ComS 100A: Survey of Communication Studies
Test 1: Study Guide
Harris-Jenkinson
The test is worth 50 points and consists of a combination of multiple choice and true/false
questions.
The test covers the following textbook readings and lectures:
 Chapters 1 (Communication Process), 2 (Person Perception), 3 (Verbal Message), 4
(Nonverbal Message), 5 (Listening) from Human Communication: Principles and
Contexts (Tubbs & Moss)
 Lectures: Communication Process, Perception and Intrapersonal, Language, Nonverbal,
Listening
Please note: Some questions are very straight forward and involve rote memory (e.g., definitions,
lists), while others are application-based (you may be given an example and asked to identify a
concept). Other questions are based upon synthesis (you may not be able to find the exact
answer from lecture or in the textbook, but you should be able to figure out the answer if you
understand the material). Occasionally I use comic strips as the basis for questions
Materials needed:
 One scantron (green, #882, half sheet)
 One piece of binder paper (if you come across a question on the multiple choice or true/false
questions where you believe you need to justify your answer)
 One or two sharpened #2 pencils
 Your bright, cheerful, awake and READY smiling face
You should know (be able to identify based upon examples, give an example/definition for a
concept, etc.):
 The main needs communication fulfills
 The impact of communication to our lives
 The models of communication (linear, interactive, transactional) and what distinguishes each
from each other
 Intentional and unintentional messages (both verbal and nonverbal)
 Types of communication contexts (interpersonal, group, public, organizational, etc.)
 Principles and misconceptions of communication
 Ways electronically-mediated communication is changing our understanding of
conversations.
 Difficulties associated with electronically-mediated communication
 Influences on self-concept and self-esteem
 Self-concept, self-esteem, self-fulfilling prophecy—basically, if it has “self” in the word, know
it!
 Theories: implicit personality theory, halo/horn effect, communibiological approach, SapirWhorf hypothesis
 Stages of interpersonal perception
 Selective attention, selective perception, etc.
 Psychological sets
 Symbols & referents
 Language abstraction ladder (S.I. Hayikawa)
 Language barriers (bypassing, polarization, allness, etc.)
 The conversation process (opening, feedforward, business, feedback, closing)
 Functions of language (aid to memory, enables us to abstract)
 Difficulties in interpreting nonverbal communication
Harris-Jenkinson
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Test 1 Study Guide: ComS 100A
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How verbal and nonverbal messages interact
Areas of study in nonverbal communication (proxemics, chronemics, haptics, etc.)
Differences between listening and hearing
Suggestions to improve listening
Reasons we listen ineffectively (barriers to listening)
Types of listening
Steps in the listening process
Definitions or descriptions of:
 Stereotypes
 Dichotomous terms
 Primacy & Recency effects
 Euphemism
 Nonverbal communication
 Polychronic / monochronic
 Metacommunication
Harris-Jenkinson
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Test 1 Study Guide: ComS 100A