Intro to Communications Final exam

Human communication is the process of....

creating meaning through symbolic interaction.

What are arbitrary elements used to represent things, processes, ideas, or events in ways that make communication possible?

symbols

When you are trying to concentrate in class but are distracted by other students talking behind you, what kind of noise are you experiencing?

external

Perspective taking is associated with

cognitive complexity.

Julia told Kacie that Taylor was "loaded." Kacie took this to mean that Taylor had had too much to drink, whereas Julia had meant that he was very wealthy. This is an example of the concept that

meaning is in people, not words

The process of paying close attention to your behavior and using those observations to shape the way you behave is known as

self-monitoring

Before a communicator responds to a message, s/he must first

decode it

Communicators must put their thoughts and ideas into messages that others can receive. This process is known as

encoding

Any stimulus that interferes with communication is referred to as

noise

Which of the following terms do social scientists use to describe the multiple nonverbal cues, such as facial expressions and vocal tone, which add clarity to a verbal message?

message richness

Chris once used his Twitter and Facebook accounts to post photos of him engaging in illegal drug use. He is now having trouble getting a job after prospective employers view his accounts. This is an example of social media's ____________.

permanence

Research has indicated a link between heavy reliance on mediated communication and

increased loneliness

Judy did not correctly complete a task that her supervisor had given her. Judy's supervisor attributed the unsatisfactory result to Judy's failure to listen well or to try hard enough. Judy felt that her errors were due to unclear instructions and to her supervisor's failure to allow enough time to complete the task. Judy's explanation is an example of

self-serving bias

When you use communication strategies to influence others' perceptions of you, you are engaging in

identity management

Math is your weakest subject. On the first day of college algebra, you tell the student next to you, "I bet I'll get a D in this course." At the end of the semester you get a D. This result could be an example of

self-fulfilling prophecy

Anytime you experience something new, like moving to a new city or enter a room full of people you don't know, you are sorting out and making sense of the new stimuli. This process is known as the

perception process

Nick has just learned from the CEO that he needs to lay off fifteen workers. He cares a great deal about his employees and wants to convey this information in the best way possible. What medium should Nick use to tell his employees that they're fired?

face-to-face

The stories people create and use to make sense of their personal worlds are called

narratives

What is negativity bias?

The tendency to focus more on negative impressions than on positive ones.

self-concept

A set of largely stable perceptions about oneself.

self-esteem

Our evaluation of our own self-worth

personality

Set of enduring characteristics that define a person's temperament, thought processes, and social behavior.

reflected appraisal

Influence of others on one's self-concept.

Culture can be best understood as __________.

the language, values, beliefs, and traditions shared and learned by a group of people.

Individualistic cultures value __________.

Self-Reliance

Cultures that place great value on family, duty, order, and hierarchy are considered ____________.

collectivist

Dale excitedly bragged about getting a promotion at work to his friend, Lith. Lith thought to himself, "Dale is an arrogant jerk." Dale and Lith are likely members of what cultures?

Dale is a member of an individualistic culture, and Lith is a member of a collectivist culture.

Which of the following is valued in a high-context culture?

social harmony

Which cultures believe in minimizing the differences between social classes?

low power distance

John grew up traveling and spending time with people around the world. He now has positive attitudes and good relationships with people of many different cultures.

contact hypothesis

Ogden and Richards' triangle of meaning demonstrates visually that meanings are in

people

____________ govern the arrangement or sequence of language.

syntactic rules

When picking up a friend from the airport, which set of language rules makes it possible for us to know whether to drive in the "Departures" lane or the "Arrivals" lane?

semantic rules

Language use can reflect a speaker's willingness to take responsibility for his or her statements. Which of the following categories of statements reflects the highest amount of speaker responsibility?

"I" statements

Communicators from cultures that value ____________ tend to use more ambiguous terms, hedges, and disclaimers.

saving face/face saving

____________ words have more than one correct dictionary definition.

equivocal

Fast or slow, small or large, smart or stupid, and short or long are examples of words of what type?

relative

Ben says, "Hawaii is the best vacation spot in the world." Ethan, who has read reliable data about the subject, says, "Statistics show that more people vacation in Paris than in Hawaii." The difference between their statements is that Ben's is ____________, whereas Ethan's is

opinion based; fact based

When the brain interprets sound and gives meaning to the sound, it is called ____________.

listening

Which of the following describes the degree of similarity between what a listener understands and what the sender was attempting to communicate?

Listening fidelity

Anita had received some upsetting news just before beginning her shift as a server. All evening long, Anita was taking people's orders incorrectly. She was also having trouble listening to her manager's directions. Which reason best explains Anita's poor work performance?

She was having a problem with psychological noise.

