Question 1

Although humans do employ tools much more than any other animal does, tool use also turns up among several nonhuman species, including birds, beavers, sea otters, and apes.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False  True

Question 2

Anthropologist Clifford Geertz defined culture as ideas based on cultural learning and symbols. For anthropologist Leslie White, culture originated when our ancestors acquired the ability to use symbols. What is a symbol? It is

Accepted Answer

A)  a distinctive or unique cultural trait, pattern, or integration that can be translated into other cultures. 
B)  any element within a culture that distinguishes it from other cultures, precisely because it is difficult to translate. 
C)  something verbal or nonverbal, within a particular language or culture, that comes to stand for something else, with no necessary or natural connection to the thing for which it stands. 
D)  a linguistic sign within a particular language that comes to stand for something else in another language. 
E)  something verbal or nonverbal with a nonarbitrary association with what it symbolizes. 
A)  a distinctive or unique cultural trait, pattern, or integration that can be translated into other cultures. 
B)  any element within a culture that distinguishes it from other cultures, precisely because it is difficult to translate. 
C)  something verbal or nonverbal, within a particular language or culture, that comes to stand for something else, with no necessary or natural connection to the thing for which it stands. 
D)  a linguistic sign within a particular language that comes to stand for something else in another language. 
E)  something verbal or nonverbal with a nonarbitrary association with what it symbolizes. C

Question 3

Culture can be adaptive or maladaptive. It is maladaptive when

Accepted Answer

A)  it exhibits cultural traits that are not shared with the majority of the group. 
B)  it threatens the core values of a culture that guarantee its integration. 
C)  cultural traits diminish the survival of particular individuals but not others. 
D)  cultural traits, patterns, and inventions disrupt the world economy, causing international discontent. 
E)  cultural traits, patterns, and inventions threaten the group's continued survival and reproduction and thus its very existence. 
A)  it exhibits cultural traits that are not shared with the majority of the group. 
B)  it threatens the core values of a culture that guarantee its integration. 
C)  cultural traits diminish the survival of particular individuals but not others. 
D)  cultural traits, patterns, and inventions disrupt the world economy, causing international discontent. 
E)  cultural traits, patterns, and inventions threaten the group's continued survival and reproduction and thus its very existence. E

Question 4

Compare and contrast the various types of cultural change listed at the end of this chapter. In particular, to what extent does each model for change suggest that culture shapes human behavior or is shaped by human behavior?

Accepted Answer

The various types of cultural change lis

Question 5

Why does this chapter on culture include a section that describes similarities and differences between humans and apes, our closest relatives?

Accepted Answer

A)  to emphasize culture's evolutionary basis 
B)  to better define culture as a capacity that distinguishes members of the zoological family hominidae from anatomically modern humans 
C)  to stress that there is no such thing as human nature 
D)  to promote the study of primatology, which has nothing to do with human culture 
E)  to illustrate how evolution is just a theory 
A)  to emphasize culture's evolutionary basis 
B)  to better define culture as a capacity that distinguishes members of the zoological family hominidae from anatomically modern humans 
C)  to stress that there is no such thing as human nature 
D)  to promote the study of primatology, which has nothing to do with human culture 
E)  to illustrate how evolution is just a theory

Question 6

What are ethnocentrism and cultural relativism, and how do they affect the work of anthropologists? How do they influence your own life in an increasingly diverse society?

Accepted Answer

Ethnocentrism is the belief that one's o

Question 7

All of the following are evidence of the tendency to view culture as a process EXCEPT

Accepted Answer

A)  analysis that attempts to establish boundaries between cultures. 
B)  practice theory. 
C)  attention to agency in anthropological analysis. 
D)  interest in public, collective, and individual dimensions of day-to-day life. 
E)  interest in how acts of resistance can make and remake culture. 
A)  analysis that attempts to establish boundaries between cultures. 
B)  practice theory. 
C)  attention to agency in anthropological analysis. 
D)  interest in public, collective, and individual dimensions of day-to-day life. 
E)  interest in how acts of resistance can make and remake culture.

Question 8

Culture is transmitted in society.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 9

There are two meanings of globalization: globalization as fact and process, and globalization as ideology and contested policy. What is the primary and neutral meaning of globalization as is applicable to anthropology?

Accepted Answer

A)  promotion of the interests of multinational corporations at the expense of farmers and workers 
B)  the efforts by international financial powers to create a global free market for goods and services 
C)  the impact of the world on the rest of the universe 
D)  the spread and connectedness of production, communication, and technologies across the world 
E)  the opposition of global free trade 
A)  promotion of the interests of multinational corporations at the expense of farmers and workers 
B)  the efforts by international financial powers to create a global free market for goods and services 
C)  the impact of the world on the rest of the universe 
D)  the spread and connectedness of production, communication, and technologies across the world 
E)  the opposition of global free trade

Question 10

Once an individual has been enculturated, that person must adhere to the cultural rules that govern that culture.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 11

The tendency to view one's own culture as superior and to use one's own standards and values in judging others is called

Accepted Answer

A)  patriotism. 
B)  ethnocentrism. 
C)  moral relativism. 
D)  cultural relativism. 
E)  illiteracy. 
A)  patriotism. 
B)  ethnocentrism. 
C)  moral relativism. 
D)  cultural relativism. 
E)  illiteracy.

Question 12

Which of the following is an example of independent invention, the process by which people in different societies have innovated and changed in similar but independent ways?

