Deck 7: Communicating in Small Groups

Question 1

Russell Wilson is a great NFL quarterback. His teammates listen to him, right or wrong. He gives them a look that says, "This'll work. Follow me." He possesses_____ power.

A) coercive
B) reward
C) connectional
D) referent
E) athletic

Answer 1

D

Question 2

A leader who always reminds a group of her or his famous next-door neighbor is attempting to gain ___________ power.

A) coercive
B) reward
C) connectional
D) referent
E) athletic

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The type of power that is most easily abused or wrongly administered is ________ power.

A) coercive
B) reward
C) connectional
D) referent
E) athletic

Answer 3

A

Question 4

_______ leaders face the challenge of their group members becoming unmotivated.

A) Authoritarian
B) Democratic
C) Laissez-Faire
D) Hierarchical
E) Motivational

Question 5

Which of the following is true of the systems theory?

A) All members of the system are constrained by their dependence on others.
B) Producing on-going change moves the system toward failure.
C) Systems can be indifferent toward their goals.
D) Some group members' actions do affect the group as a whole, while some members' actions do not affect the group as a whole.
E) Some systems work better than others.

Question 6

Which of the following is a main idea of the Structuration Theory?

A) Rules and resources are produced from people's interactions in their groups.
B) Challenging structures can cause a lack of cohesion among group members.
C) Only group leaders can change the structure of groups.
D) External information is the main driving force for changing the structure of a group.
E) Group leaders must be encouraged internally to change group structures.

Question 7

Your Dad calls you and your sisters into the kitchen so that you might all weigh in on that evening's menu-pizza or Chinese, ordered in, of course. You love the fact that he is always open to discussing matters and giving you some input, demonstrating the _______________communication strategy.

A) authoritarian
B) laissez-faire
C) FKB (Father Knows Best)
D) democratic/authoritative
E) permissive

Question 8

Your Mom has always been strict with you and your siblings, but now in your late teens, her "my way or the highway" approach to family communication has begun to grate on you. This ____________family communicating strategy has outlived its usefulness for you and your siblings.

A) authoritarian
B) laissez-faire
C) MKB (Mother Knows Best)
D) democratic/authoritative
E) permissive

Question 9

The Vice President of a Company told Martha, an intern, that to make her work better she needs to go into more detail about the research she has done. Which of the following C's for successful teamwork is in play in this situation?

A) Clear expectations
B) Coordination
C) Context
D) Communication
E) Control

Question 10

The sales teams get monthly bonuses based on their performance. This is an example of the use of _______ cohesion.

A) sentiment-based
B) reward-based
C) assignment-based
D) dependency-based
E) cash-based

Question 11

Who of the following professionals typically exercises informational power?

A) Cable guys
B) Physicians
C) Athletes
D) Cashiers
E) Dishwashers

Question 12

The members of a basketball team know which position to play because they are aware of _______ the team.

A) their ranks on
B) the norms of
C) their roles on
D) the controls of
E) the expectations of

Question 13

Army recruiters go into a high school and assemble groups of students to talk about the options available to young recruits fresh out of school. These are examples of ______ groups.

A) skill-building
B) information-presentation
C) participant-driven
D) decision-making
E) future-planning

Question 14

Which of the following is one of the three most common leadership styles?

A) Paternalistic Leadership
B) Republican Leadership
C) Laissez-faire Leadership
D) Autodictate Leadership
E) Critical Leadership

Question 15

The battle of egos in your study group has become so bad that nothing is getting done and you are forced to report to your professor that your group will not meet the requirements of the assignment and must be dissolved. Your group has suffered ________.

A) group breakdown
B) the hurting stage of conflict
C) resignation
D) team disbanding
E) a stunning humiliation

Question 16

One of the reasons your project group did not meet the requirements of the assignment and had to be dissolved was that its rules and expectations had not been clearly defined or established. The group failed, in part, because it suffered ________.

A) normative confusion
B) rank ineffectiveness
C) groupthink
D) system failure
E) information paucity

Question 17

When some voices in a group were suppressed because of pressure from others, resulting in a lack of thoughtful examination of the assigned task, the group failed, in part, because it suffered ________.

A) normative confusion
B) rank ineffectiveness
C) groupthink
D) system failure
E) information paucity

Question 18

One reason a group might not meet the requirements of an assignment and have to be dissolved is the failure of leadership to control egos. In cases like this, the group fails, in part, because it suffers from ________.

