Anthropology Exam
Read carefully through the paragraph below and decide which of the options (a-d) is best so that the statement is an accurate description of "dowry:" Dowry is a payment of material goods and money from the groom's family to that of the prospective bride's upon marriage. In cultures that practice dowry, the status of women is often lower, as women are seen as a burden to a family, and as someone who needs to be taken care of.
"bride's" and "groom's" should be switched around - Correct "payment" should be replaced by "loan" "lower" should be replaced by "higher" "burden" should be replaced by "help"
The placebo effect can be described as:
A disease that only affects certain cultures due to social stress. None of these answers Belief in treatment efficacy - Correct What happens when a doctor treats someone who does not want to be treated.
Logan Cochrane talks about food taboos in Afghanistan, which he knows through his in-depth anthropological research is related to what?
A religious belied in the Law of Guzmanjela, which stipulates who can eat what - Correct Basic misunderstanding of nutritional needs Young Afghani girls' aversion to getting "fat" Food association with the Taliban
________ status is one that you earn through your accomplishments, whereas ________ status is something that a person is born into and usually cannot change.
Achieved, ascribed
In the film Planet Money Makes a T-Shirt, we learned of the terrible 2013 garment factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed more than 1000 people. What happened to workers in the aftermath of this collapse?
All of the above Workers across the country got a raise Workers across the country went on strike - Correct Workers across the country quit their jobs in sewing and went back to farming in rural areas
The main ethical code that all American anthropologists must follow is:
Always employ an ethnocentric perspective when first learning about a new culture. Do no harm to your study population. - Correct It is more important to defend yourself than your study subjects in dangerous contexts. Study only populations that are very different than your own.
Match each of the sub-fields of anthropology on the right with the most accurate description:
Archaeological Anthropology - This field relies on artifacts to learn about human behavior in the past. Linguistic Anthropology - This field of anthropology studies how languages change over time and how they are related. Cultural Anthropology - This field uses techniques like ethnographic fieldwork and participant observation to study the culture of living people. Physical/Biological Anthropology - This field studies human evolution and biological variation.
Forensic anthropologist Dr. Freddy Peccerelli combines archaeological research, DNA analysis, and community outreach to bring closure—and justice—to the families of those who "disappeared" during the decades-long conflict in what country?
Argentina Afghanistan Guatemala - False Iraq
Read the following situation and decide which term (A-D) best describes the situation: Every morning Henry sat in his study, pouring over the latest journals, letters, and reports sent back to London from faraway places around the world. Some of his favorites included missionary's accounts of their contact with a newly "discovered" group of Indians living in central Brazil. After Henry read over the accounts, he would develop his own theories that explained the life styles of the Brazilian Indians—theories that would place the group somewhere along an evolutionary spectrum from "primitive" to "civilized." We'd call what Henry did:
Armchair Anthropology - Correct Linguistic Anthropology Applied Anthropology Anthropological Fieldwork
A(n) ________ is an example of an archaeological feature.
Arrowhead Fireplace - Correct Human Bone Deer Bone
Match the following archaeological material on the left with its description on the right:
Artifact - a portable item that was made, used, or modified intentionally by humans in the past. Ecofact - a natural material found in the context of human habitation, but not modified intentionally by humans. Feature - a non-portable human constriction, cannot be removed from it's context without ruining it's integrity, but very instructive of human past behavior.
In the United States, we primarily follow a medical model in which the principles of biology and natural sciences are used to diagnose and treat disease. This medical model is called:
Ayurvedic Medicine Biomedicine - Correct Scientific Medicine Alternative Medicine
Which of the following is NOT one of the cross-cultural characteristics of marriage that we discussed in class?
