STUDY GUIDES
STUDY GUIDE: EXAM #1
1. Communication is transactional. What does this mean?
2. There are two dimensions of every message: content and relationship. Explain the
difference between these two dimensions and provide examples for each.
3. Explain the communication competence model. What does “We-orientation versus Me-
orientation” mean? How does individualism and collectivism relate to the We-versus-
Me viewpoint?
4. How do knowledge and skills interrelate? Can you be a competent communicator if you
possess one without the other or do you need both? Defend your answer. How do
effectiveness and appropriateness interrelate? Can you have one without the other?
Explain. Can your communication be ethical without both effectiveness and
appropriateness? Define sensitivity. How does it relate to communication competence?
5. Explain Tannen’s model of gender differences in communication. Provide examples to
illustrate the model. What are some criticisms made against Tannen’s perspective on
gender differences in communication?
6. Explain what a system is and how it relates to small groups. What is the ripple effect?
What is group synergy? Negative synergy? Boundary control? How does size affect
small groups? Provide examples. What is the optimum size for a group to function
effectively?
7. Can groups be too open? Explain. Can groups be too closed? Explain your answer and
8. All groups have a task and social dimension. Explain the difference between the two.
How do the two dimensions interrelate? Can you be too task oriented? Socially
9. We join groups for various reasons. What are these reasons? Why does knowing the
reasons for joining a group matter?
10. Explain the difference between primary and secondary tension. What should be done to
reduce primary tension? Should you attempt to eliminate secondary tension from
groups?
11. What are the best ways to deal with difficult group members? What are the least
effective ways to deal with difficult group members?
12. What is a norm? Explain the two types of norms. What are the primary conditions that
produce conformity to group norms? How do groups usually respond to members’
nonconformity to group norms? Why do group members conform to norms? Is there
greater conformity in individualist or collectivist cultures as a rule? Is conformity a
negative phenomenon in groups?
13. What is group polarization? How is it different from risky shift phenomenon? Why
does group polarization occur?
14. Under what conditions is group performance superior to individual performance? When
is it the reverse?
15. What is social loafing? How can groups combat social loafing?
16. How can newcomers in a group gain acceptance from the group?
17. How does gender and ethnicity affect group development?
STUDY GUIDE: EXAM #2
1. Define competition, cooperation, and individual achievement. How are they different
from each other?
2. What is the “Queen Bee Syndrome?” What does it say about women and competition?
3. Who benefits from competition? Who experiences negative effects from competition?
Why?
4. Explain in what ways competition affects performance and achievement, character,
5. What role does culture play in producing competitive or cooperative behavior in
6. What is a shift response? What is a support response? What is competitive interrupting
and how is it different from a shift response? What is ambushing? What is probing?
What is paraphrasing?
7. Explain the 6 defensive and supportive communication patterns. Provide examples for
each. How does defensive and supportive communication relate to competition and
cooperation?
8. How should groups deal with difficult group members? Explain the steps groups need
to take.
9. What is the Robbers Cave Experiment? What did it demonstrate about competition,
cooperation, and conflict?
10. What is the Stanford Prison Study? What did it show about the power of roles?
11. What are role reversal, role status, and role conflict?
12. Explain the differences between formal and informal roles. Be familiar with the task,
13. Explain how roles emerge. How does leadership typically emerge?
14. Explain how not to become a leader. What steps should you take if you want to become
group leader? What should you do to retain the leader role once you have become the
leader?
15. Explain gender and ethnic bias in leadership.
16. Explain the different perspectives on leadership: traits, styles, situations, functions, and
17. What is the definition of a team? What are the chief distinctions between standard small
groups and teams?
18. What skills, attitudes, and characteristics do the best team members exhibit? What
characteristics and attitudes do the worst team members exhibit? When should a
member be removed from the team?
19. How do you establish appropriate goals for a team? What is most important? Can a
team have too many goals? How is a team identity established? What are solidarity
symbols? What is team talk? What is the difference between individual and team
accountability?
20. Should team roles be designated or should members choose their own roles? Explain.
21. What is team empowerment? What are the four dimensions of team empowerment?
How does organizational hierarchy affect team empowerment? Why? What is the
difference between quality circles and self-managing work teams? Which is most
effective? Why? What are the chief impediments to team empowerment?
22. What are the main communication strategies that produce competent team leadership?
What produces ineffective team leadership?
23. What is a virtual team? How does it differ from standard teams? What are some of the
advantages and disadvantages of virtual teams?
STUDY GUIDE: EXAM#3
1. How does information overload affect group decision-making? How can you cope with
information overload? Which is the most effective coping method?
2. Define and explain confirmation bias, false dichotomy, and collective inferential error.
Is it incompetent communication to make inferences? What is the vividness effect.
What is a correlation and how does it relate to inferential error?
3. What is groupthink? What are its symptoms? What causes groupthink? How should
you prevent groupthink?