A) normative confusion
B) rank ineffectiveness
C) groupthink
D) system failure
E) information paucity

Question 19

___________ is the process of your family, through interaction with its members, teaching you to become a functioning member of the family.

A) Group think
B) Coercive power
C) Extortion
D) Indoctrination
E) Socialization

Question 20

It's at the _______ stage in group development that teams typically experience and handle conflict.

A) norming
B) performing
C) storming
D) forming
E) adjourning

Question 21

___________ power is based primarily on a leader's status.

A) coercive
B) informational
C) legitimate
D) connectional
E) athletic

Question 22

________ theory maintains that working together as a group will have better results than an individual effort.

A) Structuration
B) Systems
C) Social Penetration
D) Uncertainty Reduction
E) Relational Dialectics

Question 23

Which of the following is a type of task-oriented group?

A) A system
B) Secondary
C) Primary
D) Skill-Building
E) Family

Question 24

Which of the following is another example of a task-oriented group?

A) Friday night poker group
B) Ladies' bridge club
C) Cancer support group
D) College suitemates
E) Husband and wife

Question 25

Which of the following is a dynamic of group structure, a part of how groups structure themselves to achieve their goals?

A) Ranks
B) Contract
C) Authority
D) System
E) Members

Question 26

Your group has reached the _______ stage of group development. Folks are finally working together toward your common goal. They've put their disagreements behind and they've settled on how to best complete the assigned task.

A) forming
B) norming
C) storming
D) performing
E) adjourning

Question 27

Your group is really humming now. The personalities have meshed and the procedures for getting the task done are in place and agreed upon. Your group is in the _______ stage of group development.

A) forming
B) norming
C) storming
D) performing
E) adjourning

Question 28

The _________ leadership style typically encourages full and equal participation among individuals in the group.

A) authoritarian
B) laissez-faire
C) democratic
D) coercive
E) meandering

Question 29

You and your fellow crewmates are new to sailing, so trusting her knowledge and experience, you quite willingly follow the orders of the boat's skipper, a 20-year sailing veteran. In other words, she is exercising ________ power over you.

A) legitimate
B) expert
C) coercive
D) informational
E) athletic

Question 30

You and your fellow crewmates are new to sailing, so trusting her knowledge and experience, you quite willingly follow the orders of the boat's skipper. But as you watch her, you learn that she is actually a very bad sailor. But you must follow her commands because she is indeed the captain. In other words, she is exercising ________ power over you.

A) legitimate
B) expert
C) coercive
D) informational
E) athletic

Question 31

__________ is generally a product of authoritarian leadership.

A) Shared control
B) More creativity
C) Less rigidity
D) High morale
E) No member input

Question 32

___________ is generally one product of laissez-faire leadership.

A) Strict guidance
B) Less efficiency
C) A clearly defined set of expectations
D) Complete control
E) Strong guidance

Question 33

You've been elected to head your club's entertainment committee and the first thing you do is discuss with your fellow group members how the assignment they've been given impacts them and you lay out how you plan to reward their achievements. An effective leader, you are _______________.

A) encouraging each member to vocalize his or her feelings about the project
B) allowing the members to develop a sense of ownership in the committee's goal
C) working toward building group cohesion
D) reminding your colleagues that everyone benefits from a successful outcome
E) laying out the expected rewards for good work

Question 34

You're leader of your club's entertainment committee. To ensure that your group performs at its best you look for commonalities among group members, hoping to determine the factors that bind them should you need that information later to resolve conflict. An effective leader, you are _______________.

A) encouraging each member to vocalize his or her feelings about the project
B) allowing the members to develop a sense of ownership in the committee's goal
C) working toward building group cohesion
D) reminding your colleagues that everyone benefits from a successful outcome
E) laying out the expected rewards for good work

Question 35

_____________ groups offer their members affection and a sense of belonging.

A) Task-oriented
B) Well-functioning
C) Participant-driven
D) Primary
E) Athletic

Question 36

Group members bound by ______ cohesion rely on the relational closeness of its members.

A) reward-based
B) dependency-based
C) assignment-based
D) sentiment-based
E) goal-based

Question 37

Group members bound by ______ cohesion rely on their commitment to meeting their group's goals.

A) reward-based
B) dependency-based
C) assignment-based
D) sentiment-based
E) goal-based

Question 38

Which scenario best explains normative confusion?

A) Your professor emails the class to say that day's session is canceled but provides no reason.
B) Your group leader fails to explain what's expected of each member at the group's next meeting.
C) Your friend is confused on how to get the right answer on a math problem.
D) Your soccer team's captain forgot to tell you about the team's barbeque party.
E) You are not sure if meetings should open with a hug or a simple handshake.

