Deck 1: Foundations of Interpersonal Communication

Question 1

A state of mental awareness in which you're conscious of your reasons for thinking or communicating in a particular way is called _______.

A) mindlessness
B) competence
C) mindfulness
D) feedforward

Answer 1

mindfulness

Question 2

According to the interpersonal communication continuum, which of the following would fall closest to the impersonal end of the spectrum?

A) neighbors
B) parents and children
C) doctor and patient
D) taxi driver and passenger

Answer 2

D

Question 3

A________ is a well-established system of knowledge about how things work or how things are related that is supported by research findings.

A) law
B) theory
C) principle
D) belief

Answer 3

theory

Question 4

The_______ holds that satisfying relationships may be characterized by exchanging messages that are positive, person-focused, immediate, low in monitoring, and supportive.

A) theory of feedforward messages
B) feedback theory of relationships
C) ambiguity theory
D) metamessage theory

Question 5

the following characteristics, which one applies to computer-mediated communication?

A) Messages can be overheard by or repeated to a third party but not with complete accuracy.
B) You and the other person or people share the same physical space.
C) It is always your turn, speaker time is unlimited, and you can't be interrupted.
D) Impressions are based on verbal and nonverbal cues that the receiver receives.

Question 6

Using jargon, or overly complex terms, can contribute to ________ noise.

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

Question 7

What are two dimensions of context in interpersonal communication?

A) temporal and social-psychological
B) channel and noise
C) cultural and gestural-visual
D) social-psychological and semantic

Question 8

According to the interpersonal continuum, a father-son relationship operates in which of the following roles, rules, or messages?

A) social roles
B) rules of society
C) personally established rules
D) impersonal messages

Question 9

Daniel asks Erin out on a date. Erin must now decide what she will say, how she will say it, what she won't say, etc. Erin, then is being presented with _______.

A) feedback
B) physiological noise
C) choice points
D) metamessages

Question 10

Terrell responded to an email message that was sent to him the day before. This is an example of ________ communication.

A) convergent
B) synchronous
C) asynchronous
D) automatic

Question 11

Interpersonal competence refers to _______.

A) signals that serve as stimuli
B) your ability to communicate effectively
C) your motive in communicating
D) feedforward messages

Question 12

According to the text, it is NOT the _______ of communication you engage in, but the _______ that matters.

A) style; quantity
B) quality; quantity
C) quality; style
D) quantity; quality

Question 13

The________ view of ethics argues that what is or is not ethical depends on the culture's values and beliefs as well as the particular circumstances.

A) subjective
B) objective
C) absolute
D) cultural

Question 14

According to the text, what is meant by labeling two individuals as interdependent?

A) What one person does has an effect on the other.
B) The two individuals are free to make their own decisions.
C) What one person does has no effect on the other.
D) The two individuals must rely on each other to make important decisions.

Question 15

defined in the text, ________ is the verbal and nonverbal communication that takes place between two interdependent people.

A) interpersonal communication
B) self-disclosure
C) conversation
D) intrapersonal communication

Question 16

Metamessages are messages _______.

A) about other messages
B) that do not include feedback or feedforward
C) that include psychological noise
D) occurring only in the speaker's head

Question 17

________ refers to the act of producing messages, whereas ________ is the act of understanding them.

A) Encoding; decoding
B) Source; receiver
C) Person-focused; message-focused
D) Feedforward; feedback

Question 18

________ context refers to the beliefs and customs of the people communicating.

A) Cultural
B) Personal
C) Relational
D) Social-psychological

Question 19

In the term "signal-to-noise ratio" the word "signal" refers to _______.

A) what we ignore in a communication situation
B) what we find useful in a communication situation
C) what we classify as noise in a communication situation
D) the gatekeeping function of many people in communication situations

Question 20

Employers currently place _______ as the most desired skillset for potential employees.

A) job-specific skills
B) computer skills
C) public speaking
D) oral and written communication skills

Question 21

Punctuation is usually done to benefit _______.

A) the other person's self-esteem
B) one's self-image
C) the quality of stimuli and responses
D) the sequence of events

Question 22

According to the text, just one of the reasons it's so terrifying to tell a romantic partner that you love him or her for the first time is communication is _______.

A) a series of punctuated events
B) unrepeatable
C) irreversible
D) inevitable

Question 23

Which of the following messages would the text consider to contain the most ambiguity?

A) "I'll see you later."
B) "Let's just be friends."
C) "The restaurant is not expensive."
D) "I would rather get sushi than pasta."

Question 24

One study showed that more people felt like a lack of effective communication was more responsible for marriage failure than money and in-law interference.

