Study Guide for Quiz #2 on Chapters 4, 5 & 9
COMS 5
Student Copy
Chapter 4
Engaging in Verbal Communication
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Which is not an example of nonverbal communication?
A. Symbols that aren’t words
B. Words used to describe an action
C. Tone of voice
D. Facial expressions
E. All of the above are examples of nonverbal communication
2. The verbal symbols we select to use are not intrinsically connected to what they represent. This is known as:
A. ambiguity
B. abstraction
C. brute meaning
D. arbitrariness
E. institutional meaning
3. Nathan laughs when his grandfather describes him as a “cool cat.” “That’s how we used to describe someone who is neat, pleasing, good,” his grandfather says. “Not anymore,” Nathan replies. This exchange reminds us that language is:
A. arbitrary
B. rule bound
C. totalizing
D. stereotypical
E. derivative
4. Words are not the things they represent. In other words, words are:
A. ambiguous
B. arbitrary
C. verbal
D. unconscious
E. abstract
5. Which is the most abstract term in the following words?
A. Tiger Woods
B. golf
C. physical activity
D. sport
E. professional athlete
6. Institutional facts are the meanings we attach to brute facts based on:
A. objective decisions
B. concrete experiences
C. specific activities
D. human interpretation
E. higher levels of abstraction
7. Which of the following is not a regulative communication rule?
A. Children should not interrupt adults.
B. We do not talk about private issues in public.
C. Call out “Amen” in response to the pastor.
D. Sticking your tongue out at someone is rude.
E. Applaud at the end of a speech.
8. Rachel is surprised when her friend Sarah consistently interrupts her while she is speaking. Rachel believes her friend should not continually disrupt her. Rachel’s perception of her friend’s behavior is based on a:
A. regulative rule
B. constitutive rule
C. stereotype
D. personal construct
E. hypothetical thought
9. Our perception of when a given interaction begins and ends is known as
A. totalizing
B. punctuation
C. reappropriation
D. hypothetical thought
E. abstraction
10. Negating most of a person by spotlighting a single aspect of his/her identity is known as:
A. totalizing
B. punctuation
C. reappropriation
D. hypothetical thought
E. abstraction
11. “Our school sure has a great bunch of football players but the only way they’ll graduate is if they cheat on exams,” is an example of:
A. stereotyping
B. hypothetical thought
C. self-reflection
D. responsiveness
E. abstraction
12. “One day I won’t have to worry about money. One day I’ll make a great salary.” These statements illustrate:
A. arbitrary thought
B. loaded language
C. hypothetical thought
D. symbolic organization
E. symbolic evaluation
13. Suzy is really upset and she feels like throwing a temper tantrum, even though she’s 20 years old. Disregarding the social inappropriateness of her behavior, Suzy beats a door and then kicks it while in a public area. In this instance, Suzy’s behavior was motivated by which aspect of herself?
A. me
B. I
C. moral self
D. cognitive self
E. abstract self
14. A technique developed by communication scholars to remind us that our evaluations apply only to specific times and circumstances refers to which of the following?
