Experimentation with Midterm Justifications

Midterm Question Justification

One of the questions that I got wrong was question No. 11,

"Two people who have just met are exchanging information about when they were born and where they grew up. What phase of the relationship is this considered?"

I chose response B, "Initiation Phase," because I apparently mistakenly believed that this was the best response of those available. I knew that the answer was certainly not A, "Integrating," or C, "Intensifying," so it was a choice between D, "Experimenting," and B. Ultimately, I made the wrong choice by misremembering the textbook definitions of those two terms.

Response B is incorrect because the Initiation Phase takes place before the events that are transpiring in the prompt. That initial phase involves exchanging cursory information--"Bob, meet Julia. Julia, Bob." The Initiation Phase usually does not involve talking about personal issues such as the life histories here discussed; instead, that phase is the "saying hello" phase.

Response D is correct because the Experimenting Phase involves pushing the boundaries of the newly formed relationship. This involves exchanging the life history information that would seem out of place in the Initiation Phase. Here, in the Experimenting Phase, it is both normal and expected for two recently introduced people to start "testing the waters" of the new friendship to find common ground between each other and start to get a feel for the other person's personality.

A great real-world example of this scene being played out in the Experimenting Phase of a relationship could be from any of your first-day experiences at college, but I'll share one of mine. I met a good friend of mine, Mary Clare Fischer, at Orientation over the summer. In the Initiation Phase of our relationship, we were forced to participate in an ice-breaking activity with our Orientation group of fellow journalism majors. This activity was not similar to the prompt's situation. However, a situation similar to this prompt occurred when Mary Clare and I exchanged information about where we were from. She told me she was from Michigan, and I've made fun of her for it since. It's not a bad thing to be from Michigan--I just can use it as justification for anything non-East-Coast-like that she does, from calling soda "pop" to telling me that 40 degrees Fahrenheit isn't cold. This real life example of the Experimenting Phase perfectly illustrates the prompt. We both tested each other's boundaries, and when we found that the other wasn't offended by the small jabs we were taking, we had a better friendship for it.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Picture from PCWorld