Deck 5: Coordinated Management of Meaning

Question 1

Which of the following is true of Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM)?

A) It focuses on how individuals establish rules for creating and interpreting meaning.
B) It focuses on the linear nature of communication and its influences.
C) It focuses on the effects of conflict in relationships.
D) All of these

Answer 1

It focuses on how individuals establish rules for creating and interpreting meaning.

Question 2

Which of the following statements is associated with interpersonal meaning?

A) "We are acting according to the same rules."
B) "We agree with each other's interpretations."
C) "We have experienced this before."
D) "We are experiencing conflict because of differing rules."

Answer 2

"We agree with each other's interpretations."

Question 3

As we listen to another person in a conversation, we are categorizing the symbols and beginning to make sense of them. This process of converting raw data into meaning refers to which level in the hierarchy of meaning?

A) speech act
B) content
C) contract
D) episode

Answer 3

content

Question 4

The establishment of rules enables all of the following EXCEPT

A) opportunities to select among alternatives
B) a common symbolic framework for communication
C) the management and coordination of interaction
D) the prevention of conflict in relationships

Question 5

The _____ level provides guidelines for behavior in a relationship.

A) episode
B) mediator
C) relational
D) coordination

Question 6

U.S. culture, according to Porter, puts a premium on

A) materialism
B) collectivism
C) socialism
D) individualism

Question 7

Juan and Juanita are having an argument during dinner. When Juan comments that the chicken seems overcooked, Juanita takes that as an insult. Her _______________ then prompts her to respond defensively and complain that Juan never helps with anything around the house, including food preparation.

A) constitutive rule
B) unwarranted interpretation
C) regulative rule
D) patterned response

Question 8

Another name for a contract is a

A) relationship agreement
B) mutual understanding
C) punctuated experience
D) co-culture

Question 9

Which of the following is NOT an assumption governing Coordinated Management of Meaning?

A) Human beings live in communication.
B) Human beings co-create a social reality.
C) Information transactions depend on personal and interpersonal meaning.
D) Group interpretation is more influential than interpersonal meaning.

Question 10

Punctuate is to episode as _________ is to relationship.

A) raw data
B) content level
C) enmeshment
D) none of these

Question 11

Life scripts are

A) clusters of past and present speech acts
B) shaped by and help shape communication
C) a means of communicating with one's sense of self
D) the images one has of the world and her or his relationship with it

Question 12

Pat and Chris frequently experience conflicts about how to spend their weekends. When Pat suggests something Chris believes to be a waste of time and money, he feels as though he has no choice but to protest Pat's suggestion. These conflicts are an example of

A) a sustained speech act
B) a co-created script
C) an unwanted repetitive pattern
D) individualism

Question 13

Coordinated Management of Meaning is associated with the work of

A) George Herbert Mead
B) Gulifor and Bryant
C) Pearce and Cronen
D) Longo and Frank

Question 14

Over the years, CMM has been investigated using multiple approaches to knowing. Earlier research with CMM primarily used __________ approaches, while later research focused more on __________ approaches.

A) interpretive/empirical
B) interpretive/critical
C) critical/empirical
D) empirical/interpretive

Question 15

For Coordinated Management of Meaning theorists stories, symbols, perceptions, memories, and concepts are defined as

A) rules
B) resources
C) foundation for behaviors
D) raw data

Question 16

_________ are at the top of the hierarchy of organized meaning and constitute the major frame through which the lower levels are understood.

A) Cultural patterns
B) Life scripts
C) Speech acts
D) Episodes

Question 17

Coordinated Management of Meaning has been criticized for

A) being too broad in scope
B) not being useful
C) being too simple
D) none of these

Question 18

CMM is primarily related to which two communication contexts?

A) small group and interpersonal
B) critical and intrapersonal
C) intrapersonal and interpersonal
D) public and rhetorical

Question 19

All of the following are communication traditions to which CMM is related EXCEPT

A) socio-cultural
B) phenomenological
C) cybernetic
D) socio-psychological

Question 20

Strange loops occur when

A) one part of the hierarchy supports another
B) the rules of meaning change within the loop
C) two people get along and understand each other
D) there is similarity in two people's rules

Question 21

According to CMM, rules help us not only in our communication with others but also in our interpretation of what others are communicating to us.

Question 22

When two people agree on each other's interpretations, they are said to achieve interpersonal meaning.

Question 23

Coordination is influenced by gender and age.

Question 24

An example of a regulative rule is when one person tells another person that "honesty is the best policy."

Question 25

Life scripts are determined for us when we are born.

Question 26

Regulative rules are guidelines for an individual's behavior.

Question 27

Social constructivists believe that people co-construct their social reality through communication.

Question 28

Charmed loops often result in a vicious cycle.

Question 29

Relationships are like contracts which set guidelines and often prescribe behavior.

Question 30

Provide an example of a speech act, a contract, and a life script.

Question 31

Compare and contrast personal meaning and interpersonal meaning.

Question 32

Define constitutive and regulative rules and explain how they influence the coordination of meaning.

Question 33

Do you agree that "humans co-create a social reality?"
Why or why not?

Question 34

Using the standard criteria for evaluating communication theory, evaluate CMM.

Question 35

Compare and contrast Coordinated Management of Meaning and Symbolic Interactionism. Is there a relationship between these two theories? Do they stand in opposition to each other, or do they peacefully co-exist?

Question 36

Define and explain what URPs are and discuss the various reasons two relational partners may continue to engage in them.

Question 37

Develop a study one could use to test CMM. What questions would you attempt to answer? What methods would you use? Why?

Question 38

List and define the components of the hierarchy of meaning in the correct order, and explain how they are related to each other.