4. Explain the six steps of the Standard Agenda.
5. How do you overcome resistance to change in groups?
6. What are the pros and cons of majority rule, minority rule, and consensus decision–
making? What are the specific rules of consensus decision-making that make it work?
What is a true consensus? Can any group achieve consensus?
7. What are the criteria (standards) for evaluating information used to solve problems and
8. What are the pros and cons of participation in group discussion? Why is participation
from all members not always beneficial to the group? How do you encourage
participation in group discussion from all members?
9. How should you conduct group meetings to achieve the best results? What are the pros
and cons of using electronic alternatives to standard in-person meetings?
10. Explain the brainstorming technique. What steps need to be taken to use brainstorming
effectively?
11. What is reframing? How does it produce creative problem solving? What is integrative
problem solving? How does it work?
12. Define power. What are the three types of power? How do they differ from each
other?
13. What are the primary power resources? Explain how each can produce power for group
members.
14. What do the Milgram studies show? Why are they important?
15. Explain the common general, verbal, and nonverbal indicators of power.
16. When power is imbalanced, what are the likely results? Explain why!
17. What is the difference between conformity and obedience?
18. What is an alliance? A coalition?
19. There are two forms of prevention power: defiance and resistance. Explain how they
differ. What are the resistance strategies (passive aggression)? How should the group
respond to resistance strategies?
20. Define assertiveness. How does assertiveness differ from passivity and aggression?
What is the DESC scripting method of assertiveness? Is assertiveness always
21. What is the definition of conflict? What are the chief differences between constructive
and destructive conflict? What is the difference between conflict resolution and conflict
management? Why is the distinction important?
22. What are the five communication styles of conflict management? When should you use
each and when should you choose another option? Which styles are most likely to be
23. What is the low-context style of communicating and what is the high-context style?
Which is used most in a collectivist culture and an individualist culture?
24. What are the primary situational variables that influence conflict transactions? What is
negative reciprocation? Tit-for-tat negotiating strategy? Reformed sinner (GRIT)
strategy? Positional bargaining? Principled negotiation?
25. What are the distinctions between constructive and destructive anger? What steps can
be taken to manage effectively your own anger and the anger of other group members?
STUDY GUIDE: TWELVE ANGRY MEN
1. Apply the communication competence model to the jury in the movie. Concentrate on
the We-versus-Me orientation, skills and knowledge, appropriateness and effectiveness,
sensitivity, commitment, and ethics.
2. Analyze the jury in the movie as a system. Discuss synergy, negative synergy, ripple
effect, boundary control, group size, and openness versus closedness.
3. Consider this jury from the standpoint of competition and cooperation. Were jurors
competitive? Which ones? Cooperative? Which ones? What were the results? Discuss
each jury member in terms of defensive versus supportive communication. What
resulted from the defensive or supportive communication patterns? Was there an
interdependence in goals and division of labor and resources? Equality? Meaningful
participation? Individual accountability? Did jury members use shift responses?
Support responses? Competitive interrupting? Ambushing? Probing? Paraphrasing?
4. What are some explicit and implicit norms that emerged during jury deliberations? Was
there conformity among jury members?
5. There were difficult group members on the jury. Which ones were difficult? How did
the other jurors handle them? Could they have handled them better (apply text
6. Discuss roles and leadership depicted in the movie. Which informal roles were
exhibited? By whom? With what results? Did leadership emerge according to the
normal pattern in small groups? Explain. Was leadership effective? Which leadership
styles were used? Which were effective and why?
7. Did the jury ever act as a team? Explain your answer. Apply the four dimensions of
empowerment to the jury (group potency, meaningfulness, autonomy, and impact).
8. Did the jury arrive at a true consensus? Explain what is required to have a true
9. Identify significant inferences made by the jury members. Were the inferences faulty?
Explain. Did the jury engage in collective inferential error?
10. Was there groupthink during jury deliberations? Explain. Any dialectical inquiry?
Devil’s advocacy?
11. Apply the Standard Agenda method of decision-making to this jury deliberation. Apply
all 6 steps. Did the jury use all six steps? With what result? Could the jury have
12. There are several instances of defiance depicted in the movie. Identify which jury
members were defiant and in what ways they were defiant. Discuss each of these
instances of defiance in terms of the 4 strategies groups typically employ to extinguish
did each jury member have? Explain the influence of each key member on the final
outcome of the deliberations by focusing on each member’s power resources (e.g.,
information, expertise, etc.). Which forms of power were used: dominance, prevention,
and/or empowerment? Explain.
14. There is much conflict depicted in this movie. Did the jurors handle the secondary
tension effectively? (Apply text suggestions for handling secondary tension.) Discuss
the conflict by applying the 5 communication styles of conflict management (e.g.,
collaborating, competing, etc.). Identify jurors and the conflict styles they used. What
were the results of using the styles?
15. Which negotiation strategies (i.e., tit-for-tat, hard bargaining, principled negotiation)
did each juror use? What resulted from the negotiation strategies used?