AP Human Geography Unit 3 Review - Cultural Patterns and Processes

Flashcards covering vocabulary terms on cultural traits, cultural landscapes, cultural relativism, ethnocentrism, hearths, barriers to diffusion, and types of diffusion from Topics 3.1, 3.2, and 3.4.

Cultural Traits

Elements developed through social interaction that serve as the building blocks of particular cultures, which are learned, dynamic, and can vary within cultures to create subcultures.

Cultural Relativism

Evaluating a culture by its own standards, which can humanize a cultural group.

Ethnocentrism

Evaluating another culture through the lens of one's own culture, which can lead to thoughts of cultural superiority ranging from simple thoughts to violence.

Cultural Landscape

The combination of cultural, economic, and natural elements that make up any landscape, showing visible human impact that can be compared across regions.

Sequent Occupancy

Evidence of different cultural groups throughout history leaving their distinct marks on a place or physical landscape.

Barriers to Diffusion

Obstacles that hinder the spread of cultural ideas, including distance decay, physical barriers, political barriers, economic barriers, and cultural barriers such as language, religion, age, and ethnicity.

Diffusion

The process by which cultural phenomena, ideas, diseases, and innovations start in a specific location and spread outward.

Hearth

The starting point or origin location where a cultural phenomenon or idea begins before spreading outward.

Relocation Diffusion

A type of diffusion where cultural ideas, diseases, or innovations spread through people physically moving from one place to another.

Contagious Diffusion

A type of diffusion where a culture, disease, or innovation spreads rapidly to almost everyone, such as internet memes and viral videos.

Hierarchical Diffusion

A type of diffusion where ideas spread starting with someone of power in society and moving down, or originating in large cities and spreading to smaller towns.

Reverse Hierarchical Diffusion

A type of diffusion where ideas spread starting from someone in a less populated area to large cities.

Stimulus Diffusion

A type of diffusion where the full original idea does not spread, but the main or underlying idea spreads.