Question 1

Anthropologists study only non-Western cultures.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 2

In this chapter, John Whiting's research is used to illustrate the application of the scientific method in an anthropological study. What are these steps? Recalling that complete objectivity is impossible, how did Whiting strive for objectivity and impartiality in his research on sexual custom and diet?

Accepted Answer

In his research on sexual custom and die

Question 3

Adaptation refers to the processes by which organisms cope with environmental forces and stresses, such as those posed by climate and topography.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 4

Applied anthropology encompasses any use of the knowledge and/or techniques its four subfields to identify, assess, and solve theoretical problems.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 5

In science, what is the relationship among explanations, associations, and theories?

Accepted Answer

A)  An explanation must show how and why the thing to be understood is associated with or related to something else. Theories require covariation: when one thing (a variable) changes, the other one varies as well. Associations provide explanations for both explanations and theories. 
B)  They mean the same thing. 
C)  An explanation must show how and why the thing to be understood is associated with or related to something else. Associations require covariation: when one thing (a variable) changes, the other one varies as well. Theories provide explanations for associations. 
D)  Explanations and associations are explained by theories, which are observed relationships between two or more variables. 
E)  An explanation must show how and why the thing to be understood is associated with or related to something else. Thus, explanations and associations are the same thing. A theory is a suggested but as yet unverified explanation. 
A)  An explanation must show how and why the thing to be understood is associated with or related to something else. Theories require covariation: when one thing (a variable) changes, the other one varies as well. Associations provide explanations for both explanations and theories. 
B)  They mean the same thing. 
C)  An explanation must show how and why the thing to be understood is associated with or related to something else. Associations require covariation: when one thing (a variable) changes, the other one varies as well. Theories provide explanations for associations. 
D)  Explanations and associations are explained by theories, which are observed relationships between two or more variables. 
E)  An explanation must show how and why the thing to be understood is associated with or related to something else. Thus, explanations and associations are the same thing. A theory is a suggested but as yet unverified explanation.

Question 6

Anthropology may improve psychological studies of human behavior by contributing

Accepted Answer

A)  examples of primitive thinking from tribal societies. 
B)  nothing, since anthropology focuses on culture and psychology concentrates on personality. 
C)  prehistoric analysis. 
D)  a humanistic approach to psychology. 
E)  a cross-cultural perspective on models of human psychology. 
A)  examples of primitive thinking from tribal societies. 
B)  nothing, since anthropology focuses on culture and psychology concentrates on personality. 
C)  prehistoric analysis. 
D)  a humanistic approach to psychology. 
E)  a cross-cultural perspective on models of human psychology.

Question 7

Theories must be proved correct before they can be accepted.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 8

Culture is not itself biological but rests on certain features of human biology.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 9

This chapter provides an example of human adaptation to high altitude to illustrate the various forms of cultural and biological adaptation. Can you think of another example that illustrates the broad capacity of humans to adapt both biologically and culturally?

Accepted Answer

Another example of human adaptation that

Question 10

Bronislaw Malinowski, an early contributor to the cross-cultural study of human psychology, is famous for his fieldwork among the Trobriand Islanders of the South Pacific. Although some of his specific findings have been questioned by more recent scholars, no contemporary anthropologist would dispute Malinowski's contention that

Accepted Answer

A)  Freud's work is worthless once taken out of its particular cultural context (patriarchal Austria during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries). 
B)  psychology and anthropology have little relevance to each other, since the former focuses on the individual and the latter studies cultures and societies as a whole. 
C)  psychologists are not willing to step out of their tightly controlled laboratories, and anthropologists are too focused on finding exotic exceptions to every possible human universal. 
D)  researchers cannot get at what is in people's minds, only at what they say and do. 
E)  individual psychology is molded in a specific cultural context. 
A)  Freud's work is worthless once taken out of its particular cultural context (patriarchal Austria during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries). 
B)  psychology and anthropology have little relevance to each other, since the former focuses on the individual and the latter studies cultures and societies as a whole. 
C)  psychologists are not willing to step out of their tightly controlled laboratories, and anthropologists are too focused on finding exotic exceptions to every possible human universal. 
D)  researchers cannot get at what is in people's minds, only at what they say and do. 
E)  individual psychology is molded in a specific cultural context.

Question 11

As humans organize their lives and adapt to different environments, our abilities to learn, think symbolically, use language, and employ tools and other products

Accepted Answer

A)  rest on certain features of human biology that make culture itself a biological phenomenon. 
B)  have made some human groups more cultured than others. 
C)  prove that only fully developed adults have the capacity for culture; children lack the capacity for culture until they mature. 
D)  rest on certain features of human biology that make culture, which is not itself biological, possible. 
E)  are shared with other animals capable of organized group life such as baboons, wolves, and even ants. 
A)  rest on certain features of human biology that make culture itself a biological phenomenon. 
B)  have made some human groups more cultured than others. 
C)  prove that only fully developed adults have the capacity for culture; children lack the capacity for culture until they mature. 
D)  rest on certain features of human biology that make culture, which is not itself biological, possible. 
E)  are shared with other animals capable of organized group life such as baboons, wolves, and even ants.

