Interpersonal Communication Chapter 4
In the interpretation process, you are basically asking
"What does this behavior mean?"
T/F: We are always conscious of our selection of one stimulus over another.
False
Jorge saw his mother whispering to his father at the breakfast table as he came into the kitchen this morning. She stopped when she saw Jorge and smiled at him. Which of the following is a description rather than an interpretation of this event?
Jorge's mother was whispering to his father but stopped when he entered the room
____________ is the study of the mechanical and biochemical ways in which our bodies work.
Physiology
Why does stereotyping lead to inaccurate, even offensive, evaluations of other people?
Stereotypes underestimate the differences among individuals in a group
Which of the following is true about the theory of recency effect?
The most recent impression is the most powerful
Which is true about the order of the stages of perception?
They do not always take place in the same order.
T/F: Stereotypes may be accurate
True
T/F: Stereotypes may lead to inaccurate evaluations of people.
True
Which of the following is a reason that perceptual errors occur?
We view the world through many lenses.
According to the fundamental attribution error, if you are told that a behavior is based on external forces, how are you likely to view it?
You will probably continue to attribute the behavior to an internal factor.
Overattribution is a type of error that involves _________ characteristics.
a few obvious
Which of the following stimuli are more likely to be selected for attention?
a radio ad you hear every morning on your way to work, the smell of ammonia, and one red apple in a bowl of green apples
Which of the following are part of the stereotyping process?
applying a generalization to a person, identifying someone as a member of a group, and recalling a generalization about a group
If we are being honest with ourselves, most of us would agree that our failures
are sometimes our fault
Controllability is a dimension of
attribution
One dimension of the three dimensions of an ________ is locus.
attribution
When we encounter behavior we don't immediately understand, we formulate an ______ to try to explain the behavior.
attribution
People use _______ to explain why someone acts a certain way.
attributions
Which of the following characteristics make something more likely to be selected during the perception stage?
being repetitive, being intense, being unusual
Fundamental forces which affect our perceptions are called.
biases
The cycle of daily changes we go through in body temperature, alertness, and mood is called our
biological rhythm
Examples of physiological traits
biological rhythm and intelligence
Accuracy _______ is the second step in improving your perceptual abilities.
checking
Perceptual mistakes are easily made because people
constantly make perceptions
If a friend spends a lot of time shopping online and as a result misses a class, the dimension of attribution that concerns whether your friend could have gotten to class is
controllability
Which of the following are the important dimensions of attributions?
controllability, locus, and stability
Why might someone misinterpret communication behaviors when interacting with someone from another culture?
cultural stereotypes can influence perceptions
When checking your perceptions, you should not confuse ____________ what you saw or heard, which is objective, with __________ what you saw or heard, which is subjective
describing, interpreting
Which of the following is not a part of the process of stereotyping?
determining if the generalization is accurate
Asking someone if your interpretation of a behavior you witnessed is correct is known as
direct perception checking
A person who lacks the ability to take another person's perspective is
egocentric
Which of the following best describes a child who has difficulty understanding why it's impolite to talk with food in his mouth?
egocentric
As interpersonal communicators, we should bear in mind that people'e behaviors are often responses to _______ forces.
external
The best way to avoid committing the fundamental attribution error is to consider ______ causes of behavior.
external
T/F: Internal causes are always controllable
false
T/F: We have control over our biases.
false
Attributing others' behavior to internal causes is known as the __________ ____________ error.
fundamental attribution
By definition, stereotypes are always
generalized
A person who exhibits positivity bias is the most likely to pay attention to
good news
Examples of physiological state
hunger and tiredness
Self-serving bias is frequently applied to
important relationships and the self
The primacy effect states that a first ______ is critical.
impression
Seeking additional information to confirm or refute a perception you have is known as ________ perception checking.
indirect
Emphasizes people's behavior
interaction constructs
Which of the following are types of schema used to classify information about people?
interaction, physical, role, and psychological constructs
The fundamental attribution error can be described as the tendency to attribute other people's behaviors to
internal rather than external causes
In a happy marriage, people tend to attribute their spouse's positive behaviors to ________ causes and their negative behaviors to ______ causes.
internal, external
Personal experience, knowledge, and the closeness of a relationship are all factors that influence your ________ of another person's behavior.
interpretation
The process of assigning meaning to information that has been selected for attention and organized is called
interpretation
The process of perception involves which of the following?
interpreting, organizing, and selecting information
Which of the following statements are true about the self-serving bias?
