Test Bank For Exploring Interpersonal Communication
v2.0 By Scott McLean
What does it mean to "do right by others"? - ANSWER: Depends on framework of the
good that gives meaning to action and identity
Why is is it important to make a given understanding of a good explicit? - ANSWER:
Identify the ground on which it is based
What are the assumptions of a theory of interpersonal justice? - ANSWER: 1. We are
accountable to something larger than the self.
2. We are created to live in a community.
3. We are "embedded agents" who experience a dialectic of personal responsibility
& community support for our actions.
4. Our actions make a difference in the lives & destines of others.
5. Interpersonal communication exists in a narrative matrix of personal, social,
cultural, structural, temporal, & eternal elements that converge to connect human
life to the past, present, & future.
6. Interpersonal communication is grounded in a "good" that is carried by discourse.
Major ideas from Taylor - ANSWER: 1. We are connected & ontologically generated
into webs of interlocution of the good.
2. We cannot exist w/o God.
3. We know who we are by where we've come from, where we stand, & w/ whom
we stand.
4. It is possible to move away from & toward better & worse conceptions of moral
good
Major ideas from Simon - ANSWER: 1. We have destines & know who we are the we
understand ourselves as part of God's story.
2. The notion of the importance of "neighbor".
3. A particular understanding of "love" for neighbor, friend, spouse, & family.
4. Interpersonal justice is tired, in this sense, to assisting others' achievement of their
destinies as well as working toward discovering, realizing, & enacting our own
Major ideas from Levinas - ANSWER: 1. "I am my brother's keeper"
2. The Face of the Other reminds the communicative partner of the ancient
injunction "Do not kill me"
3. The color of the Other's eye does not matter
4. We are held hostage by the visitor who comes to us
Examples of communicative interpersonal injustice - ANSWER: 1. Refusing to let go
of stereotypes that are damaging or harmful to others
2. Deliberately disconfirming w/ intent to harm another
, 3. Fearing false witness against another
4. Engaging in gossip and slander
What is interpersonal colonization? - ANSWER: 1. Imposing one's own destiny upon
another
2. Shaping another in one's own image to the exclusion of that Other's uniqueness
3. Making one's own "good" another's good when that other has not invited that
covenant
What does it mean to day that communication is symbolic? - ANSWER: 1. Words &
nonverbal communication stand for (represent) things/ideas/states of being
2. We use symbols to interpret meaning of messages
3. Context makes a difference in meaning, ease of interpretation, choice of symbols
4. Context shapes the action of interpersonal justice
What does it mean to say that communication is a process? - ANSWER: 1.
Communication is a dynamic process--it can't be "rewritten or erased"
2. Interpersonal justice implication: Communication carries responsibility
3. Communication w/in a relationship ensures that the relationship will never be
exactly the same from moment to moment
What are the two ways of understanding communication as a transaction? -
ANSWER: 1. Send & receive messages at same time
2. Meaning is mutually negotiated
What are two ways of thinking about context? - ANSWER: 1. Everything having to do
w/ a communication event, including the history of participants & sociocultural
standpoint
2. Episode or setting
Recognize examples of context - ANSWER: Conversation over lunch, studying w/ a
friend, a wedding or funeral, or class session
Recognize examples of rules that apply to context - ANSWER: 1. Implicit rules = acted
upon but not invoked or articulated formally (except, perhaps, when one is a child &
parents point them out)
2. Explicit rules = Roberts Rules of Orders; other small group meeting context
(procedure)
What is important to have regarding competence? (4 things) - ANSWER: 1. A range of
strategies to use
2. Criteria for selecting strategies
3. Ability to implement strategies
4. A means of evaluating strategy effectiveness
What is interpretive competence? - ANSWER: Sizing up situations
v2.0 By Scott McLean
What does it mean to "do right by others"? - ANSWER: Depends on framework of the
good that gives meaning to action and identity
Why is is it important to make a given understanding of a good explicit? - ANSWER:
Identify the ground on which it is based
What are the assumptions of a theory of interpersonal justice? - ANSWER: 1. We are
accountable to something larger than the self.
2. We are created to live in a community.
3. We are "embedded agents" who experience a dialectic of personal responsibility
& community support for our actions.
4. Our actions make a difference in the lives & destines of others.
5. Interpersonal communication exists in a narrative matrix of personal, social,
cultural, structural, temporal, & eternal elements that converge to connect human
life to the past, present, & future.
6. Interpersonal communication is grounded in a "good" that is carried by discourse.
Major ideas from Taylor - ANSWER: 1. We are connected & ontologically generated
into webs of interlocution of the good.
2. We cannot exist w/o God.
3. We know who we are by where we've come from, where we stand, & w/ whom
we stand.
4. It is possible to move away from & toward better & worse conceptions of moral
good
Major ideas from Simon - ANSWER: 1. We have destines & know who we are the we
understand ourselves as part of God's story.
2. The notion of the importance of "neighbor".
3. A particular understanding of "love" for neighbor, friend, spouse, & family.
4. Interpersonal justice is tired, in this sense, to assisting others' achievement of their
destinies as well as working toward discovering, realizing, & enacting our own
Major ideas from Levinas - ANSWER: 1. "I am my brother's keeper"
2. The Face of the Other reminds the communicative partner of the ancient
injunction "Do not kill me"
3. The color of the Other's eye does not matter
4. We are held hostage by the visitor who comes to us
Examples of communicative interpersonal injustice - ANSWER: 1. Refusing to let go
of stereotypes that are damaging or harmful to others
2. Deliberately disconfirming w/ intent to harm another
, 3. Fearing false witness against another
4. Engaging in gossip and slander
What is interpersonal colonization? - ANSWER: 1. Imposing one's own destiny upon
another
2. Shaping another in one's own image to the exclusion of that Other's uniqueness
3. Making one's own "good" another's good when that other has not invited that
covenant
What does it mean to day that communication is symbolic? - ANSWER: 1. Words &
nonverbal communication stand for (represent) things/ideas/states of being
2. We use symbols to interpret meaning of messages
3. Context makes a difference in meaning, ease of interpretation, choice of symbols
4. Context shapes the action of interpersonal justice
What does it mean to say that communication is a process? - ANSWER: 1.
Communication is a dynamic process--it can't be "rewritten or erased"
2. Interpersonal justice implication: Communication carries responsibility
3. Communication w/in a relationship ensures that the relationship will never be
exactly the same from moment to moment
What are the two ways of understanding communication as a transaction? -
ANSWER: 1. Send & receive messages at same time
2. Meaning is mutually negotiated
What are two ways of thinking about context? - ANSWER: 1. Everything having to do
w/ a communication event, including the history of participants & sociocultural
standpoint
2. Episode or setting
Recognize examples of context - ANSWER: Conversation over lunch, studying w/ a
friend, a wedding or funeral, or class session
Recognize examples of rules that apply to context - ANSWER: 1. Implicit rules = acted
upon but not invoked or articulated formally (except, perhaps, when one is a child &
parents point them out)
2. Explicit rules = Roberts Rules of Orders; other small group meeting context
(procedure)
What is important to have regarding competence? (4 things) - ANSWER: 1. A range of
strategies to use
2. Criteria for selecting strategies
3. Ability to implement strategies
4. A means of evaluating strategy effectiveness
What is interpretive competence? - ANSWER: Sizing up situations
