Question 1

Even though the room was very noisy, Collette chose to focus on what the teacher was saying. Which stage of listening is Collette demonstrating?

Accepted Answer

Selecting is the stage of listening where the listener decides to focus attention on specific sounds or messages, filtering out others, which is what Collette is doing by choosing to focus on the teacher despite the noise.

Question 2

Information-processing rate can be a barrier to listening because _____.

Accepted Answer

People's information-processing rate is generally faster than most speakers speak, which means that they may have a tendency to zone out or lose focus if the speaker is not engaging enough.

Question 3

The stage of listening in which we maintain a sustained focus on a particular sound or message is _____.

Accepted Answer

The stage of listening in which we maintain a sustained focus on a particular sound or message is attending. At this stage, we are actively focusing on the incoming sound and trying to understand its meaning.

Question 4

Brian told Pete that he could not recall the date of the upcoming exam. Brian is not using one of the last parts of the listening process, which is called _____.

Accepted Answer

Remembering is the last part of the listening process, which involves retaining and recalling the information that was heard. In this scenario, Brian states that he cannot recall the date of the exam, indicating that he is not using the remembering aspect of the listening process.

Question 5

When Don asked his boss for information, he noticed his boss's answers tended to ramble on. This frustrated Don when all he wanted was information. Don's listening style would be described as _____.

Accepted Answer

Don's frustration with his boss's tendency to ramble suggests that he is primarily focused on gaining necessary information (the task) rather than valuing the relationship with his boss or analyzing the boss's communication style. Therefore, Don's listening style can be described as task-oriented, making option B the best choice.

Question 6

Rather than listen to what his mother was saying, Carson was more interested in thinking about the new video game his friend had told him about at school. This is an example of which of the following barriers to listening?

Accepted Answer

This scenario is an example of self-focus as Carson is more interested in his own thoughts about a video game than actively listening to his mother.

Question 7

Max is attempting to listen to his friend on the phone while watching a baseball game on television. This example illustrates the information-processing barrier of _____.

Accepted Answer

Shifting attention refers to the difficulty of processing multiple sources of information simultaneously and switching attention between them. In this example, Max is trying to listen to his friend on the phone (one source of information) while watching the baseball game on television (another source of information), requiring him to shift his attention between the two.

Question 8

Karl felt lost in his astrophysics class. Although he wrote down everything his instructor said, the terminology was totally new to him. None of the concepts related to anything he had ever experienced before. In addition, much of the instruction was based on equations and symbols that he didn't recognize. Which listening stage is Karl having trouble with?

Accepted Answer

Karl is having trouble with the understanding stage of listening because he is not able to comprehend the new concepts and terminology being presented to him.

Question 9

Americans spend approximately 90 percent of their day communicating. Of that 90 percent, what percent of the time do they spend listening?

Accepted Answer

Studies show that Americans spend about 40 percent of their communication time listening, which means they spend the majority of their day communicating by listening. Therefore, the best choice is D, 55 percent, as it is the closest option to 40 percent. The other choices are too low to accurately reflect the amount of time spent listening.

Question 10

Hearing is a _____ process.

Accepted Answer

Hearing is a physiological process, meaning it involves the physical and biological functions of the ear and auditory system to detect and transmit sound to the brain for interpretation.

Question 11

Our ability to process information is at _____ words per minute, while the rate at which information is spoken is 125 words per minute.

Accepted Answer

Humans can process information at a rate of 600-800 words per minute, which is much faster than the average speaking rate of 125 words per minute.

Question 12

As Juan sat in his biology lab, the instructor droned on about the techniques of vivisection. Rather than listen to the instructor, Juan kept thinking about the concert he was going to on the weekend. Which of the following stages of listening is Juan having the most trouble with?

Accepted Answer

Juan is having trouble with attending because he is not fully focused on listening to the instructor and his mind is wandering to thoughts about the upcoming concert.

Question 13

The process of social _____ involves stepping away from your own thoughts and attempting to experience the thoughts of others.

Accepted Answer

Decentering involves trying to view a situation from another person's perspective and stepping away from your own biases and assumptions. This can help improve communication and understanding in social interactions. Listening and paraphrasing are also important skills in social interactions but do not necessarily involve actively trying to take another person's perspective. Orientation is a more general term that does not specifically relate to social interactions.

Question 14

Keri really enjoys talking with people, learning how they feel about a topic, and sharing personal information. How would you describe Keri's listening style?

Accepted Answer

Keri's focus is on building and maintaining relationships through communication, which is the hallmark of relational listening.

Question 15

On his way to class, Isaac overheard his professor in the hallway discussing those "radical Bible thumpers" with a fellow professor. Isaac felt a personal sting and just couldn't get the sound of that phrase out of his mind. Later, while in the professor's class, he found that he was taking poor notes and really didn't understand the lecture for that day. Which of the following best describes the cause of Isaac's failure to listen in class?

Accepted Answer

Isaac's emotional reaction to what he overheard in the hallway created emotional noise, which distracted him from fully comprehending the lecture.

Question 16

In their model for improving listening, your book authors suggest "stop, look, and listen." The step "stop" refers to _____.

Accepted Answer

"Stop" in the context of improving listening refers to stopping being self-focused. This means listeners should shift their focus away from their own thoughts, judgments, and feelings to fully concentrate on the speaker's message.

Question 17

Which stage of listening involves making sense out of what you hear by relating it to your past experiences and knowledge?

Accepted Answer

Understanding involves making sense of what you hear by relating it to your past experiences and knowledge. Selecting involves choosing which message to focus on, attending involves giving your attention to the message, and responding involves reacting to the message in some way.

Question 18

The fear of misunderstanding or misrepresenting messages spoken by other people is part of _____.

Accepted Answer

Receiver apprehension refers to the fear of misunderstanding or misrepresenting messages spoken by other people. Communication triage refers to the process of prioritizing communication messages, emotional noise refers to emotional interference in the communication process, and social decentering refers to the ability to take into account multiple perspectives during communication.

Question 19

When a person replies in a sarcastic tone, it modifies the meaning of the verbal message and is illustrating which of the following?

Accepted Answer

Sarcasm is a form of meta-communication, which is communication about communication. When a person uses sarcasm, they are modifying the literal meaning of their verbal message, and conveying a different message through tone and context.

Question 20

Asha tells her husband that she is frustrated by his lack of help with household chores. However, he does not seem to be listening because he has just returned home from work and is exhausted. This is an example of what type of barrier?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Asha tells her husband that she is...

Quiz 5: Listening and Responding