A First Look At Communication Theory, 10e (Griffin)
Chapter 10 Social Information Processing Theory
1) Which of the following is defined as a hostile online language that creates a toxic climate for
relationship development and growth?
A) warranting
B) hedging
C) attacking
D) flaming
2) Walther’s SIP theory describes ________ through online communication.
A) relationship development
B) relationship maintenance
C) self-image construction
D) self-concept development
3) According to Walther, over an extended period of time, what will happen to relationships that
are based on online communication?
A) They will fade out.
B) They will be similar in intimacy to those developed face to face.
C) They will be more impersonal.
D) They will last longer.
4) Which of the following factors is needed by online communicators to produce the same
amount of impression formation and relationship development as face-to-face communicators,
especially when the online channel is primarily text-based?
A) personalization of message content
B) extended time
C) increased amount of social information conveyed
D) directness of messages
5) Which of the following is the label nonverbal researchers use to describe how people perceive,
use, and respond to issues of time in their interaction with others?
A) haptics
B) proxemics
C) chronemics
D) vocalic
6) Which of the following best describes a hyperpersonal relationship?
A) a relationship that is started offline and maintained via online communication
B) a relationship that is completely face-to-face
C) a relationship where one or both partners feel more intimate in person than via online
communication
D) an online relationship that is more intimate than if partners were physically together
7) ________ is defined as a perceptual process whereby one observes what people do and then
tries to figure out what they’re really like.
A) Mindfulness
B) Attribution
C) Pragmatism
D) Hedging
8) Which of the following describes an added benefit of nonsimultaneous online communication
compared with face-to-face interactions?
A) Messages can be sent quicker and are more sincere.
B) Messages are less distorted or affected by noise.
C) Messages are more believable and trustable.
D) Messages can be planned, contemplated, and edited to be more mindful and deliberate.
9) Which of the following is defined as the tendency for a person’s expectation of others to evoke
a response from them that confirms what was originally anticipated?
A) self-fulfilling prophecy
B) humanism
C) mindfulness
D) selective self-presentation
10) In the context of information that is posted on social media, which of the following
statements is true about the warranting value?
A) People are highly likely to accept information with a high warranting value as true.
B) Information posted by a profile owner has a high warranting value.
C) Information posted by others that is beyond an owner’s direct control has a low warranting
value.
D) People are likely to assign the same warranting value to information that comes from profile
owners and that from other site users.
11) Social information processing (SIP) theory is consistent with social penetration theory and
uncertainty reduction theory, which both assume that as people gain information about others,
their affinity for others grows as well.
12) Social information processing theory focuses on personal information made available
through online communication and its effects on relational development without addressing
impression formation.
13) Walther failed to confirm his theory through experimental testing.
14) Joseph Walther finds that messages spoken in person might take about four times longer to
say online.
15) In the context of chronemics, replying quickly to emails and text messages yields the most
negative impressions.
16) Joseph Walther claims that through selective self-presentation, people who meet online have
an opportunity to make and sustain an overwhelmingly positive impression.
17) Based on online communication’s asynchronous quality, users can send and receive messages
nonsimultaneously.
18) After consideration, Walther now believes that online communication is an inherently
inferior medium for relational communication.
19) Joseph Walther suggests that hyperpersonal communication is unlikely to improve
relationships between groups with a strong history of tension and conflict.
20) Relationships are ________ if they are more intimate than the romances or friendships would
be if the partners were physically together.
21) Walther suggests that it takes ________ for online communication relationships to reach the
same intimacy level as face-to-face messages.
22) Describe the link among interpersonal information, impression formation, and relationship
development.
23) In the absence of nonverbal cues, how are verbal cues used to develop impressions regarding
interpersonal communication?
24) Explain Walther’s empirical research of SIP theory. Be sure to explain how the study was
conducted and what the researchers found.
25) Explain the four-to-one time differential between relationships developed through online
communication and those developed in person.
26) What is a hyperpersonal relationship?
27) What does it mean that online communication is asynchronous? What are the benefits or
costs as a result?
28) How might online communication perpetuate a self-fulfilling prophecy?
29) On re-examination, Walther questions the rate at which relationships based on online
communication develop compared with those based on face-to-face interactions. State your
position. Which type of relationship develops more quickly?
30) Joe Walther states that online communication, which lacks most nonverbal cues, offers the
opportunity to form just as rich impression of another person as does face-to-face
communication. However, what two important elements does he stress must be present to
achieve the same amount (or more) of closeness?
31) Both social penetration theory and social information processing theory suggest that
relationships develop through self-disclosure. How are the theories similar and different in their
predictions about relationships?
32) According to Pearce and Cronen, reality is co-created through interactions with others. Is it
necessary to physically meet others to be co-creators? How might SIP theory intersect with
CMM to describe co-creating realities with others we’ve never met in person?
33) Evaluate SIP theory as a scientific theory. How well does it hold up?
34) Can SIP theory be falsified?
35) In relationships developed through online communication, how might Berger’s three
strategies for reducing uncertainty (passive, active, and interactive) be modified to fit the
medium?