Deck 8: Human Variation: Biological Diversity and Race

Question 1

Biologically, race is a synonym for:

A) subspecies
B) species
C) cline
D) ethnic group

Answer 1

subspecies

Question 2

Populations within a species that still can interbreed but don't because of isolation are referred to as:

A) subspecies
B) races
C) clines
D) semispecies

Answer 2

semispecies

Question 3

A semispecies is a:

A) population that is isolated from others but still capable of interbreeding
B) species that looks nearly the same as related species
C) a race within a species, like the races of humans
D) a group that may or may not be a separate species but can be tested

Answer 3

population that is isolated from others but still capable of interbreeding

Question 4

An example of semispecies is:

A) the races of humans
B) breeds of dogs
C) caribou and reindeer
D) humans and chimpanzees

Question 5

Which of the following is NOT related to variation and distribution human skin color:

A) latitude
B) ultraviolet radiation
C) altitude
D) thickness of the atmosphere UV radiation passes through

Question 6

Which of the following is the only explanation for the evolution of light skin color that is supported by any evidence?

A) light skin is generally better adapted to a wider variety of conditions
B) light skin is sometimes necessary for the production of vitamin D
C) light skin may be less prone to damage from cold
D) light skin provides better protection from overheating

Question 7

Human skin color is distributed:

A) in discrete units
B) in categories that coincide with major continental masses
C) as a cline
D) similarly in both the northern and southern hemispheres

Question 8

Variation in the ABO blood group system:

A) corresponds to latitude
B) corresponds to climatic factors
C) coincides with the distribution of skin color
D) appears random with regard to any obvious factor

Question 9

Which blood type is the most common for the whole human species?

A) A
B) B
C) AB
D) O

Question 10

The best current evidence suggests a relationship between blood type and:

A) ultraviolet radiation
B) no adaptive factor
C) susceptibility and resistance to disease
D) racial group

Question 11

What feature of our species is most important for accounting for the fact that we cannot be divided into biologically meaningful racial or subspecies groups?

A) our culture
B) rules of endogamy
C) mobility and gene flow
D) variety of environmental conditions under which our populations live

Question 12

The human species is so genetically homogeneous that we all share _______ percent of our species' genes.

A) 25%
B) 50%
C) 75%
D) 99% +

Question 13

Racism is:

A) any recognition of biological differences within our species
B) any failure to ignore differences among human populations
C) judging an individual solely on the basis of his or her racial affiliation
D) any social politcy that involves differential treatment of individuals

Question 14

The native peoples of Tasmania, when contacted by Europeans in the 17th century, had a relatively uncomplex culture largely because:

A) they were almost totally isolated from other human societies
B) they were inherently less intelligent
C) they were less biologically evolved than most other human groups
D) they had considerably smaller brains than other populations

Question 15

Diffusion of inventions and ideas was more efficient in Eurasia because:

A) it has a more beneficial climate
B) the people there were always more culturally advanced
C) the land mass is larger
D) they could move greater distances without changing latitudes

Question 16

The process of diffusion accounts for what percent of a society's cultural inventory on average?

A) 90%
B) 75%
C) 25%
D) 10%

Question 17

Relative degree of cultural complexity is mostly linked to:

A) inventiveness of the people within a culture
B) access to other cultures and their ideas and inventions
C) degree of intelligence among a society's people
D) distance from the equator, colder conditions promoting more complexity

Question 18

Explain what is meant by a clinal distribution of trait variation. Why is this an argument for the nonexistence of races within species?

Question 19

What do biologists refer to with the term semispecies? Give an example.

Question 20

What is the best explanation for the evolution of light skin color in humans?

Question 21

Explain why variation in skin color is of no use in defining human races.

Question 22

Describe, in general, the distribution of variation of the ABO blood group types in humans.

Question 23

What could be said in general about the nature of gene flow within our species, and what does this have to do with the existence of human racial groups?

Question 24

Describe the nature of genetic variation within the human species.

Question 25

What does it mean to say that race in humans is a folk taxonomy?

Question 26

How were Linnaeus's varieties of Homo sapiens an example of the folk taxonomic nature of human racial groups?

Question 27

What accounts for the relatively noncomplex nature of Tasmanian culture at the time that island and its people were contacted by Europeans?

Question 28

What is the relationship between the shape of continents and the spread of people, inventions, and ideas?

Question 29

What is diffusion and what role does it play in the explanation of differences in level of cultural complexity?

Question 30

Define racism. Your text discusses human phenotypic differences and racial categories. Is the book being racist? Explain.

Question 31

Does the average difference in IQ scores between American white and black children result from genetic differences between those groups? Explain.

Question 32

Anthropologist Jonathan Marks makes the distinction between ability and performance. What is the difference and how does it relate to the race and IQ issue? To the race and athletic ability issue?

Question 33

What do we mean by reification? How are IQ scores an example?

Question 34

Explain why any biological generalizations about American whites and blacks are invalid.