Exam #2 Study Guide: Chapter 7

Alloparenting

A practice in which the role of parenting is performed by individuals who are not the biological parents of children

Anthropometry

The measurement of body parameters that assess physical variation and the relative contributions of particular body parts to overall body shape

Blood types

Sets of proteins that coat the red blood cells, which serve a variety of functions in the human body, including delivering oxygen to tissues and producing antibodies as an immune response

Clinical variation

A type of variation in which change is gradual across groups and in which traits shade and blend into each other

Cormic index

Standing height divided by sitting height

Culturally constructed concept of race

A set of cultural or ethnic factors combined with easily perceived morphological traits(eg, skin reflectance, body shape, cranial structure) in an artificial “biological” category

Discrimination

Negative or unfair treatment of a person because of his or her membership in a particular social group or category

Embodiment

A concept that refers to how people literally incorporate, biologically, the material and social worlds in which they live, from conception to death

Eugenics

The study of genetics with the notion of improving human biology and biological potential; often associated with simplistic, erroneous assumptions about the relationship of behavior or cultural traits to simple genetic systems

Forensic analysis

The identification and description of dead people

Human biodiversity

The similarities and differences within and across human groups that have biological dimensions

Human Genome Project

An international scientific research project between 1900 and 2003 whose goal was to identify all the genetic material in humans

Human leukocyte antigen system(HLA)

A series of proteins on the surface of white blood cells that recognize foreign particles of infectious agents

Intermembral index

The ratio of arm length to leg length

Melanin

A complex polymer that is the main pigment in human skin, occurring in two colors:black and brown

Naturalize

To make part of the natural order of things through the production of scientific theories, schemes, and typologies

Race

A system that organizes people into hierarchical groups based on specific physical traits that are thought to reflect fundamental and innate differences that are rooted in genetic and biological differences

Rascism

The repressive practices, structures, beliefs, and representations that uphold racial categories and social inequality

Scientific concept of race

A population or group of populations within a species that has measurable, defining biological characteristics and low statistical measures of similarity

Subspecies

A population that meets the criteria defined within the scientific concept of race

Syndemic

A concept that refers to epidemics or adverse health events that involve the clustering of diseases, adverse interactions between these diseases, and socio-environmental conditions that exacerbate the effects of diseases or make people more vulnerable