Final Exam Flashcards
Anthropology
- The scientific study of humans
- Includes their origins, behaviour, and physical, social, and cultural development
Psychology
- The scientific study of the human mind, mental states, and human behaviour
Sociology
- The scientific study of human social behaviour
- Includes individuals, groups, and societies
Social Science
- The scientific discipline involving the organized study of people and their activities and relationships
- Aims to understand human society, culture, actions, attitudes, and behaviour
- Uses a research inquiry model
Physical Anthropology
- Interested in people as a biological species.
- Primatology - the scientific study of the group of animals that includes human beings, apes and monkeys.
- Paleoanthropology - the study of human evolution through the fossil and archaeological records.
- Human variation - the range of possible values for any characteristic, physical or mental, of human beings
Cultural Anthropology
- Studied cultural variation among humans
- Ethnology - immersion into a culture for months or years and take meticulous notes
- Linguistic Anthropology - study the history and structure of language, and ways humans use language
- Archaeology - study the physical remains of a past culture through excavation and reconstruction
Bipedalism
- The trait of habitually walking on two legs
- Theories:
1. carrying objects
2. wading to forage aquatic foods and to avoid shoreline predators
3. vigilantly standing in tall grass, presenting phallic or other sexual display
4. following migrant herds on the savanna
5. conserving energy (bipedalism expends less energy than quadrupedism)
6. if the early bipeds were regularly exposed to direct midday tropical sunlight, they would benefit from standing upright in two ways: less body surface would be exposed to damaging solar rays, and they would find relief in the cooler air above the ground.
Ethnocentric
- To apply one’s own culture or ethnicity as a frame of reference to judge other cultures
- Believing that one’s own culture is superior to all others
Ethnography
The written account of a culture
Kinship
The relationship between two or more people through common ancestry, marriage, or adoption
Reflexivity
The practice of reflecting on your own worldview, biases, and impact on the culture you are studying
Linguistics
- The scientific study of language and its structure
Archaeology
The study of the ancient and recent human past through material remains
Ethnology
- The study of the origins and culture of different races and peoples
- Immersion into a culture for months or years, taking meticulous notes
Cultural Relativism
- Cultural relativism is the position that there is no universal standard to measure cultures by
- All cultural values and beliefs must be understood relative to their cultural context, and not judged based on outside norms and values
Cultural Materialism
Materials or conditions within the environment (e.g. climate, food supply, geography) influence how a culture develops, creating the ideas and ideology of a culture.
Postmodernism
- The belief that it is impossible to have any “true” knowledge about the world
- Rejects the idea of objective truth
- Believe that anthropologists can’t objectively study their subjects because of the relationships that form
- Practice reflexivity
Paleoanthropology
The study of human evolution through the fossil and archaeological records
Primatology
The scientific study of the group of animals that includes human beings, apes and monkeys.
Human Variation
The range of possible values for any characteristic, physical or mental, of human beings
Ego
Freud’s term for the rational part of the mind, which operates on the reality principle
Id
Freud’s term for the instinctual part of the mind, which operates on the pleasure principle
Super Ego
Freud’s term for the moral center of the mind
Classical Conditioning
- A type of learning where a once neutral stimulus comes to produce a particular response after pairings with a conditioned stimulus
- Pavlov’s dogs, Little Albert, Dwight + Jim
Operant Conditioning
- A method of learning that uses rewards and punishment to modify behavior
- Skinner box (rats with pellets), Sheldon and Penny (chocolates)
Defense Mechanism
- In psychoanalytic theory, a defense mechanism is the way the brain protects a person from anxiety and stress
- The ego’s way of distorting reality to deal with anxiety
Neo-Freudians
Psychologists who modified Freud’s psychoanalytic theory to include social and cultural aspects
Archetypes
- Universal symbols that tend to reappear over time
- Includes models of people, behaviour, and personalities
- Mother, Father, Hero, Trickster, Innocent
Agents of Socialization
- Family, peers, media, and instututions that influence our behaviour and values
- Forces in a person’s life that teach them about the world and their place within it
Isolate
- Nature vs. Nurture - proves nurture
- Child raised in near isolation within a human household
- Danielle (7) and Genie (13)
Feral Children
- Unwanted child deserted at a young age and raised by animals
Positivism
The application of the scientific method to obtain quantifiable data in order to understand society
Norm
Rule or standard of behaviour shared by members of a social group
Macrosociology
An approach to sociology that analyzes social systems on a large scale
Microsociology
The study of small groups and individuals within a society
Social Darwinism
- Believe in “survival of the fittest”
- The idea that certain people become powerful in society because they are innately better
- Justifies imperialism, racism, eugenics and social inequality
Looking Glass-Self
- Charles H. Cooley
- Symbolic Interactionism
- “I am not what I think I am, I am not what you think I am, I am what I think you think I am.”
