Cultural Anthropology
What is a Rite of Passage?
A ceremony, ritual or event that signifies an individual transitioning from one life stage to another.
Who suggested the theory of universal grammar?
Noam Chomsky
Define physical anthropology. (What does it study/look at)
Evolution of the human species/body, what makes humans unique
List 5 common Rites of Passage.
Potential answers: baptism, communion and confirmation, sweet sixteen, going on a first date, getting married, graduating, getting a driver's license, moving out of parental home, having children
What are the 4 principles of culture?
Culture is...learned, shared, adaptive, patterns
What does the initial universal grammar theory suggest about how we learn language?
States that all children have an inherent ability to understand linguistic grammar in their mother tongue, no matter what their background is.
According to the Evolutionary Process theory, traits are passed down to future generations for what purpose? (2)
Survival and reproduction.
Where did tattoos originate from?
Samoan culture in Polynesia.
Define ethnocentrism and provide an example.
The belief that one's cultural is correct and superior to another. Examples: thinking you don't have an accent, expecting others to speak English, judging other countries' diets/traditions
What theory do most linguists believe is correct regarding how children learn language?
Through repetition and imitating parents/the environment around them.
List 3 examples of recessive genes.
light hair, light eyes, no dimples, straight hairline, straight thumb, attached earlobes
What are the 2 ways to obtain culture? Briefly explain both.
Enculturation (gradual acquisition of the characteristics and norms of a culture or group) and acculturation ( assimilation to a different culture, typically the dominant one).
What was the progression of evolution that occurred in cultures that Lewis Henry Morgan proposed? (hint: he believed private property was the key)
savagery --> barbarism --> civilization
What are the 3 categories of linguistic anthropology?
Historical, Structural, Sociolinguistic.
Provide 2 characteristics that makes humans different/unique from chimpanzees.
we are bipedal, longest infant dependency, spoken and body language, live and mate in pairs, develop complex ideas (e.g. classification of living things)
What was Jane Goodall's breakthrough discovery with chimpanzees?
The use of tools.
What were the 2 problems with studying culture/cultural anthropology?
Us vs. Them mentality; "The West Knows Best"
Provide one example suggested by Lere Boroditsky in her TED Talk, regarding how language shapes the way we think/how we behave.
Use of cardinal directions (N,E,S,W); gendered languages; movement of time; colours
Correctly spell the longest-lived and best-known early human species that was found in East Africa by paleontologists in the 1970s.
Australopithecus afarensis.
Explain the natural selection process using the example of mice.
If the environment is a similar colour to mice's fur, they are more likely to survive/reproduce with that specific colour.