Communication 30 Final Study Guide
The collaborating style of conflict management includes
ALL OF THE ABOVE (Confrontation, integration, & smoothing)
Minority rule in groups can take which of the following forms?
ALL OF THE ABOVE (Designated authority, executive committee, & forceful faction)
Standard Agenda includes which of the following steps
ALL OF THE ABOVE (Problem analysis, solution criteria, & solution implementation)
True group consensus requires
ALL OF THE ABOVE (commitment to group decision, member satisfaction with the decision making process, & member satisfaction with participation in decision making)
Which of the following is a way to combat resistance strategies in groups?
ALL OF THE ABOVE (confront the strategy directly, refuse to enable the resistance by providing consequences when resistance is used, & give clear directions for specific tasks)
Which of the following is a consequence of information overload?
ALL OF THE ABOVE (it impedes critical thinking, it promotes indecisiveness, it makes concentration on any one idea, concept, or problem extremely difficult)
Constructive participation is group decisions making can be increased by
ALL OF THE ABOVE (making issues and problems relevant to the interests of low-participators, & valuing the contributions of low participators)
Which of the following is a benefit of brainstorming?
ALL OF THE ABOVE (reinforcement of an organization culture, significant creative idea generation, & a change of pace from regular tasks)
Expertise is a power resource when
ALL OF THE ABOVE (the person is viewed as a real expert, the person demonstrates trustworthiness, & the person knows how to use the information to accomplish a goal)
Group discussion promotes highers quality decision making when
ALL OF THE ABOVE (the validity of inferences are carefully examined, inferences are grounded in valid information, at least one member of the group exerts influence to guide the group toward higher, & quality decisions)
The forms of power include
ALL OF THE ABOVE (prevention, empowerment, & dominance)
Constructive conflicts differs from destructive conflicts because constructive conflict
B & C (is characterized by supportive communication patterns & seeking a solution to a disagreement that benefits all parties)
One of the members of your project group doesn't know how to navigate certain Internet sites to do research for the group project. When group members offer to teach her some simple ways to do this, she appear to be interested, but never pays much attentions to instructions given by other members and she consistently makes simple errors whenever trying to use the Internet with guidance from others. She actually hopes that eventually she'll he given other duties because teaching her is just too labor intensive and time consuming for other group members. She doesn't feel conformable telling the group directly that she won't learn to use the Internet because that might get her ostracized by the group. Instead, she pretends to try to learn but never seems to grasp how to use it. This is an example of
B & C (resistance strategy & strategic stupidity strategy)
A BATNA is
Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement
Construction and destructive anger can be distinguished from each other by which of the following variables?
C&D (Duration of the anger & intensity of the anger )
Individualist and collectivist cultures differ in their preferred approach to conflict management in which of the following ways?
Collectivist culture favor avoiding; individualist cultures favor power-forcing style
Conformity and obedience differs in which of the following ways?
Conformity in the group pressuring the individual to comply and obedience is an individual pressuring other individuals or groups to comply
Your group brainstorms several ways to raise additional funds for a campus project beyond what is offered by the college administration. This is an example of which integrative problem solving technique?
Expanding the pie
"I don't understand. Please explain what you mean" is a statement typical of a high-context communication style.
False
As communication technologies become ever more widespread and sophisticated, the problem of information overload should begin to diminish in importance.
False
As groups grow larger, consensus becomes easier to attain because you have more voices to support it.
False
Assertiveness is primarily a strategy of resistance
False
Consensus is a form of majority rule
False
Cultures vary in their attitudes concerning the appropriateness of power imbalances. This variation is called the conformity-obedience dimension
False
Despite wishing otherwise, some group members can be totally powerless and unable to affect a group in any way.
False
Group polarization is manifested when the points of view and opinions among a group's members becomes more divergent (differ from each other)
False
Groups consistently take greater risks than do individuals
False
Information underload is usually a problem of too much opening in a system.
False
Making inferences is a serious problem for group decision making, so group members should be discouraged from making inferences.
False
Murphy's Law stipulates that anything that can go wrong likely will be avoided by a group
False
Punishment can be powerful means of influencing behavior of group members if used often and together with rewards
False
Specialization is a pattern recognition means of screening information in order to cope with information overload.
False
The most fundamental lesson the the Milgram studies is that when the destructive effects of people's behavior become clear and when individuals are ordered by authority figures to carry out actions that are viewed as objectionable, most individuals will defy legitimate authority figures
False
The values places on verbal participation in group decision making is perceived similarly across all cultures
False
To provide structure and organization to all group meetings you should use parliamentary procedure
False
We tend to overvalue vivid, concrete information when making decisions
False
Whenever a group member arrives late to a meeting it is an example of the tactical tardiness resistance strategy
False
Whenever a group member puts off completing a task necessary for the group to function effectively it is a clear instance of the purposeful procrastination resistance strategy
False
"You have consistently lied to us and distorted the facts during these negotiations " is an example of
NONE OF THE ABOVE
A position is difference from an interest in negotiation in which of the following ways?
Positions are the concrete things we want, interest answer the question why we want what we want
Which of the following is a general indicator of power?
The more powerful define the less powerful
A glut of information makes it very difficult to ascertain useless from useful information
True
A group should establish criteria for evaluating solutions to problems before solutions are suggested
True
A true consensus requires a unanimous agreement, commitment of all parties to defend the decision to outsiders, and satisfaction with the process used to make the decision and the degree of participation from all group members
True
Despite a general dislike for meetings, group meetings can save time and increase productivity of groups.
True
Effective group decision making requires analysis and understanding of a problem before members search for solutions.
True
Faulty inferential leaps are more likely when the issues are emotionally charged
True
Group discussions that follow some systematic procedure tend to be more productive than relatively unstructured discussions.
