Test Bank

Chapter 4: Perception and categorization

Multiple choice questions

1. Human perception can be considered as the three-stage process in the order of ______.

a. interpretation, organization, selection

b. selection, interpretation, organization

c. organization, interpretation, selection

d. selection, organization, interpretation

2. Eating with hands is considered normal in Indian culture whereas the same behaviour could be regarded as bad table manners in some Western cultures. Which perception stage does this example illustrate?

a. interpretation

b. selection

c. organization

d. none of these

3. Which of the following concept does NOT refer to internal attribution, as in the attribution theory?

a. attitude

b. context

c. beliefs

d. personality

4. Which of the following statement is NOT true regarding categorization?

a. Categorization helps us to reduce uncertainty in our environment.

b. Categorization helps us to meet functional needs and achieve goals.

c. Categorization can maximize the advantage of the ingroup.

d. Categorization bridges differences between ingroups and outgroups.

5. Everyone is ethnocentric to some degree. Which of the following characteristic tend to be associated with high levels of ethnocentrism?

a. small communicative distance between ingroups and outgroups

b. large communicative distance between ingroups and outgroups

c. an ability to see the world from the perspective of the outgroup

d. attribution of negative qualities to the ingroup

6. Which of the following concepts refers to the human tendency to see a phenomenon in whole terms, even if it is only partially represented?

a. familiarity

b. closure

c. expectations

d. all of these

7. A well-known adage is ‘we see what we want to see and hear what we want to hear’. Which perceptual tendency is this adage of particular relevance to?

a. expectations

b. closure

c. familiarity

d. both closure and familiarity

8. Which stage of selection refers to remembering relevant information so that it may be used in later interpretation?

a. selective retention

b. selection attention

c. selection exposure

d. selective categorization

9. Prejudice and discrimination have been reported in many places as a by-product of multiculturalism. Which of the following statements best describes prejudice and discrimination?

a. They both mean the same thing.

b. Prejudice is the inner negative perception while discrimination is its outer manifestation.

c. Discrimination is the inner perception while discrimination is its outer manifestation.

d. Prejudice is the result of perception but discrimination is not.

10. Which of the following statements best describes cultural relativism?

a. interpreting other cultures in terms of one’s own

b. passing one’s own values on to another culture

c. interpreting a culture in terms of its own context

d. creating relationships between cultures

11. Humans are bombarded with different kinds of stimuli in their surroundings. The more ambiguous the stimuli at the interpretation stage, the more chance there is that ______.

a. the stimuli will be objectively interpreted

b. the same situation or stimuli could be interpreted differently by different people

c. the stimuli will be disregarded

d. different people will reach a consensus on the interpretation of the stimuli

12. Implicit personality theory suggests that we organize our individual perceptions into clusters. Which tendency best represents the halo effect?

a. If someone has one good trait, they are unlikely to have other good traits.

b. If someone has one good trait, they are likely to have other good traits.

c. If someone has one good trait, they will definitely have other good traits.

d. If someone has one good trait, it they will definitely have similar traits.

Short answer questions

1. Define categorization stage and provide examples to explain its functions.

2. What is social identity theory and what are its basic assumptions?

3. What are the characteristics of ingroups and outgroups? Provide examples to explain.

4. Provide an example to illustrate the relationship between perception and intercultural communication.

5. Define self-fulfilling prophecy and provide an example to show its application.