Question 39

Which scenario best illustrates an example of a skill-building groups?

A) Sandy attending a finance club on campus to learn more about finance.
B) Mark participating in a writing workshop to improve his writing.
C) Rosie going to a conference to speak on health awareness.
D) Andrew facilitating a community service project.
E) Rosie going to a conference to listen to a talk on health awareness.

Question 40

Which one of the following groups would most likely use the most formal group communication?

A) Club Entertainment Committee
B) Friends and Family
C) Army Unit
D) Jury
E) Intermural softball team

Question 41

Which one of the following groups would most likely use the least formal group communication?

A) Club Entertainment Committee
B) Friends/Family
C) Army Unit
D) Starbucks Baristas
E) Intermural softball team

Question 42

___________, how we and others rely on and are influenced by one another, is essential to group success.

A) Interdependence
B) Friendship
C) Reliance
D) Affiliation
E) Representation

Question 43

Structuration Theory asserts that our interactions with our fellow group members not only rely on the group's established structures, but as we interact within those structures we ______________.

A) bring noise into the system
B) reproduce or reinforce those structures
C) structure, or build, stronger interpersonal relationships
D) defer to leadership more than is necessary
E) form group alliances

Question 44

A jury is a good example of a(n) ___________ group.

A) decision-making
B) participant-driven
C) information-presentation
D) skill-building
E) primary

Question 45

Systems sustain and regulate themselves to achieve their intended outcome through communication. The parts interact with one another, and as one part changes in response to that communication, so too does the other, resulting in change by the first part. In this way __________ is/are created.

A) affiliations
B) goal orientation
C) feedback loops
D) hierarchies
E) associations

Question 46

Systems are characterized by, among other things, their ___________.

A) goal-orientation
B) reliance on strong leadership
C) imperfection
D) tendency toward groupthink
E) entropy

Question 47

You ask your Mom if you can borrow the car and she says, "I don't care. Ask your father." So you ask him and he says, "Whatever." Your parents are practitioners of the ________ leadership style.

A) authoritarian
B) democratic
C) laissez-faire
D) hierarchical
E) meandering

Question 48

The fact that systems can and frequently do change because of input from outside the system itself suggests that well-functioning systems ___________.

A) have goal-orientation
B) monitor their environment
C) have feedback loops
D) have a tendency toward groupthink
E) can suffer entropy

Question 49

For better or for worse, _________ can be an important factor in contributing to the exercise of ___________ power.

A) punishment/referent
B) attractiveness/referent
C) punishment/expert
D) attractiveness/expert
E) cash/informational

Question 50

Briefly describe each of the four types of task-oriented groups and offer an example of each.

Question 51

List and describe the three problematic communication failures that can contribute to group breakdown and offer an example of each and how it might contribute to that breakdown.

Question 52

List and describe four types of group cohesion. Offer an example of a group that might rely on each form of cohesion and why that form of cohesion seems well suited for that type of group.

Question 53

List the five stages of group development in order and briefly explain what is going on in the group at each stage.

Question 54

Differentiate between coercive power and reward power. When might one be more effective than the other? Give examples.

Question 55

Your group is having trouble listening and sharing opinions for their class project. Many members are not sharing their thoughts because they are feeling pressured. In an essay, discuss the stage of group development your group is currently in, what is happening in this stage, why it is happening, and then suggest some ways the group can work to improve their in-group communication and move to the next stage of group development.

Question 56

Select a group you have led or might lead and indicate your preferred leadership style for that role. Explain why you think your chosen style will be effective. What are the possible downsides to this style of leadership in this group? How might you overcome them?

Question 57

Your group is having a terrible time making progress toward completing its project for Comm class. There are you, the self-appointed leader (although there didn't seem to be any objection), two members who seem to be trying their best, one who seems competent but a bit disinterested, and a final member who is just plain unpleasant. You are only 2 weeks into the assignment and it is due in 2 more weeks. Take the 5 of 12 suggestions for improving group communication that you think would be of most value to you in this situation and explain how you would move your group to successful completion of its goal.

Question 58

How are primary and task-oriented groups similar; how do they differ? Analyze their different purposes, the forms each can take, and use examples to support your discussion.

Question 59

Describe the basic premise of structuration theory, paying particular attention to the duality of structure. Use structuration theory to explain the functioning of a real of hypothetical group and changes that came about (or might have come about) because of participants' interactions.