Deck 1: What Is Anthropology 

Question 1

Anthropologists' early interest in Native North Americans

A) was more important than interest in the relation between biology and culture in the development of U.S. four-field anthropology.
B) is unique to European anthropology.
C) is an important historical reason for the development of four-field anthropology in the U.S.
D) proved early on that culture is a function of race.
E) was replaced in the 1930s by the two-field approach.

Answer 1

is an important historical reason for the development of four-field anthropology in the U.S.

Question 2

A holistic and comparative perspective

A) is the hallmark of all social sciences, not just anthropology.
B) refers only to the cultural aspects of human diversity that anthropologists study.
C) most characterizes anthropology when compared to other disciplines that study humans.
D) makes general anthropology superior to sociocultural anthropology.
E) makes anthropology an interesting field of study, but too broad of one to apply to the real problems people face today.

Answer 2

most characterizes anthropology when compared to other disciplines that study humans.

Question 3

What is anthropology?

A) the art of ethnography
B) the study of the stages of social evolution
C) the study of long-term physiological adaptation
D) the humanistic investigation of myths in nonindustrial societies
E) the study of humans around the world and through time

Answer 3

the study of humans around the world and through time

Question 4

Today's global economy and communications link all contemporary people, directly or indirectly, in the modern world system. People must now cope with forces generated by progressively larger systems-the region, the nation, and the world. For anthropologists studying contemporary forms of adaptation, why might this be a challenge?

A) A more dynamic world system, with greater and faster movements of people across space, speeds up the process of evolution, making the study of genetic adaptations more difficult.
B) Truly isolated indigenous communities, anthropology's traditional and ongoing study focus, are becoming harder to find.
C) Since cultures are tied to place, people moving around and connecting across space means the end of culture, and thus the end of anthropology.
D) According to Marcus and Fischer (1986), "The cultures of world peoples need to be constantly rediscovered as these people reinvent them in changing historical circumstances."
E) Anthropological research tools do not work in this new modern world system, making their contributions less valuable.

Question 5

What is the process by which children learn a particular cultural tradition?

A) ethnography
B) biological adaptation
C) enculturation
D) acculturation
E) ethnology

Question 6

This chapter's description of how humans cope with low oxygen pressure in high altitudes illustrates

A) the need for anthropologists to pay more attention to human adaptation in extreme environments.
B) how biological adaptations are effective only when they are genetic.
C) how in matters of life or death, biology is ultimately more important than culture.
D) how human plasticity has decreased ever since we embraced a sedentary lifestyle some 10,000 years ago.
E) human capacities for cultural and biological adaptation, the latter involving both genetic and physiological adaptations.

Question 7

The presence of more efficient respiratory systems to extract oxygen from the air among human populations living at high elevations is an example of which form of adaptation?

A) cultural adaptation
B) short-term physiological adaptation
C) long-term physiological adaptation
D) genetic adaptation
E) symbolic adaptation

Question 8

Cultural anthropologists carry out their fieldwork in

A) the third world.
B) factories.
C) former colonies.
D) the tropics.
E) all kinds of societies.

Question 9

Which of the following statements about culture is FALSE?

A) Culture guides the beliefs and behavior of the people exposed to it.
B) Culture is passed on genetically to future generations.
C) Culture is a key aspect of human adaptability and success.
D) Cultural forces consistently mold and shape human biology and behavior.
E) Culture is passed on from generation to generation.

Question 10

What component of cultural anthropology is comparative and focused on building upon our understanding of how cultural systems work?

A) data collection
B) ethnology
C) fieldwork
D) data entry
E) ethnography

Question 11

Archaeologists studying sunken ships off the coast of Florida and analyzing the content of modern garbage are examples of how

A) Hollywood has popularized archaeology in recent movies, making it a popular college major.
B) archaeology is free from having to worry about the impact of its work on people.
C) archaeology is going through an identity crisis, with its practitioners questioning the discipline's focus on studying prehistory.
D) archaeologists study the culture of historical and even living peoples.
E) training in the use of research skills for extreme environments-such as landfills and the deep sea-are worth the time, resources, and risk for the sake of the anthropological knowledge gained.

Question 12

How are the four subfields of U.S. anthropology unified?

A) Each subfield studies human genetic variation through time and space.
B) The subfields are really not unified; their grouping into one discipline is a historical accident.
C) Each subfield studies the human capacity for language.
D) Each subfield studies human variation through time and space.
E) Each subfield studies human biological variability.

Question 13

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

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

Question 14

Which of the following perspectives emphasizes how cultural forces constantly mold human biology?

A) psychological anthropological perspective
B) holistic perspective
C) cultural genetics perspective
D) biocultural perspective
E) scientific-humanistic perspective

Question 15

What are the four subdisciplines of anthropology?

