Question 1

A fellow student in one of your communication classes, Rose, starts acting particularly nice to you in the weeks leading up to the first exam. Classmates have frequently treated you this way in the past in the hope that you will help them study. As a result, you are suspicious of Rose's motives. In this scenario, you are likely basing your suspicions on:
A) personal experience
B) your knowledge of Rose
C) the closeness of your relationship with Rose
D) all of these

Accepted Answer

The suspicion is based on personal experience of classmates treating you nicely in the past with the motive of seeking help in studying. It is not based on the knowledge of Rose or the closeness of the relationship with her, as the scenario does not mention any such factors. Therefore, option A is the best choice.

Question 2

This is the ongoing process of making meaning from what we experience in our environment:
A) attribution
B) primacy
C) egocentrism
D) perception

Accepted Answer

Perception is the ongoing process of making meaning from what we experience in our environment. It involves selecting, organizing and interpreting sensory information to create a meaningful understanding of the world around us. Attribution refers to how we explain the causes of others’ behavior, primacy is the tendency to remember information that we encountered first, and egocentrism is the tendency to see the world from our own perspective. These concepts are related to but different from perception.

Question 3

Which of the following sequences accurately depicts the process of stereotype formation?
A) identify group membership apply generalization  act on prejudice
B) identify group membership act on prejudice  form group generalization
C) identify group membership recall group generalization  apply generalization
D) identify group membership recall group generalization  act on prejudice

Accepted Answer

Identifying group membership leads to recalling any generalizations associated with that group, which then influences the application of those generalizations to individuals from the group.

Question 4

People "see" faces in all sorts of natural phenomena, including clouds, tree bark, and even rocks on Mars. That is an example of which perception-making process?
A) egocentrism
B) perceptual set
C) positivity bias
D) recency effect

Accepted Answer

Perceptual set is the tendency to perceive things in a certain way based on previous experience and expectations. In this case, people's previous experiences and expectations lead them to see faces in natural phenomena such as clouds, tree bark, and rocks on Mars.

Question 5

You liked most everything about your new roommate when you first met, but when you found out she smokes, that overshadowed all of her good qualities in your mind. What perception-making process are you displaying here?
A) primacy effect
B) negativity bias
C) stereotyping
D) egocentrism

Accepted Answer

Negativity bias refers to the tendency of people to give more weight to negative experiences or traits than positive ones. In this scenario, the fact that the roommate smokes is seen as a highly negative trait that overshadows any positive qualities she may possess, indicating a negativity bias.

Question 6

Which of the following is NOT one of the influences on perceptual accuracy addressed in your textbook?
A) cultural background
B) social roles
C) co-cultural identity
D) genetic background

Accepted Answer

The textbook does not address genetic background as an influence on perceptual accuracy. It does discuss the importance of cultural background, social roles, and co-cultural identity in shaping how individuals perceive and interpret communication.

Question 7

Regarding the fundamental attribution error, which of the following statements is NOT true?
A) It refers to attributions we make for other people's behaviors, rather than our own.
B) We don't usually commit it when we are told that a person's behavior is externally caused.
C) It causes us to discount external, unstable causes for people's actions.
D) We commit it when we assume that another person's behavior is caused by internal, stable causes.

Accepted Answer

The statement "We don't usually commit it when we are told that a person's behavior is externally caused" is not true. Even when we are told that a person's behavior is externally caused, we may still commit the fundamental attribution error by assuming that the person's behavior reflects their internal characteristics rather than the situational factors affecting them.

Question 8

One of your hallmates, Ling, is an exchange student from Taiwan. Ling never goes out with the other students, goes to bed at 9:30 every night, and studies quietly in her room most of the time. You assume that Ling behaves the way she does because she is Asian. Which of the following attribution errors might you have committed?
A) self-serving bias
B) fundamental attribution error
C) overattribution
D) all of these

Accepted Answer

The answer of One of your hallmates, Ling, is an...

Question 9

Idealizing a romantic partner at the beginning of a new relationship is a common example of the __________ bias.
A) delusional
B) romantic
C) positivity
D) confirmatory

Accepted Answer

The positivity bias refers to the tendency for individuals to focus on and remember positive information more easily than negative information. Idealizing a romantic partner, or seeing only their positive qualities, is an example of this bias in the context of a new relationship.

Question 10

Angela had just been promoted to department chair at the college where she taught. Although she treated everyone the same, several of the male professors in the department were put off by Angela's requests. As a result, the female professors thought of Angela as fair and equitable in her treatment, but the male professors began resenting her and openly challenging her position on several issues. The male professors probably treated Angela that way because:
A) they were culturally insensitive to Angela's professional position
B) they perceived Angela's professional position as masculine and socially threatening
C) they were physiologically opposed to Angela's professional position
D) they were prejudiced against Angela because of her ethnicity

Accepted Answer

The male professors likely perceived Angela's professional position as masculine and socially threatening, leading to their resentment and opposition towards her. This is a common phenomenon known as gender bias or sexism, where individuals hold biases or prejudices towards others based on their gender.

Question 11

Which of the following processes is at work when we are able to recall only information that confirms our existing stereotypes?
A) stereotype recall bias
B) selective perception
C) selective memory bias
D) self-serving recall bias

Accepted Answer

Selective memory bias is the process by which we are more likely to remember information that confirms our existing beliefs or stereotypes and forget information that challenges them. This can lead to an incomplete understanding of a situation or individual.

