CHAPTER 2 PRACTICE QUESTIONS

The process of using the senses to process information about the external environment is called _.

perception.

Which of the following means that your mind selects, organizes, and interprets what you sense?

active perception

Situation Analysis: Personal Identity is Subjective

After reading the scenario, answer the questions that follow.

Shira is a concert pianist and the top student in her high school class. “She is incredibly accomplished, far beyond her years,” say her parents. However, Shira sees herself as a geeky teenager with few close friends and boring hobbies. She knows she cannot play softball as well as the neighborhood kids, so practicing the piano is a good alternative. Besides, her parents are proud of her this way.

The difference between how Shira sees herself and how her parents see her can be explained because perception is _.

subjective.

Situation Analysis: Personal Identity is Subjective

After reading the scenario, answer the questions that follow.

Shira is a concert pianist and the top student in her high school class. “She is incredibly accomplished, far beyond her years,” say her parents. However, Shira sees herself as a geeky teenager with few close friends and boring hobbies. She knows she cannot play softball as well as the neighborhood kids, so practicing the piano is a good alternative. Besides, her parents are proud of her this way.

Which of the following explains why Shira perceive herself as a geeky teenager, while her parents perceive her as highly accomplished?

Perception is subjective.

An unfavorable predisposition about an individual because of that person’s membership in a stereotyped group is termed

prejudice.

The process of development of the self through messages and feedback from others is referred to as _.

symbolic interactionism.

Louis is very careful about only posting flattering pictures of himself on social media. In doing this, Louis is engaged in a form of _.

impression management.

Situation Analysis: Impression Management

After reading the scenario, answer the questions that follow.

During the first day of math class, Professor Ramirez announced that she wanted all students to arrive on time to class. In the following weeks, a few students arrived late, and Professor Ramirez always made a point of telling the students to get to class on time in a joking and fun way. During the fourth week of class, three students walked into the classroom ten minutes after class began. Professor Ramirez stopped class and started yelling at the students for interrupting class.

Which of the following statements is not an example of managing setting?

Professor Ramirez wears shirts with math puns to entertain her students.

You are engaging in selective _______ if you expose yourself to information that reinforces your beliefs.

exposure

Rashida remembers only the remarks that people make that reinforce her beliefs, and she “forgets” the negative remarks. She is using selective _.

retention

Situation Analysis: Late Arrivals Are Not Tolerated

After reading the scenario, answer the questions that follow.

At an all-employee meeting, Joseph’s boss gives a list of positive things happening at the company but ends the meeting by noting that a number of employees have clocked in late at least once and that late arrival will not be tolerated. Joseph’s car is unreliable, so he has clocked in late twice. Later that day, another employee who had arrived late on multiple occasions is called to the boss’s office and then fired. When Joseph is called into his boss’s office a few minutes later, he assumes that he will also be fired. 

Joseph becomes so worried about being fired that he cannot recall any of the positive things happening at the company. In this case, all of the positive things have been obscured in Joseph's mind. In organizing what is going on around him, his boss's comments about being late and his colleague's subsequent firing have become what for Joseph?

figure

Situation Analysis: Late Arrivals Are Not Tolerated

After reading the scenario, answer the questions that follow.

At an all-employee meeting, Joseph’s boss gives a list of positive things happening at the company but ends the meeting by noting that a number of employees have clocked in late at least once and that late arrival will not be tolerated. Joseph’s car is unreliable, so he has clocked in late twice. Later that day, another employee who had arrived late on multiple occasions is called to the boss’s office and then fired. When Joseph is called into his boss’s office a few minutes later, he assumes that he will also be fired. 

Although Joseph’s boss never says that employees who are late will be fired, Joseph makes that assumption. This is an example of _.

closure.

Situation Analysis: Late Arrivals Are Not Tolerated

After reading the scenario, answer the questions that follow.

At an all-employee meeting, Joseph’s boss gives a list of positive things happening at the company but ends the meeting by noting that a number of employees have clocked in late at least once and that late arrival will not be tolerated. Joseph’s car is unreliable, so he has clocked in late twice. Later that day, another employee who had arrived late on multiple occasions is called to the boss’s office and then fired. When Joseph is called into his boss’s office a few minutes later, he assumes that he will also be fired. 

Because Joseph is called to his boss’s office right after the other employee was fired, Joseph believes he will also be fired. Joseph believes this because of _.

proximity

Which of the following best describes selective perception?

the tendency to see, hear, and believe only what you want to see, hear, and believe

Rosa is in her seventies and often finds that younger people tend to talk to her using loud voices and simple language.