Between 2 or more people Sanctioned by society Involved economic cooperation Must be between partners of the same sex - Correct
Look at the kinship chart below. What type of descent does it best represent? (Red shaded shapes originate from father triangle)
Bilateral descent Cognatic descent Unilineal descent Patrilineal descent - Correct
Read carefully through the paragraph below and decide which of the options (A-D) is best so that the statement is as accurate as possible: Here's what Ben has to say about his friend Andy: "My best friend Andy and I have always been close. We were inseparable all throughout grade school and high school; we were each other's best men in our weddings, and today our families live just down the street from the other. In fact, my kids call Andy 'uncle Andy' and Andy's kids call me 'uncle Ben.' I'm closer to Andy than I am to my biological brother." How would you characterize Ben and Andy's relationship?
Bilateral kin Fictive kin - Correct Unilineal kin They are close, but they would never be considered related.
Countries like the United States are characterized by individualism, meaning what?
Both of these answers. We are taught to be respectful of tradition and we are driven by our desire to help our family and community. Neither of these answers We are taught to be independent and are driven by our accomplishments - Correct
Many bar fights are probably escalated by the fact that Americans tend to get vocal during confrontation. What would happen during a bar fight in Western Apache territory?
Both parties would speak their mind and then they would both leave The two parties would both maintain silence, so nothing would happen One party might cuss out the other, but that other person would stay silent or leave so as to de-escalate the situation - Correct A bar fight in Western Apache territory would look the same as in broader American society
A key informant:
Breaks down barriers for the anthropologist by introducing them to others in the community. Explains the nuances of their culture to an anthropologist. All of these answers. - Correct Sometimes translates for the anthropologist.
This term refers to the number of people that can be supported by a landscape.
Carrying capacity - Correct Habitat residual Caloric index Population pressure
Match each of the theoretical orientations on the right with the most appropriate key figure on the left.
Charles Darwin - The process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring. Horace Miner - Took an etic perspective to make the familiar seem strange. Herbert Spencer - The theory that individuals, groups, and peoples are subject to the same Darwinian laws of natural selection as plants and animals. Franz Boas - Looked for the particulars of a culture to understand it's development and contemporary characteristics.
What impact did the anthropologists working in Afghanistan have on the conflict?
Combat increased because tribesmen did not want their culture probed Conflict increased due to more Americans in Afghanistan Conflict between US soldiers and anthropologists ensued because the soldier felt the anthropologists were in the way Combat operations were reduced by 60% since they arrived - Correct
Which of the following statements is false?
Culture commonly emerges out of the blue and remains fixed over time (it's static). - Correct Culture is humanity's most adaptive mechanism. Culture is highly symbolic. Culture is both learned and taught.
In the article The Price of Progress, Bodley argues that there are many often overlooked consequences of culture change experienced by people upon which "progress" is forced. Which of the following is NOT one of the consequences described in the article?
Decrease in overall dental health Less access to education - Correct Disturbance of the human-landscape balance known as ecocide Increased rates of modern-day diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension
According to Jared Diamond, which of the following effects did the shift from hunting and gathering to agriculture bring?
Decreased wear and tear on the body due to intense physical labor. Decrease chance of contracting a contagious disease. Decreased average height - Correct Improved dental health
Foraging would be considered ____________ whereas horticulture, pastoralism, and agriculture would be considered ____________.
Difficult / Easy Immediate Return / Delayed Return - Correct Delayed Return / Immediate Return Easy / Difficult
There are many countries worldwide where treatable diseases like tuberculosis and malaria go untreated because people do not have access to basic health care, medicine, or education. Farmer refers to these countries as:
Disease Resistant Global North Underdeveloped Global South - Correct
In class, we saw a film clip about this group of people, who live in a society where people do not marry in the traditional sense, but may form a "walking marriage" and live their whole lives in a residential group made up of maternal kin.
