Chapter 4
1. Which term refers to the ongoing process of making meaning from what we experience in
our environment?
a. attribution
b. primacy
c. egocentrism
d. perception
2. According to your text, the perception-making process consists of three stages. Which of the
following is NOT among them?
a. interpretation
b. attribution
c. organization
d. selection
3. Many factors affect the likelihood that we will notice a certain object in our environment.
Which of the following does NOT lead to increased attention?
a. plainness
b. unusualness
c. repetition
d. intensity
4. During your first session of this class, your instructor introduced him or herself and you
probably respected his or her position as an authoritative figure in the classroom. Which of
the following classification schema likely helped you organize that information?
a. physical constructs
b. role constructs
c. interaction constructs
d. psychological constructs
5. A fellow student in one of your communication classes, Rose, starts acting particularly nice
to you in the weeks leading up to the first exam. Classmates have frequently treated you this
way in the past in the hope that you will help them study. As a result, you are suspicious of
Rose’s motives. In this scenario, you are likely basing your suspicions on
a. personal experience.
b. your knowledge of Rose.
c. the closeness of your relationship with Rose.
d. All the answers are correct.
6. Which of the following is NOT one of the influences on perceptual accuracy addressed in
your textbook?
a. cultural background
b. social roles
c. co-cultural identity
d. genetic background
7. Which of the following statements is true with respect to perceptual accuracy?
a. Our perceptions almost always reflect reality as it is, with minimal distortion.
b. Culture may affect behavior, but it does not usually influence perceptions of behavior.
c. Physiological characteristics, including our biological rhythms, affect perceptual accuracy.
d. All of these statements are false.
8. Angela had just been promoted to department chair at the college where she taught. Although
she treated everyone the same, several of the male professors in the department were put off
by Angela’s requests. As a result, the female professors thought of Angela as fair and
equitable in her treatment, but the male professors began resenting her and openly
challenging her position on several issues. The male professors probably treated Angela that
way because they
a. were culturally insensitive to Angela’s professional position.
b. perceived Angela’s professional position as masculine and socially threatening.
c. were physiologically opposed to Angela’s professional position.
d. were prejudiced against Angela because of her ethnicity.
9. Which of the following sequences accurately depicts the process of stereotype formation?
a. identify group membership → apply generalization → act on prejudice
b. identify group membership → act on prejudice → form group generalization
c. identify group membership → recall group generalization → apply generalization
d. identify group membership → recall group generalization → act on prejudice
10. Which of the following processes is at work when we are able to recall only information that
confirms our existing stereotypes?
a. stereotype recall bias
b. selective perception
c. selective memory bias
d. self-serving recall bias
11. Which of the following statements is true with respect to the process of stereotyping?
a. Stereotypes are always unfair to women and minorities.
b. Stereotyping always leads to inaccurate assessments of others.
c. Stereotypes always cast people in a negative light.
d. Stereotypes are sometimes accurate.
12. People “see” faces in all sorts of natural phenomena, including clouds, tree bark, and even
rocks on Mars. This is an example of which perception-making process?
a. egocentrism
b. perceptual set
c. positivity bias
d. recency effect
13. Rick and Jamie recently started dating. To commemorate their first month as a couple, Rick
surprised Jamie when he picked her up at work in a rented limousine with floor-level tickets
to a concert. After the show, Rick was upset because Jamie would barely speak to him. Jamie
was also upset because she had been planning on surprising Rick with a quiet dinner at home.
After two days of fighting, the couple broke up. What was likely at the root of this conflict?
a. egocentrism
b. negativity bias
c. altercentrism
d. perceptual set differences
14. Idealizing a romantic partner at the beginning of a new relationship is a common example of
the ________ bias.
a. delusional
b. romantic
c. positivity
d. confirmatory
15. You liked most everything about your new roommate when you first met, but when you
found out she smokes, that overshadowed all of her good qualities in your mind. What
perception-making process are you displaying here?
a. primacy effect
b. negativity bias
c. stereotyping
d. egocentrism
16. An explanation for why something occurred is called a(n)
a. interpretation.
b. selection.
c. attribution.
d. perceptual set.
17. Samantha was a fantastic softball player, but she rarely took credit for her success. Every
time a reporter from the school paper would ask her for a quote, Samantha would say, “I just
got lucky today,” or, “Their pitcher just gave me something I could hit.” Which of the
following likely factors into Samantha’s personality?
a. internal locus
b. external locus
c. negative attribution
d. self-serving bias
18. In which of the following instances might you have committed the self-serving bias?
a. You are quick to attribute your friend’s behaviors to internal, stable causes.
b. You say that your co-worker’s successes are due only to blind luck.
c. You say that most everything your roommate does is the result of his being an only child.
d. You attribute all your failures to external, unstable causes.
19. Regarding the fundamental attribution error, which of the following statements is NOT true?
a. It refers to attributions we make for other people’s behaviors, rather than our own.
b. We don’t usually commit it when we are told that a person’s behavior is externally caused.
c. It causes us to discount external, unstable causes for people’s actions.
d. We commit it when we assume that another person’s behavior is caused by internal, stable
causes.
