CH3

Question 1

something that stands in for or represents something else

Answer 1

symbol

Question 2

culturally agreed on and ever-changing systems of symbols that help us organize, understand, and generate meaning.

Answer 2

Codes

Question 3

refers to our ability to talk about events that are removed in space or time from a speaker and situation.

Answer 3

displacement

Question 4

refers to definitions that are accepted by the language group as a whole, or the dictionary definition of a word.

Answer 4

Denotation

Question 5

refers to definitions that are based on emotion- or experience-based associations people have with a word.

Answer 5

Connotation

Question 6

refers to the rules that govern how words are used to make phrases and sentences.

Answer 6

Grammar

Question 7

refers to the process by which we learn to understand, produce, and use words to communicate within a given language group.

Answer 7

Language acquisition

Question 8

The ____ is a model of communication that indicates the relationship among a thought, symbol, and referent, and highlights the indirect relationship between the symbol and the referent.

Answer 8

triangle of meaning

Question 9

The model explains how for any given symbol there can be many different referents, which can lead to misunderstanding.

Answer 9

triangle of meaning

Question 10

help us communicate our observations, thoughts, feelings, and needs.

Answer 10

Verbal expressions

Question 11

utterances that try to get another person to do something.

Answer 11

Directives

Question 12

utterances that mean a speaker is committed to a certain course of action

Answer 12

commissives

Question 13

newly coined or used words. Newly coined words are those that were just brought into linguistic existence.

Answer 13

Neologisms

Question 14

refers to new or adapted words that are specific to a group, context, and/or time period; regarded as less formal; and representative of people’s creative play with language.

Answer 14

Slang

Question 15

messages communicated in an open, honest, and nonconfrontational way

Answer 15

supportive messages

Question 16

means “hopeful,” is the most well-known and widely used auxiliary language that was intended to serve as a common international language.

Answer 16

Esperanto

Question 17

make others respond defensively, which can lead to feelings of separation and actual separation or dissolution of a relationship.

Answer 17

unsupportive messages

Question 18

Labeling someone irresponsible, untrustworthy, selfish, or lazy calls his or her whole identity as a person into question. Such sweeping judgments and generalizations are sure to only escalate a negative situation.

Answer 18

Global labels

Question 19

Even though sarcasm is often disguised as humor, it usually represents passive-aggressive behavior through which a person indirectly communicates negative feelings.

Answer 19

Sarcasm

Question 20

Bringing up negative past experiences is a tactic used by people when they don’t want to discuss a current situation. Sometimes people have built up negative feelings that are suddenly let out by a seemingly small thing in the moment.

Answer 20

Dragging up the past

Question 21

Holding a person up to the supposed standards or characteristics of another person can lead to feelings of inferiority and resentment. Parents and teachers may unfairly compare children to their siblings.

Answer 21

Negative comparisons.

Question 22

Accusatory messages are usually generalized overstatements about another person that go beyond labeling but still do not describe specific behavior in a productive way.

Answer 22

Judgmental “you” messages

Question 23

Threatening someone with violence or some other negative consequence usually signals the end of productive communication. Aside from the potential legal consequences, threats usually overcompensate for a person’s insecurity.

Answer 23

Threats

Question 24

it expresses our identities through labels used by and on us,
affects our credibility based on how we support our ideas,
serves as a means of control,
performs actions when spoken by certain people in certain contexts.

Answer 24

language

Question 25

always changing through the addition of neologisms, new words or old words with new meaning, and the creation of slang.

Answer 25

language is dynamic

Question 26

can be used to bring people together through a shared reality but can separate people through unsupportive and divisive messages.

Answer 26

Language is relational

Question 27

refers to specialized words used by a certain group or profession.

Answer 27

Jargon

Question 28

include all the relevant types of expressions needed to most effectively communicate in a given situation, including what you see, what you think, what you feel, and what you need.

Answer 28

Whole messages

Question 29

missing a relevant type of expression and can lead to misunderstanding and conflict. Whole messages help keep lines of communication open, which can help build solid relationships.

Answer 29

Partial messages

Question 30

include mixed or misleading expressions.

Answer 30

contaminated messages

Question 31

refers to language used to express a person’s feelings and create similar feelings in another person. Metaphor, simile, personification, and vivid language can evoke emotions in speaker and listener.

Answer 31

Affective language

Question 32

direct comparison of two things using the words like or as.

Answer 32

simile

Question 33

implicit comparison of two things that are not alike and/or are not typically associated.

Answer 33

metaphor

Question 34

refers to the attribution of human qualities or characteristics of other living things to nonhuman objects or abstract concepts.

Answer 34

Personification

Question 35

Some people differ in their interpretations of civility in various settings, and some people have personality traits that may lead to actions deemed uncivil on a more regular basis.

Answer 35

Individual differences

Question 36

In some cases, especially in novel situations involving uncertainty, people may not know what social norms and expectations are.

Answer 36

Ignorance

Question 37

Even when we know how to behave, we may not be able to do it. Such frustrations may lead a person to revert to undesirable behavior such as engaging in personal attacks during a conflict because they don’t know what else to do.

Answer 37

Lack of skill

Question 38

Self-control is not an unlimited resource. Even when people know how to behave and have the skill to respond to a situation appropriately, they may not do so. Even people who are careful to monitor their behavior have occasional slip-ups.

Answer 38

Lapse of control

Question 39

Some people, in an attempt to break with conformity or challenge societal norms, or for self-benefit (publicly embarrassing someone in order to look cool or edgy), are openly uncivil. Such behavior can also result from mental or psychological stresses or illnesses.

Answer 39

Negative intent.

Question 40

to create social bonds or for impression management (to seem cool or attractive).

Answer 40

social swearing

Question 41

provides a sense of relief, as people use it to manage stress and tension, which can be a preferred alternative to physical aggression.

Answer 41

Annoyance swearing

Question 42

conclusions based on thoughts or speculation, but not direct observation.

Answer 42

Inferences

Question 43

conclusions based on direct observation or group consensus.

Answer 43

Facts

Question 44

expressions of approval or disapproval that are subjective and not verifiable

Answer 44

Judgments

Question 45

or the misconception of an inference (conclusion based on limited information) as an observation (an observed or agreed-on fact).

Answer 45

inference-observation confusion

Question 46

occurs when people deviate from accepted social norms for communication and behavior and manifests in swearing and polarized language that casts people and ideas as opposites.

Answer 46

Incivility

Question 47

related communication structures that come one after the other (adjacent to each other) in an interaction

Answer 47

Adjacency pairs

Question 48

versions of languages that have distinct words, grammar, and pronunciation.

Answer 48

Dialects

Question 49

distinct styles of pronunciation.

Answer 49

Accents

Question 50

a theory that explores why and how people modify their communication to fit situational, social, cultural, and relational contexts.

Answer 50

Communication accommodation theory

Question 51

a person makes his or her communication more like another person’s.

Answer 51

convergence

Question 52

a person uses communication to emphasize the differences between his or her conversational partner and his or herself.

Answer 52

divergence

Question 53

refers to changes in accent, dialect, or language.

Answer 53

code-switching

Question 54

a skewed way of viewing or talking about a group that is typically negative.

Answer 54

Cultural bias