Chapter 2 Flashcards
Enculturation
The process by which a child learns his or her culture
Cultures
Systems of human behavior and thought - obey natural laws, so they can be studied scientifically
Symbols
Signs that have no necessary or natural connection with the things for which they stand
Culture is shared
Culture is located in and transmitted through groups
“Psychic unity of man”
Individuals vary in emotional and intellectual tendencies and capacities
Culture is symbolic
Symbolic thought is unique and crucial to cultural learning
Culture and nature
Culture takes natural biological urges and teaches us to express them in particular ways
Culture is all-encompassing
Culture includes features sometimes regarded as trivial or unworthy of serious study
Culture is integrated
Cultures are integrated patterned systems. If one part changes, other parts change
Core Values
Key, basic, or central values that integrate a culture
Culture is instrumental, adaptive, and maladaptive
Humans have biological and cultural ways of coping with environmental stress
Hominid
Member of hominid family; any fossil or living human, chimp, or gorilla
Hominins
Hominids excluding the African apes; all the human species that ever have existed
Cultures evolutionary basis
Many human traits reflect that our primate ancestors lived in trees
- -> Grasping abilities
- -> Depth and color vision
- -> Large brain
- -> Parental investment
Universal
Exists in every culture
Generality
Exists in some but not all societies
Particularity
Distinctive or unique cultural trait, pattern, or integration
Universal Trait
Are the ones that more or less distinguish Homo Sapiens from other species
Biological (Universal trait)
A long period of infant dependency, year-round sexuality, and a complex brain
Psychological (Universal trait)
Common ways in which humans think, feel, and process information
Cultural (Universal trait)
Incest taboo, life in groups and families of some kind
Practice Theory
Individuals within society have diverse motives
National Culture
Cultural features shared by citizens of the same nation
International Culture
Cultural traditions that extend beyond national boundaries
Subcultures
Identifiable cultural patterns existing within a larger culture
Ethnocentrism
Judging other cultures using one’s own cultural standards
Cultural Relativism
To know another culture requires full understanding of its members’ beliefs and motivation
Human rights
Rights based on justice and morality beyond and superior to particular countries, cultures, and religions
Cultural rights
Rights vested in religious and ethnic minorities and indigenous societies
Intellectual property rights (IPR)
An indigenous group’s collective knowledge and its application
Diffusion
Borrowing of traits between cutures
Independent Invention
Process by which humans innovate, creatively finding solutions to problems
