Deck 2: Culture: Giving Meaning to Human Lives

Question 1

The theory of culture that proposes that cultural practices, beliefs, and institutions fulfill the psychological and physical needs of society is called

A) historical particularism.
B) social evolution.
C) functionalism.
D) cultural materialism.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Culture is

A) learned and shared.
B) a product of biology.
C) a product of individual psychology.
D) something you get when you go to the opera.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Cultural relativism is a concept that was pioneered by which anthropologist?

A) E. B. Tylor
B) Franz Boas
C) Alfred Kroeber
D) Clifford Geertz

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Enculturation starts

A) around five years old.
B) around two years old.
C) as soon as we are born.
D) after puberty.

Question 5

Cultural determinism is

A) the idea that culture waxes and wanes according to population size.
B) the idea that culture is determined by human evolution.
C) the belief that culture is determined by environment.
D) the belief that culture is responsible for all human action.

Question 6

Values are

A) symbolic expressions of intrinsically desirable principles of qualities.
B) typical patterns of behavior viewed as rules of how things should be done.
C) the most enduring and ritualized aspects of culture.
D) something that conventionally stands for something else.

Question 7

Traditions are

A) symbolic expressions of intrinsically desirable principles of qualities.
B) typical patterns of behavior viewed as rules of how things should be done.
C) the most enduring and ritualized aspects of culture.
D) something that conventionally stands for something else.

Question 8

Norms are

A) symbolic expressions of intrinsically desirable principles of qualities.
B) typical patterns of behavior viewed as rules of how things should be done.
C) the most enduring and ritualized aspects of culture.
D) something that conventionally stands for something else.

Question 9

The most enduring and ritualized aspects of culture are referred to as

A) values.
B) norms.
C) traditions.
D) symbols.

Question 10

A symbol

A) has no basis of influencing human behaviour.
B) is something that conventionally stands for something else.
C) has a very limited period of cultural salience.
D) is the idea that people collectively build meanings through collective negotiation.

Question 11

Examples of social institutions are

A) kinship, marriage, and farming.
B) numbers and the alphabet.
C) texts, books, and archival materials.
D) material artifacts.

Question 12

Anthropologists generally believe in one unified theory of culture.

Question 13

The very power of culture is that its processes feel totally unnatural and unpredictable.

Question 14

Activities that are biologically based, such as eating and sleeping, are universally practiced in the same way for all humans.

Question 15

Culture can be transmitted virtually through the Internet in addition to face-to-face interaction.

Question 16

At one level, nobody can own culture, but many will claim the exclusive right to the symbols that give it power and meaning.

Question 17

The unilateral decision of one social group to take control of the symbols, objects, and practices of others is called cultural appropriation.

Question 18

There is nothing anthropologists can do about cultural appropriation, the practice is as old as humanity itself.

Question 19

Cultural determinism is unproductive for cultural analysis because it

A) denies the influence of factors like physical environment and biology on humans.
B) denies the history of social atrocities.
C) explains that human action is the product of biology alone.
D) is commonly used as a guiding framework by contemporary cultural anthropologists.

Question 20

When Kay Warren presented her anthropological research, a group of Maya intellectuals, activists, and political leaders

A) were there cheering her on.
B) challenged her right to study the Maya culture as a foreign anthropologist.
C) collaborated with Warren.
D) copublished the paper.

Question 21

Culture consists of the collective processes that make the artificial seem natural.

Question 22

How would a critical relativist explain Native American criticisms of cultural appropriation?

A) They are baseless complaints; cultural appropriation is as old as humanity itself.
B) Cultural appropriation is a positive process of change for any society.
C) It is important to understand Native American claims from their point of view though it doesn't necessarily mean we should accept them as the only way to view the issue.
D) It is in their culture to criticize dominant settler society.

Question 23

If a functionalist were to explain why the teacher lectures from the front of the classroom to students organized in neatly arranged chairs, she or he would emphasize that

A) learning happens best when students are being talked at.
B) this way of teaching organizes people to promote shared cultural goals.
C) this mode of teaching evolved over time.
D) the teacher is the symbolic head of the class.

Question 24

Explain how a focus on values can help us understand why people around the world love their countries.

Question 25

How would you apply a holistic approach to the study of technological change?

Question 26

How would you apply a cross-cultural approach to study sleeping habits?

Question 27

How would you use the culture concept to help you analyze the social relationships involved in social media?

Question 28

How would (a) a functionalist and (b) an interpretive anthropologist analyze Americans' love of baseball? How would their analyses differ?

Question 29

What is the role of symbols in our everyday lives? Give an example of an important symbol, and discuss how and why it creates meaning.

Question 30

Why does culture feel stable and natural when it is something that is artificial?

Question 31

What are social institutions, and how do they affect culture?

Question 32

Thinking holistically, what would you study if you wanted to understand the introduction of the cell phone into a rural community?