A. indexing
B. selective perception
C. temporal differentiation
D. ambiguity
E. contextual perception
15. Which of the following statements demonstrate that Adam is taking responsibility for his thoughts and feelings?
A. You are really irritating me.
B. You are making me look foolish.
C. This is the last time you are going to humiliate me.
D. You really make me feel happy.
E. I feel hurt by what you are saying.
16. To say that language is ambiguous means
a. it doesn’t have clear-cut, precise meanings
b. words can come from any where
c. symbols are perceptions
d. the medium is the message
e. all of the above
17. Brute facts are
a. symbolic constructions
b. objective phenomena and activities
c. concrete phenomena and activities
d. b & c
e. none of the above
18. Communication rules are
a. shared understandings about what communication means
b. made up by older generations of people
c. shared understandings about what behaviors are appropriate in various
situations
d. all of the above
e. a & c
19. Constitutive rules
a. determine who speaks first in an interaction
b. define what a particular communication means or stands for
c. regulate interaction
d. are examples of phatic communication
e. are mostly inappropriate means of starting arguments
20. Words that slant perceptions are called
a. loaded language
b. slang
c. stereotypes
d. perceptual shorthands
e. relational communication
TRUE/FALSE
1. Language consists of symbols.
2. Language does not change over time.
3. Within a culture many words have an agreed upon range of meaning.
4. The potential for confusion decreases as language becomes increasingly abstract.
5. Institutional facts are objective concrete phenomena and activities.
6. Because language is abstract, ambiguous and arbitrary, we have to interpret it to determine what it means.
7. We follow communication rules even when we are not consciously aware of them.
8. The most basic symbolic ability is definition.
9. The I aspect of self is socially conscious and responsive to situational constraints.
10. The I and ME aspects of self are opposing forces.
11. Monitoring ourselves is one aspect of self-reflection.
Chapter 5
Engaging in Nonverbal Communication
MULTIPLE CHOICE
- Nonverbal communication is estimated to account for what percentage of the total meaning of communication?
A. Less than 12%
B. 16% - 39%
C. 41% - 53%
D. 65% - 93%
E. 100%
- Which of the following is NOT true about nonverbal communication:
A. it helps establish relationship-level meanings
B. it is not always clear
C. it interacts with verbal communication
D. it reflect cultural values
E. it does not vary over time
- Rachel doesn’t want to be interrupted while she’s speaking so she avoids looking at others until she has said all she wants to say. Then she looks at the person who wants to respond. Rachel has used nonverbal behavior to:
A. establish relational level meanings
B. establish content level meanings
C. regulate interaction
D. define her cultural standpoint
E. demonstrate warmth
- Assuming an attentive posture, holding eye contact, and nodding to show you understand what another person is saying are nonverbal behaviors that convey which dimension of relational level meanings?
A. responsiveness
B. liking
C. status
D. power
E. control
- Smiles, friendly touches, shaking hands are all signs of ______in Western societies:
A. liking
B. power
C. interaction
D. negotiations
E. awareness
- All of the following can be used to express power, except:
A. moving into someone’s space
B. silence
C. touching someone
D. gestures
E. all of these can be used to express power
- The term referring to body position and motions is:
A. kinesics
B. olfactics
C. haptics
D. proxemics
E. artifacts
- Research has shown that babies in dysfunctional families are touched less often and less affectionately than babies in healthy families. This type of nonverbal behavior is referred to as:
A. kinesics
B. haptics
C. olfactics
D. proxemics
E. artifacts
- The study of our perception of odor and scents is known as:
A. artifacts
B. proxemics
C. haptics
D. olfactics
E. kinesics
- Nathan just moved into a new apartment and spent the first day hanging pictures, putting out souvenirs of important times, and placing favorite objects on the bookshelves. Nathan has relied on what form of nonverbal communication to personalize the new apartment?
A. paralanguage
B. artifacts
C. kinesics
D. proxemics
E. appearance
- The study of space and how people use it is known as:
A. kinesics
B. olfactics
C. haptics
D. proxemics
E. artifacts
- Caitlin is angry with her boyfriend, so she refuses to sit near him in the car or to let him get really close to her while they are walking. To communicate her anger, Caitlin is relying on:
A. artifacts
B. chronemics
C. proxemics
D. paralanguage
E. silence
- Joaquin came to the United States from Mexico three months ago and he is still having trouble understanding Americans’ tendency to rush all the time. He is also surprised when his teachers are irritated if he joins class a while after class has started. Joaquin’s confusion about American pace of life is based on which aspect of nonverbal behavior? [p. 106-107, III]
A. chronemics
B. proxemics
C. kinesics
D. artifacts
E. none of the above
- During an argument, when Lisa tells her husband Scott, “It’s not what you said, it’s how you said it,” Lisa is upset with Scott’s use of:
A. artifacts
B. chronemics
C. proxemics
D. kinesics
E. paralanguage
- Which of the following is not a paralanguage behavior?
