Deck 1: Communication Competence in Groups

Question 1

Which of the following are communication myths?

A) All problems in groups can be solved by members acting competently.
B) No amount of skills training will be meaningful without understanding the complexities of the communication process.
C) Effective communication is just common sense.
D) Both a and c

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Asian cultures are typically

A) collectivist and emphasize cooperation.
B) individualist and competitive.
C) collectivist and competitive.
D) individualist and cooperative.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

When does a small group become a large group?

A) When membership reaches 12 persons
B) When the group is larger than 7 members
C) When everyone in the group is a stranger
D) There is no exact line of demarcation that specifies when a group becomes large.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The We-not-Me orientation of the communication competence model means that

A) your family rarely makes sacrifices for any individual family member.
B) your individual goals should not be met within a group context.
C) your independence is more important than the well-being of your relationship with your group members.
D) when your personal goal to spend time alone hiking in Death Valley clashes with your family's goal to spend time together at the beach tossing a frisbee and watching the family dog chase seagulls, the family goal will usually receive priority.

Question 5

Hindsight bias is

A) giving too much emphasis to information that is current and not enough emphasis to information that is older.
B) letting past accomplishments overly influence present choices made in groups.
C) allowing past events to dictate present decisions.
D) the tendency to look back after the fact or when an outcome has been revealed and say, "I knew that all along."

Question 6

Ethical standards for determining competent communication include

A) providing choice where possible.
B) sound judgment.
C) decision-making competence.
D) evaluating the sender of the message.

Question 7

When one group member says to another in a frustrated tone of voice, "Your report must be on my desk tomorrow," that group member

A) exhibits communication incompetence.
B) engages in unethical communication.
C) may be communicating incompetently, but it can't be determined until the context is known.
D) All of the above

Question 8

Effectiveness of our communication as one variable of competent communication

A) is Me oriented, not We oriented.
B) varies from deficiency to proficiency.
C) is determined as either competent or incompetent based on goal achievement.
D) is manifested as a concern for self.

Question 9

Which of the following contributes strongly to grouphate?

A) Frequent meetings that accomplish little
B) Conducting group meetings incompetently
C) Social loafing of some members
D) All of the above

Question 10

Commitment is one of the general ways to improve your communication competence in groups. This commitment means

A) knowing a lot about group communication.
B) exhibiting skillful communication in a variety of contexts.
C) exhibiting sensitivity to other group members.
D) demonstrating a passion for excellence, a strong desire to improve your communication with other group members.

Question 11

Reasons for the prevalence of grouphate include

A) incompatibility of group members.
B) feeling "stuck with all the work" while other members do little or nothing.
C) the time-consuming nature of group work.
D) All of the above

Question 12

"Communication is transactional." This means that

A) each person communicating is either a sender or a receiver.
B) each person communicating is both a sender and receiver simultaneously.
C) senders of messages influence receivers, but receivers do not influence senders.
D) None of the above

Question 13

Which of the following is a difference between small groups and large organizations? There is

A) greater formality in organizations.
B) greater chance of information distortion in organizations.
C) greater flow of negative information to the top of the organizational hierarchy.
D) Both a and b

Question 14

Communication competence is defined as engaging in communication with others that is both

A) effective and dynamic.
B) effective and appropriate.
C) appropriate and powerful.
D) elaborate and sensitive.

Question 15

If you were describing a collectivist culture you would use words such as

A) independence and competitiveness.
B) privacy and individuality.
C) community and loyalty.
D) All of the above

Question 16

In a collectivist culture, typically

A) self-promotion to get employment is encouraged.
B) competition not cooperation is emphasized.
C) personal goals are less important than advancing the goals of a valued group.
D) All of the above

Question 17

Sensitivity as presented in the communication competence model means

A) receptive accuracy whereby you can detect, decode, and comprehend signals and emotional cues.
B) treating everyone in a group with respect and compassion.
C) a persistent effort to achieve goals and produce excellence.
D) Both a and b

Question 18

A small group is

A) composed of two or more individuals.
B) composed of no more than seven members.
C) an aggregation of individuals waiting in line to buy tickets.
D) None of the above

Question 19

Ethnocentrism is

A) the perception that all cultures share a common core of beliefs and values.
B) the view that no culture should be perceived as inferior to any other.
C) the belief that one's own culture is superior to others.
D) Both a and c

Question 20

Which of the following are essential values that should serve as ethical guides for our communication in groups?