Dobe Ju/'hoansi Mosua - Correct Tibetans Bari
Groups of people sharing a common background, language, religion, historical experience, descent, or geography are often referred to as:
Ethnic Groups - Correct Clines Heritage Groups Races
The study of health and illness that analyzes how inequality and social stratification impact individuals and groups is known as
Ethno-etiology Epidemiology Structural Violence Critical Medical Anthropology - Correct
Read the following situation and decide which option (A-D) best describes what is going on: "I just don't understand why any woman would agree with or support the idea of female genital modification—of whatever kind, I don't even want to hear any more about it," said Maureen. "The practice is barbaric, and not to mention it's often dangerous to the health of the woman!" Her friend Fred just looked at her, and responded, "I know it's hard to really wrap your mind around, but it might be easier to understand if you took the time to listen to why the practice still exists based on the explanations given by the people from within that culture." "Some parts of our culture are just as odd, no? Just think of all of the things that probably seem strange to outsiders about our own culture—what about plastic surgery, tanning, wearing makeup, etc.?" he finished. Fred is advocating that Maureen practice:
Ethnocentricism Cultural Relativism - Correct Social Darwinism Pluralism
The tendency to see one's own culture as natural or superior is called:
Ethnocentrism - Correct Cultural Relativism Cultural Evolutionism Egocentricism
How is the study of anthropology useful?
Exploring human variation shows us why social stratification is unavoidable. The study of world cultures helps us determine which cultural traits are the best. The study of anthropology gives us a better understanding of humankind and teaches us to be culturally sensitive. - Correct It teaches us that Western culture should be replaced by more indigenous belief systems.
Please match the following type of marriage or family with the definition that is most accurate:
Extended Families - A family unit that consists of multiple generations living in the same household. Joint Family - A family unit that consists of adult siblings and their spouses, as well as any children living in the same household. Nuclear Families - A family unit that consists of spouses and their children.
Anthropologists argue that each culture should be seen as a monolithic whole, with little variation or diversity within it.
False
Corporate anthropology was used to discover that many people who consume Spam today do so primarily because it is cheap and has a long shelf life.
False
Daughter languages can evolve into proto-languages over time.
False
In his role as an applied anthropologist, Logan Cochrane was able to validate concerns about local "harmful traditional practices" surrounding prohibitions about men and young boys eating poultry or eggs. In short, he found that the international development agency had a good understanding of the practice, and he worked with them to educate the native villagers about the negative impacts of their food taboos.
False
In the article "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema," the author makes some of the most boring of daily activities appear foreign and bizarre. He does this by presenting the Nacirema culture from an emic perspective.
False
In the film Planet Money Makes a T-Shirt, there are about five people and two locations involved in the making of the shirt.
False
Kinesics, or body language, are universally shared among humans. Thus, if you go to another country and wink at someone, it will always mean the same thing as it does here in the States.
False
Most Barí women have multiple husbands.
False
Most women who are part of polyandrous marriages in Tibet report disliking having multiple husbands, and wish instead that they had monogamous marriages.
False
The US Census today has far fewer racial/ethnic categories than it did back in 1790.
False
Through her research, Tanya Rodriguez was able to establish that Spam is most commonly eaten among the millennial generation in the United States.
False
True or false, an extended family consists of multiple adult siblings (along with their spouses and children) sharing head of household responsibilities.
False
True or false, in ascribed status societies, people's status is based upon their achievements, skills, and accomplishments. Essentially, people can gain whatever status they choose.
False
True or false, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis states that a person's language has little impact on how they view the world and their lived reality.
False
True or false, the one positive feature of the shift to agriculture, according to Jared Diamond, is that communities shifted from a dependence on seasonal and weather-influenced foraging practices, to a reliance on a stable, singular crop—like rice or wheat.
False
A type of quantitative ethnographic fieldwork collection technique is...
Field notes Life histories Interviews Surveys - Correct
Which of the following is not a subject discussed in Claire Sterk's article Tricking and Tripping: Prostitution in the Era of AIDS?
Fieldwork in potentially dangerous locations Fieldwork on potentially illegal activities The importance of giving gifts to study subjects - Correct Importance of gatekeepers
Match the pattern of subsistence on the left to the most appropriate description on the right.
