Chapter 8
Listening
Test Bank
1. The _________ involves the degree to which we feel safe, supported, and understood in a
relationship.
a. interaction expectation
b. social climate
c. personal valuation
d. relational climate
2. Whenever Suzanne has a problem, she talks to her friend, Sarah. “With Sarah, I always feel
safe, supported, and understood.” The comfort that Suzanne is expressing is related to
a. relational climate.
b. personal valuation.
c. social climate.
d. interaction expectation.
3. When our relational climate is supportive and based on mutual trust, respect, and support,
we say it’s a ________ climate.
a. conforming
b. interactional
c. disconfirming
d. conventional
4. Jonah suggests that the relational climate he has with his father is conforming. Which of the
following descriptions best fits this type of climate?
a. His father rarely has time to listen.
b. His father takes the time to listen, but always seems distracted and withdrawn.
c. His father listens, offers advice regardless of whether it is requested, and gives support
when he makes a final decision.
d. His father takes the time to listen, offers advice when asked, and respects his son’s
decisions.
5. In a disconfirming climate, the relational climate is characterized by defensiveness, negative
judgments, and
a. openness.
b. trust.
c. mistrust.
d. strength.
6. Megan finds it difficult to talk to her friend, Julie. “Whenever I try to get some insight into
my problem, Julie just judges me without hearing all the evidence, if she even takes the time
to listen.” Megan’s description best fits the ___________ type of relational climate.
a. disconfirming
b. confirming
c. supportive
d. neutral
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7. The _______ climate is most likely to contribute to defensiveness because we feel the
listener’s judgment has been imposed on us.
a. confirming
b. supportive
c. neutral
d. disconfirming
8. According to Buber (1970), being accepted and respected by others contributes to our
psychological growth and
a. interactional style.
b. self-actualization.
c. acceptance of others.
d. empathy.
9. The most basic level of confirmation in a relational climate is
a. recognizing another’s existence.
b. acknowledging another’s person’s thoughts, feelings, or actions.
c. accepting another person’s thoughts or feelings as valid.
d. sharing the information you’ve learned about the person with another.
10. Walking across campus, Mary smiles or establishes eye contact with those individuals she
recognizes. This is an example of what level of confirmation in a relationship?
a. Recognizing another’s existence
b. Acknowledging another person’s thoughts, feelings, or actions
c. Accepting another person’s thoughts or feelings as valid
d. Sharing the information you’ve learned about one person with another
11. One way to punish others is to withdraw from interactions, including recognizing their
existence or acknowledging their existence. This is also known as giving the other person the
a. door in the face.
b. foot in the door.
c. kick in the pants.
d. silent treatment.
12. The second level of confirmation in relational climate involves
a. recognizing another’s existence.
b. accepting another person’s thoughts or feelings as valid.
c. acknowledging another person’s thoughts, feeling, or actions.
d. sharing the information you’ve learned about the person with another.
13. After a long day at work, Greg came home and announced, “I’ve had the worst day ever!”
Which of the following would be a supportive response to the announcement consistent with
the second level of confirmation in relational climate?
a. “You think you had a bad day—wait until you hear about mine!”
b. “You say you’ve had a hard day every day. Get a new job.”
c. “You worry too much about work.”
d. “I’m sorry you had a hard day. Do you want to talk about it?”
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14. Not acknowledging another person’s thoughts, feelings, or actions may leave a person
a. feeling heard.
b. feeling unimportant or misunderstood.
c. feeling trusted to handle the problem on his or her own.
d. supported.
15. Accepting another person’s thoughts or feelings as valid is also called
a. acceptance.
b. acknowledgement.
c. recognition.
d. endorsement.
16. Stefanie is feelings stressed because, yet again, she has taken on too many projects that need
to be completed in a short period of time. When she expresses her concerns to her friend,
Stacy, Stacy endorses her statement by responding,
a. “I know you are stressed. It’s hard to complete so much in so little time.”
b. “You always say that, yet you always overwork yourself.”
c. “You worry too much about deadlines; no one cares if everything is in on time.”
d. “You work better under pressure. Get over it.”
17. Although effective communication involves a variety of skills, the single most important of
these skills is
a. speaking clearly.
b. thinking about what you are going to say.
c. listening.
d. knowing your audience.
18. Good listening skills involve hearing, understanding, and
a. talking honestly about your own problems.
b. responding in a way that clarifies or confirms your understanding.
c. dividing attention effectively.
d. presenting your own side on a dispute.
