Chapter 2 Perception 2.1 Multiple Choice Questions 1) Bridget and Katie have two classes together: Communication and Anatomy. In Anatomy, Katie is having a difficult time learning the pathogenic organisms. Since Bridget is doing “A” work in their Communication class, Katie assumes Bridget is also good in Anatomy. Therefore, she asks Bridget to help her with her Anatomy homework. Katie’s assumption about Bridget is an example of a) allness stereotyping. b) referent power. c) halo and horns stereotyping. d) indexing. Answer: c Rationale: Halo and horns stereotyping occurs when someone assumes that because a person is good (halo) or bad (horns) in one aspect, they will be the same in other aspects. In this case, Katie assumes Bridget is good in Anatomy because she is good in Communication. 2) What occurs when one’s behavior matches or strives to reach the expectations of others? a) Self-enlightenment b) Self-fulfilling prophecy c) Self-inflicted impressionism d) Self-expectation Answer: b Rationale: A self-fulfilling prophecy happens when someone's behavior aligns with others' expectations, either positively or negatively, leading to those expectations being fulfilled. 3) The process of assigning meaning to stimuli is called a) perception. b) selective attention. c) organization. d) reflective appraisal. Answer: a Rationale: Perception is the process of interpreting and assigning meaning to sensory information. 4) Taye is looking back on her life and contemplates her total perception, or how she pictures herself in a very broad sense. In other words, Taye is considering her a) self-image. b) self-esteem. c) self-concept. d) self-centered. Answer: c Rationale: Self-concept refers to the broad sense of how someone perceives themselves, encompassing various aspects of their identity. 5) Madge flipped through hundreds of television channels looking for something interesting to watch. What part of the process of perception made Madge choose just one channel when she had so many to choose from? a) Perception b) Needs c) Attribution d) Selective attention Answer: d Rationale: Selective attention is the process by which we focus on a particular stimulus while ignoring others. In this case, Madge chose one channel to focus on among many options. 6) Perceiving that certain items belong together is called a) closure. b) similarity. c) organization. d) proximity. Answer: c Rationale: Organization in perception refers to the process of grouping stimuli together to make sense of the environment. 7) When we are familiar with an idea or topic, we tend to “fill in the gaps.” According to the process of perception, what is this act called? a) Closure b) Organization c) Similarity d) Proximity Answer: a Rationale: Closure is the process of mentally filling in missing information to perceive complete objects or ideas. 8) Characteristics we use to judge others such as appearance, intelligence, or friendliness are part of our a) self-esteem. b) proximity. c) organization. d) personal constructs. Answer: d Rationale: Personal constructs are the characteristics or dimensions we use to judge and understand others, such as those mentioned in the question. 9) Dave wants to run for the Town Council but is afraid nobody will vote for him. His neighbors visit him, explaining how much they respect Dave and need his fresh ideas to improve local government. After the visit, Dave starts to see himself through the eyes of his neighbors and begins the process of running for office. This is an example of a) self-concept. b) reflective appraisal. c) self-fulfilling prophecy. d) selective attention. Answer: b Rationale: Reflective appraisal is the process of seeing oneself through the eyes of others, which can influence self-concept and behavior. 10) Caryl is wondering why her daughter Jill is in a bad mood. Caryl decides that Jill must be stressed out and takes her on a five-mile run. Jill’s mood worsens. Instead of guessing why Jill is in a bad mood, Caryl asks, “What’s the matter?” Jill says, “I was tired before that run, and now I’m just exhausted.” Caryl’s initial assumptions were wrong. What technique did she use to find out what was really bothering Jill? a) Perception checking b) Questioning c) Interviewing d) Impression management Answer: a Rationale: Perception checking is a communication technique used to clarify and verify one's understanding of another's behavior or message, helping to avoid misunderstandings. 11) A predetermined position regarding a person, event, concept, or object, which affects the way we interpret data, is called a) attribution. b) an attitude. c) a prototype. d) a stimulus. Answer: b Rationale: An attitude is a predisposition or a settled way of thinking about someone or something, which influences how we interpret and respond to information. 