Deck 4: Interpersonal Perception

Question 1

During your first session of this class, your instructor introduced him or herself and you probably respected his or her position as an authoritative figure in the classroom. Which of the following classification schema likely helped you organize that information?

A)physical constructs
B)role constructs
C)interaction constructs
D)psychological constructs

Answer 1

B

Question 2

One of your hall-mates, Ling, is an exchange student from Taiwan. Ling never goes out with the other students, goes to bed at 9:30 every night, and studies quietly in her room most of the time. You assume that Ling behaves the way she does because she is Asian. Which of the following attribution errors might you have committed?

A)self-serving bias
B)fundamental attribution error
C)overattribution
D)all of these

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Regarding the fundamental attribution error, which of the following statements is NOT true?

A)It refers to attributions we make for other people's behaviors, rather than our own.
B)We don't usually commit it when we are told that a person's behavior is externally caused.
C)It causes us to discount external, unstable causes for people's actions.
D)We commit it when we assume that another person's behavior is caused by internal, stable causes.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Idealizing a romantic partner at the beginning of a new relationship is a common example of the ________ bias.

A)delusional
B)romantic
C)positivity
D)confirmatory

Question 5

You liked most everything about your new roommate when you first met, but when you found out she smokes, that overshadowed all of her good qualities in your mind. What perception-making process are you displaying here?

A)primacy effect
B)negativity bias
C)stereotyping
D)egocentrism

Question 6

According to your text, the perception-making process consists of three stages. Which of the following is NOT among them?

A)interpretation
B)attribution
C)organization
D)selection

Question 7

A fellow student in one of your communication classes, Rose, starts acting particularly nice to you in the weeks leading up to the first exam. Classmates have frequently treated you this way in the past in the hope that you will help them study. As a result, you are suspicious of Rose's motives. In this scenario, you are likely basing your suspicions on

A)personal experience.
B)your knowledge of Rose.
C)the closeness of your relationship with Rose.
D)All the answers are correct.

Question 8

Which of the following statements is true with respect to the process of stereotyping?

A)Stereotypes are always unfair to women and minorities.
B)Stereotyping always leads to inaccurate assessments of others.
C)Stereotypes always cast people in a negative light.
D)Stereotypes are sometimes accurate.

Question 9

Many factors affect the likelihood that we will notice a certain object in our environment. Which of the following does NOT lead to increased attention?

A)plainness
B)unusualness
C)repetition
D)intensity

Question 10

Which term refers to the ongoing process of making meaning from what we experience in our environment?

A)attribution
B)primacy
C)egocentrism
D)perception

Question 11

Samantha was a fantastic softball player, but she rarely took credit for her success. Every time a reporter from the school paper would ask her for a quote, Samantha would say, "I just got lucky today," or, "Their pitcher just gave me something I could hit." Which of the following likely factors into Samantha's personality?

A)internal locus
B)external locus
C)negative attribution
D)self-serving bias

Question 12

People "see" faces in all sorts of natural phenomena, including clouds, tree bark, and even rocks on Mars. This is an example of which perception-making process?

A)egocentrism
B)perceptual set
C)positivity bias
D)recency effect

Question 13

Which of the following sequences accurately depicts the process of stereotype formation?

A)identify group membership - apply generalization - act on prejudice
B)identify group membership - act on prejudice - form group generalization
C)identify group membership - recall group generalization - apply generalization
D)identify group membership - recall group generalization - act on prejudice

Question 14

In which of the following instances might you have committed the self-serving bias?

A)You are quick to attribute your friend's behaviors to internal, stable causes.
B)You say that your co-worker's successes are due only to blind luck.
C)You say that most everything your roommate does is the result of his being an only child.
D)You attribute all your failures to external, unstable causes.

Question 15

Rick and Jamie recently started dating. To commemorate their first month as a couple, Rick surprised Jamie when he picked her up at work in a rented limousine with floor-level tickets to a concert. After the show, Rick was upset because Jamie would barely speak to him. Jamie was also upset because she had been planning on surprising Rick with a quiet dinner at home. After two days of fighting, the couple broke up. What was likely at the root of this conflict?

A)egocentrism
B)negativity bias
C)altercentrism
D)perceptual set differences

Question 16

An explanation for why something occurred is called a(n)

A)interpretation.
B)selection.
C)attribution.
D)perceptual set.

Question 17

Which of the following statements is true with respect to perceptual accuracy?

A)Our perceptions almost always reflect reality as it is, with minimal distortion.
B)Culture may affect behavior, but it does not usually influence perceptions of behavior.
C)Physiological characteristics, including our biological rhythms, affect perceptual accuracy.
D)All of these statements are false.

Question 18

Which of the following is NOT one of the influences on perceptual accuracy addressed in your textbook?