19. Adults ranked __________ the best communication skill for effectiveness in both family and
broader settings (Nolvin, 1984).
a. empathy
b. listening
c. sympathy
d. hearing
20. The first step of listening involves
a. the physical element: hearing.
b. attending.
c. understanding.
d. responding.
21. Paying attention, the second step to complete listening, to what a speaker is saying is known
as
a. hearing.
b. attending.
c. understanding.
d. responding.
22. _________ involves not only attending to what the speaker says, but also the nonverbal
aspect of the message and the context of the message.
a. Hearing
b. Attending
c. Understanding
d. Responding
23. Your best friend responds to the question, “How was your test?” with a softly spoken,
“Fine.” Knowing your friend had a rough week at home and at work, you interpret “fine”
differently. This is an example of ___________ associated with complete listening.
a. hearing
b. attending
c. understanding
d. responding
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24. Although listening is perceived as a passive behavior, the last step in effective listening is
a. hearing.
b. attending.
c. understanding.
d. responding.
25. _______ barriers to listening include our thoughts or emotions whereas _______ barriers to
listening originate in the message, the sender, or the environment.
a. Internal; external
b. Genetic; situational
c. External; internal
d. Observable; nonobservable
26. One barrier to listening, ___________, involves the stress, anxiety, anger, or other emotion
that interferes with our ability to give the speaker our full attention.
a. emotional noise
b. cognitive distraction
c. noise
d. informational overload
27. Marsha was having a hard time listening to Clara’s newest breakup story because Marsha
herself had just been dumped by her boyfriend of three years. Because Marsha is devastated,
her ability to pay attention is being affected by
a. noise.
b. cognitive distraction.
c. emotional noise.
d. informational overload.
28. Mason was angry because of his recent fight with his girlfriend. When his friend, Jack,
called to talk, Mason was unable to pay close attention due to
a. emotional noise.
b. cognitive distraction.
c. noise.
d. informational overload.
29. Sometimes, another unavoidable topic is on our mind when others try to talk to us.
_________is another type of barrier that interferes with our ability to pay attention.
a. Emotional noise
b. Cognitive distraction
c. Noise
d. Information overload
30. To prevent cognitive distraction from interfering with our ability to listen to others, we can
put it aside temporarily, also known as
a. redirection.
b. recessitate.
c. reorganization.
d. compartmentalization.
31. Bill wanted to talk to Jane about his frustrating day at work, but noticed she seemed
particularly stressed out. He temporarily put aside the thought of his day and asked her what
was wrong. Temporarily “filing away” our own issues is known as
a. reconsidering.
b. compartmentalizing.
c. reorganizing.
d. distracting.
32. __________ occurs when we stop listening to a message before the speaker is finished.
a. Emotional noise
b. Cognitive distraction
c. Compart
d. Premature judgment
33. One external barrier to listening involves ________, or the distraction associated with other
conversations in the room, a television or stereo playing, or any other sound that intrudes
while you are trying to listen to someone.
a. noise
b. emotional noise
c. compartmentalization
d. information overload
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34. In the presence of distracting noise, it is possible to become accustomed to the intrusive
stimulus and, therefore, reduce its impact on us. This is known as
a. noise.
b. sensory adaptation.
c. selective attention.
d. information overload.
35. At first, the noise at the party was overwhelming, but soon, Tracy began to get used to the
music. This is known as
a. sensory adaptation.
b. noise.
c. selective attention.
d. information overload.
36. When the environment is distracting, it sometimes becomes necessary to focus our attention
to one stimulus and filter out other less relevant stimuli. This is known as
a. sensory adaptation.
b. noise.
c. selective attention.
d. information overload.
37. Caitlin found it very hard to talk to her brother at the football game until she tuned out the
cheering and focused directly on him. The strategy she is using here is
a. sensory adaptation.
b. noise.
c. selective attention.
d. information overload.
38. Introversion-Extraversion is related to selective attention in that
a. compared to introverts, extraverts prefer higher levels of noise in learning
environments.
b. compared to introverts, extraverts prefer lower levels of noise in learning environments.
c. both introverts and extraverts prefer quiet classroom environments.
d. compared to introverts, extraverts are less able to filter out distractions in learning
environments.
39. __________ interferes with our ability to listen to others because we try to process too much
information.
a. Emotional noise
b. Compartmentalization
c. Information overload
d. Selective attention
40. Sandra took three phone messages within minutes of each other. Because the messages dealt
with different issues, roommates, and callers, it didn’t take long to realize Sandra’s
confusion of the messages was due to ___________.