Anthropology quiz #1 on chapters 1 and 2
When did food production originate?
12,000−10,000 years ago
What is one of the most fundamental key assumptions that anthropologists share?
A comparative, cross-cultural approach is essential to study the human condition.
What do anthropologists mean when they say culture is shared?
Culture is an attribute of individuals as members of groups.
How are the four subfields of U.S. anthropology unified?
Each subfield studies human variation through time and space.
the study of the interrelations among living things in this environment is called
Ecology
Culture is transmitted genetically.
False
a cultural relativist would have no problem with using his or her own values or cultural understandings to judge another culture.
False
ethnology is a key part of biological anthropology
False
What does it mean to say that humans use culture instrumentally?
People use culture to fulfill their basic biological needs for food, drink, shelter, comfort, and reproduction.
Who was the anthropologist who defined culture as "that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, arts, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society"?
Sir Edward Tylor
What are cultural particularities?
Traits unique to a given culture, not shared with others
Although culture is one of the principal means humans use to adapt to their environment, some cultural traits can be harmful to a group's survival.
True
Culture encompasses rule governed, shared, symbol-based, and learned behavior as well as beliefs transmitted across the generations.
True
Culture has an evolutionary basis.
True
Culture is acquired by all humans, as members of a society, through enculturation.
True
Everyone is cultured
True
Humans can adapt to their surroundings through both biological and cultural means.
True
cultural particularities are unique to certain cultures, while cultural generalities are common to several (but not all) cultures.
True
independent invention occurs when two or more cultures independently come up with similar solutions to a common problem.
True
Which of the following examples illustrates how culture is symbolic?
a national flag that stands for a particular country
Which of the following dimensions were recognized by the American Anthropological Association when it formally acknowledged a public service role?
academic anthropology and applied anthropology
An exchange of cultural features between groups in firsthand contact is known by the term
acculturation
An exchange of cultural features between groups in firsthand contact: ____________
acculturation
Regarding human capacity for culture, anthropologists agree that
although individuals differ in their emotional and intellectual capacities, all human populations have equivalent capacities for culture.
Reconstructs, describes, and interprets human behavior and cultural patterns through material remains: ____________
anthropological archeology
General anthropology refers to
anthropology as a whole or the "four fields"
Which of the following perspectives emphasizes how cultural forces constantly mold human biology?
biocultural perspective
Primatology is a specialty within
biological anthropology
The study of human biological diversity through time and as it exists in the world today: ____________
biological anthropology
The values that are considered to be key, basic, or central and that integrate a culture are called
core values
The comparative, cross-cultural study of human society and culture: ____________
cultural anthropology
The subfield that describes, analyzes, interprets, and explains social and cultural similarities and differences is called
cultural anthropology
What process is most responsible for the existence of international culture?
cultural diffusion
Our own __________ depends on the uniquely developed human capacity to use symbols.
cultural learning
A(n) __________ is a trait or feature of culture that is not generalized or widespread; rather, it is confined to a single place, culture, or society.
cultural particularity
_________ is the idea that behavior should be evaluated not by outside standards but in the context of the culture in which it occurs.
cultural relativism
__________ is the idea that behavior should be evaluated not by outside standards but in the context of the culture in which it occurs.
cultural relativism
The four fields of anthropology include
cultural, archaeological, biological, and linguistic anthropology.
The borrowing of cultural traits between societies is called
diffusion
The borrowing of cultural traits between societies: ____________
diffusion
Which of the following is a mechanism of cultural change?
diffusion
Diffusion is __________ when two cultures trade, intermarry, or wage war on one another.
direct
The process by which a child learns his or her culture: ____________
enculturation
What is the name for the process by which a child learns his or her culture?
enculturation
What is the process by which children learn a particular cultural tradition?
enculturation
The tendency to view one's own culture as superior and to use one's own standards and values in judging others is called
ethnocentrism
The term that cultural anthropologists use to describe fieldwork in a particular cultural setting is
ethnography
What component of cultural anthropology is comparative and focused on building theories to enhance our understanding of how cultural systems work?
ethnology
According to the chapter, the idea of culture is not considered to be a central concern to anthropologists.
false
According to the text, the term hominins refers to chimps and gorillas.
false
Acculturation is the process by which people lose the culture they learned as children.
false
An example of "culture is all-encompassing" might be the shared beliefs, values, memories, and expectations that link people who grow up in the same culture.
false
Anthropologists agree that a comparative, cross-cultural approach is unnecessary as long as researchers are diligent in their work.
false
Anthropologists study only non-Western cultures.
false
Biological anthropologists study only human bones.
false
Cultural relativism is the tendency to view one's own culture as superior and to use one's own standards and values in judging outsiders.
false
Culture is passed on genetically to future generations.
