Deck 1: A First Look at Interpersonal Communication

Question 1

The ability to speak and listen effectively can mean the difference between succeeding and failing in a job.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

According to your text, impersonal communication should always be avoided.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Shared understanding and clarity are the most important goals in achieving successful communication.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

An older professor who forgets what it was like to be a student when he teaches is an example of how differing environments in the classroom can make understanding difficult.

Question 5

We disclose more to people in interpersonal relationships than in impersonal ones.

Question 6

We are not communicating when we remain silent.

Question 7

Communication competence is a trait that people either possess or lack.

Question 8

The major difference between impersonal communication and interpersonal communication is the number of people involved.

Question 9

Transactional communication may be compared to dancing due to the involvement needed by each partner.

Question 10

Of the communication models described in your text, the linear model most accurately describes the interpersonal communication process.

Question 11

When people communicate, they are often both senders and receivers of messages at the same time.

Question 12

According to your text, effective communicators are able to establish warm relationships with everyone they encounter.

Question 13

The only way we learn who we are is through communication.

Question 14

The transactional model represents communication as static-more like a gallery of still photographs than a motion picture film.

Question 15

As the text points out, your goal should be to become a perfect communicator.

Question 16

Just as judges instruct juries to disregard some statements made in court, we can reverse or erase the effects of communication interactions in everyday life.

Question 17

Chapter One indicates that effective interpersonal communication is strongly linked to good health, social happiness and career success.

Question 18

According to Chapter One, all of the following are attributes needed to communicate successfully with people from different cultures except

A)​motivation
B)​tolerance for ambiguity
C)​friendliness
D)​open-mindedness
E)​knowledge and skill

Question 19

The transactional model of communication suggests that communicators usually send and receive messages simultaneously.

Question 20

All you need to develop good communication skills is common sense.

Question 21

DO NOT USEAccording to Chapter One, all of the following are attributes needed to communicate successfully with people from different cultures except

A)​motivation
B)​tolerance for ambiguity
C)​friendliness
D)​open-mindedness
E)​knowledge and skill

Question 22

Which of the following is most clearly an example of qualitatively interpersonal communication?

A)​Aubre buys a sweater from a sales clerk.
B)​Rich invites the team to a party.
C)​Royce asks his friend Jane about her sick child.
D)​Aasim pleads for the class to vote.
E)​Georgina chats with the mailman.

Question 23

Skillful, integrated communicators are characterized by​

A)​a conscious focus on communicating effectively.
B)​a greater degree of sociability.
C)communicating competently without needing to think constantly about how to behave.
D)​exposure to a wide range of communication styles.
E)​others helping them out

Question 24

Almost all messages have

A)a content dimension.
B)​a relational dimension.
C)​both content and relational dimensions.
D)no dimensions unless the communicators intend them to.

Question 25

Identity and communication are related in that we​

A)​gain an idea of who we are from the way others communicate with us.
B)​are drawn to communicators who test and challenge our identity.
C)​find others' identities become our own through communication.
D)​control communication with our identity.

Question 26

The authors describe some of the social needs we strive to fulfill by communicating as​

A)​encoding and decoding.
B)​control and affection.
C)​empathy and sympathy.
D)​talking and listening.
E)​communicating both verbally and nonverbally.

Question 27

In the Looking at Diversity reading in Chapter One, Igor Ristic says that effective intercultural communication

A)​means understanding which customs are "right" and "wrong."
B)​is only achieved if one is able to visit at least a dozen different countries.
C)​is achieved through judging others' behavior by our own cultural standards.
D)​means making sure to maintain a large space bubble when seated with another person.
E)​involves being aware of various cultural norms and adapting our communication.​

Question 28

Two friends communicating face to face would most likely be​

A)​taking turns sending and receiving messages.
B)​primarily sending messages.
C)​primarily receiving messages.
D)​sending and receiving messages at the same time.
E)​neither sending nor receiving messages.

Question 29

The environments that communicators occupy are​

A)​fields of experience that affect how they understand others' behavior.
B)​gaps that make common understanding impossible.
C)​the places where they stand or sit when they communicate.
D)​the attitudes they have about nature.
E)​the space that they require to communicate effectively.

Question 30

You want to let a close friend know how much she/he means to you in a way that is sincere and doesn't embarrass either of you.Following the advice on communication competence in your text, you would​

A)​follow the approach that you saw another friend use successfully, assuming it would work for you.
B)​avoid sending any message until you were sure it would be well received.
C)​try to follow exactly the approach you used successfully with others in the past.
D)​react in the way that first occurred to you.
E)​consider a variety of alternatives, choosing the one that you think will be most successful under these circumstances.

