Exam 1 Vocab

Question 1

Field that uses excavation of sites and analysis of material remains to investigate cultures that existed before the development of writing.

Answer 1

Prehistoric Archaeology

Question 2

Historic Archaeology

Answer 2

Field that investigates the past of literate peoples through excavation of sites and analysis of artifacts and
other material remains.

Question 3

Human Variation

Answer 3

Physical differences
among human populations; an interest of physical anthropologists.

Question 4

Paleoanthroplogy

Answer 4

The specialization of
physical anthropology that investigates the
biological evolution of the human species.

Question 5

Ethnocentrism

Answer 5

The attitude or opinion that the morals, values, and customs of one’s own culture are superior to those of other peoples.

Question 6

Fieldwork

Answer 6

Ethnographic research that involves observing and interviewing the
members of a culture to describe their current
way of life.

Question 7

Ethnography

Answer 7

A written description of the way of life of some human population.

Question 8

Holistic prespective

Answer 8

The assumption that
any aspect of a culture is integrated with other aspects, so that no dimension of culture can be understood in isolation

Question 9

Comparative Perspective

Answer 9

The insistence by
anthropologists that valid hypotheses and
theories about humanity be tested with information from a wide range of cultures.

Question 10

Cultural Relativism

Answer 10

The notion that one
should not judge the behavior of other peoples using the standards of one’s own
culture.

Question 11

Biological Determinism

Answer 11

The idea that biologically (genetically) inherited differences between populations are important influences on cultural differences between
them.

Question 12

Cultural Determinism

Answer 12

The notion that the
beliefs and behaviors of individuals are largely programmed by their culture.

Question 13

Encultruation

Answer 13

The transmission (by means of social learning) of cultural
knowledge to the next generation.

Question 14

Norms

Answer 14

Shared ideals and/or expectations about how certain people ought to act in given situations.

Question 15

Patterns of Behavior

Answer 15

Within a single culture,
the behavior most people perform when they are in certain culturally defined situations.

Question 16

Roles

Answer 16

Rights and duties that individuals assume
because of their perceived personal identity or membership in a social group. Also, the social and/or economic position a field researcher defines for him- or herself in the community studied

Question 17

Subculture

Answer 17

Cultural differences characteristic of members of various ethnic groups, regions,
religions, and so forth within a single society
or country

Question 18

Symbols

Answer 18

Objects, behaviors, sound combinations, and other phenomena whose culturally
defined meanings have no necessary relationship to their inherent physical qualities.

Question 19

Values

Answer 19

Shared ideas or standards about the
worthwhileness of goals and lifestyles.

Question 20

Classifications of reality

Answer 20

Ways in which
the members of a culture divide up the natural and social world into categories, usually linguistically encoded.

Question 21

Worldview

Answer 21

The way people interpret reality and events, including how they see themselves relating to the world around them.

Question 22

Grammar

Answer 22

Total system of linguistic knowledge that allows the speakers of a
language to send meaningful messages that hearers can understand.

Question 23

Tone Languages

Answer 23

Languages in which changing voice pitch within a word alters the entire meaning of the word

Question 24

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

Answer 24

The idea that language profoundly shapes the perceptions and worldview of its speakers.

Question 25

Sociolinguistics

Answer 25

Specialty within cultural anthropology that studies how language is related to culture and the social uses of speech.

Question 26

Neo-Evolutionism

Answer 26

“New evolutionism,” or the mid-twentieth-century rebirth of evolutionary approaches to the theoretical study of culture

Question 27

Humanistic Approach

Answer 27

Theoretical orientation that rejects attempts to explain culture in general in favor of achieving an empathetic understanding of particular cultures

Question 28

Ethnohistoric Research

Answer 28

The study of past cultures using written accounts and other documents

Question 29

Evolutionary Psychology

Answer 29

Scientific approach emphasizing that humans are animals and so are subject to similar evolutionary forces as other animals; associated with the hypothesis that behavior patterns enhance inclusive fitness.

Question 30

Configurationalism

Answer 30

Theoretical idea that each culture historically develops its own unique thematic patterns around which beliefs, values, and behaviors are oriented.

Question 31

Ethnology

Answer 31

The study of human cultures from a comparative perspective; often used as a synonym for cultural anthropology.

Question 32

Recall Enthnography

Answer 32

The attempt to reconstruct a cultural system at a slightly earlier period by interviewing older individuals who lived during that period.

Question 33

Culture Shock

Answer 33

The feeling of uncertainty and anxiety an individual experiences when placed in a strange cultural setting.