Chapter 4: Listening in Interpersonal Communication
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Listening can be defined as __________.
a) the process of receiving, understanding, remembering, evaluating, and responding to
verbal and/or nonverbal messages
b) an active process of receiving, shaping, remembering, evaluating, and responding to
aural stimuli
c) an automatic response within earshot of auditory stimuli
d) a passive reception of auditory stimuli
2. To you should __________.
a) ask questions to clarify or to get details or examples if needed
b) interrupt as soon as something is unclear
c) listen for facts and dismiss opinions
d) resist assuming that the speaker is a person of goodwill
3. In the five stages of listening, receiving __________.
a) is the same as hearing
b) causes you to focus on the speaker rather than on what you plan to say
c) ends with accepting the message the speaker sends
d) deals only with verbal messages
4. Which of the following helps you receive messages more effectively?
a) Focus your attention .
b) Avoid assuming you understand what the speaker is going to say before he or she
actually says it.
c) Focus on what you will say when it is your turn to speak.
5. Which of the following suggestions will make listening in the classroom more
effective?
a) Pay attention to every distraction.
b) Prepare yourself to listen.
c) Assume that everything is irrelevant.
d) Listen to the introduction and conclusions only.
6. Backchanneling cues are __________.
a) nonverbal behaviors indicating that the speaker needs to repeat or explain something
he or she said earlier
b) unvaried responses that indicate boredom
c) metaphorical steps backing through a descriptive process
d) ment while the speaker is talking
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7. Which of the following is one of the five stages of listening?
a) hearing
b) responding
c) repeating
d) examining
8. In empathic listening, we __________.
a) try to feel what the speaker feels
b) respond to our needs as a listener
c) strive to interrupt the speaker
d) lose our own identity and assume the identity of the other person
9. Communicating empathically means __________.
a) supporting your own ideas
b) understanding what a person means and feels
c) agreeing with whatever the speaker says
d) providing needed materials and resources
10. Objective listening is __________.
a) preoccupation with self
b) offensive listening
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c) listening with detachment
d) telling a friend how the world hates him or her
11. Empathic listening can be defined as __________.
a) listening without judgment or evaluation; listening for understanding
b) the procedure whereby details of what we have heard become heightened and
emphasized
c) placing ourselves into the position of the speaker so that we feel as the speaker feels
d) information sent by a listener that tells the speaker how the listener is reacting to what
the speaker is saying
12. Which of the following is helpful in achieving empathy?
a) Try to see the sequence of events .
b) Consider your listening task finished when you understand what the speaker is feeling.
c) Focus on the facts, rather than the feelings.
13. Nonjudgmental listening is defined as __________.
a) listening with an open mind and with a view toward understanding
b) listening while remaining closed-minded and not open to suggestions
c) listening critically
d) passing out judgment information to your listeners
14. Critical listening is __________.
a) biased
b) analyzing and evaluating messages
c) judging the other speaker
d) negative
15. Which response demonstrates the best example of an active listening technique?
16. Active listening techniques are __________.
a) natural and easy to learn
b) showing you are listening, checking how accurately you have understood, and
expressing acceptance of feelings
c) paraphrasing meaning, expressing understanding of feelings, and asking questions
d) empathic, nonjudgmental, and deep
This is characteristic of __________.
a) a display rule
b) paraphrasing
c) indirect speech
d) direct speech
18. Which sentence is an acceptabl I failed the test. I might
as well drop out
If you had studied instead of going out the night before, you would have done OK.
ve failed tests, too. I know how bad it feels.
Because you failed the test, you feel like a failure in college.
19. Inappropriate types of messages for active listening include messages that
__________.
a) order, warn, preach, and advise the speaker
b) paraphrase, inquire, and echo feelings of the speaker
c) assert, restate, and emphasize the feelings of the speaker
d) reflect, echo, and paraphrase
20. Which of the following statements would most likely be an active listening response?
Jenny is a pessimist. Y t care about what she thinks and says.
Rumors that can ruin your reputation have to be stopped immediately.
Why would she say a thing like that? Have you done something behind her back?
re afraid that Jenny is spreading false rumors about you and Derik. In fact,
re pretty sure of it, and you are mad and disappointed that Jenny would do such a
thing!
21. Which of the following is the most appropriate question for active listening?
a)
b)
s time you got the courage to
22. A physical barrier to listening might include __________.
a) loud music
b) thinking about what to have for lunch
c) being biased against the speaker
d) lack of focus
23. __________ is the assumption that we know what the speaker is going to say.
a) Active listening
b) Passive listening
c) Pseudolistening
d) Premature judgment
24. __________ occurs when you learn what the speaker means or when the meaning you
get is essentially the same as what the speaker sent.
a) Receiving
b) Passive listening
c) Understanding
d) Evaluating
25. __________ consists of judging messages in some way.
a) Receiving
b) Passive listening
c) Understanding
d) Evaluating
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True/False Questions
26. Controlling distractions is helpful in setting a supportive listening climate.
27. Memory is reproductive.
28. We use our short-term memory for remembering things such as phone numbers until
we have the opportunity to write them down.
29. One suggestion to help facilitate the passage of information from short- to long-term
memory is to relate the new information to what you already know.
30. Texting while you are listening to someone would be considered a distraction.
31. When we listen empathically, we listen from our own point of view.
32. Empathic listening requires understanding on an emotional level.
33. To listen actively, p
34. Stating in your own words what you think the speaker meant will only confuse the
message.
35. In biased and prejudiced listening, you hear what the speaker is saying through
stereotypes.
Fill-in-the-Blank Questions
36. The five stages in the listening process are __________, __________, __________,
__________, and __________.
37. –
that let him or her know you are paying attention are called __________ cues.
38. __________ are inappropriate to use in restaurants, hospitals, theaters, and museums;
when using one, it is polite to move to a less public area.
39. Having __________ for other people means seeing the world as they see it and
feeling as they feel.
40. __________ is a phenomenon in which you
actually occurred.
41. Three techniques of __________ listening are s meanings,
expre asking questions.
42. Because each person has had a uniq s meaning is
going to be _ s.
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43. The four styles of listening are __________, __________, __________, and
__________.
44. __________ are cultural rules that govern which nonverbal behaviors are appropriate
and which are inappropriate in a public setting.
45. Some cultures, including those of Western Europe and the United States, favor
__________ speech in communication.
Essay Questions
46. What strategies might you use to improve communication with someone with a
hearing impairment?
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47. What is evaluating? How do you evaluate effectively?
48. Explain what active listening
49. Explain the techniques of active listening.
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s explanation of the differences between how men and
women listen. Give both positive and negative examples illustrating their differences.