12) The development of our self-concept is influenced by individuals to whom we are emotionally close and to whom we allow to influence our lives. Who are these individuals? a) Political figures b) Significant others c) Authority figures d) Insignificant others Answer: b Rationale: Significant others are individuals who are emotionally close and influential in our lives, such as family members, close friends, or romantic partners. 13) Representatives of our ideals that we use as a means of comparison are a) attributions. b) personal constructs. c) prototypes. d) self-serving bias. Answer: c Rationale: Prototypes are idealized representations or examples that we use to compare and categorize objects, people, or concepts. 14) During her childhood, Erin enjoyed wonderful relationships with her grandparents and elderly aunts and uncles. At her first job at a nursing home, Erin expected the residents to all be kind and gentle. Erin is categorizing people into groups based on generalized characteristics instead of recognizing individual differences. This is known as a) perception checking. b) impression management. c) appraising. d) stereotyping. Answer: d Rationale: Stereotyping is the process of categorizing individuals based on perceived characteristics of a group to which they belong, without considering individual differences. 15) When we hear a part of a familiar quotation and can silently fill in the missing portion, it is called a) selection. b) organization. c) closure. d) interpretation. Answer: c Rationale: Closure is the perceptual process of mentally filling in missing information to perceive complete objects or ideas. 16) Gracie, Sheila’s five-year-old daughter, counted four pairs of shoes by the doorway instead of eight individual shoes because her organization skills were now able to relate to a) proximity. b) closure. c) attribution. d) prototyping. Answer: a Rationale: Proximity is the perceptual principle that states that objects or stimuli that are close to one another are perceived as belonging together. 17) Seeing ourselves in a positive light by blaming others for problems is called a) personal constructs. b) self-serving bias. c) external attribution. d) prototypes. Answer: b Rationale: Self-serving bias is the tendency to attribute positive outcomes to oneself and negative outcomes to external factors. 18) Our self-concept and self-esteem greatly affect how we present ourselves to our friends, family, and work colleagues. How we want others to perceive us is called a) impression management. b) initial impression. c) personal constructs. d) selective attention. Answer: a Rationale: Impression management refers to the process by which individuals attempt to control or influence the perceptions others have of them. 19) Our past experiences, our attitudes, personal constructs and prototypes, and attribution affect our _____ of what we have perceived. a) reflective appraisal b) interpretation c) perception checking d) stereotype Answer: b Rationale: Interpretation is the process of making sense of sensory information based on past experiences, attitudes, personal constructs, prototypes, and attributions. 20) Joshua is three years old. His mother told him there was a bird perched outside on the bird feeder. Joshua pictured a robin in his mind when he went to the window but that is not the bird he saw on the feeder. He told his mother, “That’s not a bird!” His ideal representation of a “bird” looking like a robin is a) a stereotype. b) a perception. c) an attribution. d) a prototype. Answer: d Rationale: A prototype is an idealized representation or example of a concept, such as Joshua's mental image of a bird resembling a robin. 2.2 Short Answer Questions 1) Loving the sound of the paper shredder, Nick took papers off of his father’s desk and put them through the shredder. Unfortunately, those papers happened to be this year’s tax returns. Angry, his father yells, “Nick! You are a horrible boy!” Knowing now that he is horrible, Nick hides his father’s laptop in the garbage can. Label and explain Nick’s behavior. Answer: Self-fulfilling prophecy happens when our behavior matches someone else’s expectations. When a significant other perceives us in a certain way, they may begin to treat us according to that perception. The receiver of that treatment may then act out to fulfill that perception. Nick’s father called Nick “horrible,” and Nick started to fulfill that perception. 2) Explain why none of us can perceive the world objectively. Answer: Each of our perceptions of each new situation is tempered by our preconceived ideas, our current physiological and psychological states, our interest, our attention, and our goals. This is all part of our frame-of-reference, which differs for each of us and causes us to not perceive the world objectively. 