Deck 1: What Is Physical Anthropology

Question 1

The scientific method:

A) relies on making hunches about the natural world.
B) involves empirical data collection and hypothesis testing.
C) is used to support preconceived notions or theories.
D) seeks to establish the absolute scientific truth.

Answer 1

involves empirical data collection and hypothesis testing.

Question 2

A hypothesis:

A) is equivalent to a theory.
B) is an attempt to explain observations and predict future scientific results.
C) is a statement concerning scientific facts.
D) is unable to be refuted by future investigations.

Answer 2

is an attempt to explain observations and predict future scientific results.

Question 3

Bipedalism in primates means:

A) walking on two feet.
B) walking on four feet.
C) walking using two legs and a tail.
D) swinging from branch to branch.

Answer 3

walking on two feet.

Question 4

Franz Boas:

A) had an early influence on Darwin's theory of natural selection.
B) considered environment and biology insignificant in the study of human cultures.
C) never conducted his own fieldwork, curiously.
D) united the study of culture, language, and biology within American anthropology.

Question 5

What can be learned from studying a population through time?

A) We can learn that lifestyles do not change over time.
B) We can learn that diets, and therefore human biology, change through time.
C) We can learn that consuming the wrong foods over time does little to population health.
D) We can learn that human physiology does not change through time.

Question 6

How is biocultural anthropology different from cultural anthropology?

A) It combines cultural studies with archaeology.
B) It examines the interaction between biology and culture in shaping human biology.
C) It is strictly a biological science.
D) It considers culture to be a byproduct of our biological histories.

Question 7

Physical anthropologists seek to:

A) study humans from a cultural perspective.
B) study humans from a biological perspective only.
C) study humans from a biological and cultural perspective.
D) study human behavior only.

Question 8

Bipedalism is considered one of the hallmarks of hominid evolution because:

A) it was the first evolutionary development that distinguished humans from other animals.
B) it was possible only after the advent of simple material culture.
C) it followed brain expansion in human evolution.
D) it allowed hominids to come out of the trees and make tools 10 mya.

Question 9

The two concepts that best explain physical anthropology are that:

A) your biological makeup defines who you are and your personality comes from your environment.
B) every person is a product of evolutionary history and each of us is the product of our own individual life histories.
C) you are what your genes make you and your environment has no effect.
D) You are what your environment makes you and your genes have no effect.

Question 10

What makes it possible for humans to accumulate an amazing amount of information over long periods of time?

A) social learning
B) television
C) social media
D) mimicry

Question 11

Archaeology is:

A) the study of human evolution.
B) largely devoted to recovering artifacts and building museum collections.
C) the study of the behavior and material culture of past human societies.
D) the study of the evolution of language.

Question 12

Physical anthropologists:

A) travel around the world to investigate human populations.
B) study living populations.
C) study primates like lemurs, monkeys, and apes.
D) all of the above

Question 13

Before AD 1000 what did the people of Saint Catherines Island eat?

A) They ate wild animals, fish, and wild plants.
B) They ate bison and salmon.
C) They were vegetarians and ate wild plants exclusively.
D) They were frugivores.

Question 14

How is a theory different from a hypothesis?

A) A hypothesis explains observations and cannot be refuted by new evidence.
B) A theory is an explanation based upon controversial facts.
C) A theory is an explanation relying on careful examination and has been tested.
D) A theory has been less thoroughly tested than a hypothesis.

Question 15

What was the cause for the biological change in the indigenous people of Saint Catherines Island after AD 1000?

A) They became sedentary and had less food to eat because they stayed in the same area.
B) They became sedentary and consumed more corn, which caused dental disease due to its high sugar content.
C) They became sedentary and did not have enough exercise to keep their bodies fit and healthy.
D) They continued as nomads, but loss of animals due to climate change created a decline in their food source.

Question 16

An archaeological field school is announced in your anthropology course. The description says that you will be able to travel to Belize to learn about the lives of the ancient Mayans. What do you expect to learn during this field school?

A) what species of nonhuman primate occupies this region
B) how current populations of immigrants have changed local dialects
C) how to excavate and study material culture
D) how to socially navigate life in a Central American setting

Question 17

What are the three key attributes of humanness?

A) eating, sleeping, and watching television
B) hunting, speech, and dependence on domesticated food
C) hunting, scavenging, and tool making
D) building shelter, hunting, and making clothing

Question 18

The hypothesis that the origin of human bipedalism was linked to a shift from life in the trees to life on the ground in the grasslands of Africa:

A) has been upheld by subsequent scientific data on human origins.
B) was developed in consultation with genetic and fossil evidence.
C) has been rejected recently subsequent to new fossil evidence.
D) has become a scientific law.

