Deck 8: The Characteristics of Culture

Question 1

The gradual process of adjustment to local conditions is called:

A) indoctrination
B) adaptation
C) adaptivism
D) acclimatization

Answer 1

adaptation

Question 2

What is the difference between sex and gender?

A) sex is the accumulation of all biological differences between individuals
B) sex is the combination of cultural meanings assigned to the biological differentiation between the genders
C) gender is the combination of cultural meaning assigned to the biological differentiation between the sexes
D) there is no difference between these concepts

Answer 2

gender is the combination of cultural meaning assigned to the biological differentiation between the sexes

Question 3

For a culture to be successful, it must produce collective human behavior that is:

A) is equally adaptive and maladaptive to the natural environment
B) generally adaptive to the natural environment
C) not at all adaptive to the natural environment
D) mostly maladaptive

Answer 3

generally adaptive to the natural environment

Question 4

Which country in 2008 extended some basic human rights to other non-human primates?

A) Spain
B) France
C) Germany
D) United States

Question 5

Which best describes adaptation among humans?

A) a process of cultural adaptation over time
B) a process of biological and cultural adjustment over time
C) a process of physiological adjustments over time
D) a process of migration and learning over time

Question 6

What is the best way to describe the difference between humans and other non-human primates?

A) only humans have society
B) they live in distinct territories
C) only humans have culture
D) it is a difference of degree

Question 7

Society can best be described as a group of individuals who:

A) are human and have culture
B) live in an urban environment
C) share a common territory, language, and culture
D) live together at least one generation

Question 8

An occupational group tends to be classified as a(n):

A) subculture
B) culture
C) society
D) ethnic group

Question 9

Which of the following is not part of the 1871 definition of culture?

A) morals and law
B) belief and art
C) habits and customs
D) symbols and symbol-making

Question 10

Which of the following is not an attribute of culture?

A) it is dynamic
B) it exists within society
C) it is shared
D) it is uniform

Question 11

Who first defined culture for anthropology?

A) Edward Tylor
B) Clyde Kluckhohn
C) Alfred Kroeber
D) Franz Boas

Question 12

The most significant function of culture is to:

A) develop differences among people
B) create distinctions between species
C) define separate territories
D) mark group identities

Question 13

Culture is considered to be all of the following except:

A) integrated
B) based on symbols
C) static
D) shared

Question 14

Until their conquest of the Jordan Valley in Palestine over 3,000 years ago, the Israelites practiced what form of subsistence?

A) agriculture
B) hunting and gathering
C) horticulture
D) nomadic herding

Question 15

Why does Marvin Harris believe that historical Muslims and Jews had dietary prohibitions against pork?

A) it was maladaptive to raise pigs in their environment
B) pigs are dirty animals who spread disease
C) pigs breed rapidly and are difficult to control
D) pork has trichinosis and is unhealthy to eat

Question 16

Which of the following is a true statement?

A) symbols are found only in religious and social areas of cultural life
B) symbols form part of every aspect of culture
C) symbols are defined by each culture and are not arbitrary
D) symbols are always cross-cultural in meaning

Question 17

All humans eat when they are hungry; however, they eat food that is considered acceptable within their culture at times that are culturally prescribed. This is an example of:

A) acculturation
B) enculturation
C) pluralism
D) ethnocentrism

Question 18

Which species was found to exhibit learned behavior that fostered nonaggressive interaction with indigenous hunters and gatherers in the Kalahari?

A) chimpanzees
B) bonobos
C) elephants
D) lions

Question 19

Was the development of irrigation in Mesopotamia adaptive or maladaptive?

A) it was never adaptive
B) it was adaptive over the long run
C) it was maladaptive when first established
D) it was adaptive when first established

Question 20

Among both Muslims and Jews, which animal is seen as most defiling?