A. raising volume when speaking
B. pausing between words to emphasize certain words
C. refusing to speak
D. lowering pitch
E. lowering volume when speaking
- Nonverbal communication involving touch is
A. haptics
B. Gestures
C. Phatics
D. Kinesics
E. Dianetics
- Nonverbal physiological characteristics belong to a category called
A. artifacts
B. proxemics
C. kinesics
D. paralanguage
E. physical appearance
- Elements of settings that affect how we feel, think and act are
A. artifacts
B. proxemics
C. environmental factors
D. paralanguage
E. physical appearance
- How we perceive and use time to define identities and interaction is referred to as
A. chronemics
B. artifacts
C. proxemics
D. paralanguage
E kinesics
20. Vocal communication that is not actual words is known as
A. chronemics
B. artifacts
C. proxemics
D. paralanguage
E. kinesics
TRUE/FALSE
1. Unlike verbal communication, nonverbal communication is not ambiguous
2. Nonverbal communication is all aspects of communication other than words themselves.
3. Nonverbal communication reflects cultural values.
4. People with high status and/or power tend to touch others and invade others’ space more than do people with less power and/or status.
5. Most nonverbal communication is instinctual; it is part of our genetic makeup.
6. The position and motion of the body is known as proxemics
7. Body odors produced by pheromones may affect sexual attraction.
8. Artifacts can be a part of proxemics, when they help us define our personal space.
9. The absence of communicated sound is a type of nonverbal communication.
10. It is best to interpret another’s nonverbal messages confidently.
11. I/You language can be used to describe both verbal and nonverbal communication.
Chapter 9
Communication and Self-Concept
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. A powerful way that communication shapes the self is the self-fulfilling prophecy. Which of the following best describes a self-fulfilling prophecy?
A. During music practice, the conductor informs Sally that she is repeatedly missing the same note. Sally tells herself she will miss the same note in the musical recital. During the recital, she misses the same note that she told herself she would miss.
B. The conductor tells John that Sally will miss a note in the recital and then John tells Sally.
C. Sally secretly believes that John will miss a note in the recital and he does.
D. During a practice session, the conductor shouts at John because he misses a note. The conductor makes a bet with John that he will miss the note during the recital.
E. all of the above
2. Acting in ways that bring about expectations or judgments of others that have been expressed to us is known as:
A. the self
B. the significant other
C. self-fulfilling prophesy
D. the particular other
E. identity scripts
3. The process of seeing ourselves through the eyes of others is known as:
A. generalized other
B. significant other
C. particular other
D. reflected appraisal
E. generalized appraisal
4. Jenny is looking through a popular women’s magazine. She notices that most of the advertisements deal with beauty, looking young or losing weight. These social values in the media are examples of:
A. the particular other
B. the generalized other
C. direct definition
D. identity scripts
E. none of the above
5. “You are a big, tough boy who doesn’t cry” Alice tells her son. Alice’s statement is an example of:
A. identity script
B. anxious/ambivalent
C. self-fulfilling prophesy
D. indirect definition
E. direct definition
6. Life scripts:
A. are the outcome of a largely unconscious process of internalizing the rules, roles and basic climate for living that we learn from our immediate family
B. are direct definitions that through labeling, tells us who we are and how to behave
C. are broadly shared perceptions we learn throughout our lifetime from peers and social institutions
D. are self-concepts we gain through disclosing
E. are forms and patterns of affective and cognitive relationships styles
7. Secure attachment styles tend to develop in children whose caregivers:
A. are consistently loving and attentive
B. are more often loving than rejecting
C. alternately loving and rejecting
D. are socially conservative
E. B and D
8. Ray is very attentive and supportive to his son Robbie when he is sober, but when Ray drinks he often ignores his son and sometimes verbally abuses him. Robbie never knows which way his father will act. If the father is Robbie’s primary caregiver, Robbie is likely to develop which attachment style:
A. fearful
B. secure
C. anxious/ambivalent
D. dismissive
E. defensive
9. Howie isn’t sure how smart he is until his teacher in first grade tells him she thinks he is very bright. Howie later tells his parents “I am a bright boy.” The process by which Howie developed a view of his intelligence is
A. indirect definition
B. self-fulfilling prophesy
C. script
D. reflected appraisal
E. social comparison
10. Howie is still not entirely sure how smart he is, so he asks other students in his first grade class how they did on a test. After checking with 5 other children, Howie realizes he did better than any of them and Howie concludes he must be pretty smart after all. The process by which Howie reached this conclusion is: