Deck 3: Cultural Evolution

Question 1

It is not at all unusual for the officers at Police Station 54 to observe their colleagues using confrontational interview techniques.Even though they do not personally like the technique,many officers believe that the practice is widely approved of by others and expected of them.This is an example of

A)pluralistic ignorance.
B)fundamental attribution error.
C)bureaucratic blame game.
D)conformity.
E)autokinetic effect.

Answer 1

pluralistic ignorance.

Question 2

The finding that the prevalence of parasites in a region correlates positively with the degree that people value physical attractiveness is argued to be evidence for

A)proximal causes.
B)transmitted culture.
C)distal causes.
D)an epidemiology of ideas.
E)None of the choices are correct.

Answer 2

None of the choices are correct.

Question 3

Which of the following is NOT a way in which genes and memes differ?

A)Genes can be precisely identified,whereas memes cannot.
B)Genes can replicate horizontally and vertically,whereas memes can only replicate vertically.
C)Genes copy with high fidelity,whereas memes might not.
D)Genes are transmitted much more slowly than memes.
E)Nonadaptive memes can become common,whereas nonadaptive genes cannot become common.

Answer 3

Genes can replicate horizontally and vertically,whereas memes can only replicate vertically.

Question 4

According to Jared Diamond,why were the germs brought by the Spaniards so much deadlier to the Incans than the Incan germs were to the Spaniards?

A)The Spaniards had developed cleaner habits than the Incans.
B)The Incans lived closer together,so the Spanish germs were transmitted far more easily.
C)The Spaniards had lived in close proximity to domesticated animals for much longer than the Incans.
D)The large Eurasian continent allowed the Spaniards to be exposed to a larger variety of germs than the relatively smaller South American continent of the Incans.
E)The Spanish diet contained more antibiotic agents than the Incan diet.

Question 5

A key difference between the epidemiological view of cultural evolution and the "ideas as replicators" view is that

A)the epidemiological view predicts faster and more widespread evolution than the ideas as replicators view.
B)the epidemiological view is parallel to biological evolution,whereas the ideas as replicators view is different from biological evolution.
C)the epidemiological view involves genes,whereas the ideas as replicators view involves memes.
D)the epidemiological view involves horizontal transmission,whereas the ideas as replicators view involves vertical transmission.
E)the epidemiological view involves people recreating what they have learned,whereas the ideas as replicators view involves the replication of ideas.

Question 6

One of the biggest challenges with applying Darwinian principles of natural selection to studying cultural evolution is that

A)cultural replication is not of sufficiently high fidelity.
B)memes do not have sufficient longevity.
C)genes are inherited from two parents,whereas memes are typically inherited from only one source.
D)cultural evolution occurs too slowly to study in controlled settings.
E)cultural replication does not depend on fecundity.

Question 7

A key difference between evoked culture and transmitted culture is that

A)the majority of cultural differences are evoked rather than transmitted.
B)evoked culture is more likely found in nonliterate societies,whereas transmitted culture is more common in literate societies.
C)evoked culture reflects more psychological differences,whereas transmitted culture reflects more behavioral differences.
D)evoked culture spreads much quicker than does transmitted culture.
E)evoked culture is limited to a specific geographical setting,whereas transmitted culture can move across different ecologies.

Question 8

Natural selection and sexual selection are similar in that they both

A)occur quickly,over short time periods.
B)have no parallels in cultural evolution.
C)depend on the individual's ability to survive.
D)depend on the number of surviving offspring an individual has.
E)suggest that there should be much cultural variability among different human populations.

Question 9

East Asia is at a similar latitude to a region with many easily domesticated plants and animals.These early conditions benefit East Asian cultures such that they propel these cultures to prosperity in the future,What is this scenario an example of?

A)proximal causes
B)transmitted culture
C)distal causes
D)evoked culture
E)epidemiology of ideas

Question 10

The considerable cultural differences between the Nuer and Dinka of southern Sudan indicates that

A)the effects of transmitted culture are substantial.
B)there are few existential universals.
C)evoked culture is a stronger force than transmitted culture.
D)there is much genetic variability,even within regions.
E)cultures take on identities that contrast them with their neighbors.