it involves the tendency to attribute success to internal causes and it primarily relates to how we explain our own behaviors
Which of the following characteristics make stimuli more likely to be selected for attention?
it is intense, it is repetitive, and it is unusual or unexpected
What are the 3 main factors that influence interpretation of behavior?
knowledge, experience, and closeness of your relationship
The term ______ refers to where a behavior is placed, within or outside the self.
locus
If, as a good communicator, you realize that your perceptions of a situation are inaccurate, what should you do?
modify your perceptions of the situation
The tendency to weigh negative information more heavily than positive information is the
negativity bias
Why is the self-serving bias a form of self-delusion?
none of us are responsible for all of our success and none of our failures
Perception is a _______ process.
nonlinear
Biological rhythms are physiological traits rather than physiological states because they are
not temporary.
Which of the following are characteristics that make a stimulus stand out?
novelty, intensity, and repetition
To conduct indirect perception checking, you must
observe and listen
We ______ misperceive others' behaviors.
often
According to the negativity bias, what is necessary to taint your perception of someone you would otherwise like?
one bit of negative information
The second step in the perception process, ________, helps you make sense of information by allowing you to compare and contrast it with other things you know about it.
organization
Which term describes the classification of information in the perceptual process?
organization
Perception is a 3-part process including which of the following?
organization, interpretation, and selection
Which of the following influence perceptual accuracy?
our cultural backgrounds, our physiology, and our social roles
The tendency to attribute behaviors to one or two obvious characteristics is
overattribution
Positivity biases and negativity biases are ______ for communication and satisfaction in long-term relationships.
particularly influential
Sensory experience is the beginning of the process of
perception
The process of making meaning from what we sense or experience in the world around us is called
perception
Which of the following describes the process of making meaning from what we experience in the world around us?
perception
Asking other people if your perceptions are accurate is known as direct _______ ________.
perception checking
The social roles we all play can influence the accuracy of our
perceptions
To improve your ___________ abilities, you must check your subjective perceptions against objective facts.
perceptual
A predisposition to perceive only what we want to perceive is known as a
perceptual set
Which of the following describes the predisposition to perceive only what we want or expect to perceive?
perceptual set
Emphasize people's appearance, causing us to notice objective characteristics (height, hair color) and subjective characteristics (physical attractiveness)
physical constructs
The study of the mechanical and biochemical ways in which our bodies work is called
physiology
A person who thinks his romantic partner can do no wrong in experiencing ________ loss.
positivity
The principle that first impressions are critical because they set the tone for all future interactions is known as the _______ effect.
primacy
Emphasize people's thoughts and feelings
psychological constructs
According to the _______ effect, old impressions may be less powerful than new ones.
recency
Emphasize people's social or professional position
role constructs
People do not pay attention to all the stimuli in their environments. Instead, they engage in _________, the process in which your mind and body help you choose certain stimuli to attend to
selection
Attributing the failure of past relationships to a string of bad luck is an example of _________ bias.
self-serving
Perception begins with a __________ experience.
sensory
What term describes a set of behaviors that are expected of someone in a particular social situation?
social role
Which of the following are true about the controllability of behavior?
some behaviors are within a person's control and some behaviors are beyond a person's control
The 3 dimensions of attributions for people's behaviors are locus, controllability, and
stability
The dimension of ________ refers to the permanence of the cause of a behavior.
stability
Physiological _______ are conditions that are temporary; physiological ______ are conditions that affect us on an ongoing basis.
states; traits
A generalization about a group of people is know as a
stereotype
Being aware of the influence of culture and gender on perception can best help you to avoid
stereotypes
Which of the following factors influence our interpretation of another person's behavior?
the closeness of our relationship with the person, our personal experience with the person, and our knowledge of the person
Satisfied couples tend to emphasize _______ of their relationships.
the positive aspects
In online communication, what has more influence on other people's perception of you?
the way you represent yourself visually
Which of the following statements about stereotypes are correct?
they influence the way we interpret communication, they are generalizations about groups of people, they influence the way we perceive other people
Which of the following are reasons good communicators might revise their perceptions?
they were limited by personal characteristics, they were confused about certain facts, and they didn't consider any alternative perceptions
Locus refers to which of the following?
to where the cause of a behavior is located
In research on online dating sites, how influential was physical attractiveness?
very influential
The fundamental attribution error is
very strong
Which of the following factors will you likely pay attention to when interpreting a friend's behavior?
your personal experience, the closeness of your relationship, and your knowledge of your friend