20. One of your hall-mates, Ling, is an exchange student from Taiwan. Ling never goes out with
the other students, goes to bed at 9:30 every night, and studies quietly in her room most of
the time. You assume that Ling behaves the way she does because she is Asian. Which of the
following attribution errors might you have committed?
a. self-serving bias
b. fundamental attribution error
c. overattribution
d. all of these
21. Which of the following was NOT suggested in your textbook as one of the ways to combat
perceptual inaccuracies?
a. avoiding biased opinions
b. knowing yourself
c. focusing on the characteristics of others
d. considering the context
22. Which of the following techniques can help in the perception-checking process?
a. generating a meaningful interpretation as quickly as possible
b. generating alternative perceptions
c. avoiding considering the context
d. None of the answers is correct.
23. Forming an accurate snap judgment of someone else illustrates which of the following
truisms of forming attributions?
a. Biases can be overcome if we are mindful of them.
b. Checking our perceptions is essential to forming correct attributions.
c. More information doesn’t necessarily lead to better attributions.
d. You never get a second chance to make a first impression.
24. How are interpretations different from facts?
a. Interpretations are objective, whereas facts are subjective.
b. Facts speak to what occurred, whereas interpretations speak to the meaning of what occurred.
c. Interpretations are the same as descriptions, whereas facts are more similar to attributions.
d. They aren’t different; facts and interpretations are the same.
25. When competent communicators discover that their perceptions were inaccurate, they will
respond by
a. seeking more information.
b. considering alternative perceptions.
c. revising their perceptions accordingly.
d. All the answers are correct.
26. Your senses are unable to attend to every stimulus in the environment at the same time.
27. Organization is the process of assigning meaning to something you have perceived.
28. The stages of perception happen in a very ordered and linear fashion.
29. Perceptual ability is influenced by social and occupational roles.
30. We have a tendency to discount first impressions as untrustworthy.
31. Egocentrism is a normal stage of human development.
32. If an attribution is internal then it must also be controllable.
33. The self-serving bias is a form of self-delusion.
34. Overattribution is essentially the same thing as the primacy effect.
35. Physiology exerts several effects on interpersonal perception.
36. When it comes to perception-making, it is always best to have the most information possible.
Answer: False
Bloom’s: Remember
Short-Answer Questions
(Answers will vary.)
37. Identify and briefly define each of the three stages of the perception-making process.
Bloom’s: Remember
38. Using concrete examples, articulate and explain how perceptual accuracy can be influenced
by social and occupational roles.
Bloom’s: Understand
39. Define the primacy and recency effects, and explain how they work together to influence
perceptions.
Bloom’s: Understand
40. Compare and contrast the fundamental attribution error and the self-serving bias as common
attribution errors.
Bloom’s: Understand
41. What is mindfulness, and how can we engage that process when making attributions?
Bloom’s: Understand
42. Explain the similarities and differences between facts and interpretations, using concrete
examples.
Bloom’s: Understand
Essay Questions
(Answers will vary.)
43. What does the word prejudice literally mean? How are prejudices formed? Do you agree
with the claim that prejudices are often the result of a misperception? Why or why not? How
have you seen or experienced prejudice in your lifetime? What can be done to counteract or
discourage people from engaging in the process of forming prejudices?
Bloom’s: Analyze
44. Many people believe strongly in the notion that “seeing is believing.” However, research has
shown that perceptual sets can cause people to “see” things that aren’t really there, or not to
see things that are. Why do you think people have so much confidence that what they see
reflects reality? Is it simply because they are ignorant of the research, or do you think most
people would continue to think that “seeing is believing,” even if they were aware of
perceptual sets? Defend your answer with reasoned arguments.
Bloom’s: Analyze
45. Most people probably wouldn’t admit that they stereotype others, but research shows that
stereotyping is a fairly common pattern of perception-making. As you have learned in this
chapter, there is nothing inherently negative about stereotypes, so why do you suppose
stereotyping is so distasteful to people? If you were teaching a workshop about stereotyping
to a group of college students, what would you most want them to know about it?
Bloom’s: Analyze
46. Think about a friend, teacher, or co-worker of yours whom you didn’t like when you first
met. What led your relationship with that person to get off on the wrong foot? What
happened that made you change your mind about the person? If you could experience that
first meeting over again, what would you do differently in your relationship with the person?
Bloom’s: Analyze
47. Identify and describe the three types of attribution errors discussed in your textbook. Which
do you think is most common? Why? Which do you think is potentially the most damaging
to relationships? Why? Do relationship type or context factor into those decisions? Finally,
suggest one way that someone could overcome each of those attribution errors.
Bloom’s: Analyze
48. Describe in detail the direct and indirect perception-checking processes. Next, think of a
unique situation in which it would be appropriate to engage in direct perception-checking but
not indirect perception-checking. Also think about a situation in which indirect perception–
checking is a preferable option. Which factors/features of those situations led you to make
those decisions? Finally, discuss why the perception-checking process in general is
important.
Bloom’s: Analyze