A) Honesty
B) Respect
C) Choice
D) Fairness

Question 21

Communication competence is

A) a matter of degree.
B) Me-oriented, not We-oriented.
C) dependent on appropriateness.
D) one way to combat grouphate.

Question 22

The individualism-collectivism continuum is an important dimension for comparing cultures. According to research, which of the following can be said regarding this continuum?

A) Most people in the world live in strongly individualist cultures.
B) Individualist cultures tend to emphasize the autonomy of the individual and collectivist cultures tend to emphasize commitment to groups.
C) Americans should strive to be far more collectivist than individualist.
D) In most cultures, either individualism or collectivism tends to predominate.

Question 23

"Communication is transactional" means that

A) senders transmit information to receivers, but not vice versa.
B) senders and receivers enter into a relationship any time they communicate.
C) communication involves both content and relationship dimensions of messages.
D) each party to the communication acts as either a sender or a receiver but not both.

Question 24

Which of the following steps can enhance adaptation to cultural diversity in groups?

A) Embracing ethnocentrism
B) Embracing diversity
C) Reducing uncertainty
D) Style shifting

Question 25

Communication appropriateness is defined as how well the group progresses toward the achievement of goals.

Question 26

Interrupting an interview by a search panel to answer a cell phone is an example of inappropriate communication because common rules and expectations for how one should conduct oneself during a job interview are violated.

Question 27

Ethical standards for competent communication of honesty, respect, fairness, choice, and responsibility should be applied absolutely, with no exceptions.

Question 28

Most Americans have a common tendency to overestimate their communication proficiency in groups.

Question 29

A mixed message occurs when you assume that other group members have the same meaning for a word as you do without checking to see if differences exist.

Question 30

We tend to overestimate our prior knowledge on a subject such as group communication once we have been told the correct answers. This is called the hindsight bias.

Question 31

If groups are to succeed, individual goals and agendas should be of secondary, not primary importance.

Question 32

All cultures are ethnocentric to some degree.

Question 33

Designating a group member as a "competent communicator" is a judgment of that individual's inherent, natural, communication capabilities that the person is simply born with.

Question 34

Communication becomes inappropriate if it violates rules and expectations of the group when such violations could have been avoided without sacrificing a goal by choosing different communication behaviors.

Question 35

Communication is simply a process of sending messages to receivers.

Question 36

One of the difficulties with communicating in virtual groups is the absence of nonverbal cues that typically accompany verbal messages.

Question 37

Context is a central element for determining communication competence.

Question 38

Appropriateness means complying with rules and their accompanying expectations.

Question 39

To be effective you need to combine knowledge with skill.

Question 40

A dyad is another name for a group.

Question 41

Grouphate is a problem in all groups.

Question 42

Communication can solve all problems in groups if group members would simply try hard enough to be competent communicators.

Question 43

The two dimensions of every message are its content and the relationship element.

Question 44

Joseph says to Carolyn, "You shouldn't have missed our last group meeting." Carolyn replies, "Well, look who appointed himself group emperor. I missed the meeting because I was sick in bed, so back off." The content of this interchange is the issue of missing a meeting and the relationship element is the conflict and tension that is apparent from the way Carolyn responds.

Question 45

The meaning of words depends on common agreement of users.

Question 46

A group is defined as a collaborative collection of individuals who refrain from becoming adversarial.

Question 47

Mixed messages occur when there is positive verbal and negative nonverbal communication, or vice versa, at the same time.

Question 48

The two main variables that define communication competence are effectiveness and appropriateness.

Question 49

You communicate via email with a friend in another country. This is an example of a virtual team.

Question 50

You are at the beach working on developing a nice case of skin cancer for your later years. You ask three strangers sitting next to you if they would each like to have a Coke from your cooler. They say yes, take a Coke, and return to their beach blankets and become sun potatoes. For that brief time, the four of you constituted a group.

Question 51

Language is a structured system of symbols for sharing meaning.

Question 52

Research shows that one of the biggest challenges facing virtual groups with members from various countries is mastering English, the dominant language of the Internet.

Question 53

Both verbal and nonverbal communication can be ambiguous, resulting in serious misunderstandings.

Question 54

The Platinum Rule says, "Treat others as you would like to be treated."