ANTH205 Ch. 2 -- Culture

Purdue University

According to Sir Edward Tylor’s century-old definition of culture, what is the critical defining feature of culture?

It is acquired by humans as members of society

Children learn to avoid fire by being told that it is dangerous, while animals learn to avoid fire by discovering that it burns them. The difference between the two is that human cultural learning depends on ___.

the capacity to use symbols

No one has explained to you that you must stand facing the door while riding in an elevator, yet you know what to do. What does this reveal about the process of enculturation?

Some cultural learning takes place through observation

What is a symbol?

Anything verbal or nonverbal that stands for something else

True or False: A human child is born with culture

False

Whose definition of culture includes “Culture…is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, arts, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities acquired by man as a member of society?”

Sir Edward Tylor

Animals such as wolves learn behaviour patterns, such as hunting techniques. What makes human cultural learning different from that?

Human cultural learning is based on ideas shared through symbols

Which of the following are ways in which culture is transmitted and learned?

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A) It is taught directly

B) It is absorbed unconsciously

C) It is transmitted through observation

D) It is passed on genetically

A, B, C

What is an example of a symbol?

A national flag

Which of the following examples best illustrates the relationship between human biological needs and culture?

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A) Human biological needs change, but cultural needs do not

B) Biology requires that humans eat a certain amount each day, but culture teaches us what we want to eat, when we want it, and how to eat it

C) Humans completely control their nature through culture; biology is no longer important

D) Some humans in Spain have a biological need to eat at 10 PM, but Midwesterners in the United States have a biological need to eat at 5 PM

B

Although an individual resident of a southern city in the United States may not like to eat grits and cornbread, these foods are considered a part of southern culture. What does this reveal about culture?

Culture is something individuals share as members of groups

Which of the following is true of culture, according to anthropologists?

It is all-encompassing

Gender-reveal parties, fireworks on the Fourth of July, and basketball are all examples of American ___ culture.

popular

What does it mean when one says that culture is integrated?

Cultures are interrelated systems of thought, beliefs, and behaviour

Which of the following statements best describes culture?

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A) Culture is a purposeless collection of customs and beliefs

B) Primitive tribal groups in the Amazon do not have culture

C) Culture teaches us how to satisfy our biological needs

D) Culture has no relationship to human biological needs or abilities

C

Which of the following best describes how a government policy that promotes prenatal health care and large families could become maladaptive?

It could encourage overpopulation

Which of the following statements best describes the anthropological approach to culture?

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A) All people have culture, which includes things and events that are everything that is part of our daily lives, such as fast-food and concerts

B) To be “cultured” means to have a taste for fine art and music and a college education

C) Literate cultures have abandoned oral traditions

D) Culture is a highly evolved system rarely found in tribal communities

A

True or False: Chimpanzees and gorillas are the closest relatives to the human species.

True

Which of the following cultural abilities have been found among chimpanzees and/or other apes?

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A) They store food for the future and use tools

B) They form monogamous pair bonds and show compassion for others

C) They make complex tools and cooperate in hunts for large game animals

D) They build nests, aim and throw sticks, and hunt

D

The term ___ culture encompasses the aspects of culture that have meaning for many or most people within the same national culture.

popular

Which of the following statements describes a case revealing the integrated nature of culture?

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A) As more American women obtained jobs in the workplace, beliefs about marriage and divorce changed

B) A child born in the United States to Spanish-speaking parents will naturally know how to speak Spanish

C) Humans developed manual dexterity and depth perception after using tools for thousands of years

D) Stereoscopic vision followed the evolutionary transition from fur to hair

A

Which of the following traits are more developed among humans than apes and monkeys?

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A) Sharing

B) Remembering information

C) Feeding individually

D) Cooperation

A, B, D

True or False: A cultural custom can be adaptive in one way (resolving a problem) but also maladaptive in other ways (causing other problems)

True

What is the difference between human ties among parents and offspring and those found among chimpanzees and gorillas?

Humans maintain lifelong ties with sons and daughters, whereas non-human primates generally do not

Which term refers to the group that leads to humans but not to African great apes and encompasses all of the human species that have ever existed?

hominins

Hominins have elaborated the capacity to ___, which facilitated the development of projectile technology and weaponry.