false
Culture is transmitted by both formal and informal instruction, but not by observation.
false
Holism refers to traditions and customs transmitted through learning.
false
In the chapter, anthropology is not considered a humanistic science.
false
In the discussion of the four types of high-altitude adaptation, "technology" (a form of adaptation) was considered a "biological" type of adaptation.
false
The biocultural view studies only the biological sides of humanity.
false
culture is being destroyed by electronic media.
false
culture is developed among nonhuman primates around 10,000 years ago.
false
culture is more developed in industrial nations than among hunters and gatherers.
false
culture is the exchange of cultural features that results when two or more groups come into consistent firsthand contact.
false
culture is the exclusive domain of the elite.
false
Ethnography is the
fieldwork component of cultural anthropology.
Anthropology as a whole or "four-field anthropology": ____________
general anthropology
The name for a culture pattern or trait that exists in some but not all societies is
generality
Larger "barrel chests" of native highlanders: ____________
genetic adaptation
The accelerating interdependence of nations in the world system today: ____________
globalization
this chapters description of how humans cope with low oxygen pressure in high altitudes illustrates.
human capacities for cultural and biological adaptation, the latter involving both genetic and physiological adaptations.
Biological anthropology includes the study of
human genetics
The independent development of a cultural feature in different societies: ____________
independent invention
What mechanism of cultural change is exemplified by the fact that agriculture separately developed in both Mexico and the Middle East?
independent invention
General anthropology is a North American concept because
interest in the origins and diversity of Native Americans brought together the four fields of anthropology.
Linguistic Anthropology
involves reconstructing the basics of ancient languages by comparing their contemporary descendants.
Anthropology
is the study of humans around the world and through time
Studies language in its social and cultural context, throughout the world and over time: ____________
linguistic anthropology
More efficient respiratory system to extract oxygen from "thin air": ____________
long term physiological adaptation
The presence of more efficient respiratory systems to extract oxygen from the air among human populations living at high altitudes is an example of
long-term physiological adaptation.
A holistic and comparative perspective
most characterizes anthropology, when compared to other disciplines that study humans
An example of a cultural adaptation to high altitude would be
pressurized airplane cabins with oxygen masks.
__________ studies cross-cultural similarities and differences in psychological traits and conditions.
psychological anthropology
The name of the branch of anthropology that includes activities such as cultural resource management, public educational programs, and historic preservation is
public archaeology.
Anthropological archaeology
reconstructs, describes, and interprets human behavior and cultural patterns through material remains
Adaptation
refers to the processes by which organisms cope with environmental forces and stresses.
As humans organize their lives and adapt to different environments, our abilities to learn, think symbolically, use language, and employ tools and other products
rest on certain features of human biology that make culture, which is not itself biological, possible.
Increased heart rate, hyperventilation: ____________
short term physiological adaptation
increased heart rate and hyperventilating, as discussed in the case study of adaptations to high altitudes, is which type of adaptation.
short term physiological adaptation
In order to cope with the range of environments humans have occupied in time and space, which of the following have humans become increasingly dependent on?
social and cultural means of adaptation
Linguistic Anthropology
studies language in its social and cultural context, across space and time.
One of the most significant ways in which culture is learned is through
symbols
Pressurized airplane cabins with oxygen masks: ____________
technology
Which of the following best describes biological anthropology?
the study of human biological diversity
Ethnology is
the study of sociocultural differences and similarities based on data gathered in different societies.
Holism refers to
the study of the whole of the human condition
In anthropology, cultural relativism is not a moral position but a methodological one. It states that
to understand another culture fully, we must try to understand how the people in that culture see things.
Cultures are described as
traditions and customs that are transmitted through learning and that form and guide the beliefs and behavior of the people exposed to them.
A biological anthropologist might study the field known as primatology.
true
A universal is something that exists in every culture.
true
Anthropology is a uniquely holistic and comparative science.
true
Anthropology is comprised of four subfields.
true
As an academic discipline, anthropology falls under both the social sciences and the humanities.
true
Core values of a culture distinguish it from other cultures.
true
Cultural relativists believe that a culture should be judged only according to the standards and traditions of that culture and not according to the standards of other cultural traditions.
true
Culture helps us define the world in which we live, to express feelings and ideas, and to guide our behavior and perceptions.
true
Culture is not itself biological but rests on certain features of human biology.
true
Cultures are integrated, patterned systems in which a change in one part often leads to changes in other parts.
true
Diffusion plays an important role in spreading cultural traits around the world.
true
Ethnography involves the collection of data that is used to create an account of a particular community, society, or culture.
true
The interests and methods of anthropology and sociology are now converging.
true
When cultural traits are borrowed, they are reintegrated to fit the culture that adopts them.
true
culture is acquired by humans as members of society through the process of enculturation.
true
