AP Human Geography Review Culture

What are the three types of Expansion Diffusion?

Contagious Diffusion, Hierarchical Diffusion, and Stimulus Diffusion

When a social group is inappropriately unresponsive to changing circumstances and to innovation, it is exhibiting what?

Cultural lag

What types of things are you likely to see on the cultural landscape compared with a physical landscape?

A cultural landscape would show human impact. This is also referred to as the "built environment". Religious structures, agriculture, houses, roads, etc. A physical landscape is theoretically unaltered by humans.

What is an independent innovation?

An independent innovation means that a similar innovation was developed at similar times, but in different locations. There is no evidence that diffusion occurred. Examples include agriculture, Egyptian and Mayan pyramids, the telephone.

How is innovation different from diffusion?

Both are ways in which culture can change. Innovation implies that new ideas were created within the culture itself. Diffusion implies that an innovation was adopted from an outside source region.

Name three cultural hearth regions of the world.

Culture originated in the hearth regions. Any three of the following answers will work: Meso-America, Andean, West Africa, Crete, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Indus Valley, North China, Southeast Asia.

What is the difference between environmental determinism and possibilism?

Environmental determinism is the belief that the physical environment exclusively shapes humans, their actions, and their thoughts. Possibilism is the viewpoint that people, not environments, are the dynamic forces of cultural development. Both of these fall under the category of Cultural Ecology.

What is globalization?

Globalization is a reference to the increasing interconnection of all parts of the world.

Medical discoveries are shared first to the medical community through scholarly journals before being revealed to the rest of the population. What type of diffusion is this?

Hierarchical diffusion

Consider the cultural subsystems (Ideological, Technological, and Sociological), then explain each of the following: artifacts, mentifacts, and sociofacts. To which cultural subsystem do each belong?

Mentifacts represent our belief system. They tell us what we ought to believe, what we should value, and how we ought to act. They are a part of the Ideological Subsystem. Artifacts are material objects we use to fill basic needs. They are a part of the Technological Subsystem. Sociofacts define the social organization of culture. How does the individual function in relation to the group...family, church, or state. They are a part of the Sociological Subsystem.

Which of the above concepts do Geographers buy into the most?

Possibilism. Geographers dismiss Environmental determinism as too limiting.

Explain the difference between Relocation Diffusion and Expansion Diffusion

Relocation Diffusion is when culture moves from one place to another because a person or group has relocated. It is characterized by a "hopping" over of geographic areas that did not come in contact with the item of culture. Expansion diffusion spreads out like a snowball from its hearth...impacting all areas in which it comes into contact.

The fact that I can travel from one coast of the United States to another after hours of travel instead of months of travel is an example of what?

Space-time compression

What is syncretism and in what ways could McDonalds be used as an example?

Syncretism is when two items of culture are combines to create something new. McDonalds appears all over the world, but would not likely be successful unless it altered its menu and structure to reflect the cultural region.

Is a firefighter's uniform an example of a sociofact, artifact, or a mentifact? Explain.

When a garment is worn to cover, protect, or assist in activities, it is an artifact.

Are the garment worn by the Pope at Easter Mass an example of a sociofact, artifact, or a mentifact? Explain.

When a garment is worn to identify a role or position within a social structure (i.e. uniforms of soldiers, clerics, etc.) it is a sociofact.

Is the traditional attire for Iranian females an example of a sociofact, artifact, or a mentifact? Explain.

When a garment is worn to indicate the beliefs and values of a culture, it is a mentifact

The fact that a culture may not adopt goods or ideas from another culture because of religious restrictions is an example of what?

Diffusion barrier

The further away from the hearth region, the longer it will take for an item of culture to diffuse to that region. What do we call this?

Distance decay