978-0134202037 Test Bank Chapter 5

Beebe, Beebe and Redmond – Interpersonal Communication, 8e Testbank

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Chapter 5: Listening and Responding Skills

Multiple Choice Questions

1) What stage of the listening process is involved when you focus on one sound from the many

that compete for your attention?

A) attending

B) understanding

C) selecting

D) responding

2) You are sitting in Professor Rashad’s class listening to a lecture, when you hear the student

behind you talking to her friend about the party to be held at Jake’s this Friday. As you sit

there taking in details about the party, you are drawn back to Professor Rashad when you

hear, “And that is what will be on the test Friday.” Which stage of the listening process is

reflected at the point where you return to hearing what the professor is saying?

A) selecting

B) attending

C) understanding

D) remembering

3) Which stage of the listening process is involved when you focus your eyes on your friend,

nod your head, and say “uh huh” occasionally as he speaks?

A) selecting

B) remembering

C) attending

D) responding

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4) As you listen to Dr. Hegel’s lecture on barriers to effective listening, you begin to see how

those barriers have operated in your conversations with your spouse. Which stage of the

listening process is reflected in this realization?

A) attending

B) remembering

C) understanding

D) responding

5) Alex and Andy are the best of friends and people often say they are like twins. Because of

the similarities between the two,

A) they are more likely to misunderstand one another.

B) they are less likely to achieve accurate understanding.

C) they are more likely to achieve accurate understanding.

D) their similarities do not impact their communication significantly.

6) Which barrier to effective listening is displayed when Helga listens to Sven very carefully

until he says something she can use against him, and then she interrupts?

A) criticizing the speaker.

B) distracting emotional noise

C) differing speech rate and thought rate

D) being self-absorbed

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should use what listening style?

A) relational-oriented style

B) action-oriented style

C) content-oriented style

D) task-oriented style

11) Atira has just returned from spring break and is telling her friend Nida all about her great

time. Nida has been very responsive to Atira’s story—laughing, nodding—but now has

increased her eye contact, raised a finger, and shifted her posture. Nida’s nonverbal cues

probably indicate that she

A) is upset by Atira’s tale.

B) is faking her listening.

C) desires to change roles from listener to speaker.

D) objects to what Atira has just said.

12) Drew has just been fired from his job and turns to you to talk about it. According to

communication researchers, what would be an inappropriate response to show social

support?

A) “How are you doing?”

B) “Yes, then what happened?”

C) “Don’t worry about it. You can always find a new job.”

D) “I would really like to help you.”

13) There are some situations when the best response to another is not a verbal one. Instead, at

Beebe, Beebe and Redmond – Interpersonal Communication, 8e Testbank

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times it can be more appropriate to

A) involve other people.

B) just keep listening.

C) provide a nonverbal gesture, such as a hug or pat on the back.

D) leave the person alone to think for himself or herself.

14) While listening to Marylou’s story about a narrowly escaping a near-accident in her car, Phil

is focused on the facts of the matter and is less concerned with Marylou’s emotions and

feelings. This is because Phil tends to be which kind of listener?

A) analytical

B) critical

C) relational

D) task-oriented

15) In his observations of married couples, marriage researcher John Gottman found that a

significant predictor of divorce was

A) neglecting to confirm one’s marriage partner during everyday conversations.

B) increased use of interrupting responses.

C) neglecting to paraphrase one’s marriage partner’s emotions.

D) employing false listening behaviors in everyday conversations.

16) Which skill for responding with empathy are you employing when you explore how you

might feel under circumstances similar to those your partner has experienced?

A) understand your partner’s feelings

B) paraphrase emotions

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C) reflect content by paraphrasing

D) listening to your partner without interrupting

17) While listening to Marshall’s account of his day and all of the trials and tribulations he

endured, Arch is taking into account Marshall’s thoughts, values, background, and

perspectives during the interaction. Thus, Arch is engaging in social

A) centrification.

B) ethnocentrism.

C) decentering.

D) networking.

18) When Kamika asked D’Andre why he was so late picking her up from work, he replied, “It’s

too bad that you had to wait in the rain until I could pick you up from work, but I had to stop

and drop off my dry cleaning on the way.” This is an example of which of the following?

A) confirming response

B) emotional intelligence

C) listener apprehension

D) disconfirming response.

19) During a recent conversation with Rajiv, Maya determined which information was useful and

accurate and which conclusions were more valid, and which information was less useful and

which conclusions were less valid. Maya, in this case, was performing

A) social decentering.

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B) conversational narcissism.

C) information overload.

D) information triage.

20) Perry finds that when he speaks to his communication professor, he tries to use some of the

communication vocabulary and concepts he has learned in class. When he speaks to his

younger cousin, however, he tends to speak in shorter sentences, using more familiar words

and ideas. This is an example of how Perry is applying ________ theory.

A) appropriation

B) self-centering

C) adaptation

D) communication accommodation

21) Which of the following is true about speech rate versus thought rate?

A) Many people speak faster than we can think.

B) People generally think faster than a speaker can speak.