A) pig
B) cow
C) snake
D) dog

Question 21

Culture is best described as:

A) various parts that work independently
B) a single point of view
C) a conjunction of individual approaches
D) an integrated whole

Question 22

A group that shares ancestry, origin, language, customs, and traditional beliefs is also called:

A) an ethnic group
B) a society
C) a subculture
D) a culture

Question 23

Which common problem do all pluralistic societies face?

A) these societies are extremely adaptive and tend to fracture very easily
B) there is little variation in how individuals respond to changing situations
C) individuals face challenges in interpreting different standards in operation
D) groups constantly have difficulties over administering resources

Question 24

What does Apache etiquette require?

A) that each person have a separate bedroom
B) that houses be located quite distant from each other
C) that all people be in full view of one another
D) that houses include separate spaces for handling food

Question 25

The expression of the set of cultural ideas held by an ethnic group is called:

A) ethnicity
B) culture
C) society
D) enculturation

Question 26

Why do the Amish reject public schooling for their children?

A) they do not want their children to leave home
B) it requires bussing on highways
C) it is not rigorous enough
D) it does not teach Amish values

Question 27

The Amish are most specifically classified as:

A) a society
B) a religious group
C) a culture
D) an ethnic group

Question 28

The "Anthropology Applied" story about building houses for Apache Indians reveals what?

A) the Apache have no sense of etiquette or table manners because their cooking and living areas are not separated
B) the United States should try to make its subcultures more like mainstream culture
C) participant observation has no practical purposes
D) cultural and social patterns of behavior can be unconscious, but they have an impact on how we live and use space

Question 29

A society in which two or more ethnic groups are politically organized into one territorial state is a/an:

A) organic society
B) subculture
C) ethnic society
D) pluralistic society

Question 30

The most important symbolic aspect of culture is:

A) economics
B) language
C) politics
D) religion

Question 31

The traditional religion of the Amish is:

A) Presbyterian
B) Methodist
C) Southern Baptist
D) Anabaptist

Question 32

Which of the following is not an area in which Amish are frequently located?

A) Illinois
B) Ohio
C) Pennsylvania
D) Montana

Question 33

The existence of pluralistic societies post-date:

A) the rise of politically-centralized states
B) the Industrial Revolution
C) the 20th-century diaspora
D) the rise of dictatorships

Question 34

Which of the following definitions best represents a "symbol"?

A) two connected signs
B) an arbitrary, but meaningful, representation
C) a representation that is part of the original
D) something that stands for something else naturally

Question 35

Gender is defined as:

A) cultural meanings assigned to social differences
B) biological differences between men and woman
C) sexual differences between men and women
D) cultural meanings assigned to sexually related biological differences

Question 36

A religious symbol for the Plains Indians was a:

A) white buffalo
B) black cow
C) red crow
D) bright star

Question 37

The rule-governed relationships that hold members of a society together are called its:

A) ethnicity
B) subculture
C) culture
D) social structure

Question 38

China has fifty-five officially recognized nationalities with ethnic groups speaking different languages and having different cultural traditions practicing a
Wide array of religions. China is an example of a(n):

A) pluralistic society
B) enculturated society
C) acculturated society
D) ethnocentric society

Question 39

The term "ethnicity" comes from the _______________ word ethnikos.

A) Portuguese
B) German
C) Greek
D) Latin

Question 40

The Amish first emerged as a distinct group during what century?

A) 16th
B) 17th
C) 20th
D) 15th

Question 41

A culture can be considered essentially as a:

A) maintenance system
B) political process
C) large family
D) program for social success

Question 42

Twenty-five percent of all imprisoned people in the world are located in:

A) Saudi Arabia
B) United States
C) Singapore
D) China

Question 43

What is the most essential research tool for the anthropologist?