Chicago School
- Theorized about how physical environment and social structures determine individual behaviours
- Development of the symbolic interactionist approach
- How community shapes how people act and behave
- Nurture over nature - studied with qualitative methods
Psychopathy
- Characterized by impaired empathy and remorse
- Traits of boldness, disinhibition, and egocentrism
Robert Hare (Psychopathy Test)
- Created checklist
- Each item ranked from 0-2
- Way to find psychopaths
Sociopathy
- Consistently shows no regard for right and wrong
- Ignores the rights and feelings of others
Child Abuse
- Includes physical, sexual, emotional and medical abuse, as well as neglect
- E.g. isolate, feral children
Ableism
Discrimination based on assumptions about a person’s ability or disablity
Physical Abuse
- Intentional act causing injury or trauma to another person or animal
- By way of bodily contact
Emotional Abuse
- When a person uses words or actions to control, frighten or isolate someone or take away their self-respect
Sexual Abuse
- Often perpetrated using physical force, or by taking advantage of another
- Sexual abuse is a term used for a persistent pattern of sexual assaults
Neglect
- Perpetrator to care for someone (usually a child)
- Can be a result of carelessness, indifference, or unwillingness and abuse
Rites of Passage
A ceremony, ritual, or event that marks an individual’s passage from one stage of life to another (e.g. graduation, wedding, birthday)
Prejudice
An individual judgement about or active hostility toward another group
Discrimination
- The act of treating groups or individuals unfairly based on their race, gender, or other common characteristic
- Can be overt (physical assault) or systematic (patterns of behaviour, policies or practices that are part of the structures of an organization)
Stereotype
An exaggerated view or judgement made about a group or class of people
Racism
- Erroneous judgement, assumptions, opinions, or actions toward a person or group
- Based on the belief that one race is superior to another
Altruism
- The principle of unselfish regard for the needs and interests of others
- Altruistic suicide: the sacrifice of one’s life in order to save or benefit others, for the good of the group, or to preserve the traditions and honor of a society
Behavioural Psychology
All behaviours are learned through interaction with the environment
Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
- 4 stages: sensorimotor (baby, relies on senses), preoperational (language, nonlogical thinking, egocentric) concrete operational (logic, less egocentric), and formal operational (egocentric, link objects to abstract ideas)
- Children move through the stages as they grow up
Fundamental Attribution Error
- People attribute another’s actions to their character or personality, and their own actions to factors outside of their control
- For instance, if you’ve ever chastised a “lazy employee” for being late to a meeting and then proceeded to make an excuse for being late yourself that same day, you’ve made the fundamental attribution error.
- AKA Actor-Observer bias
False Consensus Effect
- A pervasive cognitive bias that causes people to assume that their personal qualities, characteristics, beliefs, and actions are relatively widespread through the general population
- Especially prevalent in group settings where one thinks the collective opinion of their own group matches that of the larger population
Just World Hypothesis
- People get what they deserve
- Actions have morally fair and fitting consequences for the actor
Actor-Observer Bias
- The tendency to attribute the behavior of others to internal causes, while attributing our own behavior to external causes
- AKA Fundamental attribution error
Deindividuation
Loss of individuality and personal responsibility that can occur when someone participates as part of a group
Social Loafing
The tendency of individuals to put forth less effort when they are part of a group
Free Association Therapy
- The practice of allowing the patient to discuss thoughts, dreams, memories, or words, regardless of coherency
- Freud
Logotherapy
- Form of existential therapy
- Emphasis on the search for meaning
- Life has meaning in all circumstances, even suffering
- Viktor Frankl
Jane Goodall
- British cultural anthropologist (1934-)
- Worked for the Leakeys in Tanzania
- Observed and recorded chimpanzees, became accepted into their society
- Discovered that they use tools and are not strictly vegetarian
- Recorded the highly developed social structure of the tribe
Primatology
Raymond Dart
- Discovered Australopithecus Africanus -Tuang Child
- Supports theory of evolution in Africa as the birth place of humans
- Killer Ape Theory
- Man the Hunter
- Savannah Theory
Paleoanthropology
Leakey Family
- Mary:
- Discovered the Laetoli footprints - supported theory of bipedalism
- Findings supported the theory of human evolution
- Australopithecus Boisei
- Louis:
- Kenyan-British physical anthropologist (1903-1972)
- Studied the Horn of Africa
- Uncovered Australopithecus and Homo Habilis
- Out of Africa Theory
- Richard:
- Son of Mary and Louis
Paleoanthropology
Charles Darwin
- Proposed that all human species are descended from a common ancestor, which is generally accepted as true now
- Evolutionary theory - that each civilization built upon the foundation left by its predecessor
- Slightly racist as it implies that African and Pacific societies are less advanced than European ones
- Natural Selection
