Deck 3: Culture

Question 1

According to Marvin Harris, the dietary practices of various cultures may be rooted in ecological conditions.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Minority groups are often forced to accept the ideologies of the economically and politically dominant groups through the process of cultural hegemony.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The importance of dreadlocks in the Rastafarian movement of Jamaica is an example of resistance to cultural norms.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Social learning is a process that can be observed in nonhuman creatures.

Question 5

Symbols are directly associated with concrete physical objects or activities, while signs are arbitrary units of meaning.

Question 6

Culture consists of both material and nonmaterial components.

Question 7

Most people in a given society assume that their beliefs are rational and firmly grounded in common sense.

Question 8

A society and a culture are synonymous.

Question 9

Ethnicity is based on perceived differences in ancestral origins or descent and shared history and cultural heritage.

Question 10

A worldview consists of various beliefs about the nature of reality that provide people with a means of interpreting and understanding the world around them.

Question 11

Culture can be defined as a shared way of life that includes values, beliefs, and norms that are transmitted within a particular society from generation to generation.

Question 12

The striking feature of cultural universals is the fact that the specific content and practice do not vary from society to society.

Question 13

Ideal culture consists of what people say they do or should do.

Question 14

Norms are defined as the formal and explicit set of laws that apply to all people in all times and places.

Question 15

Anthropologists have determined that specific food preferences are biologically based and not culturally influenced.

Question 16

The unique capacity for culture in the human species depends on learning since we do not inherit our culture through our genes.

Question 17

Cultural diversity is a reflection of environmental adaptations and the consequence of symbolic creations.

Question 18

Ethnocentrism is the practice of judging another society by the standards and values of one's own society.

Question 19

Many anthropologists have adopted the term "sociocultural" to encompass both "society" and "culture" since societies are complex, consist of distinctive groups, and maintain cultural traditions.

Question 20

Folkways and mores are two different types of norms.

Question 21

To combat the problem of ethnocentrism, twentieth-century anthropologists developed the concept of __________.

A) cultural relativism
B) cultural primacy
C) cultural symbolism
D) cultural hegemony

Question 22

Which one of the following statements concerning a society is true?

A) A society is the same thing as a culture.
B) Society generally refers to a particular group of animals living and interacting within a definite territory.
C) A society is a grouping unique to humans.
D) Society is defined as a shared way of life that includes values, beliefs, and norms.

Question 23

__________ is credited with providing us with the first detailed definition of culture, ". . . that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, arts, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society."

A) Leslie White
B)E. B. Tylor
C) Clifford Geertz
D) Marvin Harris

Question 24

Which of the following would be considered a form of nonmaterial culture?

A) igloos
B) cufflinks
C) lullabies
D) forks

Question 25

Why is the Virgin of Guadalupe an important national symbol in Mexico?

A) It celebrates the Spanish heritage of Mexican people.
B) It emphasizes the importance of women in Mexican society.
C) It stands for the national religion, Catholicism.
D) It represents the resolution of conflicts engendered by violent encounters with Europeans.

Question 26

__________ may occur when one dominant group in a complex society imposes its cultural beliefs on subordinate ethnic groups. For example, the dominant ethnic group in the United States during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants) was able to impose its language, cultural beliefs, and practices on other minority groups in U.S. society.

A) Cultural hegemony
B) Cultural chaos
C) Multiculturalism
D) Ethnic superiority

Question 27

There are a number of different ways that one can learn things. Both humans and other animals learn by trial-and-error and by social learning. The form of learning that is uniquely human and that provides the basis for the capacity for culture is known as __________.

A) moment learning
B) critical learning
C) symbolic learning
D) inventive learning

Question 28

Which of the following would be considered a "folkway" of contemporary culture in the United States?

A) bowing when you are introduced to someone
B) dating before marriage
C) sitting on the floor to eat dinner
D) taking off your shoes when you enter a house

Question 29

According to Dan Sperber, the way culture is shared can be understood by analogy to which of the following?

A) the transmission of disease, or an epidemiological model
B) the use of symbols to represent one's nationality, or a citizenship model
C) the use of environmental resources, or an ecological model
D) the evolution of the species, or a genetic inheritance model

Question 30

Trial-and-error learning, in which an organism adjusts its behavior on the basis of direct experience, is also referred to as __________.

A) conditioning
B) higher education
C) instinct
D) situational learning

Question 31

The term "ideology" refers to __________.

A) signs and symbols used to communicate particular ideas
B) beliefs and values supporting the interests of a group
C) specific expressions of material culture
D) a faulty or misguided worldview

Question 32

In order for an item to be cultural, it must be __________.

A) unchanging, fixed, or static
B) learned and commonly shared among individuals
C) independent of environmental influences
D) dependent upon the environment of the society

Question 33

Which of the following reflects an anthropological understanding of the way culture is shared?

A) Only the adults in a society can be said to share cultural knowledge.
B) Cultural knowledge is shared universally across sociocultural entities.
C) The sharing of cultural knowledge varies across different types of people even within the same sociocultural group.
D) In most cultures, expertise is shared uniformly by all people.

Question 34

An example of a social "more" would be __________.

