Chapter 1: Foundations of Interpersonal Communication
Multiple Choice Questions
1. What are the two major benefits of interpersonal communication?
a) intellectual and practical
b) connection and consciousness
c) educational and professional
d) personal/social and professional
2. In a survey of 1,001 individuals, 53 percent cited __________ as the major cause of
marriage failure.
a) insufficient income
b) in-law interference
c) lack of effective communication
d) debt
3. The objective of the text, Interpersonal Messages, is to __________.
a) provide a formula for behavior
b) improve your interpersonal skills
c) focus on relevant theory
d
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4. Communication may be __________.
a) synchronous and asynchronous
b) only asynchronous
c) androgynous
d) synchronous and androgynous
5. In a linear view of communication, __________.
a) the speaker speaks and the listener listens
b) speaking and listening are simultaneous
c) speaker and listener are interdependent
d) the speaker is addressing himself
6. The transactional view of interpersonal communication __________.
a) is an exchange of money
b) is static
c) involves interdependency
d) has a clear-cut end
7. Which of the following is a major element of interpersonal communication?
a) cell phones
b) context
c) empathy
d) clothing
8. In every interpersonal interaction that Edward has, he is presented with __________.
a) challenging moments
b) crisis communication
c) image concerns
d) choice points
9. Which of the following is an encoder?
a) writer
b) listener
c) reader
d) audience
10. When Juan introduces information about messages before he sends the message, it is
__________.
a) feedback
b) decoding
c) feedforward
d) psychological noise
11. Channels in communication __________.
a) are the media through which message signals pass
b) are usually used independently of one another
c) put ideas into words
d) may be physical, psychological, and semantic
12. Physical noise is __________.
a) external to the speaker and receiver
b) psychological
c) semantic
d) internal to the speaker and receiver
13. You can hear the growling of the stomach of the student seated next to you. This is an
example of which kind of noise from where you are seated?
a) physical
b) psychological
c) semantic
d) temporal
14. Context is the environment that __________.
a) influences the form of communication
b) is always nonverbal
c) includes eight dimensions
d) is universal throughout all cultures
15. Which type of noise is created by barriers within the sender or receiver and includes
impairments such as loss of vision and hearing?
a) physical
b) physiological
c) psychological
d) semantic
16. Ezra is from England; when he thinks of a lift, he thinks of an elevator. However, his
American roommate, Allen, thinks a lift means to give someone a ride somewhere. This
is an example of __________ noise.
a) physical
b) physiological
c) psychological
d) semantic
17. Technostress is defined as __________.
a) rude e-mails that require additional time to respond to because the receiver is stressed
b) spam e-mails that crash computer systems in the workplace
c) fear and concern of older adults about how to use technology
d) anxiety over the amount of information and the inability to manage it in the time
available
18. Sheil
next to her. This is an example of __________ noise.
a) physical
b) physiological
c) psychological
d) semantic
19. Lisa is a technology teacher at the local college. Colleagues come to her with
questions about their technology issues. In the eyes of the colleagues, what type of power
does Lisa have?
a) legitimate
b) expert
c) reward
d) coercive
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20. not
a) every aspect of behavior communicates
b) with effort you can avoid communication
c) in every interaction, someone is strong enough to force another to communicate
d) you can drop out of a communication situation
21. Saying that communication is irreversible means we __________.
a) need to monitor our commitment messages
b) have to choose carefully the messages we wish to withdraw
c) cannot withdraw a message
d) sometimes need to defend or justify our behavior
22. Your interpersonal competence is __________.
a) your knowledge of all the relevant theory
b) your ability to communicate effectively
c) your ability to put thoughts and feelings into a code
d) a special type of message
23. One way to increase mindfulness is to __________.
a) look around the room when others are speaking
b) be open to new information and points of view
c) rely heavily on first impressions
d) be close-minded when it comes to new points of view
24. __________ is the study of what is morally right and wrong.
a) Ethics
b) Social rules
c) Interpersonal competence
d) Context
25. Interpersonal interaction involves the exchange of both verbal and __________
messages.
a) spoken
b) nonverbal
c) oral
d) uttered
True/False Questions
26. Interpersonal communication is communication that only takes place between two
people with an intimate relationship.
27. Interpersonal communication is a transactional process in which all elements are
interdependent.
28. For interpersonal communication to occur, meanings must be encoded and decoded.
29. One of the problems with information overload is that it absorbs an enormous amount
of time for workers only at the higher levels of management.
30. Feedforward is when we plan our remarks before we make them.
31. The tag line after your name on your social media site is an example of feedforward.
32.
33. The four types of noise discussed in the text are semantic, physical, emotional, and
psychological.
34. The temporal or time dimension has to do with where a particular message fits into a
sequence of communication events.
35. One of the purposes of communication is to play.
36. An ambiguous message is a communication that can be interpreted as having only
one meaning.
37. Some employers and colleges ask candidates to open their social networking accounts
during the interview.
38. Communication is irreversible.
39. Communications that prove effective in one culture will by definition prove effective
in another culture.
Fill-in-the-Blank Questions
40. __________ is the verbal and nonverbal interaction between two interdependent
people.
41. __________ communication occurs in real time; __________ communication occurs
at different times.
42. Your ability to communicate effectively is your interpersonal __________.
43. A(n) __________ is a message about another message.
44. Four dimensions of the context of communication are physical, social psychological,
temporal, and __________.
45. A(n) __________ message focuses on the real world, something external to the
speaker and listener; a(n) __________ message focuses on the connection between the
individuals.
46. The communication __________ theory holds that speakers will adjust their
communication style to that of their listeners to gain social approval and greater
communication efficiency.
47. __________ is a state of awareness in which you are conscious of your reasons for
thinking or behaving.
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48.
English but ended them in Spanish. This is an example of __________.
49. The principle of __________ states that interpersonal communication can take place
only to the extent that the people talking share the same communication system.
50. What are the essential elements of interpersonal communication? How does the
concept of transactional communication tie these elements together?
51. Define synchronous and asynchronous communication and give an example of each.
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52. What are four types of noise and an example of each noise?
53. Discuss the impact of context on communication. Give examples of impact from two
different dimensions of context.
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54. What are the six different types of power? Give an example of each power.