Chpt. 3 Sect. 1

Question 1

What is culture?

Answer 1

The symbols, language, norms, beliefs, values, and artifacts (material objects) that are part of a society

Question 2

When does the profound impact of culture become most evident?

Answer 2

When we examine behaviors or conditions that (like kissing) are normally considered biological in nature

Question 3

Explain couvade

Answer 3

Ex:
-men becoming fathers are nauseous during their wives’ pregnancy, experience labor pains etc
They do not have any known biological origin, but they still feel these symptoms because they learned from their culture that they should feel these symptoms, so they actually do

Question 4

What did William I. and Dorothy Swaine Thomas point out on 1928?

Answer 4

If things are perceived as real, then they are real in their consequences

Question 5

Culture influences __________?

Answer 5

The type of effects that occur when we

• drink alcohol
• smoke
• kiss
• human behavior

Question 6

Define and describe sociobiology.

Answer 6

• has been roundly criticized and just as staunchly defended
• respected scholars continue to debate its premises
• several important human behaviors and emotions (competition, aggression, altruism) stem from our biological makeup

Question 7

How does biology influences our behavior?

Answer 7

• most sociologists and anthropologists would probably say that culture affects behavior more than biology does
• many biologists and psychologists would give much more weight to biology, advocating a sociobiology view

Question 8

Why do sociologists generally favor culture over biology?

Answer 8

1. Many behaviors differ dramatically among societies in ways that show the strong impact of culture
2. Biology cannot easily account for why groups and locations differ in their rates of committing certain behaviors

Question 9

What do sociologists warn of certain implications of biological explanations?

Answer 9

1. These explanations implicitly support the status quo. Because it is difficult to change biology, and problem with biological causes cannot be easily fixed
2. Perceived biological differences were used to justify forced sterilization and mass violence, including genocide, against certain groups

Question 10

What do some scholars fear?

Answer 10

That doke biological explanations of human behavior might still be used to support views of biological inferiority