A) eating with a knife, fork, and spoon
B) not appearing nude in public
C) inviting the neighbors over for a barbecue
D) forgetting to thank the hostess for inviting you

Question 35

There are many definitions of culture; however, there are a number of aspects that are common to most definitions. One such aspect is that __________.

A) culture is shared uniformly by all members of a society
B) culture is learned and transmitted across generations
C) culture is biologically inherited
D) culture is composed of material objects

Question 36

A way of life shared by a group of human beings-including their language, beliefs, and things they make and use-is referred to by anthropologists as their __________.

A) religion
B) heritage
C) culture
D) environment

Question 37

One example of an ideology would be __________.

A) capitalism
B) Egyptian hieroglyphs
C) Navajo sand paintings
D) the Big Bang theory

Question 38

Anthropologist Leslie White wrote that the most distinctive feature of humanness is __________.

A) the capacity for vocal communication
B) the ability to create symbols and assign them meanings
C) the importance of social learning
D) the ability to make tools

Question 39

Norms are defined as which of the following?

A) prohibitions against a particular kind of behavior
B) values that are accepted by every human society
C) a given society's rules for right and wrong behavior
D) individuals who look like the majority of people

Question 40

What did Nancy Rosenberger find during her research in Uzbekistan?

A) A national cuisine based on meat is inaccessible to the poorer segments of the population.
B) Global restaurant chains have created problems for local business owners.
C) Menopausal women express complaints through physical symptoms.
D) Inexpensive food is often less nutritious.

Question 41

The Amish emphasize their ethnic difference through __________.

A) language and dress
B) practicing polygamy
C) only using public transportation
D) encouraging interaction with the non-Amish world

Question 42

As a college student, you have probably heard quite a bit about "cultural diversity" or "multiculturalism" and the changing demographics of the United States. What is multiculturalism? Why is it important to start to understand this concept? Are there any dangers in implementing multicultural education programs?

Question 43

To the Rastafarians, their appearance symbolizes __________.

A) power and liberation
B) membership in Jamaican society
C) the importance of tradition
D) acceptance of Jamaican values and norms

Question 44

Which one of the following statements is true of "real" culture?

A) It consists of what people say they do.
B) It consists of people's actual behavior.
C) It is the same as ideal culture.
D) It is the most authentic form of culture.

Question 45

Discuss the relationship between the way people dress, ethnicity, and symbolism. Pick an example of dress codes and/or hairstyles that you have encountered and explain what the symbols mean to the individuals involved.

Question 46

It would be fair to say that, in a multicultural society such as that in the United States, __________.

A) there is one common idea about social norms
B) there are conflicting systems of norms and values
C) mores are well-defined and reflected by all
D) the strict enforcement of cultural mores is a government goal

Question 47

Describe the difference between ideal and real culture. Why is this distinction important for anthropologists? How do you think this affects anthropological research? Support your answer with specific examples.

Question 48

Using an anthropological perspective, explain the statement, "You are what you eat." Support your answer with examples from your text.

Question 49

Cultural relativism often poses ethical dilemmas for anthropologists. Describe a hypothetical scenario in which this would occur.

Question 50

Is it possible to determine whether one culture is better than another with respect to its ideology, norms, mores, and other characteristics? Explain why or why not.

Question 51

Anthropologist Marvin Harris has suggested that the Jewish and Islamic prohibitions of eating pork developed because pigs __________.

A) were known carriers of disease
B) had meat that was especially high in fat and calories
C) competed with humans for scarce ecological resources
D) lived in filthy places and ate garbage

Question 52

Discuss nonmaterial aspects of culture. What are the anthropological definitions of beliefs, ideologies, norms, folkways, and mores? How do these nonmaterial aspects translate into concrete realities for different segments of a population?

Question 53

According to Marvin Harris's hypothesis about pork prohibitions, traditional societies that keep and eat pigs __________.

A) have greater access to herbal medicines
B) are more likely to live in or near forests
C) probably originated in desert climates
D) bathe and clean them on a regular basis

Question 54

How is culture acquired? Discuss the various routes of transmission of culture both material and nonmaterial. Compare and contrast humans with other animal species in terms of how behavior is learned. Why is the ability to create and use symbols important?

Question 55

What do anthropologists mean when they say that culture is shared? Illustrate this concept with examples from your own sociocultural group.

Question 56

Which of the following statements is true of symbols?

A) Symbols are rooted deeply in genetic structure.
B) Symbols are different for everyone.
C) Symbols cannot be easily identified.
D) Symbols are arbitrary meaningful units we use to represent reality.

Question 57

Ways of enforcing social mores in hunter-gatherer societies generally involve the use of __________.

A) gossip and ridicule
B) arrest and imprisonment
C) economic discrimination
D) the death penalty

Question 58

Ethnocentrism is a __________.

A) belief that all ethnic groups can eventually be traced back to one central location
B) practice of judging another society by the values and standards of one's own society
C) belief that racial mixing will produce inferior children
D) view that cultural traditions must be understood within the context of a particular society's solutions to problems or opportunities

Question 59

Is culture a uniquely human trait, or do other animals possess culture? Support your answer with specific examples.

Question 60

An example of ethnocentrism would be the belief that __________.

A) women should stay at home and raise children
B) societies that practice polygamy are uncivilized
C) children should not be allowed to work full time
D) alcoholism is a major problem for Native Americans