Chapter 3 Cultural Evolution Flashcards

Question

What are some features in places with more climatic stability?

Answer 1

Value tradition more Are more likely to maintain polygamy (multiple female partners) as a marriage practice Are more likely to maintain cousin marriage as a marriage practice Are more likely to speak indigenous languages among First Nations in Canada.

Answer 2

Pluralistic ignorance: the tendency for people to collectively misinterpret the thoughts that underlie the behavior of others.人们会根据他人的行为来错误地判断他们的想法。 Because people often act in ways that are different than what they privately think, others incorrectly judge their thoughts. 由于人们的行为往往与他们私下的想法不同，因此他人会错误地判断他们的想法 we infer other’s thinking by their actions (which might not accurately represent their thoughts) People strive to act in ways to fit in with their incorrect beliefs about what they think others value and can thus perpetuate the culture. 人们会努力使自己的行为符合他们错误的想法，即他们认为别人重视什么，从而使文化得以延续 Even people’s private attitudes are changing, people are not aware, so this cultural norm continues to persist we get this whenever people are motivated to hide their true thoughts 因为羞于表达所以从众从而导致助长错误观念最终形成culture presistence，随波逐流

Answer 3

1. Binge drinking on university campus people say that they themselves think there are a lot of binge drinking on campus and it's not good whereas they think their peers support binge drinking People think and act differently and lead cultures to persist 2. 禁酒令被接受了因为很少人愿意公开主张，但是名义调查后发现很多人反对，然后pluralistic ignorance就消除了 3. In totalitarian governments 极权主义政府 publicly expressing certain opinions is risky e.g. Nazi Germany, people felt safer to go with the fascist crowd than to risk speaking publicly against the growing horrors

Answer 4

1. Proximate cause: those that have a direct and immediate relationship with their effects. - Thousands of years of writing history and oceangoing ships, horses, and swords in Spain - Also in the Incas, there was a smallpox epidemic spread by Spanish soldier, which made the population sick 2. Distal causes: those initial differences that lead to effects over long time periods, often through indirect relationships. - This is why Spaniards have written histories and technologies, and 天花不会杀死西班牙军人 - Because the fertile crescent in the middle eat was suitable for domestication, animals, and agriculture. Provided the basis for the development of Western agriculture - The domesticated species quickly spread both east and west because many populated areas had a similar latitude and climate to the Fertile Crescent - Agricultural developments by the Mayas in Mexico were unlikely to reach the Incas in Peru because the regions are far apart in terms of latitude and climate Influence Adopt a sedentary lifestyle （农业过剩导致人们去花时间建造工具） better agriculture → surplus of food → focus on specialized workforce → improved tool making The domestication of various animal species Result disease from animal to human → Dense populations led to the development of many diseases over the centuries in Eurasia → survivors ultimately developed resistances → but American cannot resist these diseases 因为动物很多，导致疾病传染和繁殖，后代产生了抗体，但是incus人没有

Answer 5

Definition：All people, regardless of where they are from, have a biologically based repertoire of behaviours that are accessible to them, and these behaviours are engaged for appropriate situations所有人，无论来自哪里，都有一套基于生物学的行为方式，在适当的情况下，他们可以使用这些行为方式 E.g. cross-cultural variation in habits of conformity Some people are more motivated to conform to social norm, why? - environments where people face greater risks of being infected by pathogens → more conformity and cultural traditions - people think it can minimize being affected - When one moves to a new environment, new behavioural responses should be evoked

Answer 6

People come to certain cultural practices through social learning, or by modelling the behaviour of others who live near them. Begins in a partial area, but does not necessarily stay bound to a particular location. And can travel with people when they move to new environments. The same geographic location can also result in quite different cultural practices

Answer 7

No clear-cut between evoked and transmitted culture. If a behavioural pattern becomes the norm, it will be learned by others and then transmitted to future generations, even if context no longer exists

Answer 8

South Sudan which has 2 types of culture, Dinka and the Nuer. despite their same environment, technology, similar crops and ancestors, they have different cultures Nuer 杀牛， Dinka喝牛奶 Nuer比Dinka更强，嫁妆给的更多

Answer 9

Transmitted culture tends to be of more importance than evoked culture e.g. 一群探险队在英国的一个寒冷的岛上搁浅，但因为缺乏在这种环境生存的文化知识cultural knowledge，即使他们有再多的装备也不足以支撑他们活下去如果evoked的话，那理论上她们应该学会的威廉王岛上生存的关键在于如何在恶劣的环境中生存和生存的累积文化观念。这些基本思想只能通过传播文化才能获得

Answer 10

Some ideas are more likely to attract followers than others → becoming more common in subsequent generations → Cultural evolution of norms 比如table manner become 更加普遍（就像快的羚羊），有些陋习被淘汰，不被保留和共享 “selection” for cultural evolution is not tied to genes.