Question 12

According to this chapter's "Focus on Globalization," American baseball appears to be more ethnically diverse than American football or basketball.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 13

Based on his observations that contact between neighboring tribes had existed since humanity's beginnings and covered enormous areas, Franz Boas argued

Accepted Answer

A)  against treating cultures as isolated phenomena. 
B)  that even the earliest foragers engaged in warfare. 
C)  that language must have originated among the Neandertals. 
D)  that biology, not culture, was responsible for the vast majority of human diversity. 
E)  that general anthropologists were wrong to focus too much attention on biology. 
A)  against treating cultures as isolated phenomena. 
B)  that even the earliest foragers engaged in warfare. 
C)  that language must have originated among the Neandertals. 
D)  that biology, not culture, was responsible for the vast majority of human diversity. 
E)  that general anthropologists were wrong to focus too much attention on biology.

Question 14

What is culture? How do anthropologists define and study culture?

Accepted Answer

Culture can be defined as the shared bel

Question 15

Which of the following statements about theories is NOT true?

Accepted Answer

A)  Scientists evaluate theories through the method of falsification. 
B)  A theory is an explanatory framework that helps us understand why something exists. 
C)  Predictions from theories are disproved rather than proved. 
D)  Theories apply only to linguistic and biological phenomena. 
E)  Scientists accept theories that have not been disproved. 
A)  Scientists evaluate theories through the method of falsification. 
B)  A theory is an explanatory framework that helps us understand why something exists. 
C)  Predictions from theories are disproved rather than proved. 
D)  Theories apply only to linguistic and biological phenomena. 
E)  Scientists accept theories that have not been disproved.

Question 16

Applied anthropology

Accepted Answer

A)  originated at the same time that anthropology's four-field approach became established among early twentieth-century U.S. academics. 
B)  has yet to be recognized by the American Anthropological Association. 
C)  encompasses any use of the knowledge and/or techniques of its four subfields to identify, assess, and solve practical problems. 
D)  focuses on preparing emerging academic scholars to improve their grant application skills. 
E)  is a European phenomenon. 
A)  originated at the same time that anthropology's four-field approach became established among early twentieth-century U.S. academics. 
B)  has yet to be recognized by the American Anthropological Association. 
C)  encompasses any use of the knowledge and/or techniques of its four subfields to identify, assess, and solve practical problems. 
D)  focuses on preparing emerging academic scholars to improve their grant application skills. 
E)  is a European phenomenon.

Question 17

This chapter considers differences and similarities between anthropology and other academic fields such as sociology and psychology. What about history?

Accepted Answer

Anthropology, sociology, psychology, and

Question 18

Although science relies on the use of unbiased methods, complete objectivity is impossible. There is always an observer bias.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 19

What does holism refer to? Why is the concept central to anthropology? How does this concept relate to the "four-field" approach within the discipline? Have you encountered this concept in any other of your classes?

Accepted Answer

Holism refers to the idea that all the p

Question 20

Archaeologists study only prehistoric communities.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Exam 1: What Is Anthropology

Anthropologists study only non-Western cultures.

Adaptation refers to the processes by which organisms cope with environmental forces and stresses, such as those posed by climate and topography.

Applied anthropology encompasses any use of the knowledge and/or techniques its four subfields to identify, assess, and solve theoretical problems.

In science, what is the relationship among explanations, associations, and theories?

Anthropology may improve psychological studies of human behavior by contributing

Theories must be proved correct before they can be accepted.

Culture is not itself biological but rests on certain features of human biology.

This chapter provides an example of human adaptation to high altitude to illustrate the various forms of cultural and biological adaptation. Can you think of another example that illustrates the broad capacity of humans to adapt both biologically and culturally?

As humans organize their lives and adapt to different environments, our abilities to learn, think symbolically, use language, and employ tools and other products

According to this chapter's "Focus on Globalization," American baseball appears to be more ethnically diverse than American football or basketball.

Based on his observations that contact between neighboring tribes had existed since humanity's beginnings and covered enormous areas, Franz Boas argued

What is culture? How do anthropologists define and study culture?

Which of the following statements about theories is NOT true?

Applied anthropology

This chapter considers differences and similarities between anthropology and other academic fields such as sociology and psychology. What about history?

Although science relies on the use of unbiased methods, complete objectivity is impossible. There is always an observer bias.

What does holism refer to? Why is the concept central to anthropology? How does this concept relate to the "four-field" approach within the discipline? Have you encountered this concept in any other of your classes?

Archaeologists study only prehistoric communities.

Culture

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