All during class, Deandra was distracted by the construction work going on outside. As a result, she couldn't remember most of the teacher's lecture. Deandra's listening difficulties, in other words, were caused by __________.

physical noise

John and Cynthia went on a date. During dinner, John consistently made eye contact with Cynthia and nodded his head as she was talking. However, instead of focusing exclusively on Cynthia, John was thinking about the game that he was missing. Which type of faulty listening behavior was John exhibiting?

Pseudo listening

This type of listener tries to monopolize the conversation by switching topics.

stage-hogger

To effectively paraphrase a message, one should _________.

reflect the speaker's thoughts and feelings in different words

Which of the following involves the use of silence and statements of encouragement to elicit a response from another person?

prompting

"I am impatient with people who ramble on without getting to the point" is a frustration of a(n) ____________ listener.

task-oriented listener

A critical listener should ____________.

examine the speaker's evidence and reasoning

When you want to understand and connect with another person, you should use ____________ listening.

relational

emotive language

words used deliberately to create an emotional impact

collectivist cultures

societies that prize social harmony, obedience, and close family connectedness over individual achievement

individualist cultures

cultures in which people tend to attach more importance to personal goals than to those of the larger community

Culture

Beliefs, customs, and traditions of a specific group of people.

ad hominem fallacy

a statement that attempts to counter an argument by criticizing the person who made it

Abstract Language

Language describing ideas and qualities rather than observable or specific things, people, or places.

jargon

special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand.

euphemism

An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant

Rules of Language

phonological, syntactic, semantic, pragmatic

Equivocation

the use of ambiguous language to conceal the truth or to avoid committing oneself; prevarication

Fact vs. Opinion

An opinion cannot be proven true; a fact can.

Feynman Technique

organize+simplify+tell a story

convergent language

the use of common labels to engage in meaning

divergent language

the use of the same labels to identify different meanings

connotative meaning

the personal and subjective meaning of a word

denotative meaning

the literal meaning of a word

types of effective listening responses

advising, analyzing, comforting, prompting, reflecting, supporting, questioning

behavioral descriptions

refers to things that people say or do

task-oriented listening

a listening style that is primarily concerned with accomplishing the task at hand

cognitive complexity

how well people perceive things

communication

the act of conveying meanings from one entity or group to another through the use of mutually understood signs, symbols, and semiotic rules

communication competence

refers to the knowledge of effective and appropriate communication patterns and the ability to use and adapt that knowledge in various contexts

decode

convert (a coded message) into intelligible language.

dyadic communication

an exchange of information between two people

encode

to put an idea into language or gesture

linear communication model

A characterization of communication as a one-way event in which a message flows from sender to receiver.

message

whatever a speaker communicates to someone else

self-monitoring

awareness of one's behavior and how it affects others

symbol

A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract.

transactional communication model

A characterization of communication as the simultaneous sending and receiving of messages in an ongoing, irreversible process.

types of communication

interpersonal, organizational, public, small-group

asynchronous communication

occurs when team members do not meet at the same time

disinhibition

the tendency to transmit messages without considering their consequences

ethnocentrism

evaluation of other cultures according to preconceptions originating in the standards and customs of one's own culture.

high- and low context cultures

measure of the degree of communication shaping information present in communication settings

power distance

Degree to which societies accept the idea that inequalities in the power and well-being of their citizens are due to differences in individuals' physical and intellectual capabilities and heritage

Dressing up to go to a party is an example of how nonverbal communication helps with

identity management

Julio asked Dolores how her day at work was. She answered him by shrugging her shoulders. Which nonverbal function is Dolores using?

substituting

The study of body movement, facial expression, gesture, and posture is called....

kinesics

Which of the following is considered an appearance factor that can be used to convey economic status, educational level, athletic ability, interests, and more?

clothing

The study of touch is called...

haptics

Most scholars agree that __________ factors more heavily influence how men and women behave rather than biological factors.

social

Which of the following best explains why opposites attract?

Each partner's characteristics satisfy the other's needs.

We often seek out people who can give us rewards that are greater than or equal to the costs we encounter in dealing with them. This describes....

social exchange theory

What is true about the relational dimensions of communication

Respect is a better predictor of relational satisfaction than liking or loving.

What statement of the following is an example of metacommunication?

"I hate it when you yell at me."

____________ is the process of deliberately revealing information about oneself that is significant and that would not normally be known by others.

self-disclosure

Patrice is giving a speech in front of her class. She keeps shifting nervously back and forth. Patrice is not aware that she is shifting, but her classmates are. According to the Johari Window, under which window or area would this fall?

the blind area

Parents who are strict and demand obedience "because I said so" use which kind of parenting style?

Authoritarian

Carlos usually spends a lot of time surfing. He values the time he has in the ocean alone with his thoughts and the waves. It's something he really feels like he needs. He recently met a very exciting woman named Amy. He is thrilled by the time they spend together, but he feels surfing, a significant part of his identity, is now being neglected. What type of tension is he most likely feeling?

Connection vs. Autonomy

affect displays

gestures that communicate emotion