Unit 2 Test

Question 1

Language and its importance in communication, learning culture, and symbols

Answer 1

Language links us to our culture and to our cultural heritage

Question 2

Process in which minorities gradually adopt patterns of the dominant culture

Answer 2

Assimilation

Question 3

One generation passes cultural traits and practices to the next generation

Language is the major means for this.

Answer 3

Cultural transmission

Question 4

Judging other cultures by your own cultural standards; thinking your own cultural beliefs and practices are the only “right” ones

Answer 4

Ethnocentrism

Question 5

How does culture impact behavior?

Answer 5

Cultures adopt morals that become the standard behavior for where they reside.

Ex. Westerners prefer modesty whereas nudity is accepted for tribes in Zimbabwe.

Question 6

Carry a particular meaning which is recognized by the people of a specific culture

Answer 6

Symbols

Question 7

Tangible products of human society physically related to its culture. Dependent of nonmaterial traits of a culture for meaning.

Ex. flags, jewelry, clothing

Answer 7

Material culture

Question 8

Intangible creations of human society; language, rules, values, and meanings

Answer 8

Nonmaterial culture

Question 9

Brief cultural patterns that are practiced often by more affluent industrial societies where people have money to spend “frivolously.”

Changes quickly as trends diminish and designers appear with new ideas.

Answer 9

Fads

Question 10

Having cultural elements harmonize with rather than
contradict each other.

Answer 10

Cultural integration

Question 11

The cultural patterns practiced by a smaller group within a
culture.

Ex. Within American culture, there are many different religions

Answer 11

Subcultures

Question 12

Group conduct which is brief, spontaneous, irregular, unpredictable, and often against norms

Answer 12

Collective behavior

Question 13

Group reaction of irrational or frantic behavior due to a threat or
other stimulus

Answer 13

Panic

Question 14

Collective behavior that responds to a real or imagined event with
irrational, frantic, and sometimes self-destructive behavior.

Ex. War of the Worlds

Answer 14

Mass hysteria

Question 15

People surrender their individual opinions and behavior and give in to the collective mind; individuals forget social restraint, become irrational, and are driven by a “contagious” emotion

Answer 15

Contagion theory

Question 16

When one culture comes into contact with another and cultural traits integrate

Ex. Blue jeans, piercings

Answer 16

Cultural diffusion

Question 17

Cultural elements change at different rates, which may disrupt a social system; material culture changes at a quicker rate than
nonmaterial culture.

Ex. Modern technology for medicine developed more rapidly than ethical standards for it

Answer 17

Cultural lag

Question 18

Reasons for population decline

Answer 18

Lower birth rates and higher death rates, family planning and contraceptives, improved education

Question 19

Effects of population change

Answer 19

Increase:
- More males due to preference
- More land used for housing rather than harvesting material
- Running out of social security funds
- Increased pollution
- Increased class sizes
Decrease:
- Disproportionate number of older people
- Labor shortages

Question 20

Reasons for population increase in developing countries

Answer 20

Lack of educational funding and contraceptives/family planning; the Green Revolution

Question 21

Causes of population growth

Answer 21

The Green Revolution, modern medicine