3) Before we begin to interpret stimuli we have selected from our environment we have to make sense of them in some way. How do we prepare to interpret stimuli? Answer: We use organization as a way to structure the stimuli. This phase in the perception process occurs because we perceive that certain items belong together and we organize them in that way. 4) ________ are the characteristics we use to judge others on a continuum from positive to negative in qualities such as appearance, intelligence, or friendliness. Answer: Personal constructs 5) Barney thinks very highly of himself. Today, Barney ran over his niece’s bicycle with his car. Because he considers himself an excellent driver, he refuses to take responsibility for the damaged bike. Instead, he blames his niece for leaving her bike in the driveway. Explain Barney’s behavior. Answer: Barney is applying a kind of attribution known as self-serving bias to assign causation for his behavior and his niece’s behavior. 6) What is the difference and the connection between our self-concept and our self-esteem? Answer: Our self-concept is how we picture ourselves in a very broad sense whereas our self-esteem is our measure of self-worth; the evaluative dimension of our self-concept. 7) Throughout his high school career, Vince’s parents told him that he was smart and could accomplish a great deal in his chosen career. All the praise and support from his parents motivated Vince to finish in the top five percent of his class and later he became an awardwinning physicist. Something happened to Vince because of his parent’s encouragement and his own motivation. This is a positive example of what communication concept? Answer: This is a positive example of self-fulfilling prophecy. Vince’s parents gave him feedback that had a positive effect on his self-concept. He believed he was smart and accomplished a great deal in his career. 8) Individuals who influence our lives help develop our self-concept. Who are these individuals? Answer: These individuals are significant others and include family, friends, peers, and coworkers. 9) Jerry made a favorable impression on Brenda upon their first meeting at the company picnic. Despite several employees warning her about Jerry’s apparent lack of diplomacy, Brenda assigned him to the customer service department. Brenda had difficulty believing that the same person she met at the picnic could possibly be as tactless as the other employees said. What type of perception is Brenda’s judgment of Jerry an example of, and why? Answer: Brenda’s basing her decision to assign Jerry to the customer service department on limited information she gained upon their first meeting at the company picnic. Brenda’s judgment of Jerry is an example of “halo and horns” stereotyping. 10) Using questions to clarify our understanding of the message is called ________. Answer: perception checking 2.3 True/False Questions 1) Abdul remembers his girlfriend’s birthday because it happens to fall on the same day as his parent’s wedding anniversary. Using the process of perception, Abdul remembers these events because of proximity. Answer: True Rationale: Proximity in this context refers to the association of events or concepts that are close to each other in time or space. In this case, the events being remembered are close in time (same day), leading to easier recall. 2) A person who thinks “but fear itself” after hearing the words, “We have nothing to fear ...” has engaged in the act of proximity. Answer: False Rationale: This statement is actually an example of closure, where the listener completes a familiar phrase or quotation based on partial information. 3) Personal constructs include our individual ethnic make-up among other things. Answer: False Rationale: Personal constructs refer to the dimensions or characteristics we use to perceive and interpret others, such as intelligence, friendliness, or competence. Ethnicity is not typically considered a personal construct. 4) How you describe your roles within your family, your gender and age, and your career goals are part of your self-concept. Answer: True Rationale: Self-concept includes the beliefs and perceptions we have about ourselves, including our roles in various contexts, demographic information, and aspirations. 5) “The dog ate my homework” is an example of external attribution. Answer: True Rationale: External attribution involves attributing the cause of behavior to factors outside oneself. In this case, the student is attributing the missing homework to the dog, an external factor. 6) Stereotypes are the result of having too much accurate and personal information. Answer: False Rationale: Stereotypes are oversimplified, generalized beliefs about a group of people. They are not necessarily based on accurate or personal information but are often based on societal or cultural beliefs. 