Question 12

Many factors affect the likelihood that we will notice a certain object in our environment. Which of the following does not lead to increased attention?
A) plainness
B) unusualness
C) repetition
D) intensity

Accepted Answer

Plainness refers to an object being ordinary or unremarkable, which does not typically attract attention. Therefore, it does not lead to increased attention. Unusualness, repetition, and intensity, on the other hand, are known to increase attention.

Question 13

Samantha was a fantastic softball player, but she rarely took credit for her success. Every time a reporter from the school paper would ask her for a quote, Samantha would say, "I just got lucky today," or, "Their pitcher just gave me something I could hit." Which of these likely factors into Samantha's personality?
A) internal locus
B) external locus
C) negative attribution
D) self-serving bias

Accepted Answer

Samantha's tendency to attribute her success to external factors suggests an external locus of control, meaning she believes that outside factors such as luck or other people's actions are the primary determinants of her successes and failures.

Question 14

According to your text, the perception-making process consists of three stages. Which of the following is NOT among them?
A) interpretation
B) attribution
C) organization
D) selection

Accepted Answer

The perception-making process consists of three stages: selection (where one selects sensory information to process), organization (where they organize the selected information), and interpretation (where they interpret the meaning of the organized information). Attribution is not one of the stages of the perception-making process.

Question 15

An explanation for why something occurred is called a(n):
A) interpretation
B) selection
C) attribution
D) perceptual set

Accepted Answer

An explanation for why something occurred is referred to as attribution.

Question 16

Rick and Jamie recently started dating. To commemorate their first month as a couple, Rick surprised Jamie when he picked her up at work in a rented limousine with floor-level tickets to a concert. After the show, Rick was very upset because Jamie would barely speak to him. Jamie was also upset because she was planning on surprising Rick with a quiet dinner at home. After two days of angry fighting, the couple broke up. What was likely at the root of this conflict?
A) egocentrism
B) negativity bias
C) altercentrism
D) perceptual set differences

Accepted Answer

The answer of Rick and Jamie recently started dating. To...

Question 17

In which of the following instances might you have committed the self-serving bias?
A) You are quick to attribute your friend's behaviors to internal, stable causes
B) You say that your co-worker's successes are due only to blind luck
C) You say that most everything your roommate does is the result of his being an only child
D) You attribute all your failures to external, unstable causes

Accepted Answer

The self-serving bias involves attributing our successes to internal, stable causes (such as our own abilities and effort) and our failures to external, unstable causes (such as bad luck or difficult circumstances). Choice D fits this pattern by suggesting that the individual is not responsible for their failures and that external factors are to blame. Choices A, B, and C do not accurately reflect the self-serving bias.

Question 18

Which of the following statements is true with respect to the process of stereotyping?
A) Stereotypes are always unfair to women and minorities.
B) Stereotyping always leads to inaccurate assessments of others.
C) Stereotypes always cast people in a negative light.
D) Stereotypes are sometimes accurate.

Accepted Answer

While stereotypes can be harmful and unfair, they are sometimes accurate. Stereotypes are often based on some truth, but they can also be overgeneralized and applied too broadly to individuals. It is important to recognize the potential for stereotypes to bias our judgments and to challenge them when they are used to unfairly judge or discriminate against others.

Question 19

Which of the following statements is true with respect to perceptual accuracy?
A) Our perceptions almost always reflect reality as it is, with minimal distortion.
B) Culture may affect behavior but it does not usually influence perceptions of behavior.
C) Physiological characteristics, including our biological rhythms, affect perception accuracy.
D) All of these statements are false.

Accepted Answer

Physiological characteristics, such as our biological rhythms, can indeed affect how accurately we perceive the world around us. Factors like fatigue, hunger, and circadian rhythms can influence our sensory processing and interpretation, leading to variations in perceptual accuracy.

Question 20

During your first session of this class, your instructor introduced him or herself and you respected his or her position as an authoritative figure in the classroom. Which of the following classification schema likely helped you organize that information?
A) physical constructs
B) role constructs
C) interaction constructs
D) psychological constructs

Accepted Answer

Role constructs refer to the social positions and expectations associated with individuals in a specific context, such as a teacher being an authoritative figure in a classroom. Therefore, the classification schema that likely helped you organize the information about your instructor is role constructs.

Quiz 4: Interpersonal Perception

This is the ongoing process of making meaning from what we experience in our environment:

Which of the following sequences accurately depicts the process of stereotype formation?

People "see" faces in all sorts of natural phenomena, including clouds, tree bark, and even rocks on Mars. That is an example of which perception-making process?

You liked most everything about your new roommate when you first met, but when you found out she smokes, that overshadowed all of her good qualities in your mind. What perception-making process are you displaying here?

Which of the following is NOT one of the influences on perceptual accuracy addressed in your textbook?

Regarding the fundamental attribution error, which of the following statements is NOT true?

Idealizing a romantic partner at the beginning of a new relationship is a common example of the __________ bias.

Which of the following processes is at work when we are able to recall only information that confirms our existing stereotypes?

Many factors affect the likelihood that we will notice a certain object in our environment. Which of the following does not lead to increased attention?

According to your text, the perception-making process consists of three stages. Which of the following is NOT among them?

An explanation for why something occurred is called a(n) :

In which of the following instances might you have committed the self-serving bias?

Which of the following statements is true with respect to the process of stereotyping?

Which of the following statements is true with respect to perceptual accuracy?

During your first session of this class, your instructor introduced him or herself and you respected his or her position as an authoritative figure in the classroom. Which of the following classification schema likely helped you organize that information?