Anthro Midterm

Anthropologists do not do library research until they return from the field in order to minimize their bias (T/F)

False

Cultural relativism suggests that all cultural traditions are good and are of equal worth (T/F)

False

In collaborative anthropology, the researcher allows the consultant to write the ethnographic text (T/F)

False

It is very clear that human violence is rapidly declining in our world today (T/F)

False

Learned behavior is found exclusively in human beings (T/F)

False

People constantly create new words and sentences in any human language. This is known as displacement (T/F)

False

All people alive today have exactly the same ancestors at a time depth of 5,000 years (T/F)

True

Among all living species, human language is unique (T/F)

True

An insider's point of view that explains the meaning of a cultural practice is called emic perspective (T/F)

True

Anthropologists do not all agree on a single way to study culture in human beings (T/F)

True

It is common for anthropologists to feel confused and disoriented when they first arrive at their field sites (T/F)

True

Language is a complex symbol system in every human culture (T/F)

True

Language is an innate property of the human mind (T/F)

True

Proxemics is the study of cultural understandings of time (T/F)

True

The belief that cultures should be understood with reference to their own histories and values is known as cultural relativism (T/F)

True

The gathering and interpretation of information based on intensive, firsthand study is called ethnography (T/F)

True

Very few human behaviors are under direct genetic or biological control (T/F)

True

Which of the following statements best illustrates the significance of culture for most anthropologists? a) Anthropologists agree on the basic characteristics of culture, but disagree on the relative importance of those characteristics and on how they study them b) Anthropologists agree on the basic characteristics of culture and on the importance of each of those characteristics, but they do not all study observable behavior c) Anthropologists see culture distinctly and do not agree on the basic characteristics of culture d) Anthropologists study observable behavior, but only a few of them study cultural attributes e) Anthropologists study observable behavior, but the meanings and understandings that people attach to their behavior is not important to anthropologists

a) Anthropologists agree on the basic characteristics of culture, but disagree on the relative

Which of the following is NOT listed as one of the numerous problems with Morgan and Tylor's evolutionary anthropology? a) It made the natives more in need of salvation that colonial officials and missionaries claimed they could provide b)It increased the fame of explorers and revenues for their books c) It unfairly and inaccurately played up the most exotic aspects of the societies they described d) It included data that was distorted to fit their theories e) It increased tensions among the members of the groups they were studying

a) It made the natives more in need of salvation that colonial officials and missionaries claimed they could provide

Which of the following anthropologists was classified primarily as a culture and personality theorist? a) Margaret Mead b) Victor Turner c) A.R. Radcliffe-Brown d) Bronislaw Malinowski e) Oliver Sacks

a) Margaret Mead

Early anthropologists who relied on travelers and missionaries for their fieldwork data were called a) armchair anthropologists b) novices c) native anthropologists d) secondhand anthropologists e) early scholars

a) armchair anthropologists

Which of the following best describes the anthropological approach to other cultures? a) cultural relativism b) holistic c) ethocentrism d) linguistic e) biological

a) cultural relativism

The process of of learning to be a member of a specific cultural group is called: a) culturation b) enculturation c) acculturation d) transcuturation e) diffusion

b) enculturation

Lewis Henry Morgan and Edward Tylor were influenced deeply by the: a) geo-political climate of the time b) evolutionary theories of their era c) writing of Franz Boas d) work of prominent sociologists e) emergence of Margaret Mead as a new voice in anthropology

b) evolutionary theories of their era

Nacirema ritual is based on the belief that: a) religious activity leads to economic success b) the human body has a natural tendency to get sick and diseased c) travel outside of the Nacirema borders is dangerous d) neighboring tribes are jealous of the Nacirema's commercial success e) agricultural practices need to improve to produce greater yields

b) the human body has a natural tendency to get sick and diseased

How is anthropology unique among other disciplines? a) It involves the study of humans b) It requires that scholars work overseas c) It is based on first-hand fieldwork d) It generates social theories e) It was founded in the United States

c) It is based on first-hand fieldwork

What is a language "instinct?" a) It is a form of instinctive communication found across species b) It is the necessity to make and use language in order to survive physically c) It is the instinct to acquire the language of the group into which you are first socialized d) It is the instinct to speak the language of your mother, acquired during the developmental stage of the fetus e) It is the ability to speak only one language fluently and as primary vehicle of communication

c) It is the instinct to acquire the language of the group into which you are first socialized

Which of the following is NOT commonly considered a subsystem of all languages? a) Semantics b) morphology c) chronology d) phonology e) syntax

c) chronology

Which of the following focuses primarily on describing human systems of organization and classification used by individual cultures? a) cognitive anthropology b) culture and personality c) ethnoscience d) interpretive anthropology e) ethnobotany

c) ethnoscience

Animal call systems can be distinguished from human language because: a) they are a form of communication b) they use symbols for communication instead of signs c) they are restricted to a fixed number of signals d) they are used only during moments of high emotion e) they are used infrequently

c) they are restricted to a fixed number of signals

The term "key informant" is used to refer to individuals who are: a) able to work with the anthropologist as research assistants, indicating whom they should interview and how they should collect their data b) gossips who share information that is considered private and known by only a few people c) well informed and eager to talk with the anthropologist regarding material the anthropologist is studying d) of the highest social status and often in charge of the community politically and socially e) in governmental positions in the host country and must approve of the anthropologist's work before he or she leaves the country

c) well informed and eager to talk with the anthropologist regarding material the anthropologist is studying

Which specialty of linguistic anthropology focuses on the analysis of the various subsystems within a single language? a) Ethnolinguistics b) Historical linguistics c) Sociolinguistics d) Descriptive linguistics e) Scientific linguistics

d) Descriptive linguistics

The Nacirema are found in: a) South American b) Africa c) Asia d) North America e) Europe

d) North America

Which of the following would not be considered a basic characteristic shared by all cultures? a) cultures are adaptive b) cultures all involve classification systems and symbols c) cultures are patterned and integrated d) cultures are made up of instinctual behaviors e) cultures are subject to change

d) cultures are made up of instinctual behaviors

All of the following are true of Franz Boas EXCEPT: a) he was a critic of evolution b) he was the first professor of anthropology at Columbia University c) he was a champion of human rights d) he did his fieldwork in the Trobriand Islands e) he trained a generation of U.S. fieldworkers

d) he did his fieldwork in the Trobriand Islands

The study of cultural texts in public events, celebrations, and rituals is a major part of: a) ethnoscience b) culture and personality theory c) symbolic anthropology d) interpretive anthropology e) cognitive anthropology

d) interpretive anthropology

Functionalism is the study of: a) cultures as texts that can be read and analyzed b) symbols and their meanings c) the relationship between subsistence and production and social structure d) relationships between kinship, religion, and, politics in order to find laws e) how the mind functions to regulate human society

d) relationships between kinship, religion, and, politics in order to find laws

During the late 20th century: a)immigrants are less connected with their homelands of origin, leaving them eager to assimilate into U.S. culture b)the world has become more and more a domain of nationalist strongholds c)white, Protestant, Northern European males have begun to have more power and exert a more dominant force in national decision making d)members of minority groups in the United States have moved to stronger economic and political positions e)the United States has become an increasingly dominant force culturally and socially in the world.

d)members of minority groups in the United States have moved to stronger economic and political positions

Most human languages have approximately how many sounds? a) 50-60 b) 90-100 c) 70-80 d) 10-20 e) 30-40

e) 30-40

Words are symbols that stand for things, actions, and ideas because speakers of a language agree that they do. This is a feature of human language called: a) phonality b) displacement c) productivity d) symbolism e) conventionality

e) conventionality