Deck 3: Interpersonal Communication and Perception

Question 1

________ is the process by which we decide what people are like and give meaning to their actions.

A)Empathy
B)Perception
C)Interaction
D)Interpersonal perception.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Organizing stimuli makes it possible for us to

A)attribute positive qualities to individuals we like.
B)direct our attention to specific stimuli.
C)give meaning to the stimuli we select.
D)process complex information.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The ability to thin-slice with accuracy can be developed through

A)learning how to be more perceptive and other-oriented.
B)improving one's ability to decentre.
C)improving empathy.
D)practicing sympathy and empathy.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

What process is involved when we direct our attention to specific elements of our environment and ignore others?

A)perception
B)selective attention
C)selective exposure
D)thin slicing

Question 5

A woman observes what she believes is her husband flirting with the waitress at a restaurant where the couple is having dinner.The husband claims he only smiled at the waitress and that in any case, it was because his wife was acting angry anyway.The wife says she was angry because he was flirting.The disagreement about what happened can best be explained by which process in the organizing stage of the perception process.

A)punctuating
B)superimposing
C)attritbution
D)closure

Question 6

Which of the following is NOT one of John Gottman's four predictors of divorce?

A)defensiveness
B)stonewalling
C)criticism
D)conflict

Question 7

Observing a small slice of someone's behaviour and then making a generalization based on that behaviour is called

A)selective attention.
B)thin slicing.
C)selective exposure.
D)selective recall.

Question 8

Selective exposure is the process

A)of focusing on specific stimuli.
B)of putting ourselves in situations that reinforce our attitudes, beliefs, values, or behaviours.
C)that occurs when we remember things we want to remember and forget or repress things that are uncomfortable, unpleasant, or unimportant to us.
D)of observing a small sample of someone's behaviour and then making a generalization about what the person is like based on that sample.

Question 9

________ is the process of making sense out of stimuli by grouping, dividing, organizing, separating, and categorizing information.

A)Superimposing
B)Seeking closure
C)Thin-slicing
D)Punctuating

Question 10

That our perception of the world is not accurate is best explained by

A)the fact that we organize information based on categories that are recognizable to us.
B)the fact that perception is a four-stage process.
C)the fact that we base what we see, hear, or make sense of in the world around us based on a host of factors such as our personality, beliefs, attitudes, hopes, fears, culture, likes, and dislikes.
D)the fact that we need to experience something before we can make sense of it.

Question 11

________ is the process that occurs when we remember things we want to remember and forget or repress things that are uncomfortable, or unpleasant, or unimportant to us.

A)Selective attention
B)Selective exposure
C)Selective recall
D)Thin slicing

Question 12

When we place a familiar framework on information that may, at first look formless, we are

A)thin-slicing.
B)superimposing.
C)practicing selective exposure.
D)practicing selective recall.

Question 13

Interpersonal perception is

A)directing our attention to specific stimuli.
B)interpreting what others are like.
C)the arousal of any of our senses.
D)ignoring specific stimuli.

Question 14

The interpersonal perception process involves

A)creating halos and horns.
B)interpreting information gained passively and actively.
C)balancing the primacy and recency effects.
D)selecting, organizing, and interpreting information.

Question 15

Superimposing is the process of

A)making sense of stimuli by grouping, dividing, organizing, separating, and categorizing information.
B)filling in missing information.
C)placing a familiar structure on information you select.
D)observing a small sample of someone's behaviour and then making a generalization about what the person is like, based on that sample.

Question 16

________ is the process of understanding or making sense of sensory experiences..

A)Empathy
B)Perception
C)Interaction
D)Interpersonal perception

Question 17

Which of the following is NOT one of the four principles of selection?

A)selective attention
B)selective exposure
C)selective intention
D)selective recall

Question 18

Perception is defined as

A)the process of understanding or making sense of sensory experiences.
B)selecting, organizing and interpreting our observations.
C)directing attention to specific stimuli.
D)ignoring specific stimuli.

Question 19

Selective attention is the process

A)of focusing on specific stimuli.
B)of putting ourselves in situations that reinforce our attitudes, beliefs, values, or behaviours.
C)that occurs when we remember things we want to remember and forget or repress things that are uncomfortable, unpleasant, or unimportant to us.
D)of observing a small sample of someone's behaviour and then making a generalization about what the person is like based on that sample.

Question 20

After stimuli are selected, the next stage of the perception process is to

A)organize.
B)interpret.
C)simplify.
D)select.