Answer 11

1. Copying errors Biological evolution → rare and emerge randomly 生物进化会基因不出错给下一代，(faithful) Culture evolution → more common + intentional innovations that are planned (not randomly mutated) 2. Spreading speed the evolution of genes is an enormously slow and gradual process that occurs across many generations 基因只能父母一代一代穿下来，但是文化可以瞬间给很多人 Cultural evolution can be transmitted to many people in an instant (horizontal) people can elaborate on, change, and extend the cultural ideas quickly as they learn them 3. Adaption cultural ideas do not have to be adaptive in order to become common（Fore engage in ritualized cannibalism, this idea catches despite it is not adaptive) cultural evolution occurs in terms that are independent of the processes of biological evolution

Answer 12

1. We are more likely to use words that are easier to remember → These ideas /words will be more common e.g. sensory metaphor, cold personality. gives us memory advantage, is more common, and remembers better 2. Some ideas are more likely to be communicated than others some concepts are hard to summarize, and some are undesirable to express

Answer 13

Individuals influence each other through interacting, ultimately leading to clusters of like-minded people who are separated by geography—cultures Norms develop among those who communicate with each other regularly.

Answer 14

Stereotypes reflect shared ideas in particular cultural contexts about some specific cultural groups 美国人认为爱尔兰人是肥胖酗酒的猴子 in the 19th century, but this doesn't exist anymore The content of stereotypes are greatly influenced by the type of information people were inclined to communicate. Studies show: - Among common ethnic groups in Vancouver, people said the trait words that are commonly used to communicate information with others - Among less common ethnic groups, no correlation between the communicability of traits and the likelihood that they were characteristic of stereotypes Culturally shared stereotypes tend to be based on the kinds of traits, and groups, people are probably talking about

Answer 15

1. Increasing financial and time pressures (teo-career family) less time to social 2. Increasing suburbanization of America people spending more time in their cars and at home and therefore less likely to run into friends and neighbours during the day 3. Electronic entertainment (biggest cause) especially TV leads people to isolate themselves and behave passively Children → more likely to turn the TV on even if there’s nothing they have in mind to watch Adults → watch TV only when there’s a particular show they want to see. 4. Increased SES of the country more rich, educated, professional careers More secular less likely to affiliate with organized religion 5. Less rates of infectious diseases infection disease require social collectivist norms

Answer 16

1. IQ is a proxy for health (not a strong argument) as nutrition has improved around the world, so has intelligence 营养改善发展出好的头脑和智力 2. The world is becoming a far more complex place than it used to be, and navigating it successfully requires much learning and practice with demanding problem-solving tasks, which ultimately influences one’s intelligence世界变得更复杂了 - Education succeeding in it higher education degree more people get educated (esp women) - pop culture become progressively more complex and challenging. e.g., movies and video games 电视剧情烧脑，游戏操作也更加复杂娱乐的复杂性让我们变得更聪明

Answer 17

Early cultural structures has strong influence on culture occur later Each build on each other, not emerge in a vacuum e.g. the northern Italian towns that had more of these egalitarian institutions 800 years ago have more social capital, and average income, today Particular prejudices can persist in certain regions across centuries, too e.g. think Jewish cause the bubonic plague（流行性淋巴腺鼠疫也叫黑死病） in Europe sand lead to massacre in 14th century, 6 century later, this prejudice persist

Answer 18

- Example of Boston： Early conditions Puritanism emphasized respect for authority and the importance of applying one’s wealth and social position to community goals. Later culture Harvard was originally built on a liberal arts curriculum, emphasized public service, and received tremendous community and financial support. - But in Philadelphia （宾夕法尼亚州费城）: Early Conditions More educated intellectual puritans, more emphasis on pragmatic concerns, individual equality, and tolerance Later culture University of Pennsylvania emphasized a more utilitarian curriculum, with medical, business, and engineering schools dominating. Less public service and political leader graduates The first settler of a region can have profound impact on that region’s culture centuries later.

Answer 19

about social norm test autokinetic effect 第一个报告者是confederate, he will先报告一个远高于实际移动距离的数字 (16 inch, 实际上是3.8 inch），然后其他参与者会遵循实验者报告的16 inch的标准，之后每轮参与者报告完之后都会离开一个人并加一个新的参与者（representing new generation） The confederate influenced 5 generations but在11轮之后，人们仍然会认为光线比实际的移动的更远证明initial culture随着时间褪弱

Answer 20

d. Culture has not been changing—collectivistic cultures have, overall, remained just as collectivistic as they were decades ago

Chapter 3 Cultural Evolution Flashcards

(44 cards)