vocab ch.4 ap geo

Culture

Values, beliefs, behaviors culturales is learned not inherited

Cultural geography

The study of how cultures vary over space

Cultural landscape

The visual impronta of human activity and culture on the landscape - carl sauer

Cultural ecólogy

The feild that studied the relationship between the natural environment and culture

How does culture form

-hábit: a repetetive act that an INDIVIDUAL preforms

-customs: a repetitive act a GROUP preforms so that it becomes a characteristic of the group

Ex- Americans wearing jeans

*local cultures are sustained through customs so popular culture disrupts customs

-culture: a groups entire collection of customs

Culture traits can be grouped into three categories

• artifacts: physical items like clothing, tools, or architecture

• Sociofacts: social structures like family systems, political organizations, or etiquette

• Mentifacts: beliefs, values, and ideas such as religion, language, or moral codes

Independent inventions

Developments that can be traced back to specific civilizations or cultural hearths

Ex: methods of hunting, gathering, agriculture, woodworking…

Relocation diffusion

The physical transfer of an idea, trait, or artifact, to a new region

Ex: how folk cultures spread

Expansion diffusion (3 types)

• hierarchical: spread of ideas, first to a ruler, king or highest authority and then downward to subjects or less prominent people

  ex: spread of English in India under British rule to those in prominent positions needed to learn first

• Contagious: spread evenly outward from diffusion orgin or hearth

  ex: Christianity’s spread throughout Europe from monasteries and Roman settlement

• Stimulus: the spread of general concept throughout a population

  ex: the development of a written language by Native American groups

Cultural convergence

Occurs when different cultures exchange ideas and become more similar led to globalization

Ex democracy, spread of English

Cultural divergence

Occurs when different cultural influences cause an area to divide into seperate parts

Ex:india- was one unified by a common Hindu culture arrival of Islam led it to be divided into Hindu and Muslim areas

Acculturation

When a group of people in one culture adopts traits from another culture

Ex pasta in the USA

Transculturation

Occurs when an equal number change of traits or influence between two culture groups occurs

Ex Tex mex cuisine a fusion of Mexican and American food

Syncretic

the birth of a new culture trait from blending two or more culture traits

Ex the waffle taco

Cultural barriers

Occurs in a society and keep cultural traits from spreading

Ex a taboo. Taboos are restrictions on behavior imposed by social customs

Folk vs popular culture

Folk: the practice of a relatively small group of people in a focused area

Popular: the practice of customs that span several different cultures and may even have a global focus

Globalization

The process of increased interconnectedness among countries most notably in the areas of economics, politics, and culture