Aim and throw

When studying human diversity in time and space, anthropologists distinguish among the ___, which are features found in every culture, the ___, which are common to several but not all groups, and the ___, which are unique to certain cultural traditions.

Universal; general; particular

Which of the following statements regarding primate hunting behaviours is true?

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A) Chimpanzees and humans hunt, but only humans bring food back to the camp for everyone else

B) Chimps hunt for fruits and berries, not game meat, but humans hunt and gather a greater variety of food

C) Chimps rarely hunt

D) Chimpanzees hunt, but they don’t share their kills

A

Which statements about nonhuman primates are true?

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A) Most chimps and gorillas maintain lifelong ties with sons and daughters

B) Most primates other than Homo tend to disperse at adolescence

C) Primates always mate within their local group

D) Female chimps and gorillas tend to migrate to find mates

B, D

Which of the following are social universals?

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A) Life in some kind of family

B) Life in groups

C) Monogamy

D) Life in a nuclear family

A, B

Which of the following do anthropologists consider when studying human diversity in time and space?

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A) Generalized traits

B) Particular traits and patterns

C) Universal traits

D) The three principal races of mankind

A, B, C

Which of the following are biologically based universals?

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A) A complex brain

B) Year-round sexuality

C) A long period of infant dependency

D) A nuclear family

E) A kinship group consisting of parents and children

A, B, C

The term ___ refers to the actions that individuals take, both alone and in groups, in forming and transforming cultural identities

agency

Which of the following types of traits are likely to move from particularity to generality?

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A) Traits that have the capacity to please large audiences

B) Traits that appeal to older generations but not younger ones

C) Traits that are useful

D) Traits that replace the cultural values of potential adopters

A, C

“I don’t understand why those people eat with chopsticks. A fork is a better utensil.” This statement is an example of ___.

ethnocentrism

In Victorian England, if a woman revealed her neck, her wrists, or her ankles, she was seen as immoral. In the Amazon rainforest, among indigenous people, hardly any clothing was worn. When an anthropologist does not pass judgement on either of these modes of dress, he or she is manifesting the principle of ___.

Cultural relativism

Rights that are based on justice and morality beyond and superior to particular countries, cultures, and religions are referred to as ___ rights.

Human

In the United States today we wear pajamas (which originated in ancient Persia), use mirrors (which originated in ancient Egypt), and eat with forks (which originated in ancient Rome). What mechanism of cultural change does this represent?

Diffusion

People’s actual behaviour as observed by the anthropologist is referred to as ___ culture.

Real

What is the term that anthropologist developed to describe the tendency to see one’s own cultural customs as superior?

Ethnocentrism

When two cultures trade, intermarry, or wage war on one another, diffusion is ___, but when one culture subjugates another and imposes its customs on the dominated group, diffusion is ___.

Direct; forced

Some people bury the dead by cremating the bodies and placing the ashes in a sacred river. Others believe that the body must remain intact and be buried in a coffin. An anthropological perspective on these customs requires that neither practice to be seen as inferior or disgusting, a perspective known as ___.

Cultural relativism

What is the term used for the exchange of cultural features that result when groups have continuous firsthand contact?

AcculturationW

Which of the following are accurate ways to describe human rights?

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A) Inalienable

B) International

C) Ordinary laws enforced by government

D) Vested in specific cultural groups

A, B

Hip-hop music has spread through popular culture and the media from urban America to China and Japan. Which mechanism of cultural change does this phenomenon best represent?

Diffusion

Globalization is defined anthropologically as ___.

Worldwide connectedness, involving production, communication, and technology

During one period of history in the British Isles, school children who spoke their native Irish language were severely punished, and only English was permitted at school. Which mechanism of cultural change does this represent?

Forced diffusion

In acculturation, groups ___.

Remain distinct

The word “globalization” can refer to which of the following two concepts?

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A) All the nations of the world are operating independently and without much interaction

B) Financial entities such as the World Bank and the World Trade Organization are trying to establish a global free market

C) Nations worldwide are choosing to trade goods exclusively with nearby countries

D) People are more closely connected to other people around the world more than ever before

B, D