Accepted Answer

A)  acculturation 
B)  culture 
C)  globalization 
D)  agriculture 
E)  language 
A)  acculturation 
B)  culture 
C)  globalization 
D)  agriculture 
E)  language

Question 13

Independent invention occurs when two or more cultures independently come up with similar solutions to a common problem.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 14

Which of the following statements about culture is NOT true?

Accepted Answer

A)  It has an evolutionary basis. 
B)  It is acquired by all humans as members of society through enculturation. 
C)  It encompasses rule-governed, shared, symbol-based, learned behavior, as well as beliefs transmitted across the generations. 
D)  Everyone is cultured. 
E)  It is transmitted genetically. 
A)  It has an evolutionary basis. 
B)  It is acquired by all humans as members of society through enculturation. 
C)  It encompasses rule-governed, shared, symbol-based, learned behavior, as well as beliefs transmitted across the generations. 
D)  Everyone is cultured. 
E)  It is transmitted genetically.

Question 15

The Makah, a tribe that lives near the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca on the Olympic Peninsula, see themselves as whalers and continue to identify themselves spiritually with whales. Their ongoing struggle to maintain their traditional way of life, which involves whale hunting, demonstrates how

Accepted Answer

A)  some indigenous communities are able to isolate themselves from national and international politics despite the continuous threat from outsiders. 
B)  indigenous communities do not understand the threat that their activities pose to endangered species. 
C)  contemporary law is useless in solving disputes with indigenous communities. 
D)  contemporary indigenous groups have to grapple with multiple levels of culture, contestation, and political regulation. 
E)  animals do not have rights. 
A)  some indigenous communities are able to isolate themselves from national and international politics despite the continuous threat from outsiders. 
B)  indigenous communities do not understand the threat that their activities pose to endangered species. 
C)  contemporary law is useless in solving disputes with indigenous communities. 
D)  contemporary indigenous groups have to grapple with multiple levels of culture, contestation, and political regulation. 
E)  animals do not have rights.

Question 16

The idea of universal and inalienable human rights that are superior to the laws and ethics of any culture can conflict with some of the ideas central to cultural relativism.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 17

What is the term for the kind of cultural change that results when two or more cultures have consistent firsthand contact?

Accepted Answer

A)  acculturation 
B)  enculturation 
C)  independent invention 
D)  colonization 
E)  imperialism 
A)  acculturation 
B)  enculturation 
C)  independent invention 
D)  colonization 
E)  imperialism

Question 18

Modern means of transportation and communication have facilitated the process of globalization.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 19

Cultural relativists believe that a culture should be judged only according to the standards and traditions of that culture and not according to the standards of other cultural traditions.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 20

What do anthropologists mean when they say culture is shared?

Accepted Answer

A)  Culture is an attribute of particular individuals. 
B)  Culture is an attribute of individuals as members of groups. 
C)  Culture is what ensures that all people raised in the same society have the same opinions. 
D)  Culture is universally regarded as more important than the concept of the individual. 
E)  Passive enculturation is accomplished by more than one person. 
A)  Culture is an attribute of particular individuals. 
B)  Culture is an attribute of individuals as members of groups. 
C)  Culture is what ensures that all people raised in the same society have the same opinions. 
D)  Culture is universally regarded as more important than the concept of the individual. 
E)  Passive enculturation is accomplished by more than one person.

Exam 2: Culture

Although humans do employ tools much more than any other animal does, tool use also turns up among several nonhuman species, including birds, beavers, sea otters, and apes.

Anthropologist Clifford Geertz defined culture as ideas based on cultural learning and symbols. For anthropologist Leslie White, culture originated when our ancestors acquired the ability to use symbols. What is a symbol? It is

Culture can be adaptive or maladaptive. It is maladaptive when

Compare and contrast the various types of cultural change listed at the end of this chapter. In particular, to what extent does each model for change suggest that culture shapes human behavior or is shaped by human behavior?

Why does this chapter on culture include a section that describes similarities and differences between humans and apes, our closest relatives?

What are ethnocentrism and cultural relativism, and how do they affect the work of anthropologists? How do they influence your own life in an increasingly diverse society?

All of the following are evidence of the tendency to view culture as a process EXCEPT

Culture is transmitted in society.

There are two meanings of globalization: globalization as fact and process, and globalization as ideology and contested policy. What is the primary and neutral meaning of globalization as is applicable to anthropology?

Once an individual has been enculturated, that person must adhere to the cultural rules that govern that culture.

The tendency to view one's own culture as superior and to use one's own standards and values in judging others is called

Which of the following is an example of independent invention, the process by which people in different societies have innovated and changed in similar but independent ways?

Independent invention occurs when two or more cultures independently come up with similar solutions to a common problem.

Which of the following statements about culture is NOT true?

The idea of universal and inalienable human rights that are superior to the laws and ethics of any culture can conflict with some of the ideas central to cultural relativism.

What is the term for the kind of cultural change that results when two or more cultures have consistent firsthand contact?

Modern means of transportation and communication have facilitated the process of globalization.

Cultural relativists believe that a culture should be judged only according to the standards and traditions of that culture and not according to the standards of other cultural traditions.

What do anthropologists mean when they say culture is shared?

What Is Anthropology

Applying Anthropology

Doing Archaeology and Biological Anthropology

Evolution and Genetics

Human Variation and Adaptation

The Primates

Early Hominins

Archaic Homo

The Origin and Spread of Modern Humans

The First Farmers

The First Cities and States

Method and Theory in Cultural Anthropology

Language and Communication

Ethnicity and Race

Making a Living

Political Systems

Gender

Families, Kinship, and Descent

Marriage

Religion

Arts, Media, and Sports

The World System and Colonialism

Anthropologys Role in a Globalizing World

Filters