C) The average person speaks at a rate of 250 words per minute.

D) People tend to speak and think at about the same rate.

22) Toni sat through a speech presentation at the local service organization’s monthly meeting

last week. The speaker wanted to be sure that all audience members understood what he had

to say, so he spoke in a deliberate, slow fashion in order to achieve his goal. The technique

backfired and the vast majority of the audience became bored and some even left. This was

most likely due to which of the following?

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A) conversational narcissism

B) selective listing

C) information overload

D) differing speech rate and thought rate

23) Samantha and Darren have been assigned to figure out the best date to schedule their annual

class dance and party. Samantha wants to establish a positive communication relationship

with Darren, but it seems as though he is only interested in arriving at a solution to the

question at hand. This is probably because Darren employs which type of listening style?

A) critical listening style

B) task-oriented listening style

C) analytical listening style

D) relational listening style

24) Wei is generally considered by her boss to be very good at being aware of, understanding,

and managing the emotions of those people who work for her. She has also demonstrated the

ability to do the same with her own emotions. Because of these abilities, it may be said that

Wei exhibits a high level of

A) information triage.

B) emotional intelligence.

C) critical listening.

D) listener apprehension.

25) When she went to hear a speech at the local city council meeting, Carly made sure she took

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notes during the entire speech. This action was due to Carly’s ________ apprehension.

A) listener

B) hearing

C) observational

D) critical

1) Hearing is the process of selecting, attending to, creating meaning from, remembering, and

responding to verbal and nonverbal messages.

2) When Bob is choosing one sound as he sorts through the various sounds competing for his

attention, he is engaged in selecting.

3) Information is stored in long-term memory because it is significant to us in some way.

4) When Miguel, who is 14 years old and 50 inches tall, hears his mother say, “Hey Shortcakes,

come here. I want to talk to you,” he goes ballistic and refuses to listen. The barrier he raises

Beebe, Beebe and Redmond – Interpersonal Communication, 8e Testbank

is external noise.

5) Paul noted something his brother said during their recent conversation and he pretended to

listen while he waited to ambush and fault with his brother. This example is a type of

criticizing the speaker.

6) While Jeannie is speaking, Gail is watching Jeannie’s nonverbal expressions, looking for the

meta-message or message about the message.

7) People understand best if they can relate what they are hearing to something they already

know rather than to something new.

8) The everyday kinds of confirmation and support we offer can change monologues into

dialogues.

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9) Because novelty is so appealing to us, the greater the difference between people, the greater

the likelihood that they will accurately understand each other.

10) Second-guessing is an activity closely associated with the task-oriented listening style.

11) Sheppard is a very observant person, and when he sees Cybil with Mark, especially noticing

Cybil and Mark holding hands and smiling at each other, he is certain that they are

romantically involved. Sheppard’s conclusion is more of an inference than a fact.

12) Because Jenna is very unhappy with her current situation at home and that unhappiness is

physically visible and can be heard in her voice, Pete is more likely to experience emotional

noise and to pay closer attention to the content of Jenna’s message than to focus on her

emotions.

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13) Listener apprehension is the fear of misunderstanding or misinterpreting, or of not being able

to adjust psychologically to messages spoken by others and can actually be a factor in

misunderstanding a message.

14) Information triage helps one to distinguish useful from less useful information.

15) Empathy means feeling bad for someone who has had a negative experience, even though we

may have no genuine idea how he or she is feeling.

1) What is the difference between hearing and listening?

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2) How is emotional noise different from external noise? Provide an example of each.

3) Explain the difference between fact and inference, and provide an example of each.

4) What is the main difference between a confirming and a disconfirming response to a

message? Provide an example of each.

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5) Phillip is not listening carefully to Jacques describe his vacation because he is more

interested in telling Jacques what he did on his vacation. What listening barrier is Phillip

experiencing and what can he do to overcome it?

6) Use the five steps of the listening process to describe how you listen to a lecture.

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7) Kaitlyn is excited about her new job and is telling Kendra about it. How can Kendra respond

to Kaitlyn in ways that confirm her?

8) Josh has created very strong general ideas about how people from other cultures behave and

communicate. Why it is that Josh should avoid always applying these ideas when he meets

someone from another culture?

9) Name the four listening styles, and identify which of the four listening styles is best. Explain

why it is the most appropriate.

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10) Ruth, an African American student from Chattanooga, just met her new college roommate,

Francesca, for the first time. Francesca is from Mexico and is having a great deal of difficulty

adjusting to American culture, and is feeling more than a little homesick as this is her first

time away from home. Ruth is excited at finally being away from home, and is looking

forward to a fun-filled year. Although Francesca seems nice, it is a bit of a “downer” to have

such a melancholy roommate. Ruth has heard that you have taken a course in interpersonal

communication, and comes to you for advice about how to interact with her new roommate.

You decide that the best approach is for Ruth to try and socially decenter in an effort to get

off on the right foot with her new roommate. Using the various skills associated with social

decentering, what advice do you give Ruth?

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