Question 31

Strategies you can use to develop a more mindful and competent style of intercultural communication include

A)​reading.
B)passive observation.
C)​self-disclosure.
D)talking to experts.
E)​all of these

Question 32

DO NOT USE Research on the benefits and challenges of social media indicates that​

A)​some benefits of communicating via social media significantly outweigh the costs.
B)​social media sites do not increase the amount of contact with loved ones.
C)​the use of social media to communicate maximizes the perception of differences due to gender, age, social class, and ethnicity.
D)​social media adds richness to interpersonal messages due to the lack of nonverbal cues.
E)​all of the above.

Question 33

Which is an example of "noise" as the term is defined in your text?​

A)​someone tapping a pencil while you're trying to talk
B)​a headache that interferes with you listening
C)​feelings of anger directed toward a partner
D)​preoccupation with another topic during a lecture
E)​all of the above

Question 34

When Ernesta realizes during an office meeting that she's interrupted a co-worker twice, she demonstrates the skill of

A)​empathy.
B)​self-monitoring.
C)​cognitive complexity.
D)​affinity.
E)​metacommunication.

Question 35

All of the following elements are included in the transactional communication model introduced in Chapter One except

A)​message.
B)​environment.
C)​channel.
D)​sender.
E)​noise.

Question 36

DO NOT USE ​In Chapter One, sociolinguist Deborah Tannen claims that

A)​electronic mail can deepen the quality of relationships.
B)​electronic mail makes interpersonal communication more impersonal.
C)​everyone prefers face to face communication rather than electronic mail.
D)​relationships cannot be maintained using electronic mail.

Question 37

An interpersonal relationship differs from an impersonal one because​

A)​we share our thoughts and feelings with each other.
B)​the other person's life affects ours.
C)​we are sad when the relationship changes or ends.
D)​we find the time spent in the relationship rewarding.
E)​all of the above.

Question 38

Some of the characteristics that make relationships more interpersonal than impersonal are​

A)​frequency and proximity of communication.
B)​quantity over quality.
C)​how important the content of talk is to both of you.
D)​uniqueness, irreplaceability, and interdependence.

Question 39

Research has shown that competent communicators achieve effectiveness by​

A)​using the same types of behavior in a wide variety of situations.
B)​developing large vocabularies.
C)​apologizing when they offend others.
D)​giving lots of feedback.
E)​adjusting their behaviors to the person and situation.

Question 40

Psychologist Abraham Maslow suggests that the most basic human needs

A)​are invented by other psychologists.
B)​must be satisfied before we concern ourselves with other ones.
C)​are proof that animals ascended from lower animal forms.
D)​prove the existence of a superior being.
E)​are generated by others in interpersonal interaction.

Question 41

Using the information explained in "Characteristics of Competent Communicators," evaluate your communication competence in the context of one interpersonal relationship in which you are involved.Discuss the range of behaviors in which you engage, your ability to choose the most appropriate behavior, your skill in performing certain behaviors, your perceived levels of cognitive complexity, empathy, and self-monitoring operating in this relationship, and your commitment to the relationship.Be sure to explain this relationally, discussing the behaviors of the other person and describing how you adapt or fail to adapt to them.

Question 42

Identify the three different needs that are satisfied through communication.Provide examples for each from your own experience.

Question 43

DO NOT USEYou decide to schedule a face-to-face meeting with your professor instead of e-mailing him.

A)​external noise
B)​environment
C)​channel
D)​decoding
E)​psychological noise

Question 44

Describe an interpersonal communication incident from your experience, identifying at least five elements of the transactional model of communication shown in Looking Out/ Looking In.

Question 45

Alex decides what Rafael meant by that frown.

A)​external noise
B)​environment
C)​channel
D)​decoding
E)​psychological noise

Question 46

Using your own experiences as examples, explain the difference between interpersonal communication and impersonal communication.

Question 47

Explain the concept of "noise." First, define it according to its role in the transactional model of communication in Chapter One.Next, imagine you are being interviewed for a job.Name and give examples of each of the three types of noise described by your text that might be present during this interview experience.Describe how each type could impact the interaction between you and the interviewer.

Question 48

Your friend's religion is different from yours, but you went to the same high school and college.

A)​external noise
B)​environment
C)​channel
D)​decoding
E)​psychological noise

Question 49

A person behind you in the theater fiddles with a crackling cellophane candy wrapper.

A)​external noise
B)​environment
C)​channel
D)​decoding
E)​psychological noise

Question 50

You are worried about how your child is doing at school while your boss is giving the quarterly report.

A)​external noise
B)environment​
C)​channel
D)​decoding
E)​psychological noise