Q&A Hero

Q: Women tend to smile more and show greater sensitivity to others nonverbal behavior than men do.

Q: Compare and contrast the essential features of the three models of communication discussed in your textbook: the linear model, the interaction model, and the competent communication model. C = comprehension; D = 2

Q: Poor posture and uncontrolled body movements can create the impression that a speaker is unpolished or unprepared.

Q: Social groups are not considered ANS: True groups because they do not have a clear enough common goal or purpose.

Q: Making direct eye contact with another person is considered to be a sign of interest and respect throughout the world.

Q: Using classroom interaction as the source for your examples, illustrate the characteristics of communication as being symbolic, requiring a shared code, being linked to culture, being both intentional and unintentional, occurring through various channels, and being transactional. Explain how understanding these characteristics can help a teacher communicate more competently with his or her students. C = synthesis, application, and analysis; D = 3

Q: Uses and gratifications perspective argues that we choose which media to access based on our needs and goals. Reflecting on your own media habits, discuss the way you use various media (Internet, television, music, film, etc.) to meet your own needs and goals. Provide specific examples to illustrate your answer.

Q: In Western cultures, use of eye contact signals respect for and interest in the audience.

Q: A focus group is a group of people who have been brought together to focus on solving a particular problem.

Q: How people perceive the use of time and how they structure time in their relationships is an element of nonverbal communication.

Q: Consider a time when you and a communication partner failed to communicate competently. Describe what happened in the situation and what went wrong in both your and your partners communication. Based on what you have learned so far about competent communication, what could you and the other person do to communicate more competently if you could go back in time and do the interaction over?

Q: Research cited in your text indicates that most teens and young adults interact with media for more than seven hours each day, and that media multitasking may mean they are exposed to even more media messages. Based on your own observations, do you believe this estimate is accurate? How do your own media habits compare to that statistic?

Q: The way a speaker dresses can enhance his or her credibility to speak on a subject.

Q: Your family would be considered a group.

Q: The use of touch can send powerful messages of caring and comfort, as well as control, and can serve a regulating purpose in our interactions.

Q: Describe how a persons cultural identity influences his or her communication behavior.

Q: Your sister and her husband are discussing what television programming is appropriate for your five-year-old niece. Based on what you read in this chapter, what information would you share with them about the potential negative and positive effects of media messages on children, as well as regulation of the content on television?

Q: Pausing for a moment between statements or phrases can add drama to a speech.

Q: Groups can include as few as two members.

Q: A polite handshake between colleagues would be defined as functional-professional touch.

Q: What are the essential features of competent communication? In what ways are process and outcome related, and in what ways are they distinctly different from one another? How about appropriateness and effectiveness?

Q: Should we be concerned about media bias? Synthesizing concepts and theories from throughout this chapter, justify your answer.

Q: Pronunciation and articulation are essentially two words that mean the same thing: correctly producing the sounds that make up a word.

Q: __________ is a situation in which group members strive to minimize conflict by refusing to critically examine ideas, analyze proposals, or test solutions. a. Role conflict b. Group communication breakdown c. Groupthink d. Harmonizing

Q: You and your significant other like to revisit the restaurant where you had your first date and always request to sit at the same table where you first sat. On your anniversary, you arrive at the restaurant to find another couple sitting at your table, and you feel frustrated. Your claiming of the table would be referred to as a kinesic behavior.

Q: List and describe the six characteristics of communication. C = knowledge; D = 2

Q: Television is often characterized and criticized as low culture. Do you think this is a fair assessment? Is it fair to disregard the cultural importance of television because much of it appeals to our base needs? Why, or why not?

Q: Speakers who vary their pitch are more interesting to listen to than speakers who do not.

Q: Brad recently relocated from his companys main offices in Detroit to be a regional manager in Minneapolis. While the new job is a step up for him professionally, he tells his assistant, There just isnt the same enthusiasm here. Back in Detroit, everybody was excited about the work we were doing, and nobody quit in the whole time I was thereit was just a really close group. Brads comments seem to reveal that his former group at the corporate headquarters had a higher level of __________ than the group in Minneapolis. a. cohesion b. intimacy c. warmth d. goal orientation

Q: Personal space requirements change according to the situational, relational, and cultural context of the communication.

Q: Explain what the functional perspective on communication means. What does this perspective say about the reasons why we communicate?

Q: In what ways do traditional media and the pervasive converged media differ? Do you believe that the traditional media are still powerful? Why, or why not?

Q: Vocal characteristics such as pitch, rate, and volume are all part of a speakers verbal delivery.

Q: During committee meetings, Michael repeatedly commented to the effect, Ive been on this committee for years and Ive organized a number of professional development workshops that went great, so trust me on this onewhat our administration is really looking for is. . . . What antigroup role does Michael appear to be exemplifying? a. blocker b. avoider c. distractor d. recognition seeker

Q: Edward Hall discovered that the most comfortable space for communication within professional contexts, such as business meetings, is the public zone.

Q: Define cultural identity.

Q: List three of the five skills the textbook offers for how to become a more mindful media consumer.

Q: Mindful speakers can usually anticipate that an impromptu speech opportunity is coming and prepare for it.

Q: A gatekeeper is a group member who a. seeks to smooth over tension in the group by settling differences among members. b. works to ensure that each member of the group contributes to conversations. c. expresses group feelings, moods, or relationships. d. makes sure that no single member of the group dominates the conversation.

Q: Research cited in your textbook indicates that physical attractiveness is an important factor when it comes to dating, but has little impact on other parts of social interaction.

Q: Identify one element of the situational context of the classroom in which you are taking this course that can create a challenge to the communication between you and your instructor or among the students in the class.

