Midterm Exam Flashcards
What is the critical goal of cultural anthropology as an academic discipline?
Observe, Analyze, Record
Applying one’s own cultural standards of value, worth, and morality to another culture is called ______.
Ethnocentrism
Anthropology takes a holistic approach to explaining human behavior by studying ______.
all varieties of people and all aspects of their existence
A distinguishing characteristic of Western ethnocentrism is that ______.
Westerners have more often been in a position to impose their view of culture than have others
Applying one’s own cultural standards of value, worth, and morality to another culture is called ______.
Ethnocentrism
What is cultural relativism?
not judging a culture to our own standards of what is right or wrong, strange or normal
Norms are best described as ______.
social rule that isn’t written but people abide to such customs in their behaviour
Which of the following is characteristic of cultural symbols?
They are used to create meaning. Something that represents something
Today, most anthropologists agree that culture______.
Anthropologists do not agree on a single meaning of culture
The ability of humans to change their behavior in response to environmental demands is called ______.
Plasticity
A symbol is something that ______.
represents or suggests something else
When we compare dominant culture and subcultures within a society, it is clear that ______.
Dominant Cultures are more powerful than sub-cultures
Pure cultures, free from outside influence ______.
Have never existed
Which of the following best describes an anthropologist’s approach to the study of culture?
Holistic
Biopsychological equality is the notion that ______.
All human groups have equal biological and mental capabilities
How has globalization impacted indigenous populations?
Globalization has negatively impacted these populations
A pidgin is ______.
a. a language of contact and trade that includes a mixture of other languages
b. a language that can be taught to parrots and other nonhuman animals
c. a language made by blending of other, earlier languages
d. the language of lower class or oppressed groups in a society
a. a language of contact and trade that includes a mixture of other languages
Researchers who study interpersonal space refer to three different ranges of space. They are ______.
a. friendly distance, antagonistic space, neutral space
b. intimate distance, personal distance, and social distance
c. built space, social distance, and personal distance
d. city space, peri-urban space, and rural space
b. intimate distance, personal distance, and social distance
Which of the following concepts is used to explain why signs for an object might have multiple meanings beyond the plain meaning of the object itself? For example, a flower is more than a flower; it is often taken as a sign for the arrival of spring or fertility.
a. signifier
b. phoneme
c. displacement
d. glottochronology
a. signifier
The relationship between language and culture is illustrated by the fact that ______.
a. all languages have the same number of words regardless of their complexity
b. the most complex societies have the most complex languages
c. the vocabulary of a language emphasizes those features of the environment that are culturally significant
d. all languages contain words for all aspects of the physical environment
c. the vocabulary of a language emphasizes those features of the environment that are culturally significant