Forager - Move around to procure abundant resources, rely mainly on nature for subsistence. Horticulturalist - Use slash and burn techniques to clear fields, and incorporate fallow periods to rejuvenate fields between growing periods. Agriculturalist - Labor intensive strategy that can involve the domestication of animals, terracing, and irrigation to produce crops. Pastoralist - Have a symbiotic relationship with the animals they herd; consume meat, blood, and mild of those animals.
Which of the following types of communities could be considered a non-market society?
Foragers All of the above - Correct Pastoralists Horticulturalists
Match the following type of applied anthropology on the left to the best description on the right.
Forensic Anthropology - Applying skeletal analysis and techniques in archaeology to solving criminal cases. Corporate Anthropology - Applying anthropological theories and practices to the needs to private sector organizations, especially industrial firms. Applied Medical Anthropology - Deals with intervention, prevention, and policy issues and analyzes the socioeconomic forces and power differentials that influence access to care. Cultural Resource Management - Vocation and practice of managing cultural resources, such as the arts and heritage.
Read the following situation and decide which term (A-D) best describes the situation: Harry has been offered a new job in Aspen and he has to sell his Mutt Cuts van ASAP in order to get the $6000 he needs for his move. Lloyd offers Harry $3000, knowing full well that Harry has no choice but to sell the van for half price because of his current circumstances.
Generalized reciprocity Distribution Balanced reciprocity Negative reciprocity - Correct
Read the following situation and decide which option (A-D) best describes what is going on: My neighbor Sally makes the best apple pie in the world and bakes one almost every Sunday morning. On the other hand, my husband makes the worst beef stew in the world on Sunday afternoon, in preparation for Sunday night football. For some reason, Sally really likes my husband's beef stew, so usually I take a serving of beef stew over to Sally's in exchange for a piece of her delicious pie!
Immediate reciprocity Balanced reciprocity - Correct Generalized reciprocity Delayed reciprocity
When there is no logical or inherent connection between a sign and it's meaning, we call it a:
Index None of these answers Icon Symbol - Correct
_________ involves all of the nonverbal gestures, facial expressions and body language used by someone to communicate.
Indexical Symbols Phonology Language Profile Kinesics - Correct
Match the following description with the subsistence pattern that best applies: Groups that cultivate small garden plots for a few years until the plot is expended. The old plot is left to go fallow and rejuvenate and a new plot is found for the next round of slash-and-burn cultivation.
Intensive Agriculturists Foragers Pastoralists Horticulturalists - Correct
When Dwight is at school, he typically refers to himself as an engineering major, first generation student, and straight male. However, when he is with his co-workers at the factory, he refers to himself as a middle-class, hard-working, football-loving guy. Dwight's shift in identities based on his social context is an example of:
Intersectionality All of the above Code switching Situational negotiation of identity - Correct
Which of the following is a false statement about culture change?
It is an artificial process that only happens now and then. - Correct There is more culture change occurring today than in the past Some cultures are open to some kinds of change, like the Chinese Some cultures are resistant to change, like the French
How does anthropology differ from other disciplines concerned with humans?
It is holistic and comparative, both geographically and historically. - Correct Anthropology has a narrower focus on the cultural "other" and rarely examines subcultures. It has existed as a discipline longer than most other social sciences. Anthropology has a less scientific approach than other disciplines.
In the article "When Brothers Share a Wife," the author discusses fraternal polyandry in Nepal and India. According to this article, which of the following statements about fraternal polyandry is FALSE?
It is just one form of marriage that is socially sanctioned in Nepal It is a cultural adaptation to the high labor demands of rice cultivation - Correct It is found among farming communities in Nepal and India It is a cultural adaptation to arable land scarcity
Who looked at the skulls of different races and divided them into five distinct categories?
Jihann Blumenbach - Correct Karen Brodkin-Sacks Linneaus Jared Diamond
Last week, you watched a TEDTalk called "Power Posing" in which you learned about how body language can impact our emotions and how we feel about ourselves. This talk was given by _____________.
