communication which sees communication as creating something that did not exist before is the ________ view of communication.

A) transmissional
B) intransitive
C) regulatory
D) constitutive
E) representational

Question 51

How can cultures both liberate and limit? Give examples of both functions.

Question 52

Using everyday examples from your own life, list and describe how the different types of noise can impede your ability to make meaning.

Question 53

You cannot not communicate. Explain why?

Question 54

Who are symbolic interaction's two important "others" and how do they help us better understand ourselves in the different situations we find ourselves in?

Question 55

What are social cues and how do they allow for people to shift frames in an interaction?

Question 56

In 1923, linguist C.K. Ogden and literary critic I.A. Richards offered their "Triangle of Meaning" as a way to understand the operation of signs and symbols. List and describe the elements of the triangle, explain how they interact to make meaning, and offer your own example.

Question 57

Describe the interplay of bounded and dominant culture. What are some of the benefits and costs of their influence on communication?

Question 58

How did the Palo Alto Group challenge the source-dominated view of communication? Explain how their perspective moved our understanding of communication toward the idea that communication is a transaction.

Question 59

George Herbert Mead laid out his theory of symbolic interaction in a book entitled Mind, Self, and Society. Explain what he meant by mind, self, and society and how they interact to help us know who we are and make our way in the world.

Question 60

The quote, "I am not what I think I am and I am not what you think I am; I am what I think that you think I am," suggests how complex and complicated communication can be. It tells us that in what appears to be a routine conversation, there are not simply two people communicating; there are actually six "selves" involved. What are those six selves and how do they interact to allow both parties to make meaning? Use an example of an encounter from your own experience do demonstrate the presence and operation of the six selves.