Ch 2 Flashcards
symbol
Something that stands for something else. Central to language and culture.
enculturation
The process of learning to be a member of a particular cultural group.
anthropological theory
Is set of propositions about which aspects of culture are critical, how they should be studied, and what the goal of studying them should be.
State the six characteristics shared by all cultures.
1) Enculturation
2) Symbolism
3) Change in one aspect of culture affect other aspects, with cultural elements not always harmonising
4) Culture is shared
5) Have adaptive (survival) and maladaptive information encoded
6) Constantly in flux
culture and personality
The theoretical position in anthropology that held that cultures could best be understood by examining the patterns of child rearing and considering their effect on adult lives and social institutions.
ethnoscience
A theoretical position in anthropology that focuses on recording and examining the ways in which members of a culture use language to classify and organise their cognitive world.
cognitive anthropology
A theoretical position in anthropology that focuses on the relationship between the mind and society.
ethnobotany
A focus within anthropology that examines the relationship between humans and plants in different cultures.
ethnomedicine
A focus within anthropology that examines the ways in which people in different cultures understand health and sickness as well as the ways they attempt to cure diseases.
symbolic anthropology
A theoretical position in anthropology that focuses on understanding cultures by discovering and analysing the symbols that are most important to their members.
interpretive anthropology
Theoretical position in anthropology that focuses on using humanistic methods, such as those found in the analysis of literature, to analyse culture and discover the meaning of culture to its participants.
organic anthropology
The comparison of societies to living organisms.
functionalism
A theoretical position in anthropology, common in the first half of the 20th century, that focuses on finding general laws that identify different elements of society, show how they relate to each other, and demonstrate their role in maintaining social order.
ecological functionalism
A theoretical position in anthropology that focuses on the relationship between environment and society.
norms
Shared ideas about the way things ought to be done; rules of behaviours that reflect and enforce culture.
values
Shared ideas about what is true, right, and beautiful.
subculture
A group within a society that shares norms and values significantly different from those of the dominant culture.
dominant culture
The culture with the greatest wealth and power in a society that consists of many subcultures.
historical particularism
A theoretical position in anthropology associated with American anthropologists of the early 20th century that focuses on providing objective descriptions of cultures within their historical and environmental context.
postmodernism
A theoretical position in the anthropology that focuses on issues of power and voice. Postmodernists suggest that anthropological accounts are partial truths reflecting the backgrounds, training, and social positions of their authors.
adaptation
A change in the biological structure or lifeways of an individual or population by which becomes better fitted to survive and reproduce in its environment.
plasticity
The ability of human individuals or cultural groups to change their behaviour with relative ease.
cultural ecology
(1930s) A theoretical position in the apology that focuses on the adaptive of dimension of culture.
innovation
An object or way of thinking or behaviour that is new because it is qualitatively different from existing forms.
diffusion
The spread of cultural elements from one culture to another.
