Chapter 2 text Flashcards
Anthropology
The study of human life throughout history
Physical anthropology
strives to understand and define the physical or biological nature of human beings
Cultural anthropology
the study of human beings in different cultural settings around the world
Culture
All the learned behaviours, beliefs, attitudes, values, and ideals of a particular society or population
Nature- Nurture debate
has shaped the thinking of social scientists not only in field of anthropology, but also in the fields of psychology and sociology
Subcultures
share characteristics of the overall culture but also have important distinctive ideas and behaviours
Ethnocentrism
the tendency to judge other cultures by one’s own values. An ethnocentric view is to look at another culture as strange or inferior
Cultural relativism
Anthropologists belive that all cultures should be respected for developing ways to survive and for meeting the challenges of their environment. This attitude of respect and acceptance is known as cultural relativism.
Archaeology
cultural anthropology of the past, especially prehistoric times
Ethnology
the study and comparison of past and contemporary cultures
Ethnography
the in-depth description of a particular culture. The ethnographer may live for a year or more within a culture, observing talking with people and recording their thoughts and behaviours
What is the scope of anthropology?
Physical anthropologists study humans as biological organisms. Some may study the origins of the human species dating back to many years ago. While others study biological similarities and differences among human begins in the present day. Physical anthropologists work with fossils, bones, and other remnants of human life. Some may also measure, record and compare physical information about living individuals.
How did humans evolve
In 1859 Darwin published “On The Origin of Species”, which explained his theory of evolution l. In this book, Darwin introduced new data and a different explanation of how evolution came about. He explained that no two members of a species are identical, and that this variation is a result of inheritance and adaption to the environment, and as time goes on successful variations will produce a new species.
What observations did Margaret Mead make in her comparative studies?
Margaret Mead was a well known anthropologist of the mid-twentieth century. Through her studies, she supported that culture shapes human behavior, not biology. She did a study where she compared the cultures of the Arapesh, Mundugumor, and Tchambuli. She saw that the Arapash men and women both participated in child care and children were raised to avoid aggression. While the Mundugumor children were treated to be more independent and to fend for themselves, and viewed others as enemies. In the Tchambuli culture women were tough and hearty, while men were passive and looked after the house-holds. Girls were trained in handicrafts and boys were given no training for their future.
What conclusions did Margret make?
Margaret concluded that personality traits that society calls “masculine” and “feminine” are the results of their upbringing not genetics. She determined that nurture rather than nature was the result of human behavior.