Question 11

The ecology and sex roles are related in the sense that

A)men strive to change the surrounding ecology more than women.
B)in harsher climates there are more egalitarian sex roles than in more benign climates.
C)a shortage of food is associated with increases in warfare among men.
D)egalitarian sex roles are more common where food is plentiful and easily acquired.
E)the most chauvinistic societies tend to be in areas with the most variable rainfall.

Question 12

The kinds of ideas that are best remembered over time are those that

A)are intuitive.
B)are counterintuitive
C)are mostly intuitive,with the occasional counterintuitive idea included.
D)are mostly counterintuitive,with the occasional intuitive idea included.
E)initially appear counterintuitive but later seem intuitive.

Question 13

Army recruits are assigned randomly into specific sleeping quarters,where they do a lot of socializing during break time and at night.The political and religious attitudes of the recruits were surveyed before they were assigned sleeping quarters,and then again after several weeks of training.The generals found that the recruits' political and religious ideas tended to form clusters based on sleeping quarters.Which of the following can explain this situation?

A)epidemiology of ideas
B)ideas as replicators
C)dynamic social impact theory
D)early conditions having disproportionate influences
E)small differences leading to large effects

Question 14

The textbook describes the relationship between IQ changes across time and television viewing as showing

A)decreases in verbal intelligence but increases in problem-solving intelligence.
B)decreases in problem-solving intelligence but increases in pattern-recognition skills.
C)increases in intelligence for the elderly,but decreases in intelligence for children and adolescents.
D)increases in all kinds of intelligence for everyone.
E)decreases in all kinds of intelligence for everyone.

Question 15

Which of the following is TRUE about cultural change in the United States?

A)Elderly Americans are less socially engaged now than they were 40 years ago.
B)On average,Americans are less likely to belong to formal organizations than they were 40 years ago.
C)Americans socialize more now than they did 40 years ago.
D)Americans are more trusting now than they were 40 years ago.
E)Few Americans bowl now,whereas 40 years ago the vast majority of American adults bowled.

Question 16

Martians use steel gardening tools,whereas Earthlings use wooden gardening tools.In a gardening competition,the Martians easily defeated the Earthlings.Which of the following best describes why the Martians defeated the Earthlings?

A)geographic variation
B)distal cause
C)ecological variation
D)proximal cause
E)Martians are smarter than Earthlings.

Question 17

Genes and memes differ in that

A)successful genes are highly fecund,but successful memes are not.
B)genes vary randomly,but memes often vary from planned innovations.
C)memes typically last longer than genes.
D)genes replicate themselves,whereas memes do not.
E)genes evolve more quickly than memes.

Question 18

Which of the following is an example of pluralistic ignorance?

A)Boston continues to reflect its Puritan origins,whereas Philadelphia continues to reflect its Quaker origins.
B)Baseball in Japan retains some distinctive Japanese elements.
C)Southern Italy remains less civic compared with northern Italy in ways that reflect the regional differences that were evident 800 years ago.
D)the rise of Nazi power in Germany
E)the increasing globalization of world cultures

Question 19

Which of the following is TRUE about cultural change in the United States?

A)Americans today score higher on the SAT than they did a generation ago.
B)All IQ tests reveal trends that Americans have higher IQs today than they did a generation ago.
C)"Culture-bound" IQ tests have shown increases in American intelligence over the past generation,but "culture-free" IQ tests have not shown any changes.
D)IQ increased among Americans in the first half of the 20th century,but has been decreasing since.
E)None of the statements are true.

Question 20

What is a proximal cause for why a small group of Spaniards was able to conquer the Incan empire?

A)The Spaniards had better weapons than the Incans.
B)The Spaniards had more domesticated animals than the Incans.
C)The Eurasian continent stretches largely from east to west,whereas the Americas stretch largely from north to south.
D)The Incans had few species of cultivatable plants in contrast to the Spaniards.
E)The Spaniards were physically stronger than the Incans.

