AP Human Geography Unit 3 Terms

acculturation

group adopts some traits of another culture but keeps major elements of its own culture

assimilation

minority group fully absorbs dominant culture + loses its own cultural traits

cultural relativism

idea that culture should be understood based on its own values

ethnocentrism

judging another culture by the standards of one’s own, believing one’s culture is superior

expansion diffusion

when a trait spreads outward while staying strong in its origin

hierarchical diffusion

trait spreads from the most influential/important people or places to others

contagious diffusion

spread through direct contact, rapid + widespread

stimulus diffusion

trait spreads but is changed in the new location

relocation diffusion

trait spreads through movement of people from one place to another

cultural convergence

cultures become more similar due to interaction

cultural divergence

cultures become more different due to restrictions/isolation

syncretism

blending of two cultures into a new cultural form

sequent occupance

layers of cultural impacts left by groups that lived in a place over time

cultural landscape

the visible imprint of human activity on the land

space-time compression

the way in which improvements in transportation and communication have reduced the friction of distance and permitted the very rapid diffusion of ideas across space.