Deck 9: Public Spaces, Self, and Cognitive Evolution in Early States

Question 1

The division of society into classes in early states shows that:

A) with better technology there is more leisure time for all social classes
B) the gap between groups is less because there is more wealth available than in tribal societies
C) there is less disease because there is better medical care
D) a, b, and c
E) none of the above

Answer 1

E

Question 2

The status of women in agricultural states:

A) was better than in tribal societies because there was more surplus produced
B) was better than in industrial capitalist societies because women controlled the domestic household
C) was better than in tribal societies because there was a more reliable source of food
D) was the worst of all societies
E) none of the above

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The existence of goddesses in Mesopotamia showed that:

A) there was once a matriarchy
B) goddesses were reflections of the work women did in Mesopotamia
C) women in Mesopotamia had more power than they did under monotheism
D) none of the above

Answer 3

B

Question 4

In ancient cities compared to modern cities there was:

A) a richer street life
B) the commercial sector of the city was smaller
C) there were no newspapers or magazines
D) there were no zoning laws
E) a, b, c, d
F) none of the above

Question 5

Compared to the United States upper classes, the upper classes in ancient cities:

A) were more discreet in their clothing
B) were less hung up about language pronunciation
C) were more segregated in housing from the lower classes
D) a, b, c
E) none of the above

Question 6

The socio-historical school of Vygotsky argues that forms of abstraction are:

A) private mental processes which everyone learns as they mature
B) are social processes in origin and destiny
C) forms of reasoning any primate can do
D) require the presence of a discipline in philosophy in order to exist
E) none of the above

Question 7

Tallies used in hunter-gather societies were forms of abstraction because:

A) the marks on the material were abstracted from the material being counted
B) recording the information on a bone separates the information from a particular knower and makes it objective
C) the information could be used by others that were not in the immediate location
D) a, b, c
E) none of the above

Question 8

Tokens are more complex than tallies because:

A) Clay can be fired and marked over
B) Tallies are part of a system of notations, tokens are not
C) Tallies can relate quantitative and qualitative information, tokens cannot
D) a, b and c
E) none of the above

Question 9

Unlike simple tokens, complex tokens were:

A) stored in envelopes
B) passed on hand-to-hand
C) represented animals and cereals
D) smooth
E) none of the above

Question 10

In concrete counting:

A) numbers are inseparable from objects
B) there is no algebra
C) there is no trigonometry
D) there is no calculus
E) a, b, c and d
F) none of above

Question 11

The social implications of Schmandt-Bessaret's work is that the economics of abstract counting is the foundation for:

A) monotheism
B) writing systems
C) both a and b
D) none of the above

Question 12

Using coined money with fixed prices on commodities requires:

A) that coins are mediators which stands for equivalences, and are not used as commodities themselves
B) invisible social relations stand behind the coins
C) the price of the commodities is independent of the status of the buyer or seller
D) a, b, and c
E) none of the above

Question 13

To imagine that a spiritual presence is no longer in particular haunts, but is everywhere requires:

A) a division of society into mental and manual workers
B) mental workers who supervise and plan social functions
C) the alphabet
D) a, b and c
E) none of the above

Question 14

According to Eric Havelock the origin of the pageantry and the theatrics of storytelling, including singing, dancing and costume making shows

A) how right-brained people in pre-state societies were
B) how prestate people were less alienated from their creativity
C) tribal people's attempt to provide a vivid experience to help transmit culture
D) how tribal people were more superstitious about spirituality
E) none of the above

Question 15

The invention of the alphabet:

A) increased communication between strangers
B) undermined kin group relations
C) led people to think more about the thinking process
D) led to a marginalizing of storytelling
E) a, b, c, and d
F) none of the above

Question 16

The type of societies that would most likely to have a need to invent the alphabet are:

A) hunter-gatherers
B) horticultural societies
C) agricultural states
D) maritime states
E) none of the above

Question 17

Which of the following inventions supported women?

A) using complex tokens
B) using hieroglyphics
C) using the alphabet
D) using coined money
E) a, b, c, and d
F) none of the above

Question 18

People in early states were all vertical collectivists.

Question 19

The autocratic nature of early states is shown by the control kings had over the behavior of peasants in hinterland regions.

Question 20

Compared to first order abstraction, second order abstraction has less time-place displacement.

Question 21

In hunting and gathering societies foragers had no coined money and so they bartered with other members of their society.

Question 22

In order for second order abstraction to emerge there needs to be a writing or a numbering system that is external to the human mind.

Question 23

Complex tokens were circulated as a means of currency among the general population in Mesopotamia.

Question 24

It was the impressed tablet that led to writing.

Question 25

Writing systems developed when the temple managers realized they did not have to break open the envelopes in order to count them. They could mark them on the outside and dispense completely with the tokens inside the envelope.

Question 26

According to the socio-historical school of psychology the philosophical and epistemological disciplines in society cannot develop without writing systems as a foundation.

Question 27

Give an example of when, as a little boy or little girl, you went through all three of Vygotsky's learning stages: local interpersonal; internalization; and global interpersonal:

A) Describe what you were trying to learn and how old you were.
B) Name the roles of the people involved and the materials and tools utilized
C) Describe how each stage played out.

Question 28

The socio-historical school of psychology says that the emergence of monotheism has a great deal to do with the alphabet, coined money and the emergence of social classes. Describe how these three technological and socio-economic processes might have led to the emergence of monotheism.

Question 29

Make a table that compares hieroglyphics to the alphabet and includes categories of

A) length of time it takes to learn
B) accessibility across classes
C) the quantity of the information provided
D) degree of inter-social communication made possible

Question 30

In the section on "theoretical implications" in Chapter 9 there is a description of how Vygotsky's three stages of learning (local interpersonal, internalization and global interpersonal) might be applied across generations as a merchant first learned new tools on the job; transmitted these skills to his son and how the son in turn applied these skills to a new social-historical setting. Please see Figure 9.5 in Chapter 9 to guide you through this. Your job is to apply Vygotsky's three stages of learning to the same three historical periods (Late Neolithic, Early Bronze and Late Bronze Age) but do it with a different occupation. It could be either an artisan or a peasant.

Question 31

Compare the pros and cons of oral storytelling to the alphabet as information transmission systems. Include:
Memory storage
Scope of communication beyond the host culture
Abstract thinking
Power of myths
Power of artistic imagination
Persuasive power to manipulate