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© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed
with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
STUDY GUIDES
STUDY GUIDE: EXAM #1 (Chapters 1-3)
1. What are the four communication myths explained in the text? What is hindsight bias?
What is egocentric bias? 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. How does
context affect verbal and nonverbal communication? How are verbal and nonverbal
communication interconnected? What is a mixed message? What is bypassing? What
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? In what ways are individualist and collectivist cultures different?
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. Define sensitivity. How does it relate to communication competence? What
are the five ethical standards for communication in groups? Can your communication
be ethical without both effectiveness and appropriateness?
5. Explain Tannen's model of gender differences in communication. Provide examples to
illustrate the model. What are some critic
gender differences in communication?
6. What is the definition of a group? How is a group different from interpersonal
communication and public speaking? What are some qualitative differences between a
dyad and a group?
7. Explain what a system is and how it relates to small groups. What is input, output, and
throughput? What is entropy? What is the ripple effect? What is group synergy and
how is it created in groups? Deep diversity? Negative synergy? Dynamic equilibrium?
Equifinality? Boundary control? Structuration theory?
8. How does size affect small groups? Provide examples. What is the optimum size for a
group to function effectively? What are the differences between organizations and
small groups?
9. Can groups be too open? Explain. Can groups be too closed? Explain your answer
10. All groups have a task and social dimension. Explain the differences between the two.
How do the two dimensions interrelate? What is the output of each dimension? Can
you be too task oriented? Socially oriented? Explain. How do you build group
cohesiveness?
11. We join groups for various reasons. What are these reasons? Why does knowing the
reasons for joining a group matter?
12. 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? Does humor help or hinder addressing secondary tension effectively?
13. What are the best ways to deal with di
the least effective ways to deal with difficult group members?
14. What is a norm? Explain the two types of norms. What are the primary sources of
norms? What are the primary conditions that produce conformity to group norms? How
nonconformity to group norms? Why do group
members conform to norms? Is there greater conformity typically in individualist or
collectivist cultures? Is conformity a negative phenomenon in groups? Do cliques have
any benefits? Why do groups use hazing rituals? What should be done about hazing
rituals in groups?
15. What is member diversity? What are the pros and cons of diverse group membership?
16. How does gender and ethnicity affect group development? What is the Twenty Percent
Rule?
17. Under what conditions is group performance likely to be superior to individual
performance? When is it the reverse?
18. What is social loafing? How can groups combat social loafing? Are individualist or
collectivist cultures more likely to experience social loafing? Why? What is social
compensation? Why does it occur in groups?
19. What challenges do newcomers face when first joining a group? How can newcomers
in a group gain acceptance from the group?
20. What is group socialization? What strategies can be used to make group socialization
occur more smoothly?
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed
with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
STUDY GUIDE: EXAM #2 (Chapters 4-7)
1. What is a group climate? What are the primary differences between positive and
negative group climates?
2. Define competition, hypercompetitiveness, cooperation, and individual achievement.
How are they different from each other? Who benefits from competition? Who
experiences negative effects from competition? Why? What conditions are necessary
for constructive competition to occur?
3. Explain in what ways competition affects performance and achievement and group
cohesiveness. Be familiar with the research in all of these areas, especially when
comparing intergroup and intragroup competition. What is the norm of group interest?
4. What role does culture play in producing competitive or cooperative behavior in
groups? Explain and provide examples.
5. How should groups deal with difficult group members? Explain the steps groups need
6. Explain the 6 defensive and supportive communication patterns. Provide examples for
each. How does defensive and supportive communication relate to competition and
cooperation? What is self-justification? What is a hidden agenda? 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 and when should it be used?
7. What is the Stanford Prison Study? In what ways do the results of this study mirror
behavior of guards and prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq? What did it show about
the power of roles?
8. What is role reversal, role status, role conflict, role fixation, and role specialization?
9. Define leadership. Identify the key differences between leaders and managers.
Distinguish between a transformational leader and a transactional leader. How does
charisma relate to either type of leader? What is the relationship between leaders and
followers? How does leadership typically emerge? 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?
10. Explain gender and ethnic bias in leadership. What is the glass ceiling? What is the
twenty percent rule? Explain the different perspectives on leadership: traits, styles,
11. What is the definition of a team? What are the chief distinctions between standard small
groups and teams? What is a pseudo-team? What is collaborative interdependence?
Why is it important? 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? What are the guidelines
for managing culturally diverse team membership?
ent? What is a superordinate goal? 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 is symbolic convergence
theory? What are fantasy themes and fantasy chains and how do they relate to
teambuilding? What are solidarity symbols? What is team talk? What is the difference
between individual and team accountability?
13. Should team roles be designated or should members choose their own roles? Explain.
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? What are the
main communication strategies that produce competent team leadership? What
produces ineffective team leadership?
14. How does information overload affect group decision making? How can you cope with
information overload? Which is the most effective coping method? When does
information underload occur in groups?
15. Define and explain confirmation bias. What is rationalization of disconfirmation? How
do you combat confirmation bias? What is false dichotomy? How do you combat false
dichotomies? What is 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? How do you combat collective inferential error?
16. What is group polarization? How is it different from risky shift phenomenon? Why
does group polarization occur? What is groupthink? What are its symptoms? What
causes groupthink? How should you prevent groupthink?
STUDY GUIDE: EXAM #3 (Chapters 8-11)
1. What are the phases of group decision making and problem solving? Explain the six
steps of the Standard Agenda. What are questions of fact, value, and policy? What is
force field analysis?
2. How do you overcome resistance to change in groups? What is the PERT decision-
3. 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 all groups achieve consensus?
4. What are the criteria (standards) for evaluating information used to solve problems and
make decisions in groups? Explain each one and provide an example. What are
common problems found when seeking information on the Internet? How can you
combat these problems?
8. Explain the common general, verbal, and nonverbal indicators of power. What is verbal
dominance? What differentiates information and expertise as a power resource? When
power is imbalanced, what are the likely results? Explain! What is an alliance? A
coalition? What are extrinsic and intrinsic rewards? There are two forms of prevention
9. Define assertiveness. How does assertiveness differ from passivity and aggression?
What is the DESC scripting method of assertiveness? Is assertiveness always
appropriate?
10. 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
strategy? Positional bargaining? Principled negotiation? 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?
13. What is a virtual group? How does it differ from a virtual team? What is a technology?
14. How does social anxiety and social loafing relate to virtual groups? Do virtual groups
make these problems more difficult or less difficult to addressed? How can virtual
groups be made more effective? What is media richness theory? Media synchronicity
theory? What are primary suggestions for conducting effective virtual group meetings?
1. Apply the communication competence model to the jury in the movie. Concentrate on
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?
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
suggestions)? Explain.
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
12. There are several instances of defiance depicted in the movie. Identify which jury
13. Analyze jury deliberations in terms of the primary power resources. Which resources
did each jury member have? Explain the influence of each key member on the final
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
15. Which negotiation strategies (i.e., tit-for-tat, hard bargaining, principled negotiation)
did each juror use? What resulted from the negotiation strategies used?
16. In what ways would the jury deliberations have likely changed if the deliberations had
been conducted electronically as a virtual group? In what ways would the deliberations
have been the same?