- Theory of Evolution
Human Variation
Franz Boas
- Cultural Relativism
- Baffin Islands
- Studied the impact of the physical environment and the adaptations made by the Inuit people
- Worked against ethnocentrism
Ethnology
Napoleon Chagnon
- Studied the Yanomami
- May have been unethical
- Described them as very violent
- Others suggest he made them violent
Ethnology
Marvin Harris
- Pioneered cultural materialism
- Three stages of cultural development: Infrastructure (material resources e.g. technology, land, etc.), structure (familial, political, economical, and social systems), superstructure (ideas, values, symbols and religion)
Ethnology
Margaret Mead
- Studied the differences between Samoan culture and American culture (especially adolescence)
- Critics think that she relied too much on personal observation
- Nurture is more important than Nature
- Significant differences between cultures
- Help us to understand our own culture
Ethnology
Noam Chomsky
- Linguistics
- Universal grammar (theory that all children are born with internal grammar rules that they apply to their mother tongue)
Linguistic Anthropology
Ivan Pavlov
- Research with dogs showed that they would drool when he put food in their mouths, began to ring a bell when he fed the dogs, eventually conditioned them to drool at the sound of the bell
- Father of classical conditioning
Behaviourism
B.F. Skinner
- Considered to have developed true behaviourism because he was concered with only observable behaviours, not the processes behind them
- Used rats and pigeons to study operant conditioning (how rewards and punishment can influence behaviour)
- Cupoard theory of attachment
Behaviourism
Sigmund Freud
- Very famous but controversial psychologist
- Supported the belief that all mental illnesses have physiological causes
- Created the theory of id, ego, and superego and theory of the subconcious
- Developed the ‘stages of development’ theory (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) - psychosexual theory
- Very sexist and focused on sex
Psychoanalysis
Karen Horney
- Feminist neo-freudian
- Mostly agreed with Freud, but disagreed with two things:
- That personality is strongly affected by sexual conflicts in childhood
- That Freud’s views did not accurately represent females
- Founder of feminine psychology
Psychoanalysis
Carl Jung
- Archetypes
- Collective unconcious
- Student of Freud’s but disagreed with him on many things
- Founded analytical psychology, which is the idea that balancing the concious and unconcious mind would allow someone to reach their full potential
- Personality tests
Psychoanalysis
Erik Erikson
- Neo-Freudian
- Not all to do with id ego superego
- Stages of social development that we all go through - psychosocial development
- Child analyst, believed that humans develop over their entire lifetimes, not just in childhood
Psychoanalysis
Abraham Maslow
- Humanism
- His perspective - hierarchy of needs to achieve full potential - pyramid model
- According to Maslow, we have 5 categories of needs: physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization
- In this theory, higher needs emerge when people feel they have sufficiently satisfied the previous needs
- Studied self-actualization
Humanism
Albert Bandura
- Social learning theory (belief that humans learn by watching and copying others)
- Bobo doll
Cognitive
Auguste Comte
- Father of sociology, inventor of the term sociology
- Structural functionalist
- Positivism
- Argued that societies changed over time, sometimes finding equilibrium and other times not
Structural Functionalism
Emile Durkheim
- Structural functionalist
- Believed in using the scientific method in order to discover a better society
- Focused on prisoners and suicide as means for identifying and resolving societal problems
- Wanted to help both individuals and society as a whole
Structural Functionalism
Karl Marx
- Famous for his Communist Manifesto
- Believed that history could illustrate why societies face problems
- Social inequity based on materialism and wealth distribution needed to be rectified through conflict to the masses (working class people, proletariat) in order to allow for a better society.
- Created conflict theory
Conflict Theory
Dorothy Smith
- Canadian
- Feminist
- Culture and society do not operate in women’s favour
- Women are deprived of the authority to speak
Feminist Theory
Charles Cooley
- Symbolic interactionism (also Mead)
- Developed the looking-glass self
- “I am not what I think I am, I am not what you think I am, I am what I think you think I am.” - masks
- Studied relationship between society and individuals
Symbolic Interactionism
Max Weber
- Conflict sociologist
- Expanded Marx’s focus to education, politics, religion, and families
- Agreed that conflict existed
- Argued it could be regulated through the formation of bureaucracies
- Symbolic interactionism
Symbolic Interactionism
Feminism/Feminist Theory
- Women are marginalized in society
- Gender equality
- Double standard, class determined by sexual connection to men
- Classical sociologists ignored women in their theories
Greeting in Polynesia
Place the other person’s hands on your face and stroke
Greeting in Tibet
Stick your tongue out
Greeting in Inuit
Rub noses with the other person
Greeting in Western Europe
Kiss each cheek
Greeting in Massai Tribe
Spit on other person, spit in hand before shaking with elder
Four sociological theories
- Structural Functionalism
- Feminist Sociology
- Conflict Theory
- Symbolic Interactionism
