Introduction To Culture Flashcards
What Latin root word does the word “culture” come from
Cultus
What is culture in a narrow sense
Trained and refined state of knowledge, manners, and tastes.
What is the broad definition of culture?
Is that complex whole which includes knowledge belief, art, customs, and habits acquired by man as a member of society.
This definition advocates the idea that everyone can have culture.
What is the simple definition of culture?
Those things learned, shared, and transmitted.
Humans are born with the capacity to obtain culture.
Enculturation
Process of social interaction through which people learn and acquire their culture.
Why are the three forms of learning in which enculturation takes place?
Situational learning
Social learning
Symbolic learning
Situational learning
Trial and error type of learning.
The organism adjusts its behavior on the basis of direct experience.
“Learning what is good and bad”
Social learning
One organism observes another organism respond to a stimulus and then adds that response to its own collection of behaviors.
Symbolic learning
Learning though the use of symbols.
Symbols
Arbitrary meaningful units or models we use to represent reality.
Culture transmission
The process of passing on a culturally relevant knowledge skills attitudes from one individual to another.
What are the three main components of culture?
Mental
Behavioral/social
Material
Mental component of culture.
Attitudes, values, believes, and knowledge that people share.
Behavioral/social component of culture
How to greet, how to eat, how to interact with people.
Material component of culture
Material manifestations of culture.
Things that people make or build.
Generally, what are the two components of culture?
Material non material (mental and behavioral/social components)
Beliefs
Conventions that contain true or false assumptions, specific descriptions of the nature of the universe and humanity’s place on it.
Ideology
Consist of cultural symbols and believes that reflect and support the interests of specific groups within that society.
Cultural hegemony
The ideological control by one dominant group over values, beliefs and norms.
Norms
Rules of right wrong behavior shared;
rules or guidelines that define how people should behave under certain circumstances.
What are the two components of norms?
Folkways
Mores
Folkways
Norms guiding ordinarily usages and conventions of everyday life.
Mores
Members of a society believe that their mores are crucial for the maintenance of a decent and orderly way of life.
What are the two dimensions of culture?
A
Normative/ideal culture
Refers to the thing that people will tell you is the culturally accepted attitude/way to do things.
Behavioral/real culture
Refers to what people actually do or believe in, how they actually behave.
Overt culture
Refers to the culture people themselves are aware of.
Covert culture
Refers to those elements of a culture that people themselves are unaware of.
Subconscious part of culture.
What are the four ways humans can adapt?
Genetic adaptation
Long term physiological or developmental adaptation
Short term or immediate physiological adaptation
Cultural adaptation
How does human diversity play a role in adaptation?
It acts as a buffer from people to people.
Adaptation
Beneficial adjustment to the environment.