True
Men typically are more verbally aggressive, direct, opinionated, judgmental, and argumentative than women in mixed-sex groups.
True
Participation from all group members during group discussions should always be encouraged
True
Pattern recognition is potentially the more effective means of coping with information overload.
True
Powerful forms of verbal communication are not always appropriate.
True
Space is a strong indicator of power
True
Women typically use take question, disclaimers, and hedges more often than men in mixed- sex groups
True
Dominance is
a competitive form of power
Resistance is
a concert strategy to prevent dominance from others
A correlation is
a consistent relationship between two variables
The Standard Agenda is
a direct outgrowth of John Dewey's reflective thinking process
"I don't understand. Please explain what you mean " is a statement typical of
a low-context communication style
"What changes, if any, should be made in the priority process used to distribute parking permits on campus" is an example of a
a question of policy
A "stand aside" is
a request by a group that a lone dissenter, despite remaining reservations, agree not to prevent a consensus decision by the group
Assertiveness is
an empowering skill
Inferences
are generalization about the unknown based on the known
Confrontation should be used
as a style of first, not last resort
"We don't want to deal with the issue" is an example of ________ style of conflict management?
avoiding
Rules for discussion when groups seek a consensus include
avoiding switching positions simply to sidestep conflict
Several group members believe in the power of Therapeutic Touch. They see a program on the Discovery channel that shows examples of TT in action. They are now even more convinced than ever that TT heals people. Another program on PBS, however, announces that it show TT is a fraudulent, worthless therapy. Group members refuse to watch this program because it casts doubt on their belief in TT. This is an example of
confirmation bias
You energetically seek information that agrees with your point of view when researching a group project and you ignore information that contradicts your point of view. You are exhibiting
confirmation bias
Constructive conflict in groups means that
conflicting parties work to de-escalate the conflict
An effective way to address passive aggressive resistance strategies is
conforming the strategy directly
The 2015 rankings of U.S. colleges by U.S. News & World Report magazine used SAT/ACT scores, graduation rates, scholarship and grants availability, amont others, to rank colleges. These serve as ________ for making such decisions?
criteria
Majority rule may be advantageous when
decisions must be made relatively quickly
"What you're telling me to do is simple unethical, and you're despicable for even suggesting such behavior, so don't hold your breath waiting for me to follow you orders" is an example of
defiance
You want to prevent groupthink from becoming a problem in your group. To do this you should
develop a norm in the group that legitimizes disagreement
Potentially the group's best means of coping effectively with information overload is
discerning patterns to identify irrelevant information
Margin of error
estimates the degree of sampling error accounted for by imperfections in selecting a sample for study
Groupthink is a process whereby
excessive cohesiveness discourages dissent in the group
When groups become more risk-taking or cautious after discussion has occurred than the initial preferences of group members would indicates, this is called
group polarization
Someone is using the competing, power-forcing style of conflict management shows
high concern for task but low concern for relationships in groups
The Milgram studies on "Obedience" demonstrate that
individuals are inclined to obey legitimate authority
Collective inferential error is a group's tendency to
make inferences based on very limited and faulty information
Your group engages in discussion of a significant problem. It begins by considering possible solutions and finally chooses one of the alternatives. Your group exhibits which of the following paths to reaching decision according to the multiple sequence model of decision emergence?
none of the above
Dialectical inquiry is
one method of preventing groupthink
Possible integrative solutions to conflicts of interest in groups include
parties in conflict should just accept that a conflict exists as a first step
The power-forcing style of conflict management
places primary emphasis on the task dimension and little focus on the social dimension of groups
Force field analysis is a method used to
plan implementation of a group solution or decision
PERT is a structured group process of decision making that
provides step-by-step structure for implementing group decisions once the decisions are made
"What are the advantages and disadvantages of a textbook rental program on campus?" is a
question of fact
You're the leader of the Interstellar Dark Beer Drinking Doomsday cult. You predict that the world will end when consumption of dark beer declines by 5% or more in a year. Consumption declines 7%, but the world does not end. When this fact is pointed out to you, your response is, "Members of the IDDBDD drank mass quantities of dark beet, so they saved the world from extinction, providing the validity of my teachings." This is an example of
rationalization of disconfiirmation
A friend of yours has joined a controversial doomsday group headed by an individual who claims to be a prophet with divine powers. The head of this group predicts that the world will end on Christmas Eve. When this prophecy proves to be wrong the explanation provided by the head of the group claims, "This was just a dress rehearsal for the real thing- testing our faith." This is
rationalization of disconfirmation
Which of the following negotiation strategies is characterized by initially competing or acting tough, then cooperating and relaxing demands?
reformed sinner
Passive aggression is a form of
resistance
Strategic stupidity is a type of
resistance strategy
Competing (power-forcing) style of conflict management in groups
should be the style of last resort except perhaps in emergency situations
"We apologized for our previous comments that characterized your leader as dishonest" is an example of
smoothing
You have had a headed disagreement with members of your study group. Emotions are raw, and feelings have been hurt. You approach your group after a belief silence: "I'm sorry I attached you like that. I got angry and said things I didn't mean." This is an example of the collaborating tactic called
smoothing
"Our discussion of this issue will begin in half an hour, okay?" This is an example of a relatively powerless form of verbal communication called a
tag question
As group leader, you are anxious to produce change in several areas. Before attempting to implement changes, you should consider primary factors that produce resistance to change, such as, changes are less likely to a accepted by group members when
they threaten the security of group members
Rationalization of disconfirmation means
we invent superficial alternative explanations for information that disconfirms our beliefs
Proper brainstorming technique requires
withholding evaluation of ideas until brainstorming has been completed