AP human geo flashcard - culture

Culture

All of a group’s learned behaviors, actions, beliefs, and objects.

ethnocentrism

The attitude that one’s own group, ethnicity, or nationality, is superior to others.

cultural relativism

The idea that a persons beliefs and practices should be understood based on that person's own culture.

sequent occupancy 

the notion that successive societies leave their cultural imprints on a place, each contributing to the cumulative cultural landscape.

ethnicity

an ethnic group; a social group that shares a common and distinctive religion, culture, or language.

Ethnic (culture) enclave

a place where theres a large concentration of people who share an ethnic identity.

globalization

Process of intensifies interaction among peoples, governments, and companies of different countries across the globe.

Cultural convergence

the theory that two cultures will be more and more alike as their interactions increase.

acculturation

an ethnic or immigrant group moves to a new area and adopts the values/practices of larger group, but still maintains elements of their own culture.

assimilation

process whereby individuals or groups of differing ethnic heritage are absorbed into the dominant culture of a society.

syncretism

the combination of different forms of belief or practice into something new/distinct.

multiculturalism

the coexistence of several cultures in ones society, with the ideal of all cultures being valued and worthy of study.

cultural diffusion

the process by which a characteristic spreads across space from one place to another over time.

relocation diffusion

involves the actual movement of the original adopters from their point of orgin, or hearth, to a new place.

stimulus diffusion

occurs when the innovative idea diffuses from its hearth outward, but the original idea is changed by the new adopters.

contagious diffusion

the rapid, widespread diffusion of a characteristic throughout the population (often person to person or virtually on the internet.)

hierarchical diffusion

occurs when the diffusion innovation of concept spreads from a place or person of power or high susceptibility to another in a leveled pattern.

distance decay

contact diminishes with increasing distance and eventually disappears

hearth

the place where an element of culture originates