COMM - 150 Study Guide

In a seven-person group, the number of potential relationships is

966

Our textbook describes a "telecocoon" as this.

A virtual space that keeps people connected even when they are not present in the same geographical space.

Which of the following is a characteristic of language

All of these choices would apply

Which of the following does NOT increase group productivity?

All of these options actually increase group productivity, so none of the three choices is correct.

This person is the greatest source of rhetorical theory.

Aristotle

Ordering ideas in an effective way is called

Arrangement

Digital technology has not only transformed what kind of information we process, but where and when we process it. Texts are an interesting example of _________________- communication, that is, communication in which there is a time gap between sending and receiving a message.

Asynchronous

Communication has been a subject of systematic study for

At least 2,500 years

Listening begins with _____________: focusing on some stimuli while filtering out other stimuli.

Attention

With the fall of Rome and rise of Christianity, rhetoric became secondary to theology. Which of the following historic figures was alive during this period

Augustine

Three of the following choices can help you improve attention. Which one does not?

Avoid listening to content you know will bore and annoy you

Models are abstract representations of a process, a description of its structure, or function. Models help us understand how a process works but are "necessarily" incomplete for what reason?

Because they're simplified versions of complex processes.

Social _________________ is a positive result of participation in social networks. It accrues when people offer each other support, work together to accomplish a task, or exchange areas of expertise.

Capital

The scientific method emphasizes which method of attaining knowledge

Careful objective measurement

When we give incoming stimuli meaning, we rely on _______________ schema, which are mental models of the world that help us to process information.

Cognitive

In which period did communication study expand to include interpersonal and group as well as public communication?

Contemporary.

This perspective investigates and describes relationships between systems of power, cultural consumers and cultural artifacts or texts. It is generally the most political of any of the perspectives.

Cultural studies

This person developed a model that is considered a field guide for describing communication. His models includes studying speech communities, speech simulations, speech events and other aspects of a group

Dell Hymes

The kind of communication appropriate for a specific social context or situation is called:

Discourse

Being aware of these can help a person listen effectively.

Distractions

In one study about listening, children in elementary schools remembered about 90% of what they heard. By high school, that number was this for an average student:

Drastically lower

This type of communication, which is similar to interpersonal communication, is known for its directness. It is usually very personal, spontaneous and informal.

Dyadic

Taylor wants to know if her boyfriend really cares, so she uses the __________ test, asking him to do a lot of things that he doesn't like, including going to the mall and spending half the day shopping

Endurance

When an audience is swayed not by the logic of a speaker's message but by their high regard for the speaker's character, they are being influenced by which method of proof?

Ethos

The three functions of models are

Explanation, prediction, control

Some communication models fulfill this type of function by dividing a process into parts and showing us how the parts are connected.

Explanatory function

According to our text, our notions of who we are and our worth have nothing to do with our interaction with others. Put simply, words can help us communicate, but they have no effect on other people

False

Euphemisms are extremely direct and often shocking word choices.

False

Noise is defined as the extent to which a sender amplifies a message by making it louder and clearer.

False

True or false: the FCC protects the content of your social media accounts. Potential employers are not allowed to scan them for things like obscenities or questionable behavior.

False

The Psychological perspective:

Focuses on individual communicators as they receive and transmit messages.

Who is credited with writing the "Four idols that Get in the Way of Clear Thinking?"

Francis Bacon

When we underestimate the effects of situation causes and overestimate the effects of dispositional causes, we are committing a:

Fundamental attribution error.

__________ is NOT one of the advantages of working in groups.

GroupThink

Which of the following answers is NOT one of the "Four Idols that Get in the Way of Clear Thinking"

Idols of the Home

Which is true of gender and communication?

In task-oriented cross-gender groups, men talk more than women.

The process of deciding on the subject matter of a speech and developing arguments is called:

Invention

Every communication perspective has drawbacks. Which of the following choices is "not" one of the drawbacks mentioned in our text?

It includes feedback and noise

Which of the following statements is true of interpersonal communication?

It is more immediate than other forms of communication, and the quality of feedback is high.

Spoken language has four important characteristics. Which of the following choices is not one of the four?

It is rhythmic

Our text describes Five Canons of Rhetoric. One of the five is "style". Which of the following descriptions best matches this term.

Language should be clear, lively, and appropriate for the audience.

Aristotle believed a speaker could sway an audience in three ways: ethos, pathos, and ____

Logos

Which of the following types of communication includes messages that are broadcast to large audiences (TV, radio)?

Mass communication

This type of interaction has become an important focus of scholars in recent years as digital media have grown. In addition to one-to-one, few-to-few, and one-to-many communication, many-to-many communication has become much more common and important.

Mediated interaction

In equivocal communication, this happens.

Messages can be interpreted in more than one way

Which is NOT true of groups (as opposed to mere collections of people)?

None, all are true about groups.

