unit 1 - anthropology Flashcards
flashcards for anthropology test on oct 10
Explain the significance of Charles Darwin’s work
- Created theory of natural selection, evolution and survival of the fittest
- Explained how species evolve and advance
Explain how species evolve
- Species eveolve through natural selection, where genetic variation often dictates how a population will live
- Some genetic variations provide competitive advantages, all owing a population of a certain species to be stronger and live longer.
- These stronger species pass down their positive characteristics to their offspring, leading to an increase in population
For example: giraffes with longer necks can reach for higher trees and therefore most food
What are the three principles of survival of the fittest?
- Variation: Genetic variation within a population allows for differing individuals with more competitive advantages than others
- Heritability: The genes a population possesses that provides those positive characteristics must be heritable by future generations
- Environmental Fitness: The individuals must be able to quickly adapt to an environment
What are the key ideas behind paleoanthropology?
- Observing the physical remains of past species to get an understanding of their physical characteristics
How are humans and primates similar and different from each other?
Similarities:
* Ability to cooperate
* Tool-making (chimpanzees and humans)
* Almost completely identical DNA
Differences:
* Mutated foxp2 gene; this allows human to speak using their tongues and voice boxes
* Strugggle to undersstand when someone is truing to help; apes
* Humans have 3x brain size
Define culture.
The beliefs, traditions and values agreed upon by most of the people in a group.
Explain how language passes on and demonstrates culture.
- Language can change our view of the world
- It is passed on by culture
- Language is different per culture, meaning one culture may speak a certain way, while another might not, affecting opinions and understandings of different cultures
How does archeology demonstrate culture?
- Archeology is the study of observing material remains to make conclusions about a culture
- Different materials can tell us different things about what a culture’s beliefs were, what kind of things that culture did, etc…
* E.g., backpack with school supplies
How does climate affect culture?
- Clothing
- Foods
- Activities
- Methods of transportation
How does globalization affect culture?
- Facilitates exchanging ideas and traditions
- Causes assimilation or multiculturalism
Define technological diffusion and how it affects culture.
- Technological Diffusion: Adoption of one culture’s technology invented by another’s
- Factors that affect the rate of diffusion: Awareness, adoptive by others, fit in with existing systems, endorsed by an influential figure, apepeal to a sense of prestige, fit well with local customs, fitting time to introduce product into a society
Define assimilation and how it affects culture
- Assimilation: Leaving one’s culture to change and adapt to a new one.
- How it affects culture: It causes individuals to feel out of touch with their own culture, causing a lack of representation of it in a society
Define multiculturalism and how it affects culture
- Multiculturalism: Most individuals accept cutural diversity (e.g.: society accepts people from all cultures living in the communitiy)
- How it affects culture: Multiculturalism enriches societies by encouraging cultural exchange, fostering tolerance, and shaping diverse identities.
Compare and contrast different research methods
- ** Participant observation:** Provides deep cultural insights but can be subjective due to researcher bias; it’s time-consuming and may involve adapting to new environments and traditions.
- Using informants: Informants offer specific cultural knowledge and detailed information, but they may feel skeptical or uncomfortable, affecting their willingness to share.
Interviews:
* Structured: Uses fixed questions that require no relationship-building, but may lack accuracy and adaptiveness, often resulting in close-ended answers.
* Semi-structured: Combines fixed and open questions for useful exchanges, but may miss key perspectives if the right questions aren’t asked.
* Unstructured: Allows informants to guide content for deeper understanding, minimizing bias, but lacks control over responses, risking misunderstanding.
* Counting and mapping: Offers objective and reliable data for observing cultural changes, but lacks insight into the subjects’ perspectives, which may differ from the research findings.
How does studying past culture help us understand present culture?
Studying past cultures helps us see how beliefs and traditions have changed or remained the same, allowing us to compare similarities and differences that shape current cultural norms and experiences.
How are beauty standards “culturally constructed”?
Depending on how people view beauty, one can be impacted by societal norm of another by for example saying, “you’ve put on weight” causing one to feel the need to adhere to this societal norm and this inherited belief that slimmer is better is a new belief created by this claim, not an innate belief.
How do individuals within a culture learn beauty standards?
Family, friends, traditional clothing
Define subjectivity, objectivity, reflexivity, ethnology and ethnography.
- Subjective: conclusions made based on personal cultural perspective, feelings and beliefs
- Objective: conclusions made based on facts and data, completely uninfluenced by personal perspectives, prejudices and feelings
- Reflexivity:reflecting on one’s own worldview, biases and impact on the culture one is studying
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Ethnology: study of origins and cultures of different races and peoples
–> Ethnologists focus more on comparing similarities/differences of various cultures, while cultural anthropologists focus on observing each individual culture) - Ethnography: ritten account of a culture; documentation of observations made based on a culture
What is kinship?
- Kinship systems are social structures that organize how people relate to one another in a family.
What are rites of passages?
Ceremonial events that mark significant milestones and transitions in a person’s life such as birth, puberty, marriage, graduations, etc….
What are the schools of thought?
What are schools of thought?: Ways of looking at/viewing an issue. Kind of like wearing different kinds of lenses
Cultural relativism: All cultures have different ways of viewing the world through a lens created within their own (e.g., religious beliefs, cultural traditions)
Functional theory: Beliefs, actions and relationships within a society must meet the needs of individuals. All structures have a purpose and a need to meet. (e.g., schools meet the need of educating students)
Cultural Materialism: Infrastructure (technology, production, buildings) influence both the structure of society (social relationships, social organization) and superstructure (collection of ideas, values, beliefs). In other words, conditions and the environment shape culture.
Feminist anthropology: Intended to bring women’s voices into the forefront of the study as they have lost their voices in the past due to male domination. (e.g., gender pay gap).
