Deck 1: History and Social Evolution

Question 1

Sociocultural evolution is similar to biological evolution with regard to:

A) Information is transferred across generations
B) Information is stored and transmitted in genes
C) The mechanisms by which information is passed from generation to generation
D) The speed of change
E) The co-evolution of simple and complex forms

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Deterministic stage theories of social change are problematic because:

A) The actors often do not show up for the performance
B) Unpredictable events can sometimes alter the trajectory of social change
C) There are no discernible patterns of sociocultural evolution
D) All polities go through the same stages
E) Polities that interact with each other always become more similar

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The idea of parallel sociocultural evolution means that:

A) Evolution occurs in perfectly straight lines
B) Similar changes occur under similar conditions in regions that are not connected with one another
C) Polities on the same latitude tend to be similar
D) Social structures tend to become more rectangular
E) Polities with less population density are always conquered by polities with more population density

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Continuationists contend that human social change:

A) Will go on forever.
B) Has the same general logic of development at all levels of complexity
C) Goes through qualitative transformations in the logic of development
D) Should be regulated.
E) Occurs primarily at the level of human individuals

Question 5

Social structures are:

A) Built up from identical interlocking units
B) Like an organization chart
C) Found only in bureaucracies
D) Impossible to change
E) Composed of rigid materials

Question 6

The self is not constructed by:

A) Learning skills and behaviors
B) Certification of identities in social rituals
C) Somewhat autonomous individual choices
D) Artificial chemicals in the water supply
E) Interaction with significant others

Question 7

The types of institutions that make the behavior of others more predictable are:

A) Markets and prices that organize exchange
B) Agreed-upon beliefs about what exists and what is good and bad
C) Laws and legitimate processes of legal enforcement
D) All of the above

Question 8

The institutional materialist theoretical approach:

A) Contends that greed is a major force in human affairs
B) Claims that markets and institutionalized coercion emerged later than normative regulation
C) Supports the prison-industrial complex
D) Denies the possibility of human freedom
E) Sees world history as a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Question 9

The collapse of a polity is

A) Unusual in world history
B) Usually more of a problem for those who rely on others to produce their food than for those who are direct producers of food
C) Usually caused by poor grammar and immoral behavior
D) Often occurs simultaneously with the collapse of all the other polities in the same region
E) Has often been caused by the impact of an asteroid.

Question 10

Theories of sociocultural change

A) Posit only quantitative changes
B) Sometimes combine quantitative and qualitative changes in the logic of development
C) Usually emphasize the importance of gossip
D) Portray human history as a large set of unrelated stories
E) Assume that human nature is completely malleable

Question 11

Master variables in theories of sociocultural change:

A) Subjugate the poor and the weak
B) Are claimed to be the most powerful causes of social change
C) Are both causes and consequences of the purposes of the universe
D) Are the same across most theoretical approaches
E) See themselves as descended from the powers of the cosmos.

Question 12

Sociocultural institutions:

A) Are attended primarily by members of the middle class
B) Often do not condone the chewing of gum
C) Are taken-for-granted human inventions that are usually understood to be natural.
D) Are usually subsidized by tax payers
E) Are not found in the Global South.

Question 13

The process of socialization, as discussed in Chapter 1:

A) Often leads to drug abuse
B) Can be fun for those who have the right attitude
C) Often leads to pregnancy on the campuses of private colleges
D) Is a way that society gets into your head
E) Makes those who work pay for the support of lazy people.

Question 14

Teleological explanations claim that things are caused by their purposes.

Question 15

Human brains have less RAM relative to the amount of ROM than the brains of other mammals.

Question 16

There are few important differences between sociocultural and biological evolution.

Question 17

Parallel sociocultural evolution occurs when traits diffuse from a single point of origin.

Question 18

The ontology of a culture is composed of beliefs about what is right and what is wrong.

Question 19

Materialist approaches to explaining social change focus on the fact that humans are acquisitive.

Question 20

The self is completely determined by society.

Question 21

Social structures are held together by institutions that make the behavior of others more predictable.

Question 22

Social institutions both empower and constrain the actions of individuals.

Question 23

A football team is a good example of social structure.

Question 24

Institutional materialists claim that normative regulation is of no consequence in the contemporary global system.

Question 25

The question of progress cannot be evaluated scientifically.

Question 26

Polities always get larger and more complex.

Question 27

Discuss the similarities and differences between biological and sociocultural evolution. How does genetic engineering fit in to this question?

Question 28

What are the main kinds of evidence that are useful for testing scientific explanations of sociocultural evolution?

Question 29

Discuss the relationship between scientific explanations of sociocultural evolution and the idea of progress.

Question 30

Describe and discuss the quasi-experimental comparative method for inferring causality.

Question 31

Discuss the meaning of the concept of social institutions as presented in Chapter 1.

Question 32

In what ways might ethnographic evidence about hunter-gatherer (foraging) societies be problematic for inferring the nature of human societies before the emergence of horticulture?

Question 33

What are the problems with inevitabilistic stage theories of social change?

Question 34

Discuss the idea of parallel sociocultural evolution and give examples.

Question 35

Discuss the differences between continuationism and transformationism.

Question 36

Discuss the differences between culturalist and materialist approaches to explaining social change.

Question 37

What are the main ways in which the self is constructed?

Question 38

Discuss the relationship between the self and society as presented in Chapter 1. How is the concept of the self used in Chapter 1 different from the way the idea of the self is often used in public discourse?

Question 39

Discuss the idea of social structure as presented in Chapter 1. Give examples.

Question 40

Why does normative regulation based on a moral order not work well by itself in large-scale complex and hierarchical polities?

Question 41

Discuss the reasons why evolutionary explanations of human societies were rejected by many social scientists in the late 19ᵗʰ and early 20ᵗʰ centuries.