Question 21

You recall the joke that the speaker told at the beginning of her speech, but you remember little else.This is an example of

A)the primacy effect.
B)the halo effect.
C)the recency effect.
D)the horn effect.

Question 22

What was documented in Solomon Asch's famous study on impression formation theory?

A)implicit personality theory
B)the primacy effect
C)causal attribution
D)fundamental attribution

Question 23

After we have selected and organized stimuli, the last part of the perception process is

A)decide if we like or dislike the person.
B)consider what we still need to know about the person.
C)plan our own approach to the person.
D)attach meaning to all we have observed.

Question 24

You have car trouble.You decide to get out and walk because you believe that no one will stop to help you.This belief about people exemplifies

A)your causal attribution theory.
B)your implicit personality theory.
C)your set of personal constructs.
D)your correspondent inference theory.

Question 25

When your parents look at you carefully and wait for you to tell them what time you got home the previous night, which type of perception is in operation?

A)active perception
B)reflexive perception
C)passive perception
D)personal perception

Question 26

You are talking to a friend about your problem partner.After a break in the conversation, your friend started talking about a recent movie.You are hurt because the topic was switched.This exemplifies differences in

A)selective perception.
B)stereotypes.
C)patterns.
D)punctuations.

Question 27

You shake hands with someone and notice that the hands are hard and callused.You might infer that this person worked with his hands.And since he is wearing coveralls, you assume he is a farmer.Which stage of the perceptual process would be reflected in this example?

A)selecting or simplifying stimuli
B)organizing or imposing structure
C)interpreting or attributing meaning
D)responding or expressing understanding

Question 28

When we have an incomplete picture of another person, according to the organizing stage of perception, we

A)base our perception on the last information we acquired about the person.
B)consider whether we like or dislike the person.
C)impose a structure, and fill in the gaps based on what we do know about the person.
D)draw conclusions about what we do know.

Question 29

"MRRY ChRSTMS!" exemplifies what type of organizing?

A)linking
B)selecting
C)superimposing
D)seeking closure

Question 30

If you were told that the following equations were correct (12 + 4 = 4; 11 + 2 = 1), but had trouble understanding how they could be, until you were told that you were adding hours on a clock, which principle of organizing and imposing structure would be involved?

A)patterning
B)punctuating
C)superimposing
D)closure

Question 31

Filling in the gaps is referred to as

A)impression formation.
B)closure.
C)stereotyping.
D)punctuation.

Question 32

Attending to the first pieces of information that we observe about a person exemplifies

A)the primacy effect.
B)the halo effect.
C)the recency effect.
D)the horn effect.

Question 33

The manner in which we organize information depends in part on the way we

A)punctuate information.
B)select information.
C)attribute information.
D)interpret information.

Question 34

The implicit personality theory

A)allows us to attribute specific qualities to each person we know.
B)provides us with reasons to explain others' behaviours.
C)allows us to make sense of people we do not know well.
D)assists us in determining the intentionality of others' behaviours.

Question 35

The influence exerted on us by the most recent piece of information we receive about or from another person is called

A)the halo effect.
B)the primacy effect.
C)the horn effect.
D)the recency effect.

Question 36

Information that we acquire simply because our senses are operating comes to use through

A)active perception.
B)impression formation.
C)punctuation.
D)passive perception.

Question 37

Edgar is a first year university student living in residence.He is confused and uncertain about where he is supposed to go for dinner.He spots several of the residents of his dorm leaving his floor and going down stairs, which he concludes that since it's about dinner time, must be in the direction of the cafeteria.He decides to follow and see if they lead him to the cafeteria.Which of the following processes is Edgar most likely employing?

A)interpersonal perception
B)active perception
C)selective perception
D)passive perception

Question 38

Active perception occurs because

A)our sense are operating.
B)we want to confirm our like or dislike for another person.
C)it is important to confirm our won self-concept.
D)we are motivated to select particular information.

Question 39

Your own set of beliefs and hypotheses about what people are like represent

A)implicit personality theory.
B)correspondent inference theory.
C)causal attribution theory.
D)self-fulfilling prophecy.

Question 40

You don't remember much of the lecture except for the instructor's last words: "All of today's material will be covered on the exam." This exemplifies

A)the primacy effect.
B)the halo effect.
C)the recency effect.
D)the horn effect.

Question 41

Because you like Jo, you just assume that she is intelligent, warm, friendly, and gets good grades.You are demonstrating

A)the recency effect.
B)the horn effect.
C)the primacy effect.
D)the halo effect.