A) premature judgment
B) ability to conduct interviews
C) ethnocentrism
D) cultural relativism

Question 44

The surplus of women among the Kapauku is due to:

A) loss of males through warfare
B) unbalanced sex ratio at birth
C) astute trading for women with neighboring groups
D) in-migration to the area

Question 45

The Kapauku Papuans achieve political power and authority through:

A) election
B) hunting prowess
C) ownership of a white buffalo
D) pig breeding

Question 46

Nationalist ideology where people view their own culture as the best of all possible worlds and superior to other people is an example of:

A) cultural relativism
B) ethnocentrism
C) adaptation
D) enculturation

Question 47

When is it most permissible for an anthropologist to take a critical stance on a culture?

A) never
B) at all times
C) after seeing that it is not as valuable as their own culture
D) after avoiding premature judgments

Question 48

In most societies the reward for adhering to culturally prescribed standards is:

A) social prominence
B) social approval
C) less warfare
D) loss of leadership potential

Question 49

Anthropologist Marvin Harris argues in the chapter Biocultural Connection "Pig Lovers and Pig Haters" that the dietary prohibitions Muslims and Jews have against pork stemmed from it being maladaptive to raise pigs in their environment.

Question 50

The economic foundation of a society is called its:

A) infrastructure
B) superstructure
C) social structure
D) interstructure

Question 51

The primary fodder for Kapauku pigs is:

A) sweet potatoes
B) corn
C) hay
D) millet

Question 52

Which of the following best serves the anthropologist in his/her study of another culture?

A) ethnocentrism
B) cultural relativism
C) adaptation
D) indoctrination

Question 53

Among the Kapauku, descent reckoning through men and near constant warfare tends to promote:

A) male dominance
B) female dominance
C) extreme religious fervor
D) political favoritism

Question 54

Which of the following groups has more permissive sexual codes?

A) Canela
B) Kapauku
C) Norwegians
D) North American Indians

Question 55

Which of the following forces has caused the greatest acceleration in culture change today?

A) advent of capitalism
B) decline of productive lands
C) population growth
D) globalization

Question 56

In the barrel model of culture, what are the three areas most interrelated?

A) interstructure, superstructure, and cultural structure
B) social structure, political structure, and class
C) infrastructure, superstructure, and social structure
D) superstructure, interstructure, and social structure

Question 57

All cultures are:

A) maladaptive
B) static
C) dynamic
D) harmonious

Question 58

The Kapauku practice marriage of one man to multiple wives. This is called:

A) polygyny
B) polyandry
C) polygany
D) polysorality

Question 59

A society's cultural features fall within all of the following categories except:

A) infrastructure
B) interstructure
C) social structure
D) superstructure

Question 60

A national flag and national anthem are mostly symbols of a society's:

A) infrastructure
B) superstructure
C) social structure
D) interstructure

Question 61

Because of globalization, cultures change more quickly today than in the past.

Question 62

Male dominance is characteristic of all human societies.

Question 63

At times it is difficult to distinguish the subcultural groups within a society.

Question 64

Cultural practices can be adaptive or maladaptive.

Question 65

Culture exclusively concerns observable data.

Question 66

A culture must be able to maintain the same structure through all challenges or it will not survive.

Question 67

There can be no culture without a society.

Question 68

All culture is learned.

Question 69

The Apache Indians benefited from the study of George Esber, Jr.

Question 70

A group which distinguishes itself based on cultural features, such as common language and traditional beliefs is known as a subculture.

Question 71

All pluralistic societies are multi-ethnic.

Question 72

The United States contains many different subcultures.

Question 73

An ethnic group and a culture have the same boundaries.

Question 74

Sexuality and sexual behavior are primarily biological rules.

Question 75

When George Esber, Jr. worked to design a new community for Apaches, he found that they had very explicit awareness of what they wanted.

Question 76

Humans are socialized through enculturation.

Question 77

English is a set of symbols.

Question 78

Apes in captivity, as opposed to those in the wild, do not have culture.

Question 79

Not all cultures are equally dynamic; some change more easily than others.

Question 80

The Amish are a subculture in the United States.