A)cultural background
B)social roles
C)co-cultural identity
D)genetic background

Question 19

Angela had just been promoted to department chair at the college where she taught. Although she treated everyone the same, several of the male professors in the department were put off by Angela's requests. As a result, the female professors thought of Angela as fair and equitable in her treatment, but the male professors began resenting her and openly challenging her position on several issues. The male professors probably treated Angela that way because they

A)were culturally insensitive to Angela's professional position.
B)perceived Angela's professional position as masculine and socially threatening.
C)were physiologically opposed to Angela's professional position.
D)were prejudiced against Angela because of her ethnicity.

Question 20

Which of the following processes is at work when we are able to recall only information that confirms our existing stereotypes?

A)stereotype recall bias
B)selective perception
C)selective memory bias
D)self-serving recall bias

Question 21

Perceptual ability is influenced by social and occupational roles.

Question 22

Which of the following techniques can help in the perception-checking process?

A)generating a meaningful interpretation as quickly as possible
B)generating alternative perceptions
C)avoiding considering the context
D)None of the answers is correct.

Question 23

Compare and contrast the fundamental attribution error and the self-serving bias as common attribution errors.

Question 24

Define the primacy and recency effects, and explain how they work together to influence perceptions.

Question 25

Physiology exerts several effects on interpersonal perception.

Question 26

We have a tendency to discount first impressions as untrustworthy.

Question 27

Overattribution is essentially the same thing as the primacy effect.

Question 28

Your senses are unable to attend to every stimulus in the environment at the same time.

Question 29

How are interpretations different from facts?

A)Interpretations are objective, whereas facts are subjective.
B)Facts speak to what occurred, whereas interpretations speak to the meaning of what occurred.
C)Interpretations are the same as descriptions, whereas facts are more similar to attributions.
D)They aren't different; facts and interpretations are the same.

Question 30

Organization is the process of assigning meaning to something you have perceived.

Question 31

Egocentrism is a normal stage of human development.

Question 32

Identify and briefly define each of the three stages of the perception-making process.

Question 33

Forming an accurate snap judgment of someone else illustrates which of the following truisms of forming attributions?

A)Biases can be overcome if we are mindful of them.
B)Checking our perceptions is essential to forming correct attributions.
C)More information doesn't necessarily lead to better attributions.
D)You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Question 34

When it comes to perception-making, it is always best to have the most information possible.

Question 35

If an attribution is internal then it must also be controllable.

Question 36

Using concrete examples, articulate and explain how perceptual accuracy can be influenced by social and occupational roles.

Question 37

When competent communicators discover that their perceptions were inaccurate, they will respond by

A)seeking more information.
B)considering alternative perceptions.
C)revising their perceptions accordingly.
D)All the answers are correct.

Question 38

The stages of perception happen in a very ordered and linear fashion.

Question 39

The self-serving bias is a form of self-delusion.

Question 40

Which of the following was NOT suggested in your textbook as one of the ways to combat perceptual inaccuracies?

A)avoiding biased opinions
B)knowing yourself
C)focusing on the characteristics of others
D)considering the context

Question 41

Identify and describe the three types of attribution errors discussed in your textbook. Which do you think is most common? Why? Which do you think is potentially the most damaging to relationships? Why? Do relationship type or context factor into those decisions? Finally, suggest one way that someone could overcome each of those attribution errors.

Question 42

Think about a friend, teacher, or co-worker of yours whom you didn't like when you first met. What led your relationship with that person to get off on the wrong foot? What happened that made you change your mind about the person? If you could experience that first meeting over again, what would you do differently in your relationship with the person?

Question 43

Many people believe strongly in the notion that "seeing is believing." However, research has shown that perceptual sets can cause people to "see" things that aren't really there, or not to see things that are. Why do you think people have so much confidence that what they see reflects reality? Is it simply because they are ignorant of the research, or do you think most people would continue to think that "seeing is believing," even if they were aware of perceptual sets? Defend your answer with reasoned arguments.

Question 44

Explain the similarities and differences between facts and interpretations, using concrete examples.

Question 45

Most people probably wouldn't admit that they stereotype others, but research shows that stereotyping is a fairly common pattern of perception-making. As you have learned in this chapter, there is nothing inherently negative about stereotypes, so why do you suppose stereotyping is so distasteful to people? If you were teaching a workshop about stereotyping to a group of college students, what would you most want them to know about it?

Question 46

Describe in detail the direct and indirect perception-checking processes. Next, think of a unique situation in which it would be appropriate to engage in direct perception-checking but not indirect perception-checking. Also think about a situation in which indirect perception-checking is a preferable option. Which factors/features of those situations led you to make those decisions? Finally, discuss why the perception-checking process in general is important.

Question 47

What is mindfulness, and how can we engage that process when making attributions?

Question 48

What does the word prejudice literally mean? How are prejudices formed? Do you agree with the claim that prejudices are often the result of a misperception? Why or why not? How have you seen or experienced prejudice in your lifetime? What can be done to counteract or discourage people from engaging in the process of forming prejudices?