Question 21

Which of the following depicts an evoked culture?

A)A culture promotes harmony with the environment to appease the gods.
B)Males from a village in the West Indies find thick lips to be attractive because thick lips evoke the most physiological arousal from males in the village.
C)Tribe members learn from recent fatalities not to eat red salamanders.
D)A culture uses the possession of meat as a status symbol due to the abundance of vegetation but the scarcity of animals and fish in the area.
E)Hockey players learn from the media that it is cowardly to fight wearing helmets.

Question 22

Which of the following is an example of a proximal cause?

A)Two psychologically different groups of immigrants settled in two different areas of the same country.Eight centuries later,those two areas still exhibit the same psychological differences.
B)The presence of dairy farming in Europe led people to develop a genetic mutation that digests lactose in milk,while the absence of dairy farming in East Asia meant people did not develop this mutation,leading to lactose intolerance.
C)Living along a continental axis allowed people in the Fertile Crescent to engage in agriculture.
D)An Egyptian pharaoh brought in horse-drawn chariots,which allowed his army to out-maneuver and defeat his enemy in battle.
E)The modern hammer that has evolved over millennia is based on the original rocks that prehistoric humans used as hammers.

Question 23

A few townsfolk begin a movement promoting social harmony.Over time,they expand the movement by interacting with other townsfolk.Soon,they've influenced the whole town to join in the movement.This best illustrates which of the following?

A)Heine's awesome culture hypothesis
B)Triandis' individualism-collectivism model
C)Latané's dynamic social impact theory
D)cultural evolution
E)horizontal cultural transmission

Question 24

According to Atran and Norenzayan,which of the following is more likely to become commonly known?

A)The grey mouse ate the plump blueberry.
B)The rainbow zombie married the quick blueberry.
C)The rainbow mouse ate the quick blueberry.
D)I ate the plump blueberry.
E)None of these statements are likely to become commonly known.

Question 25

According to the ideas as replicators model,which of the following rumors is the WORST replicator?

A)One that is about one's peers,but not about one's parents.
B)One that has persisted for a long time,but only among a few people.
C)One that is very widespread but inaccurate.
D)One that is accurate,but circulates only among a small group of people and dies off not long after it starts.
E)One that is accurate in relation to the original source,but dies off soon after.

Question 26

Pluralistic ignorance is likely to lead to

A)rapid cultural evolution.
B)an overall drop in IQ scores.
C)persistence of particular cultural practices.
D)intra-regional cultural variation.
E)None of these statements are true.

Question 27

Dynamic social impact theory can explain why

A)cultural norms for manners have changed over time.
B)residents of one community have more conservative political attitudes than residents of a nearby community.
C)Pizarro and a small band of Spanish soldiers were able to conquer the Incan empire.
D)cultural evolution can occur much faster than biological evolution.
E)people score higher on IQ tests today than they did a generation ago.

Question 28

According to Steven Johnson,which of the following is a contributor to people's growing intelligence?

A)Intelligence is not growing-SAT scores have actually been decreasing.
B)The modern world requires more learning and practice with demanding problem-solving tasks than before.
C)More involvement in sports leads to increased brain efficiency.
D)Increased complexity is inherent in modern pop culture.
E)Intelligence is not growing-IQ tests are not culture-free,and takers are merely becoming more aware of their culture.

Question 29

According to Atran and Norenzayan's idea about minimally counterintuitive ideas persisting,which of the following phrases would be the most likely to persist in the reader's memory?

A)Closing door
B)Blinking newspaper
C)Squealing flowering brick
D)Grazing deer
E)Squinting wilting marble

Question 30

Takeshi witnesses a murder,and tells his mother.She understands the gist of the story,and then conveys that to the police.Which model of cultural evolution does this best illustrate?

A)ideas as replicators
B)memetic theory
C)epidemiology of ideas
D)horizontal transmission
E)vertical transmission