What is the cause of this perceptual difference?

identity factors

Which of the following are identity factors of perception?

height and weight

Which of the following is the best example of how role affects perception?

I am an honor student and president of the student body.

The idea that our past experiences lead us to see the world in a particular way that is difficult to change is called

perceptual constancy.

Which of the following would be the reason an individual looking at a class picture might see their own face first?

it is figure and the rest of the class is ground

If Anu was unable to control his communication in a way that presented an “idealized” version of himself, Anu would be lacking in _.

impression management.

Perception checking is a skill that helps us _.

understand another person and their message more accurately.

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of active perception?

simplistic

The process of development of the self through the messages and feedback received from others is called _.

symbolic interactionism.

Which statement about stereotyping is true?

Some stereotypes are positive.

Which of the following is NOT cited in the book as one of the three reasons differences in perception occur?

present eating habits

According to the textbook, first impressions _.

are based on comparisons to ourselves.

One of the best ways to learn about your risk levels for various diseases is to:

speak to your relatives

Having "an oversimplified or standardized image of a person" because of his or her membership in a group is known as _.

stereotyping

If a big sheet of white paper has a red dot in the center, the red dot is the ______, and the white space is the ______

figure; ground

Perception is "the process of using the _ to acquire information about the surrounding environment or situation."

senses

Stereotyping occurs when we _ someone because of his or her membership in a particular group.

take a very simplistic, generalized view of

Stereotyping and relying on first impressions are the only two major errors in perception.

FALSE

One way to organize stimuli is through _ or the focal point of your attention, and _ the backdrop against which your focused attention occurs.

figure; ground

People try to present an idealized version of themselves to reach desired ends when using _.

impression management.

Differences in perception may be the result _ of factors, people's past experiences and roles, their cultures and co-cultures, and their present feelings and circumstances.

identity

Which of the following statements about personal identity, change, and growth is not accurate?

After a certain point, personal identity is difficult if not impossible to change.

A process of describing, interpreting, and verifying that helps us understand individual people and their messages more accurately is called _.

perceptual checking.

The third activity you engage in during perception (in addition to selection and organization) is _, the assignment of meaning to stimuli.

interpretation

The term _ is defined as "the process of using the senses to acquire information about the surrounding environment or situation.

perception

Which of the following are examples of temporal conditions?

back pain
hunger
tiredness

What is the goal of impression management?

presenting an idealized self in order to reach desired ends

The three separate activities that occur during perception are _.

organization.

selection.

interpretation.

Mental concentration is one of the activities that occurs during perception.

FALSE

Differences in perception between two people may be the result of people's _.

identity factors.
past experiences and roles.
present feelings and circumstances.

Perceptual checking is a process _.

that helps us understand another person and his or her message more accurately.

of describing, interpreting, and verifying.

The part played by somebody in a given social context" is a(n) _.

role

According to the text, which of the following can help you learn more about yourself?

taking a personality test

speaking to your work supervisor

starting a new workout program

The activity of _ in perception involves the grouping of stimuli into meaningful units or wholes.

organization

You want to talk to your lab partner after class about your assignment, but your partner seems uncommunicative, quiet, and distracted. She keeps leaning against the table and even puts her head down on it. You are offended until you learn that your lab partner ran in a marathon the previous day and is exhausted. What affected communication in this example?

Present feelings and circumstances influenced communication.

When you engage in the activity of interpretation, you _ stimuli.

assign meaning to

Your perceptions of others are influenced by _.

the personal identity you have developed until now.

your past experiences.

Two common errors in perception include _.

relying on first impressions.

stereotyping.

Stimuli can be organized in a number of ways, including through _.

figure and ground.

similarity.

closure.

proximity.

Which of the following is an example of selection in the process of perception?

You ignore most of the conversation around you, but when you hear your name, you suddenly listen closely.

What are the four types of selectivity?

selective perception

selective exposure

selective attention

selective retention

Height, weight, and gender identity are examples of _ factors that can affect perception.

identity

Present feelings and circumstances should not get in the way of a skilled communicator.

FALSE

Define: selective exposure.

You seek out information that reinforces your beliefs and opinions.

Define: selective attention.

You focus on certain information and ignore everything else.

Define: selective retention.

You tend to see, hear, and believe only what you want to.

Define: selective retention.

You are better at remembering things that reinforce your beliefs.

Examples of social roles include:

college professor.

daughter.

boss.

Being cold, feeling hungry, or being tired are all _ conditions that can affect your perceptions.

temporal

Gender identity refers to _.

how you feel about and express your gender.