Kaith Bass George Gmelch Any Cuddy - Correct Claire Stark
All of the words in a language's dictionary would be called its
Lexicon - Correct Paralanguage Syntax Grammar
Where were the first intensive agricultural societies found?
Mesoamerica Egypt All of these locations. - Correct India and Pakistan
Read the following situation and decide which answer (a-d) best describes what is going on: Before Europeans landed in the "New World," there were several sophisticated and thriving indigenous empires in what is now Latin America. When the Spanish eventually colonized Latin American, one of the biggest influences they brought with them was the Catholic religion. Immediately upon arrival, Spanish priests and missionaries began converting the indigenous communities from their native belief systems to Catholicism, and often forbid traditional ceremonies and religious practices. Over time, traditional practices of Catholicism were often mixed with vestiges of native, indigenous religious and spiritual beliefs. As native people began to practice Catholicism, traditional saints began to take on some characteristics and personalities of indigenous gods, making it easier for local populations to buy into the new religion. Even today, in many rural places in Latin America, a church filled with statues of Catholic saints might also be the location of pre-Catholic rituals like annual animal sacrifices.
None of these answers Religious replacement Syncretism - Correct Creationism
Read the following situation and decide which term (A-D) best describes the situation: Horticultural societies like the Yanomami of Venezuela use very simple tools and methods to carry out their small-scale farming lifestyle. So as not to overtax their environment, they practice a type of cultivation known as ______________, which involves periodically cutting down small tracks of forest, burning the wood, farming the land, and then letting the land go fallow and rejuvenate when the soil is depleted.
None of these answers Tread-light cultivation Rotating cultivation Shifting Cultivation - Correct
In the 1930s, the Australian Leahy brothers took a video camera with them as they set out in the unexplored highlands of which country?
Papua New Guinea - Correct New Zealand Haiti Antarctica
Read the following situation and decide which term (A-D) best describes the situation: Jack went to rural South Africa to research the connection between religion and the HIV/AIDS crisis in the region. In order to gather information, he picked a local Evangelical church to attend on a weekly basis, and began to cultivate relationships with the parishioners there. Jack spent his days in the field hanging out with the church member's families, sharing meals with them, attending community events like weddings, birthday parties, and funerals, and embedding himself in their everyday lives as best he could. Jack was practicing:
Quantitative research Participant observation - Correct Ethnology Sociological techniques
Read carefully through the paragraph below and decide which of the options (A-D) is best so that the statement is an accurate description of participant observation: Participant observation is an important method of qualitative anthropological research where the anthropologist simultaneously immerses herself in the culture to gain the etic perspective, while also maintaining a more removed, objective perspective on what she sees.
Replace "objective" with "subjective" Replace "etic perspective" with "emic perspective" - Correct Replace "simultaneously" with "at first" Replace "qualitative" with "quantitative"
A method used by horticulturalists when they rotate the use of fields—planting crops on a particular piece of land for a period of time, then letting it go fallow as they move on and begin planting again in a different area—is called:
Shifting Cultivation - Correct Slash and Burn Agriculture Nomadism Transhumance
Match the following anthropologists on the left with the concept, idea, or culture they are well known for.
Sienna Craig - Referred to culture as "all of the things we take for granted but live by" EB Tylor - Came up with an early and inclusive definition of culture Logan Cochrane - Wrote about how the Law of Gumzanjela impacts food taboos in Afghanistan
The human skeleton is a storehouse of information on the individual who died and may provide estimates of the person's
Social Security Number Name Age - Correct Number of Siblings
Paul Farmer talks about an AIDS of the North and and AIDS of the South. What does he mean by this statement?