Question 25

In a ________ relationship, the two individuals mirror each other's behavior.

A) complementary
B) symmetrical
C) dyadic
D) convergent

Question 26

Which of the following is an example of communication context?

A) The air conditioner rumbling caused Flora to miss part of Jodie's story.
B) Bob laughed at the joke.
C) Angela's meeting took place in the boardroom.
D) Susannah listened intently to Michael's suggestion for a policy change.

Question 27

Which of the following is TRUE of transactional communication?

A) It's always changing.
B) One person is the speaker and the other, the listener.
C) The elements are independent.
D) It's a linear process.

Question 28

Which of the following is the LEAST ambiguous?

A) "I'll be finished later."
B) "I'll be there in five minutes."
C) "I like that one restaurant in the city."
D) When someone from another culture smiles at you.

Question 29

Which of the following is an example of psychological noise while in class?

A) Someone coughing next to you.
B) Worrying about your grade on a test.
C) Having hearing loss.
D) Being confused by the meaning of a word.

Question 30

Interpersonal communication takes place between two independent people who are not necessarily connected in some way.

Question 31

The_______ holds that satisfying relationships may be characterized by exchanging messages that are positive, person-focused, immediate, low in monitoring, and supportive.

A) theory of feedforward messages
B) feedback theory of relationships
C) ambiguity theory
D) metamessage theory

Question 32

Messages that refer to the "real world" are called ________ messages.

A) relationship
B) objective
C) content
D) subjective

Question 33

Madison had a bad cell phone connection and couldn't understand the directions her friend was trying to tell her. This is an example of ________ noise.

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

Question 34

Poking someone on Facebook serves the purpose of _______.

A) playing
B) learning
C) influencing
D) relating

Question 35

________ can occur when a message can be interpreted as having more than one meaning.

A) Punctuation
B) Ambiguity
C) Unrepeatability
D) Irreversibility

Question 36

Which of the following is an example of feedback?

A) taking notes during lecture
B) deciding how to phrase a question
C) smiling and nodding your head at the speaker
D) being confused by an unfamiliar word in a lecture

Question 37

Interpersonal communication can take place in small, intimate groups such as families.

Question 38

Sending messages to your friends over Facebook is an example of interpersonal communication.

Question 39

"You never get a second chance to make a first impression" exemplifies the principle of _______.

A) inevitability
B) irreversibility
C) unrepeatability
D) ambiguity

Question 40

The relationship between a teacher and a student is an example of a _______ relationship.

A) symmetrical
B) ambiguous
C) complementary
D) convergent

Question 41

The study of interpersonal communication can benefit a person in social and professional areas. Discuss 3 specific benefits you hope to gain from this class, based on the information presented in Chapter 1.

Question 42

Using your own experiences as examples, discuss three differences between face-to-face and computer-mediated communication.

Question 43

Some degree of ambiguity exists in all interpersonal communication.

Question 44

Arguments over the content dimension of a message are easier to resolve than arguments concerning the relationship dimension.

Question 45

You are having trouble hearing your professor because people next to you are talking. This is an example of physical noise.

Question 46

Interpersonal communication can occur without messages being encoded and decoded.

Question 47

Interpersonal communication exists along a continuum that ranges from impersonal to highly personal. Using your own contrasting examples, explain the three characteristics that distinguish an impersonal relationship from an interpersonal one.

Question 48

A key element in practicing mindfulness is to rely primarily on first impressions.

Question 49

Research shows that men tend to focus on the relationship dimension of a message, whereas women tend to focus on the content dimension.

Question 50

It is impossible not to communicate.

Question 51

When Arlene is aggressive toward Ben, Ben is aggressive right back. This is an example of a complementary relationship.

Question 52

You can "take back" a message.

Question 53

Feedforward tells the speaker what effect she or he is having on listeners.

Question 54

Competent communicators communicate the same, regardless of situation or listener.

Question 55

George is wondering what Bill meant when he said, "This restaurant is not expensive." This is an example of encoding.

Question 56

Every communication act contains an ethical dimension.

Question 57

A father and son will operate on the basis of personally established rules instead of societal rules.

Question 58

In computer-mediated communication, it is always your turn and you cannot be interrupted.

Question 59

Signals that serve as stimuli are called communication channels.

Question 60

Think back to a time when you had a "miscommunication" with someone else. Using the elements of communication, describe the communication that took place and what element(s) led to the breakdown. What could have been changed to prevent the misunderstanding?

Question 61

Discuss what is meant by the sentence, "Interpersonal communication is inevitable, irreversible, and unrepeatable." Discuss how this is true in both face-to-face and online communication.