7) Until she purchased her new red Volkswagen Bug, Denise never noticed just how many other people drive the same exact make and model. Using the process of perception, paying attention to the types of car other people drive is called selective attention. Answer: True Rationale: Selective attention is the process of focusing on specific stimuli while ignoring others. In this case, Denise is selectively attending to Volkswagen Bugs after purchasing one herself. 8) Our attitude toward a speaker can determine the way we respond to that person’s speech. Answer: True Rationale: Attitudes influence how we perceive and respond to others. A positive attitude toward a speaker may lead to a more favorable response to their speech, while a negative attitude may lead to a less favorable response. 9) Betty describes herself as a bank executive, a writer, a daughter, wife, mother, and friend. This self-description is called self-esteem. Answer: False Rationale: This self-description is actually an example of self-concept, which includes the various roles, identities, and characteristics that make up our sense of self. Self-esteem refers to the overall evaluation or feeling of self-worth. 10) The three steps of perception include selective interpretation, internal attribution, and impression management. Answer: False Rationale: The three steps of perception typically include selection, organization, and interpretation. Selective interpretation is not a widely recognized step in the perception process. 11) Accurate perceptions of others are sometimes strengthened and enhanced by clinging to first impressions and by stereotyping. Answer: False Rationale: Clinging to first impressions and stereotyping can lead to inaccurate perceptions of others. It can cause us to overlook individual differences and complexities, reducing our understanding of others' true characteristics and behaviors. 12) Assuming that Keiko, a Japanese American college sophomore, plays the violin just because of her ethnicity is an example of allness stereotyping. Answer: True Rationale: Allness stereotyping occurs when we assume that all members of a group possess a certain characteristic or trait. In this case, assuming that Keiko plays the violin solely based on her ethnicity is an example of allness stereotyping because it generalizes a specific characteristic to an entire group. 13) Kendra works for three women who all describe themselves as “feminists.” Since these women are all what Kendra describes as outspoken and somewhat abrasive, Kendra decides that all feminists have these same characteristics. This assumption is “halo and horns” stereotyping. Answer: False Rationale: "Halo and horns" stereotyping refers to the tendency to perceive individuals or groups as entirely good or entirely bad based on one trait or characteristic. In this scenario, Kendra's assumption about feminists is an example of overgeneralization or allness stereotyping, not "halo and horns" stereotyping. 14) Although usually thought of in negative terms, the self-fulfilling prophecy also can have a positive effect on our self-concept. Answer: True Rationale: The self-fulfilling prophecy is the phenomenon where a person's expectations about someone else lead that person to behave in a way that confirms the expectations. While it is often discussed in negative terms (e.g., stereotypes leading to negative behavior), it can also have positive effects. For example, if someone expects us to succeed, we may be more motivated to fulfill that expectation, leading to a positive impact on our self-concept. 15) Reflective appraisals are also called the “looking glass self” because we see ourselves through other people’s eyes. Answer: True Rationale: Reflective appraisals refer to the process of developing an understanding of ourselves based on how we believe others perceive us. This concept is also known as the "looking glass self," coined by sociologist Charles Horton Cooley, who suggested that our self-concept is influenced by how we think others perceive us. 2.4 Matching Questions For the questions that follow, match the word or phrase with its definition. a) Filling the gaps when parts are missing from stimuli b) The process of assigning meaning to stimuli c) Using questions to clarify how we understand a message d) Motivate us to select and assign meaning to certain stimuli e) Our measure of self-worth f) Our total perception of ourselves g) Stimuli that can be organized according to closeness to one another h) How we want others to perceive us i) Categorizing stimuli into patterns j) Determining what we pay attention to and what we ignore k) Assigning causation to our behavior and the behavior of others 1) Impression management 2) Organization 3) Perception 4) Proximity 5) Closure 6) Needs 7) Self-concept 8) Self-esteem 9) Perception checking 10) Selective attention Answers: 1) h 2) i 3) b 4) g 5) a 6) d 7) f 8) e 9) c 10) j 2.5 Essay Questions 1) What is perception checking, and what is an effective way we can use this technique in our communication interactions? Answer: Perception checking is using questions to clarify our understanding of the message. Our text lists three ways to ensure that we understand the messages we are receiving: (1) State your observations as clearly as possible; (2) ask if the other person sees or hears the same thing; and (3) offer a few possible interpretations. 