Anthropology Exam Review

Flashcards on ethnocentrism, cultural relativism, primatology, linguistics, and tribal studies based on lecture notes.

Ethnocentrism

The belief that one’s cultural group is centrally important and superior to others, leading to cultural misinterpretation and distorted communication.

Cultural Relativism

The principle that an individual’s beliefs and activities make sense in terms of his or her own culture, explaining human diversity as a logical outcome of diverse environments.

Louis Leaky

Encouraged and promoted the study of primatology to learn more about the relationship between primates and humans to prove Darwin's theory of evolution.

Jane Goodall

Studied chimpanzees in Tanzania, made remarkable discoveries about their tool use and social behavior.

Diane Fossey

Studied gorillas in Rwanda, implemented protection against poaching and used nose prints for identification.

Birute Galdikas

Studied orangutans in Borneo, documented their long birth cycle, diverse diet, and rudimentary tool use.

Margaret Mead

Conversation with Samoans to compare adolescent girls in America vs Samoa, practiced cultural relativism.

Historical Linguistics

Compares the similarities and differences of language structures to understand how languages are related and how people migrated in the past.

Edward Sapir

A prominent linguistics anthropologist that studied historical linguistics of Aboriginal peoples.

Noam Chomsky

The founder of modern structural linguistics.

Sociolinguistics

The study of how people use language within their culture to express status and control.

The Dani Peoples

A tribe in New Guinea that uses sweet potatoes in bartering.

Bantu

Used as a general label for 300 to 600 ethnic groups in Africa with about 250 languages.