A) archaeology, biological anthropology, applied linguistics, and applied anthropology
B) medical anthropology, ethnography, ethnology, and cultural anthropology
C) primatology, ethnology, cultural anthropology, and paleoscatology
D) biological anthropology, linguistic anthropology, cultural anthropology, and archaeology
E) genetic anthropology, physical anthropology, psychological anthropology, and anthropology and linguistics

Question 16

Ethnography is the

A) generalizing aspect of cultural anthropology.
B) cross-cultural comparative component of cultural anthropology.
C) preliminary data that sociologists use to develop survey research.
D) fieldwork component of cultural anthropology.
E) study of biological adaptability.

Question 17

Over time, humans have become increasingly dependent on which of the following in order to cope with the range of environments they have occupied in time and space?

A) a holistic and comparative approach to problem solving
B) social institutions, such as the state, that coordinate collective action
C) technological means of adaptation, such as the creation of virtual worlds that allow us to escape from day-to-day reality
D) biological means of adaptation, mostly thanks to advanced medical research
E) cultural means of adaptation

Question 18

Which of the following best describes biological anthropology?

A) the study of human biological diversity
B) the study of public health
C) the study of biology through material remains
D) the study of language and linguistic diversity
E) the study of biological and cultural approaches to a given problem

Question 19

Based on Franz Boas's observation that contact between neighboring tribes has existed since humanity's beginnings and covered enormous areas, it can be argued that

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

Question 20

What is one of the most fundamental key assumptions that anthropologists share?

A) We can draw conclusions about human nature by studying a single society.
B) There are no universals, so cross-cultural research is bound to fail.
C) Anthropologists cannot agree on what anthropology is, much less share key assumptions.
D) A degree in philosophy is the best way to produce good ethnographies.
E) A comparative, cross-cultural approach is essential to study the human condition.

Question 21

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

Question 22

As an academic discipline, anthropology has links to both the social sciences and the humanities.

Question 23

Anthropologists study only non-Western cultures.

Question 24

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

Question 25

The differences between sociology and cultural anthropology are becoming increasingly distinct.

Question 26

Ethnomusicology is one of the four main subfields of anthropology.

Question 27

Anthropologists agree that a comparative, cross-cultural approach is unnecessary as long as researchers are diligent in their work.

Question 28

Applied anthropology

A) encompasses any use of the knowledge and/or techniques of its four subfields to identify, assess, and solve practical problems.
B) is a European phenomenon.
C) has yet to be recognized by the American Anthropological Association.
D) focuses on preparing emerging academic scholars to improve their grant application skills.
E) originated at the same time that anthropology's four-field approach became established among early 20th-century U.S. academics.

Question 29

Biological anthropologists study only human bones.

Question 30

Humans can adapt to their surroundings through both biological and cultural means.

Question 31

Primatology is a specialty within

A) applied anthropology.
B) cultural anthropology.
C) biological anthropology.
D) anthropological archaeology.
E) linguistic anthropology.

Question 32

Archaeologists study only prehistoric communities.

Question 33

Linguistic anthropology

A) includes cultural anthropology and paleoecology.
B) relies heavily on the methods of phrenology.
C) is a research strategy of biological anthropologists studying the emergence of language among nonhuman primates.
D) has securely dated the origin of hominid language.
E) includes sociolinguistics, historical linguistics, and linguistic variation.

Question 34

Archaeologists may infer cultural transformations by observing changes in the size and type of sites and the distance between them.

Question 35

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

Question 36

Ethnography involves the collection of data used to create an account of a particular community, society, or culture.

Question 37

Anthropological archaeology reconstructs, describes, and interprets human behavior and cultural patterns through anecdotal records passed through the generations.

Question 38

Anthropology is a science, yet it has been suggested that anthropology is among the most humanistic of all academic fields. This is because

A) it puts so much emphasis on the study of culture that cannot be studied scientifically.
B) the field, particularly in the United States, traces its origins to philosophy and literature.
C) its main object of study is humans.
D) its findings are best expressed with the tools of the humanities.
E) of its fundamental respect for human diversity.

Question 39

During a massive construction project, a city came across a treasure trove of archeological sites under its streets. It decided to call in an expert to help decide what needed to be saved and how to preserve information about what was not saved. This expert's role is best described as

A) biological anthropology.
B) sociological anthropology.
C) historic preservation.
D) cultural resource management.
E) sociolinguistics.

Question 40

The American Anthropological Association has formally acknowledged a public service role by recognizing that anthropology has which two dimensions?

A) ethnology and public ethnography
B) academic anthropology and applied anthropology
C) cultural resource management and medical anthropology
D) private anthropology and public anthropology
E) applied anthropology and practicing anthropology

Question 41

The forces of globalization and industrial production link all contemporary people, directly or indirectly, in the modern world system.