Anthropology Test 1 (Part 1)

Small-scale societies

-A distinction between small-scale and more complex societies does not imply that societies can be pigeonholed into one or the other category. -All societies can be viewed along a continuum from small-scale to complex.

Diffusion

-Is selective -Some parts of culture are more likely to diffuse than others -Is a two-way, reciprocal process -Diffusion is affected by other important variables

Polychronic culture

A culture in which people perform a number of tasks at the same time and place a higher value on nurturing relationships rather than on punctuality.

Monochronic culture

A culture whose people view time in a linear fashion, place great importance on punctuality & keeping a schedule

Acculturatoin

A process by which a less dominant culture group adjusts to live with a dominant culture while at the same time maintaining their cultural identity.

Subculture

A subdivision of a national culture that shares some features with the larger society & also differs in some important ways.

Enculturation

Acquiring culture after we are born. Culture is acquired through learning & environment.

Etic Approach

Anthropologists use their own categories & concepts to describe another culture. Outsider view

Civilaztion

Architecture, governments (hierarchical), food & water production, writing

Prehistoric archaeologists work with which of the following?

Artifacts, ecofacts, and features (Study humans B4 writing)

Ethnology

Comparative, uses data collected by others, generalizes across cultures

Which of the anthropological subfields most prepares a student with the skills for success in the 21st century?

Cultural anthropology

Ethnography

Descriptive, based on direct fieldwork, focuses on a single culture or subculture.

______ anthropology is the specialty that would be most involved in studying the effects of building a new nanotechnology factory in a small, rural community.

Developmental

Another source of cultural change is ___________________, or the spread of ideas from one culture to another

Diffusion

Organic analogy

Early functionalist idea that cultural systems are integrated into a whole cultural unit in much the same way that the various part of the biological organism function to maintain health.

Cultural Universals

Economic system, marriage, education, belief in the supernatural, systems of communication

Which of the following is the perspective of the native of a group (the insider approach)?

Emic

Invention and Innovations

Internal changes that spread to other cultures & occur in societies with the greatest number of cultural elements.

In general, which of the following best describes biological anthropology?

It focuses on how evolution of human begins and the physical variations among all types of people.

In order to truly appreciate other cultural perspectives, which of the following is most vital?

Let go of cultural certainty in order to learn something new.

Why is ethnocentrism so pervasive throughout the world?

Most people are born and raised in a single culture and have no exposure to other cultures.

Which of the following best characterizes the study of paleoanthropology?

Paleoanthropologists focus on the reconstruction of the human fossil record through the excavation and analysis of fossil remains.

Emic Approach

Seeks to describe another culture in terms of the concepts & perceptions of the people being studies

Which statement about the applied research of Susan Squires is true?

Since children are not very hungry when they wake-up at 6:30 a.m., they often leave the house at 7 a.m. without eating much of anything.

Pluralistic Socities

Societies composed of a number of different culture or subcultural groups.

Which of the following statements about American values is most accurate?

Some values are shared widely by other cultures and some are particular to a culture.

Symbols

Something that stands for something else

Archaeology

Study people from the past by excavating and analyzing material culture they leave behind, includes artifacts, features, ecofacts

Cultural relativism

The anthropological attitude that a society's customs and ideas should be viewed in the context of its own culture is called _____.

Assimilation

The process by which a less dominate cultural group changes in ways to blend into the beliefs and practices of the dominate culture.

globalization

The recent intensification of the flow of money, goods, and information to all parts of the world is referred to as ______,

The word "anthropology" derives from the Greek anthropos and logos and literally means "_____."

The study of humans

An increasing number of recent high school graduates are opting to take a "gap year," traveling and interning with organizations abroad before attending college. All of the following are critical skills in the 21st century EXCEPT a (an) ______.

ability to determine which culture is best and most valuable

Anthropologists who take cultural relativism too literally or too its logical extreme, can conclude that ______.

absolutely no behavior found in the world would be immoral based on that cultures beliefs or morality

Culture is _______________________

adaptive in nature allowing people to live in previously uninhabitable places

The study of other cultures and other ways of life should lead us to an understanding that ______.

all cultures have value and none is better than any other

Historic archaeology ______.

analyzes cultures of people who used writing and where documents and records still exist

Medical anthropology most often draws upon research from _____.

biological and cultural anthropology

Medical anthropology is a more recent specialty in the discipline studying the relationship between ______.

biology, culture, and disease

Ecofacts

bones, seeds, and wood

The ability to see how a single entity is composed of a number of different parts and how these parts are interconnected is called ______.

cognitive complexity

The specialty in archaeology that works to interpret and defend artifacts from building projects and other forms of site destruction is called _____.

cultural resource management

Studying sound and the meaning of grammatical systems in a specific language is the work of a (an) ______.

descriptive linguist

An anthropologist who studies the relationship between language and culture is working in the field of ______.

ethnolinguistics

The ______ approach best exemplifies an extreme emic perspective.

ethnoscience

Features

foundations and fireplaces

The major purpose of anthropology is to understand other cultures. This can be accomplished most effectively in all of the following ways EXCEPT ______.

gaining a critical understanding of what makes a "good" culture

A distinguishing feature of anthropology is its ___________________ approach to the study of human groups.

holistic

One of two basic factors of change is _____________________ which refers to internal changes, the ultimate source of all cultural changes.

innovation

In comparison with other social sciences, anthropology ______,

is more integrative and holistic, examining all aspects of humanity

Urban anthropology ______.

naturally grew out of research that followed rural people into more complex social systems

Ethnocentrism is the belief that ______.

other cultures are inferior to one's own

Biological anthropology includes:

paleoanthropology, primatology, physical variations among primatesf

Being attentive to both verbal and nonverbal communication is a skill known as ______.

perceptual acuity

The study of humans from a biological perspective is called:

physical anthropology

Biological anthropologists study the culture and the environment by ______.

reconstructing evolutionary records of humans, studying nearest living relatives, and studying how and why physical traits of humans vary

The study of anthropology develops all of the following skills EXCEPT ______.

responsible money management

A linguistic anthropologist who studies the relationship between language and social relatives is working in the field of ______.

sociolinguistics

A holistic approach to the study of humans means that anthropologists ______.

study all varieties of people and all aspects of their existence

An example of an ethnography is a (an) ______.

study of the behavior of residents in a retirement home

Which of the following is most accurate? If taken to an extreme, cultural relativism can lead to ______.

the belief that no cultural customs or practices are ever immoral

Primatology is the study of ______.

the nonhuman primates in their natural environments, also study of anatomy & social behavior of nonhuman primate species.

Cultural diffusion is

the spread of cultural beliefs and social activities from one group of people to another. ... The mixing of different ethnicities, religions, and nationalities has increased with advanced communication, transportation, and technology.

All of the following can be used to illustrate a pursuit of individualism that negatively impacts the common good in the United States EXCEPT ______.

the widespread practice of giving to charity and other philanthropic societies

Forensic anthropologists are frequently asked to testify at trials because ______.

they specialize in identifying victims and circumstances death

Artifacts

tools, arrowheads

Ethnographic research usually involves all of the following EXCEPT ______.

working to make cultures more similar