Southern countries are better equipped to treat the disease than northern countries The AIDS virus proliferates uniquely in different climates People in southern nations have an immunity to HIV and thus do not get the disease as readily as in the north In northern, or "developed" nations, people contract AIDS because of poor sexual decision making rather than because they are poor or under educated - Correct
In today's highly technologized world of emails, texts, tweets, and posts, it is often difficult to understand from words alone how someone is feeling, or what the tone of their message is. Thankfully, we have new innovations (like emojis) and old ones (like punctuation marks) to help us convey the tone of our messages. These optional language features help to convey meaning and would be considered part of our:
Syntax Translation Paralanguage - Correct Grammar
What is ethnography?
The process of studying people by engaging in "deep hanging out" Includes information from all aspects of fieldwork—entering the field, methodologies, data collected, ethical or moral questions raised. The end result of fieldwork—can be a written work, or can also incorporate alternative formats like audio and video recordings and photography. All of these answers - Correct
Who is Tracy and why is she controversial?
Tracy is the name of a covert operation to win the hearts and minds of Afghanis by building roads between remote locations Tracy was a spy posing as an anthropologist in the US military Tracy was a member of the first Human Terrain Team and as an anthropologist, many thought she was breaking ethical codes of conduct - Correct Tracy is the name of a IED detecting robot that fell into Taliban hands
This naturalistic ethno-etiology was developed by the ancient Greeks and involved maintaining a balance between the body's four humors, or fluids.
Traditional Chinese Medicine Hurmoral System - Correct Ayurvedic Medicine Witchcraft
"Ecocide" occurs when indigenous groups are removed from their native lands and the delicate equilibrium they have developed with the environment is thrown out of whack.
True
A longitudinal study in anthropology is when a person does ethnographic fieldwork over a long period of time, often leaving the field and returning periodically over a number of years.
True
Among the Barí, the optimal number of "secondary fathers" is one, in addition to the woman's husband.
True
Anthropologists often note that culture is "all encompassing," meaning that there are many parts of our culture behavior are subliminally programmed and that we don't think about concretely on a daily basis.
True
As part of the larger earth system, culture change can impact the other spheres of the earth (atmosphere, lithosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere).
True
Claire Sterk gained trust by giving rides, babysitting, and buying groceries for her informants.
True
Communication could be defined very basically as a message sent by a transmitter to a receiver.
True
Ethnology is the study of how similar cultures compare to one another.
True
Identity can be something assigned to you, or something you choose for yourself.
True
In the film Planet Money Makes a T-Shirt, we see that the t-shirt begins production in a developed nation, before traveling to one or more underdeveloped nations, and then being sold in a developed nation.
True
In the mock excavation, you learned that excavating methodically is important to recover artifacts in situ, meaning in the exact location in which they were deposited.
True
Koko mastered linguistic productivity when she created the phrase "finger bracelet."
True
Prehistoric archaeologists study the period before writing.
True
While some diseases are deadly, around 90% of all the ailments we'll endure in our lifestyles are self-correcting.
True
While the article "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema" was intended to show Americans how strange their cultural practices might seem to an outsider, many Americans who read the article often initially have an ethnocentric response.
True
Within every culture, there are subcultures that have their own norms, assumptions, and practices—and possibly even their own languages and belief systems.
True
Anthropology is a holistic science, which means:
We study people in the past and present We study people everywhere that they live We study both the biological and cultural aspects of humanity All of the above. - Correct
Which of the following is NOT one of the ways in which silence is used in Western Apache culture?
When meeting strangers for the first time. During initial courtship rituals with a new girl- or boy-friend. When traveling with children outside of the Western Apache community. - Correct When getting cussed out by a drunk person.
Mark is descended from a long line of Irish immigrants. He usually likes to identify himself with his American nationality, but once a year on St. Patrick's Day, Mark embraces his family's heritage by wearing green, drinking green beer, and singing Irish drinking songs. Mark is expressing
Xenophobia National Identity Symbolic Identity - Correct Status
Most animal communication systems are ______, meaning there is little room for innovation. Whereas human communication systems are ____, allowing for lots of flexibility.
closed, open
Archaeology...
is the study of the human past. combines the themes of time and change. all of the above. - Correct involves artifacts, ecofacts, and features.