2) Describe the three steps involved in processing information. Answer: We are bombarded by stimuli every waking moment. No matter how we try, we cannot possibly process the amount of information that comes our way. Therefore, we need a way to weed out stimuli to prevent feeling overwhelmed. We achieve this by using selective attention, organization, and interpretation. The first step in the process of perception is selective attention. This determines what we pay attention to and what we ignore through our needs and interests. Next, in order to make sense of the stimuli, we organize the information we have selected by grouping them according to their proximity and similarity. Once the stimuli is selected and organized, we can interpret the stimuli. We interpret stimuli differently because we all have different past experiences, attitudes, personal constructs, prototypes, and attribution. 3) Define self-concept and self-esteem, and explain how the two are affected by feedback from others. Answer: Self-concept is defined as our perception of ourselves, or how we picture ourselves in a very broad sense. It is how you “define” yourself, for example, as a mother, daughter, business management student, avid runner, etc. Our self-concept is situational and depends on where we are and our role in that particular situation. Self-esteem can be defined as our measure of self-worth, the evaluative dimension or value we place on our self-concept. Others provide us with feedback, which can significantly affect how we feel about ourselves and how we see ourselves. Whether this feedback is positive or negative can also affect our self-esteem. 4) Define and give an example of “allness” and “halo and horns” stereotyping. How does “allness” and “halo and horns” stereotyping distort reality in society? Explain how each type of stereotyping is harmful to the communication process. Answer: With “allness” stereotyping, we attribute a particular characteristic to a group of people. For example, “All used car salespersons are dishonest.” “Halo and horns” stereotyping occurs when we develop either a positive or negative perception about another person based on a first impression. For example, Margie met Bill at a party. Bill was dancing on a table shouting hateful remarks about a woman. From then on, Margie considered Bill to be an out-of-control, male chauvinistic drunk. In reality, Bill was getting over a bad breakup and was letting off steam. He was not drinking at that party and is actually very respectful of women. Making positive or negative judgments about a group or an individual’s behavior based on limited information can hinder the communication process because it fails to recognize individual differences among people. Also, it promotes defensiveness and hinders our abilities to move beyond surface conversation. 5) Explain why it is important to develop accurate perceptions of ourselves and others. Provide examples. Answer: Good communication often depends on our developing accurate perceptions of ourselves and others. First of all, we all play a variety of roles (parent, spouse, child, employee, friend, tax payer...). We should not perceive the rolls we fill as equal to one another, nor should we feel that we have to excel at each one. We need to acknowledge that we have strengths and weaknesses. For example, Kerin has difficulty with math and she allows this weakness to affect how she feels about her herself. Since our selfconcept and our self-esteem affect how we present ourselves to others, it is important for Kerin to realize that her weakness in math is not a reflection of her overall intelligence. Next, accurate perceptions of others are sometimes hindered by clinging to first impressions and stereotyping. For example, Amy is a server at a restaurant. Last Tuesday, she served a table of eight older women. Although Amy felt she gave outstanding customer service, she received only an eight percent tip. This made her angry. Today, she waited on another table of older women. Although these were not the same women, she knew ahead of time that they would give her a bad tip so she did not give them good service. In order to foster positive communication, we should be open to altering our perceptions when new information about a person or group of people warrants such a change. Test Bank for Communication: Embracing Difference Daniel M. Dunn, Lisa J. Goodnight 9780205943661, 9780205865635, 9781269602877
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