Chapter 15 - Terms

Question 1

Communication

Answer 1

the process of transmitting information from one person or place to another

Question 2

Perception

Answer 2

the process by which individuals attend to, organize, interpret, and retain information from their environments

Question 3

Perceptual filters

Answer 3

the personality-, psychology-, or experience-based differences that influence people to ignore or pay attention to particular stimuli

Question 4

Selective perception

Answer 4

the tendency to notice and accept objects and information consistent with our values, beliefs, and expectations, while ignoring or screening inconsistent information

Question 5

Closure

Answer 5

the tendency to fill in gaps of missing information by assuming that what we don’t know is consistent with what we already know

Question 6

Attribution theory

Answer 6

the theory that we all have a basic need to understand and explain the causes of other people’s behavior

Question 7

Defensive bias

Answer 7

the tendency for people to perceive themselves as personally and situationally similar to someone who is having difficulty or trouble

Question 8

Fundamental attribution error

Answer 8

the tendency to ignore external causes of behavior and to attribute other people’s actions to internal causes

Question 9

Self-serving bias

Answer 9

the tendency to overestimate our value by attributing successes to ourselves (internal causes) and attributing failures to others or the environment (external causes)

Question 10

Encoding

Answer 10

putting a message into a written, verbal, or symbolic form that can be recognized and understood by the receiver

Question 11

Decoding

Answer 11

the process by which the receiver translates the written, verbal, or symbolic form of a message into an understood message

Question 12

Feedback to sender

Answer 12

in the communication process, a return message to the sender that indicates the receiver’s understanding of the message

Question 13

Noise

Answer 13

anything that interferes with the transmission of the intended message

Question 14

Jargon

Answer 14

vocabulary particular to a profession or group that interferes with communication in the workplace

Question 15

Formal communication channel

Answer 15

the system of official channels that carry organizationally approved messages and information

Question 16

Downward communication

Answer 16

communication that flows from higher to lower levels in an organization

Question 17

Upward communication

Answer 17

communication that flows from lower to higher levels in an organization

Question 18

Horizontal communication

Answer 18

communication that flows among managers and workers who are at the same organizational level

Question 19

Informal communication channel (grapevine)

Answer 19

the transmission of messages from employee to employee outside of formal communication channels

Question 20

Coaching

Answer 20

communicating with someone for the direct purpose of improving the person’s on-the-job performance or behavior

Question 21

Counseling

Answer 21

communicating with someone about non-job-related issues that may be affecting or interfering with the person’s performance

Question 22

Nonverbal communication

Answer 22

any communication that doesn’t involve words

Question 23

Kinesics

Answer 23

movements of the body and face

Question 24

Paralanguage

Answer 24

the pitch, rate, tone, volume, and speaking pattern (that is, use of silences, pauses, or hesitations) of one’s voice

Question 25

Communication medium

Answer 25

the method used to deliver an oral or written message

Question 26

Hearing

Answer 26

the act or process of perceiving sounds

Question 27

Listening

Answer 27

making a conscious effort to hear

Question 28

Active listening

Answer 28

assuming half the responsibility for successful communication by actively giving the speaker nonjudgmental feedback that shows you’ve accurately heard what he or she said

Question 29

Empathetic listening

Answer 29

understanding the speaker’s perspective and personal frame of reference and giving feedback that conveys that understanding to the speaker

Question 30

Destructive feedback

Answer 30

feedback that disapproves without any intention of being helpful and almost always causes a negative or defensive reaction in the recipient

Question 31

Constructive feedback

Answer 31

feedback intended to be helpful, corrective, and/or encouraging

Question 32

Discussion channels and chat rooms

Answer 32

the use of web- or app-based communication tools to hold company-wide, department-based, topic-based, team, or private discussions

Question 33

Streamed/videotaped speeches and meetings

Answer 33

speeches and meetings originally made to a smaller audience that are either simultaneously streamed to other locations in the company or recorded for subsequent distribution and viewing

Question 34

Organizational silence

Answer 34

when employees withhold information about organizational problems or issues

Question 35

Company hotlines

Answer 35

phone numbers that anyone in the company can call anonymously to leave information for upper management

Question 36

Survey feedback

Answer 36

information that is collected by surveys from organizational members and then compiled, disseminated, and used to develop action plans for improvement

Question 37

Blog

Answer 37

a personal website that provides personal opinions or recommendations, news summaries, and reader comments