Question 19

Anthropology includes the study of:

A) the use and social context of body language.
B) fossil plants and their closest relatives.
C) prehistoric societies and artifacts.
D) the relationship between humans and the universe.

Question 20

Physical anthropology as a discipline is NOT concerned with:

A) skeletal pathology.
B) primate behavior.
C) fossilized nonprimate remains.
D) human evolution

Question 21

In the context of physical anthropology a disadvantaged social environment includes:

A) one with minimal access to technology.
B) one with no transportation system.
C) one with poor-quality nutrition.
D) one with poor hygiene.

Question 22

Discuss the steps of the scientific method.

Question 23

Which is the study of evolution and variation in humans?

A) physical anthropology
B) archaeology
C) linguistic anthropology
D) cultural anthropology

Question 24

Physical anthropologists might examine:

A) human brain biology.
B) molecular structure of non-primate diseases.
C) nonprimate growth and development.
D) linguistic evolution.

Question 25

The four branches of anthropology are:

A) archaeological, geological, geographical, and biological.
B) physical, biological, cultural, and linguistic.
C) cultural, linguistic, geological, and physical.
D) physical, archaeological, cultural, and linguistic.

Question 26

The biological profile of an individual includes their:

A) age, sex, height, and biological ancestry.
B) sex, weight, personal history, and age.
C) biological ancestry, sex, and skin color.
D) skin, hair, and eye color.

Question 27

Boas laid the foundation for scientific anthropology by:

A) relying on the scientific method.
B) evaluating cultures from a personal perspective.
C) using genetics to develop theories on human variation.
D) demonstrating the variation in humans as a result of moral differences.

Question 28

The study of physical anthropology varies in that:

A) some physical anthropologists study potential for life on other planets.
B) some physical anthropologists study the interaction between domestic animals and disease.
C) some physical anthropologists study extinct and living species of primates.
D) some physical anthropologists study changes in marine life.

Question 29

Discuss the difference between a hypothesis and a theory. Why is the distinction important?

Question 30

How has the environment influenced human biology?

A) Activities you engage in put stress on your muscles and bones.
B) Humans influence the environment through climate change.
C) Changes in the climate produce changes in the environment resulting in changes in human biology through diet.
D) Humans are not subject to adaptation and therefore are not influenced by environment.

Question 31

Forensic anthropologists:

A) focus their work on skeletal analysis of individuals.
B) study skeletal remains from past human populations.
C) study the evolution of human skeletal traits.
D) do not work outside academia.

Question 32

Forensic anthropologists who were called in to help with the 9/11 tragedy had to have a very good understanding of:

A) primate dentition.
B) human hair identification.
C) CSI training.
D) human osteology.

Question 33

What makes us human?

A) physiology, culture, and planning
B) biology, culture, and religion
C) physiology, behavior, and religion
D) biology, culture, and behavior

Question 34

Human production of stone or lithic tools is an example of:

A) linguistic comprehension.
B) subsistence strategies.
C) material culture.
D) ideology.

Question 35

Environment refers to:

A) The connection between you, the climate, and your geographic placement.
B) Social and cultural factors that have affected you.
C) The cultural identity of your family and friends.
D) Change in your physical location.

Question 36

Just before the arrival of the Spanish on Saint Catherines Island, people there:

A) were primarily fishermen.
B) were hunter-gatherers.
C) became the first farmers of the region.
D) were vegetarians by choice.

Question 37

Anthropology views humans as both:

A) primates and religious beings.
B) primates, religious, and cultural beings.
C) biological and cultural beings.
D) cultural and religious beings.

Question 38

To increase humans' chances of hunting success:

A) hunting was led by females.
B) hunting was conducted with lithic tools and cooperative strategies.
C) hunting was always well planned with a diagram.
D) hunting strategies were developed to include children as bait.

Question 39

Boas proposed that anthropologists could learn about though careful observation and attention.

A) race, morality, and primitive religions
B) primitive humans and their societies
C) morality, human variation, and cultures
D) cultures, societies, and peoples' biology

Question 40

The results of a disadvantaged social environment include:

A) poor health, reduced height, and shortened life expectancy.
B) poor speech and excessive eating habits.
C) poor reading comprehension.
D) inability to think critically and develop long-term planning.

Question 41

Discuss the value of the scientific method in our society.

Question 42

Discuss the six key attributes that make humans unique relative to other species.

Question 43

Provide an imaginary example of the proper use of the scientific method.