Chapter 1: Communication Perspectives
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. The process of putting our thoughts and feelings into words and nonverbal cues is called
_______.
A. encoding
B. decoding
C. feedback
D. semantics
ANS: A PTS: 1
2. How does culture affect interpersonal communication?
A. Interpersonal communication is not really affected by culture.
B. Culture affects how we perceive symbols.
C. Culture affects how competent we are at interpersonal communication.
D. Culture affects whether or not we engage in encoding and decoding.
ANS: B PTS: 1
3. Thinking “a person who is very careful about spending money” when someone describes a person
as “thrifty” represents a process called _______.
A. encoding
B. decoding
C. feedback
D. semantics
, E. communicating
ANS: B PTS: 1
4. At dinner you get your father’s advice on whether you should take an economic or political
science class to meet a requirement. The next day when you see your father, you say “I decided
on economics.” Your dad says, “Good choice son. I can tell you’ve thought about what we
discussed.” His response indicates that he is considering _______.
A. cultural context
B. historical context
C. psychological context
D. social context
E. none of the above
ANS: B PTS: 1
5. Which of these is an example of communication apprehension?
A. Matthew does not fully receive his teacher’s instructions because he is distracted by the
students playing frisbee outside his classroom’s window.
B. Ashley gets very nervous before her presentation at her job interview.
C. Jerome does not remember his conversation with a friend the day before, and he does not
respond appropriately when the friend brings up the topic again.
D. Toya mistakenly swears in front of her grandmother and then regrets it.
ANS: B PTS: 1
6. What three things can help improve your communication competence?
A. motivation, desire, and expertise
, B. skills, context, and semantics
C. encoding, decoding, and feedback
D. motivation, knowledge, and skills
ANS: D PTS: 1
7. Which is not an aspect of ethical communication?
A. credibility
B. integrity
C. respect
D. fairness
ANS: A PTS: 1
8. Sarah and Stephen are meeting to talk about their class project, but Stephen is distracted because
he is worried about an exam in another class. He asks Sarah to repeat herself several times. This
conversation is most strongly influenced by _______.
A. physical context
B. physical noise
C. internal noise
D. semantic noise
ANS: C PTS: 1
9. You approach your friend Tom to ask him about how he feels about his classes this fall. Tom is
busy watching a squirrel outside the window and doesn’t hear anything you’ve just said. The
communication is being affected by _______.
A. historical context
B. semantic noise
, C. psychological noise
D. physical noise
ANS: D PTS: 1
10. If you can’t pay attention because a song lyric is stuck in your head, you are experiencing
_______.
A. physiological noise
B. semantic noise
C. internal noise
D. message filtering
ANS: C PTS: 1
11. Four students on a college campus decide to start a club that focuses on volunteering. They
establish the organization, promote it, and plan events together. All of these activities involve
communication. What kind of communication best describes what these four students are doing?
A. small group communication
B. public communication
C. interpersonal communication
D. formal communication
ANS: A PTS: 1
12. A mother tells her child to go clean his room. He does this, although he mumbles something
under his breath and makes a face to let her know that he’s not happy about it. This is an example
of _______.
A. context
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. The process of putting our thoughts and feelings into words and nonverbal cues is called
_______.
A. encoding
B. decoding
C. feedback
D. semantics
ANS: A PTS: 1
2. How does culture affect interpersonal communication?
A. Interpersonal communication is not really affected by culture.
B. Culture affects how we perceive symbols.
C. Culture affects how competent we are at interpersonal communication.
D. Culture affects whether or not we engage in encoding and decoding.
ANS: B PTS: 1
3. Thinking “a person who is very careful about spending money” when someone describes a person
as “thrifty” represents a process called _______.
A. encoding
B. decoding
C. feedback
D. semantics
, E. communicating
ANS: B PTS: 1
4. At dinner you get your father’s advice on whether you should take an economic or political
science class to meet a requirement. The next day when you see your father, you say “I decided
on economics.” Your dad says, “Good choice son. I can tell you’ve thought about what we
discussed.” His response indicates that he is considering _______.
A. cultural context
B. historical context
C. psychological context
D. social context
E. none of the above
ANS: B PTS: 1
5. Which of these is an example of communication apprehension?
A. Matthew does not fully receive his teacher’s instructions because he is distracted by the
students playing frisbee outside his classroom’s window.
B. Ashley gets very nervous before her presentation at her job interview.
C. Jerome does not remember his conversation with a friend the day before, and he does not
respond appropriately when the friend brings up the topic again.
D. Toya mistakenly swears in front of her grandmother and then regrets it.
ANS: B PTS: 1
6. What three things can help improve your communication competence?
A. motivation, desire, and expertise
, B. skills, context, and semantics
C. encoding, decoding, and feedback
D. motivation, knowledge, and skills
ANS: D PTS: 1
7. Which is not an aspect of ethical communication?
A. credibility
B. integrity
C. respect
D. fairness
ANS: A PTS: 1
8. Sarah and Stephen are meeting to talk about their class project, but Stephen is distracted because
he is worried about an exam in another class. He asks Sarah to repeat herself several times. This
conversation is most strongly influenced by _______.
A. physical context
B. physical noise
C. internal noise
D. semantic noise
ANS: C PTS: 1
9. You approach your friend Tom to ask him about how he feels about his classes this fall. Tom is
busy watching a squirrel outside the window and doesn’t hear anything you’ve just said. The
communication is being affected by _______.
A. historical context
B. semantic noise
, C. psychological noise
D. physical noise
ANS: D PTS: 1
10. If you can’t pay attention because a song lyric is stuck in your head, you are experiencing
_______.
A. physiological noise
B. semantic noise
C. internal noise
D. message filtering
ANS: C PTS: 1
11. Four students on a college campus decide to start a club that focuses on volunteering. They
establish the organization, promote it, and plan events together. All of these activities involve
communication. What kind of communication best describes what these four students are doing?
A. small group communication
B. public communication
C. interpersonal communication
D. formal communication
ANS: A PTS: 1
12. A mother tells her child to go clean his room. He does this, although he mumbles something
under his breath and makes a face to let her know that he’s not happy about it. This is an example
of _______.
A. context