Q: Why are communication researchers concerned about the digital divide?

Q: Most news broadcasters and high-level politicians today deliver their speeches from memory.

Q: A person in a group who helps keep the conversation on track is referred to as a/an a. elaborator. b. administrator. c. task master. d. initiator.

Q: It is recommended that we avoid using back-channel cues because they interrupt the speaker and result in us monopolizing the conversation.

Q: What is the difference between cognition and behavior?

Q: What is social capital?

Q: Reading from a script or a teleprompter restricts body movement and limits the speakers ability to communicate nonverbally.

Q: Roles that are concerned with the accomplishment of a groups goals are referred to as a. social roles. b. antigroup roles. c. task roles. d. objective roles.

Q: Vocal elements like pitch, rate, and volume are elements of nonverbal communication.

Q: In your own words, what do the authors of your textbook mean when they say that communication is transactional?

Q: How might social cognitive theory explain how media content affects peoples behavior?

Q: Most speeches nowadays are delivered using a manuscripted delivery style.

Q: A network in which communication passes from one person to another rather than being shared among members is referred to as a/an a. all-channel network. b. wheel network. c. tree network. d. chain network.

Q: Vocal sounds such as a sigh, a scream, or laughter are considered verbal communication behaviors.

Q: What term is used to refer to anything that interferes with the transmission of a message, changing it in some way from what was originally encoded?

Q: Which concept explains why we may perceive other people as being highly dependent on or influenced by the media while failing to realize how much we are also dependent on or influenced by media?

Q: Seeking out opportunities to practice public speaking can improve confidence and reduce communication apprehension.

Q: Danni and Michelle were the co-captains of their high schools small environmental action club, and now that they are at college, they have joined a large club with a similar mission. However, Danni has noticed that Michelles behavior changed once they joined up with a larger group of students. Once a passionate and tireless worker, Michelle now seems content to sit back and let others do the work. Which of the following terms seems to describe the change in Michelles behavior? a. deferred action b. social loafing c. networking d. diffused responsibility

Q: Research indicates that infants tend to smile more when they receive direct eye gaze from another person than they do when the others eyes are averted.

Q: What term do we use to refer to a persons ability to have a number of communication behaviors at his or her disposal, and the willingness to use different communication behaviors in different situations?

Q: Define the uses and gratifications perspective.

Q: Audiences notice the signs of nervousness more than most speakers believe they do, and are usually very critical of speakers who appear nervous.

Q: A small subgroup of individuals who have bonded together within a group is called a a. co-culture. b. clique. c. countercoalition. d. counterculture.

Q: Masking refers to the intentional concealment of a persons ANS: True emotion by displaying a facial expression that is more appropriate in a given interaction.

Q: Contrast the difference between appropriate and effective communication. H = Competent Communication Is Appropriate and Effective (pp. 15‒16); C = comprehension; D = 2 Appropriate communication behaviors are ones that match other peoples expectations and meet the demands of a given situation, whereas effective communication simply helps a person meet his or her goals.

Q: In your own words, briefly explain why the FCC regulates broadcast television networks but not satellite and cable television networks.

Q: Fear of speaking up, or speaking out, can cripple career prospects and is one of the principal reasons why people dont rise to the executive ranks.

Q: Which of the following is not ANS: True of groups as their size grows?a. The group becomes less effective at accomplishing its goals.b. The interaction between members becomes more formal.c. The interaction between members of the group consumes more time.d. The communication between the members of the group becomes less intimate.H = Size and Complexity (pp. 194‒195); C = comprehension; D = 2

Q: Irenaus Eibl-Ebesfeldt is credited with discovering that all facial expressions appear to be innate and universal across all cultures.

Q: Define what is meant by communication channel, and provide an example of a channel you have used to communicate today.

Q: Why would a television network engage in self-censorship?

Q: Which of the following scenarios does not reference the use of a presentation aid? a. Julia plays a short audio clip from Beethovens Fifth Symphony in her speech about this composer. b. Andre shows his audience a diagram of the shotgun formation for the offensive line in his speech about football. c. Denise describes how to stretch out your quadriceps in her speech about physical fitness. d. Allan shows his audience a bar graph comparing the rise in inflation with the rise in gas prices since 1965 in his speech about the oil industry.

Q: During the groups third meeting, George noticed a pattern emerging: Every time the group members were close to making a decision, someone would ask him if he agreed. As the meeting came to a close, someone asked him what time the next meeting would be held and if there was anything in particular they should bring to the next meeting. George wondered if the group had begun to recognize him as their leader. Based on this information, what stage of development does Georges group appear to be in? a. forming b. storming c. norming d. performing

Q: Affect displays are usually unintentional actions that show a persons emotion.

Q: Briefly describe a time in which your unintentional behavior contradicted your intentional message.

Q: After the highly publicized conflict with Jay Leno and the NBC network, Conan OBrien took his unique brand of talk show and loyal following to TBS, a cable network where he would be able to survive with a smaller audience. This example illustrates the power and use of __________.

Q: Which of the following has not been emphasized as a function of effective presentation aid use? a. promote interest and motivation to listen b. display a list of references used so that the speaker doesnt need to cite orally c. help listeners process and retain information presented in the speech d. convey information clearly and concisely

Q: Recurring patterns of behavior or thinking that come to be accepted in a group as the usual way of doing things is a definition associated with which term? a. cliques b. rules c. norms d. loafing

Q: While you are engaged in a heated telephone conversation with one of your coworkers, your roommate walks up and asks you a question. Without breaking from the telephone conversation, you hold your hand out toward your roommate as if to say, Not nowIm on the phone. In this scenario, your nonverbal behaviors serve the adaptive function.