Instructor Resource
Dainton, Applying Communication Theory for Professional Life 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
Chapter 3: Cognition and Intrapersonal Communication
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. One day you notice new neighbors moving in across the street. Because you have
never interacted with them before, you are uncertain about what they are like. You
decide to walk over and talk to them. Based on this description, which best explains why
you decided to reduce uncertainty?
A. behavioral uncertainty
B. anticipation of future interaction
C. reciprocity
D. conventional politeness
2. ______ includes the processes of reducing, elaborating, transforming, and storing
stimuli.
A. Uncertainty
B. Cognition
C. Causes
D. Effects
3. Ryan is starting a new job and is both excited and nervous. At his previous job,
employees always ate lunch at their desks and often worked 10-12 hour days. With the
new job, Ryan isn’t sure what to expect—should he stay late? Should he pack a lunch?
Should he wear a suit? According to Berger, Ryan’s questions are examples of ______.
A. behavioral uncertainty
B. deviance
C. expectancy violation valence
D. passive uncertainty reduction
4. Ellen expects her boss, Angela, to treat her with respect. One day Angela screams at
Ellen, angrily saying “Can’t you do anything right?” Ellen is very upset. How would
expectancy violation theory predict that Ellen will respond?
A. Ellen will equivocate.
B. Ellen will reciprocate.
C. Ellen will dispensate.
D. Ellen will compensate.
5. Pam recently met Bill. However, she has no desire to reduce her uncertainty about
Bill. How would Berger and Calabrese explain this situation?
A. Bill acts strangely.
B. Bill is withholding something Pam wants.
C. Bill thinks Pam will benefit him.
D. Pam must not expect to see Bill again.
6. When Burgoon first developed her theory, she was initially interested in what
happens when someone ______.
A. compensates instead of reciprocates
B. infringes on our personal space
C. makes a dispositional attribution instead of a situational one
D. meets a new person for the first time
7. When someone violates our expectations and we label it ______, we then tend to
______ that behavior.
A. positive; reciprocate
B. positive; compensate
C. negative; reciprocate
D. ambiguous; compensate
8. Judgments and conclusions that provide reasons for behavior are called ______.
A. uncertainties
B. reciprocities
C. attributions
D. situational factors
9. ______ is NOT an antecedent condition of Uncertainty Reduction Theory.
A. Anticipation of future interactions
B. Incentive value
C. Violation valence
D. Deviance
10. The last of Berger’s uncertainty reduction strategies is ______, which is when you
go straight to the source in question and ask for as much information as possible.
A. passive
B. active
C. interactive
D. reactive
Instructor Resource
Dainton, Applying Communication Theory for Professional Life 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
11. Regina is bragging to her group members in class that she received a refund from a
salon twice. She didn’t report or return the second mistaken refund. Cera doesn’t know
Regina very well, and she asks the other group members what they would have done in
that situation. Cera is using ______.
A. consensus
B. consistency
C. distinctiveness
D. hedonic relevance
12. Phil cheated on Dani. Dani forgives him because he has never cheated on her
before or even flirted with others. Dani is using ______.
A. consensus
B. consistency
C. distinctiveness
D. hedonic relevance
13. When consensus is high, consistency is low, and distinctiveness is high, we tend to
make ______.
A. situational (external) attributions
B. dispositional (internal) attributions
C. the fundamental attribution error
D. correspondent inferences
14. When consensus is low, consistency is high, and distinctiveness is low, we tend to
make ______.
A. situational (external) attributions
B. dispositional (internal) attributions
C. the fundamental attribution error
D. correspondent inferences
15. Frankie was voted to be the next president of the fraternity over Mikael. Mikael is
often late to fraternity meetings, and Frankie believes Mikael is doing this to disrespect
him and show he doesn’t have power even though he is the president. Frankie is using
______.
A. social desirability
B. social role
C. hedonic relevance
D. personalism
16. ______ is most likely to lead to a change, either in behavior or beliefs.
A. Irrelevance
B. Consonance
C. Dissonance
D. Schemata
17. Mae does not support the governor and the initiatives of the governor. When
commercials come on the TV, Mae changes the channel. How is Mae trying to prevent
dissonance?
Instructor Resource
Dainton, Applying Communication Theory for Professional Life 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
A. selective exposure
B. selective attention
C. selective interpretation
D. selective retention
18. Saul would like to buy a new car that is more environmentally friendly, however, his
son is joining several soccer teams (he is getting to be a very good player), and his wife
would like to return to school and finish up her last few credits. How is Saul trying to
prevent dissonance?
A. perceived importance
B. dissonance ratio
C. rationalize
D. schemata
19. ______ is a post-decision theory.
A. Attribution theory
B. Uncertainty reduction theory
C. Expectancy violations theory
D. Cognitive dissonance theory
20. Cognitive dissonance theory predicts that individuals will decipher ambiguous
information so it seems to be congruent with established beliefs. This is known as
______.
A. selective exposure
B. selective attention
C. selective interpretation
D. selective retention
21. The ______ is the proportion of incongruent beliefs held in relation to the number of
consonant beliefs.
A. selective exposure
B. post-decision theory
C. selective attention
D. dissonance ratio
22. According to CDT, ______ results from an individual’s internal struggle to change
beliefs or behaviors to restore consonance.
A. motivation
B. passivity
C. attribution
D. dispositional factors
23. Cognitive structures used for organizing new information are known as ______.
A. magnitude of dissonance
B. schemata
C. irrelevance
D. personalism
True/False
1. Verbal communication typically decreases ones uncertainty.
2. According to EVT, behavioral violations are almost always negative.
3. Consensus is the best indicator of whether a behavior is situational or dispositional.
4. Early Attribution theory research posited that the intent of dispositional behaviors
were the most important.
5. Personalism is when a person behaves in a manner to match social conventions.
6. You can assess intentions by focusing on the assumed social desirability of the
actor’s actions.
7. Cognitive dissonance is a post-decision theory.
8. To persuade someone, we should focus on the irrelevance between beliefs and
behaviors.
9. Hedonic relevance shapes your assessment of the actor’s intentions.
10. We might judge an actor’s distinctiveness, that is, whether the person acts
differently depending on the situation.
Essay
1. Identify and give an example for each of the three antecedent conditions necessary
for motivating one to reduce uncertainty. Which condition do you think is most
important? Why?
2. Identify and explain five of the eight axioms of Uncertainty Reduction Theory.
3. What does Burgoon mean by expectancy? Explain. Then, identify and describe each
of the three factors that make up someone’s expectancy. Give an example for each
factor.
4. Explain violation valence.
5. Explain communicator reward valence.