psych 280

How do Americans compare to people from other cultures when tested on the Müller-Lyer illusion?

Americans are very high; they perceive the illusion very strongly compared to other cultures.

According to Henrich's (2004) mathematical model, what happened to cultural knowledge in the case of eighteenth-century Tasmania?

Cultural knowledge deteriorated because of population shrinkage, which led to a lack of skilled models for people to copy.

Which of the following is true about scaffolding?

It involves teaching the complexity of the task by listing as many steps as possible.

What is the difference between prestige bias and similarity bias?

Prestige bias focuses on others who are highly respected, and similarity bias focuses on others who are similar to ourselves.

Which of the following is true about the cognitive skills of a 2.5-year-old human child compared to a chimpanzee and an orangutan?

The child will likely perform about the same as the chimpanzee and orangutan on both physical problem-solving tasks and social problem-solving tasks.

Gwen wants to conduct a study on dating preferences among teens in France, but she finds that French teens in the countryside are very different from French teens in the cities. The difference between French teens in the countryside versus the cities best illustrates which challenge to defining culture?

There are as many variations within cultures as there are between cultures.

In an African studies research paper that you are writing for publication, you use the word "culture" to refer to a group of South African people. Which of the following is a challenge to using "culture" to define a group of South Africans?

There is too much variability within the South African population to warrant a single "South African" category.

What is the problem with relying too much on WEIRD societies for samples in psychology research?

WEIRD samples represent a very narrow slice of the world's population.

What does the acronym "WEIRD" stand for?

Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic

An infant of Species X sees a model use a new tool to achieve a goal. Which of the following demonstrates that the infant is engaging in imitative learning?

When given the tool, the infant figures out on his own how to use the tool to achieve the same goal.

Which of the following is true regarding gene-culture coevolution? a.It describes how culture shapes the evolution of genes.b.It distinguishes the evolution of humans from the evolution of other species.c.It describes how genes shape the evolution of culture.d.It explains how culture and genes interact over time: Humans have genetically evolved behaviors that contribute to cultural practices, and cultural practices also evolve over time and can influence genetic evolution.e.All of the above are correct.

all

The encephalization quotient (EQ) is defined as

an animal's brain weight relative to the predicted brain weight for a comparable animal of the same body size.

Which of the following defines culture, according to the textbook?

any information learned from other members of one's species that can influence an individual's behaviors

Which of the following best describes mentalizing? a.all of the above b.thinking about what someone else might want c.being able to understand other people's intentions for their behavior d.thinking about what someone's preferences are e.considering other people's goals

e. all of the above

A key belief of the Sambia is that

femaleness is innate but maleness must be explicitly learned.

Ethnocentrism involves

judging people from other cultures by the standards of one's own culture.

If a psychological process involved in statistical reasoning is present only among individuals in a certain culture, it is a(n)

nonuniversal

On Planet X, you observe that a primate-like species is undergoing rapid evolution, with their brains having grown significantly in volume. Based on the textbook's discussion about a similar process that took place in human evolution, what physiological changes to this alien species would you expect to accompany this growth in brain volume? Assume that body size has not changed.

shorter fingers and limbs

People from all cultures use umbrellas, but in some cultures umbrellas are used only to block rainwater, whereas in other cultures umbrellas are used only to block the sun. The use of umbrellas across cultures would thus be classified as a(n)

statistical universal

Homer sharpens a rock and uses it to shave. Schick adds a handle to the rock for better grip. Gillette then changes the rock to a titanium blade for durability. The progression of improvements made to the shaving utensil is an example of

the ratchet effect