Question 42

To attribute a number of positive qualities to individuals we like is called

A)the horn effect.
B)the self-fulfilling prophecy.
C)the halo effect.
D)the recency effect.

Question 43

Polar opposites such as friendly or unfriendly, intelligent or unintelligent, graceful or clumsy, funny or serious, etc.exemplify

A)impressions.
B)cognitive complexity.
C)personal constructs.
D)personal attitudes.

Question 44

When you witness an exchange of angry words between a friend and a store clerk and you assume that the store clerk said something that set your friend off, you are attributing to

A)circumstance.
B)stimulus.
C)person.
D)intentionality.

Question 45

Attributing to the person means

A)you believe there is something about the person him/herself that caused the behaviour.
B)you believe your friend had no choice.
C)you believe the behaviour was caused by another person.
D)you believe the behaviour was based on intentionality.

Question 46

Which perception theory identifies the circumstance, a stimulus, or the person as the potential cause for one's actions?

A)correspondent inference theory
B)indirect perception checking
C)causal attribution theory
D)implicit personality theory

Question 47

When we are attempting to determine if a person's actions are caused by a circumstance, a stimulus, or a person, we are using which theory?

A)causal attribution theory
B)correspondent inference theory
C)indirect perception checking
D)implicit personality theory

Question 48

Your friend walks past you without speaking to you.You conclude that because your friend is taking an overload of classes this semester, s/he is preoccupied and did not see you.This illustrates

A)your unwillingness to categorize your friend according to another personal construct.
B)the degree of complexity of your set of personal constructs.
C)your set of beliefs of what people are like.
D)how we try to explain the motives and causes of people's behaviour.

Question 49

________ allow us to categorize people into one or two groups of opposites.

A)Impressions
B)Personal inferences
C)Attributions
D)Personal constructs

Question 50

The theory that suggests that a person's social position, power, or cultural background, influences how the person perceives the behavior other others is called

A)implicit personality theory.
B)impression formation theory.
C)standpoint theory.
D)attribution theory.

Question 51

The specific qualities or attributes we associate with each person we know are called

A)attributes.
B)constructs.
C)the horn effect.
D)personal constructs.

Question 52

When you are in heavy traffic and the car in front of you swerves to avoid something that you assume was glass, an animal, or something else in the road, which aspect of causal attribution theory are you using?

A)person
B)stimulus
C)construct
D)circumstance

Question 53

A/n ________ is a bipolar quality that we use to classify people.

A)construct
B)attribute
C)impression
D)implicit personality theory

Question 54

When we over-attribute the qualities of another person that are obvious and superficial, we are experiencing which of the barriers to accurate perception?

A)ignoring information
B)causation
C)irrelevancy
D)seeing good or bad

Question 55

The horn effect is defined as

A)attributing negative qualities to those we dislike.
B)remembering the most recent information we have learned about another person.
C)attributing positive qualities to those we like.
D)remembering the first information we learned about another person.

Question 56

Your friend hardly spoke at a party you both attended.You are not surprised, since you know your friend is shy.You are attributing

A)circumstance.
B)stimulus.
C)person.
D)intentionality.

Question 57

The theory that relates to the interpretation stage of the perception process is

A)implicit personality theory.
B)attribution theory.
C)correspondent inference theory.
D)personal constructs.

Question 58

Attributing to circumstance means

A)you place responsibility for an action outside of the person.
B)you place responsibility for an action with another person.
C)you place responsibility for an action with the person him/herself.
D)you place responsibility for an action based on degree of intentionality.

Question 59

Which statement is NOT an accurate description of Standpoint theory:

A)a framework that explains how we interpret the behaviour of others.
B)people with differing cultural backgrounds have different perceptions of others behaviours.
C)teaches us how to completely understand another person's actions.
D)where we stand makes a difference in what you see.

Question 60

Explaining someone's behaviour as an emotional reaction to another's behaviour is attributing to

A)circumstance.
B)stimulus.
C)person.
D)intentionality.

Question 61

Your interpersonal communication instructor typically greets the class with a cheery "good morning." When your instructor omits the greeting and instead launches into the day's lecture, you conclude the instructor must have thought he already greeted the class.You are attributing according to which of the barriers to accurate perception?

A)ignoring information
B)fundamental attribution error
C)imposing consistency
D)overgeneralizing

Question 62

You believe that if a person acted a certain way one day he or she will continue to act that way in the future, even though everyone's behaviour varies from day to day.You are exhibiting which of the barriers to accurate perception?

A)overgeneralizing
B)imposing consistency
C)oversimplifying
D)stereotyping

Question 63

When we base an explanation about another person's behaviour based on his or her age, we are experiencing which of the barriers to accurate perception?

