Ch. 2: The Concept of Culture Flashcards
Adaptive nature of culture
The implication that culture is the major way human populations adapt or relate to their specific habitat in order to survive and reproduce.
Cultural diffusion
The spreading of a cultural trait (that is, a material object, idea, or behavior pattern) from one society to another.
Cultural universals
Those general cultural traits that are found in all societies of the world.
Culture shock
A psychological disorientation a person experiences when attempting to operate in a radically different cultural environment.
Enculturation
The process by which human infants learn their culture.
Ethnic group
A group of people who share many of the same cultural features.
Innovations
A recombination of already existing items within a culture.
Inventions
A new combination of existing cultural features.
Linked changes
Changes in one part of a culture brought about by changes in other parts of the culture.
Monochronic culture
A culture in which people view time in a linear fashion, place great importance on being punctual and keeping on schedule, and prefer to work on one task at a time.
Organic analogy
The early functionalist idea that cultural systems are integrated into a whole cultural unit in much the same way that the various parts of a biological organism (such as a respiratory system or a circulatory system) function to maintain the health of the organism.
Polychronic culture
A culture in which people typically perform a number of tasks at the same time and place a higher value in nurturing and maintaining social relationships than on punctuality for its own sake.
Race
A subgroup of the human population whose members share a greater number of genes and physical traits with one another than they do with members of other subgroups.
Subculture
A subdivision of a wider culture that shares some features with the larger society that also differs in some important respects.
Symbol
Something, either verbal or nonverbal, that stands for something else.