Which of the following is NOT one of the things that text-based online impressions are based on?

Nonverbal cues.

Which of the following phrases best describes "social loafing".

Occurs when members of a group fail to fulfill their work potential.

The average attention span (devoted to a single topic) of a group is about how long?

One minute

According to our text, internet usage is making our brains better at skimming, scanning, and browsing.

Our ability to focus on a single source for a long time.

Active listening is an important part of empathic listening: offering support or comfort to others. One effective way to show empathy is to use:

Paraphrasing

Linguistic Relativity means that:

People who speak different languages experience the world differently

This term describes characteristics that we notice on a daily basis about others. They may vary depending on our current state of mind. For example, if we have just returned from a religious service, terms like "forgiving" and "kind" may be uppermost in our minds as we interpret others' behavior.

Personal constructs

Text messages are an example of:

Personal media

___________ knowledge allows us to pronounce familiar words correctly and know how words sound.

Phonological

A "dyad" is usually referred to as a group of two people

Physical and mental health

Our text lists several subfields of communication. Which of the following is NOT one of those subfields?

Political communication

Those who hold to this perspective view communication as a system of interlocking, independent behaviors that become patterned over time.

Pragmatic (patterned interaction)

The perspective that places the most emphasis on behavioral patterns is:

Pragmatic perspective

Some communication models fulfill this type of function by allowing us to answer "if... then" questions.

Predictive function

When people conflict, they may deal with it in several ways. According to our text, which of the following is usually the better choice?

Problem solving

Which of the following roles is most useful in moving the group toward its task goals?

Procedural technician

Most models and definitions of communication are based on this perspective. It is by far the most popular view of communication.

Psychological perspective (message transmission)

Interpersonal communication describes the way people use one-on-one communication to build this

Relationships

Part of being an effective listener is being familiar with common ______________. This tells us what comes next in a sequence of actions. For example, we experience a variety of these for common situations such as eating in a restaurant, working out in a gym, attending a speech, etc. We don't have to think much about what to do next.

Scripts

One of the most important ways to keep a relationship healthy is to use this strategically. It occurs when we reveal information to others that they are unlikely to discover on their own. Note: it is appropriate for some relationships, but not all.

Self-disclosure

People who see definitions as constructions rather than discoveries believe:

Several different definitions may be equally valid.

Those who hold to this perspective believe that through communication, social groups create collective ideas of themselves, of one another, and of the world they inhabit.

Social constructionist (World Building)

The process of selecting proper words to convey a message is:

Style

Which of the following describes the tendency to add fragments like "right?" or "OK?" at the end of the sentence?

Tag question

Networked communication technology is allowing us to create these virtual spaces that help us feel "in touch" with others, even though we're apart. For example, mobile phones redefine notions of public space.

Telecoons

When people who study communication focus their attention on spoken symbolic interaction, their primary interest is in which of the following?

The Way people use words to create common meaning

Pathos is best described as this.

The ability to arouse an audience's emotions

Under what circumstance is group work more effective than individual work?

The decision is complex and needs an innovative, creative solution.

According to Francis Bacon, the tendency to use language imprecisely was called.

The idol of the marketplace

According to Cicero's classifications of speaking style, the style that was logical, clear, and restrained and work to convince the audience of the speaker's good character, good sense, and trustworthiness was:

The plain style.

The "looking-glass" self is:

The self we infer from the appraisals of others

In the modern period four approaches of rhetorical study became evident - classical, psychological, belletristic, and elocutionary. Which of the four descriptions below best describes the elocutionary approach?

This approach designed elaborate systems of instruction to improve speakers' verbal and nonverbal presentation.

Owen isn't sure if his girlfriend cares, so he goes out with someone else to see if it bothers her. Owen is using the __________ test.

Triangle

"Group synergy" is the idea that groups are often more effective than the best individuals within them.

True

A person's ideas about what kinds of communication match their personal identity is called a life script.

True

A symbol is an arbitrary and conventionalized representation of an object or concept.

True

Despite earlier fears to the contrary, laptops and smartphones do NOT usually lead to social isolation.

True

Public speaking courses were quite popular in classical Greece.

True

The name of Plato's school was the academy

True

__________________ is NOT one of the factors that will cause people to become more committed to a group?

Using hidden agendas

One of the most popular mnemonic system called for speakers to visualize their speeches as a

Villa with main ideas in each room

Our text talks about the four-way test with regards to ethical communication. With this test, you ask yourself four questions before communicating in a specific situation. Which of the following questions is not one of the four listed in our text?

Will it be memorable?

Our text talks about the public scrutiny test. It includes three questions we should ask ourselves before determining whether a communication act is ethical in a specific situation. Which of the following four questions is NOT part of the public scrutiny test?

Will this action make me look more important

When we assume our successes are due to our disposition while our failures are situational, we are committing a:

self -serving bias