A)irrelevancy
B)self-serving bias
C)ignoring information
D)negative focus

Question 64

When you friend Susan forgets to call you on your 21st birthday, and you believe that she doesn't care that much about you over her explanation. Which barrier to accurate perception are you experiencing?

A)oversimplifying
B)blaming: assuming that others have control
C)overgeneralizing
D)Sereotyping

Question 65

According to the barrier, when imposing consistency,

A)we diminish the effect of external circumstances.
B)we ignore the fact that people's behaviour changes from day to day.
C)we give more weight to negative than to positive information.
D)we treat irrelevant information as if it were relevant.

Question 66

We use the barrier of ________ because we tend to find complex explanations less believable and harder to use to make sense of another's actions.

A)overgeneralizing
B)ignoring information
C)oversimplifying
D)stereotyping

Question 67

When we overestimate the consistency and constancy of others' behaviours we are

A)preconceiving.
B)ignoring circumstances.
C)imposing consistency.
D)overgeneralizing.

Question 68

The barrier focusing on the negative means

A)to distort our attributions to match our like or dislike for another person.
B)to give more weight to negative information rather than positive information.
C)to treat irrelevant information as it were relevant.
D)to treat small amounts of information as if there were highly representative.

Question 69

Based on your acquaintance with one member of the campus Camera Club, you draw conclusions about all of the other members of the club.You are experiencing which of the barriers to accurate perception?

A)causation
B)negative focus
C)imposing consistency
D)overgeneralizing

Question 70

When we are typically unwilling to make sufficient effort to understand another person's circumstances we are experiencing the barrier

A)ignoring information.
B)overgeneralizing.
C)stereotyping.
D)oversimplifying.

Question 71

You tend to explain the motives for a person's actions on the basis of the most obvious information rather than on in-depth information we might have.Which of the barriers to accurate perception is influencing you?

A)focusing on the negative
B)ignoring information
C)overgeneralizing
D)imposing consistency

Question 72

When we place someone in a rigid category and then interpret all the person's behavior from the framework of that category, what perceptual process are we using?

A)imposing consistency
B)sterotyping
C)focusing on the negative
D)oversimplifying

Question 73

The barrier to accurate perception called "stereotyping" means that

A)we rely on our pre-existing rigid expectations about others to influence our perceptions.
B)we overestimate the consistency of another's behaviour.
C)we distort information that violates our perceptions.
D)we prefer simple explanations to complex ones.

Question 74

When we overgeneralize, we

A)treat irrelevant information as if it were relevant.
B)treat small amounts of information as if they were highly representative.
C)prefer simple explanations to complex explanations.
D)rely on preexisting ideas about causes and effects.

Question 75

We compensate for the bias of focusing on the negative by

A)seeking relevant information about another person.
B)refusing to rely on pre-existing ideas about causes and effects.
C)sharing only positive information about ourselves when first meeting another person.
D)considering the validity of complex explanations from others.

Question 76

When we place people into inflexible categories and "print" the same judgments on anyone placed into a given category we are experiencing

A)ignoring information
B)oversimplifying.
C)focusing on the negative
D)stereotyping.

Question 77

Your friend Susan arrives late at your birthday party and explains that she missed the bus. Your other friend, Martin, also arrives late and explains that his cat got out, and he had to chase it down the street, where it promptly hid under a neighbour's porch. He couldn't coax it out, so he had to go back home, open a tin of cat food, put it by his neighbour's porch, and wait for the cat to come out.Once it did, he had to take it back home. You will probably believe Susan over Martin because of which barrier to accurate perception?

A)ignoring information
B)overgeneralizing
C)oversimplifying
D)stereotyping

Question 78

Your roommate spends several minutes detailing the reasons s/he did not meet you for lunch according to the plans you had made.You start tuning out her lengthy explanations.Which of the barriers to accurate perception is influencing you?

A)oversimplifying
B)imposing consistency
C)overgeneralizing
D)negative focus

Question 79

One piece of negative information can have a disproportionate effect on our impressions and negate the effect of several positive pieces of information.Which barrier to accurate perception does this describe?

A)self-serving bias
B)focusing on the negative
C)making fundamental attribution errors
D)imposing consistency

Question 80

The barrier to accurate perception called "oversimplifying" means

A)we treat irrelevant information as if it were relevant.
B)we prefer simple explanations to complex explanations.
C)we treat small amounts of information as if they were highly representative.
D)we tend to give more weight to negative than to positive information.