Deck 3: Methods for Studying Culture and Psychology

Question 1

Which of the following depicts an evoked culture?

A) A culture promotes harmony with the environment to appease the gods.
B) People in a village surrounded by water in the West Indies are terrified of dark ocean water because darkness evokes physiological arousal.
C) Tribe members learn from recent fatalities not to eat red salamanders.
D) A culture uses the possession of meat as a status symbol due to the universal desire to consume meat.
E) The media reports that it is cowardly to fight wearing helmets, evoking a change in boxers' desire to wear helmets.

Answer 1

People in a village surrounded by water in the West Indies are terrified of dark ocean water because darkness evokes physiological arousal.

Question 2

Which of the following correctly compares cultural evolution and biological evolution?

A) Cultural evolution tends to occur more slowly than biological evolution.
B) Biological evolution chooses what trait has a selective advantage to pass on; cultural evolution does not.
C) Cultural evolution allows for ideas to be transmitted even when they are not adaptive.
D) Cultural evolution is more faithful in transmission than biological evolution.
E) Cultural evolution allows for fewer ways of transmission than biological evolution.

Answer 2

Cultural evolution allows for ideas to be transmitted even when they are not adaptive.

Question 3

Imagine a young woman named Jaymie who believes she should eat only red foods.Which of the following would be the best evidence that Jaymie's belief is a result of cultural evolution, not biological evolution?

A) Empirical evidence shows that red foods are more nutritious than foods of other colors.
B) Jaymie has a predisposition to eat red foods and prefers them even though her friends eat yellow foods.
C) Jaymie first heard about red foods being nutritious when she was 3 years old, but she did not believe red foods were the most nutritious until she was 80 and had children and grandchildren of her own.
D) Jaymie overheard some of her peers saying that red foods are the most nutritious, but her family members, including her grandparents and great-grandparents, who are no longer alive, have always believed that yellow foods are the most nutritious.
E) People who eat only red foods are more likely to have surviving offspring compared to people who eat foods of many different colors.

Answer 3

Jaymie overheard some of her peers saying that red foods are the most nutritious, but her family members, including her grandparents and great-grandparents, who are no longer alive, have always believed that yellow foods are the most nutritious.

Question 4

East Asia is at a latitude that allows for the easy domestication of plants and animals, and having these conditions in early times propelled East Asian cultures to prosperity today.This scenario is an example of

A) proximate causes.
B) transmitted culture.
C) distal causes.
D) evoked culture.
E) epidemiology of ideas.

Question 5

In biological evolution, the unit of transmission is a gene.In cultural evolution, the unit of transmission is an idea.When comparing biological and cultural evolution, which of the following is FALSE?

A) The unit of transmission is copied with a high degree of fidelity in one type of evolution, but not the other.
B) The unit of transmission in both types of evolution enjoys a selective advantage.
C) In only one type of evolution can its unit of transmission be transmitted horizontally.
D) Mutations are more common in one type of evolution than the other.
E) The unit of transmission for both types of evolution must be adaptive to be transmitted.

Question 6

Takeshi discovers a lot of tips and tricks to give him an easier time playing his favorite computer game, which he proceeds to show all his gaming buddies.Which of the following does this best illustrate?

A) pluralistic ignorance
B) that emotional ideas spread more easily
C) horizontal transmission
D) the autokinetic effect
E) vertical transmission

Question 7

The examples of native Hawaiians having no large indigenous mammals in Hawaii and of the !Kung being surrounded by large animals in the Kalahari Desert are given in the textbook to illustrate which of the following?

A) The presence of large animals is related to cultural persistence.
B) The presence of large animals is related to rapid cultural change.
C) The presence of large animals is associated with increases in aggression.
D) The presence of large animals affects cultural traditions for foraging.
E) The presence of large animals predict greater gender inequality.

Question 8

The considerable cultural differences between the large Nuer tribes and the smaller, less powerful Dinka tribes of southern Sudan indicates that

A) the effects of transmitted culture are substantial.
B) there are few existential universals.
C) evoked culture is a stronger force than transmitted culture.
D) there is much genetic variability, even within regions.
E) cultures take on identities that reflect their geographic locations.

Question 9

Which of the following is true regarding cultural evolution?

A) Cultural evolution relies primarily on vertical transmission.
B) Cultural ideas spread mainly between peers, not from parent to child.
C) Cultural evolution ensures that only adaptive beliefs persist.
D) Cultural ideas change only very rarely.
E) Cultural ideas can be transmitted both vertically and horizontally.

Question 10

The link between pathogen prevalence and conformity has been used as an example of

A) evoked culture.
B) transmitted culture.
C) a proximate cause.
D) biological evolution.
E) cultural evolution.

Question 11

In a gardening competition, the Martians' steel tools allowed them to easily defeat the Earthlings, who used wooden tools.Which of the following best explains why the Martians defeated the Earthlings?

A) geographic variation
B) distal cause
C) pluralistic ignorance
D) proximate cause
E) differences in intelligence

Question 12

How is the historical prevalence of pathogens linked to the motivation to conform?

A) Higher pathogen prevalence predicts weaker conformity rates: Greater risk of infection compels people to spend less time with others, decreasing opportunities to conform to others' behaviors.
B) Higher pathogen prevalence predicts weaker conformity rates: People experiencing high risk of infection are more likely to prioritize their own individual rights over the rights of others, reducing their motivation to conform.
C) Higher pathogen prevalence predicts weaker conformity rates: The threat of infection makes people mistrustful of others, reducing the motivation to conform.
D) Higher pathogen prevalence predicts stronger conformity rates: Adhering to strict social norms for personal hygiene, preparing food, protecting water supplies, and interacting with strangers lowers the risk of infection.
E) Higher pathogen prevalence predicts stronger conformity rates: The threat of infection pushes people to spend less time thinking for themselves, and instead they rely on others to make decisions.

Question 13

Which of the following is an example of a proximate cause?

A) Two psychologically different groups of immigrants settled in two different areas of the same country.Eight centuries later, those two areas still exhibit the same psychological differences.
B) The presence of dairy farming in Europe led people to develop a genetic mutation that digests lactose in milk, while the absence of dairy farming in East Asia meant that people did not develop this mutation, leading to lactose intolerance.
C) People living in warmer climates are no happier than people living in colder climates.
D) An Egyptian pharaoh brought in horse-drawn chariots, which allowed his army to outmaneuver and defeat his enemy in battle.
E) The modern hammer that has evolved over millennia is based on the original rocks that prehistoric humans used as hammers.

Question 14

What of the following is a correct distal cause of the Spanish defeat of the Incas?

A) The Spaniards had better weapons than the Incas.
B) The Spaniards had less exposure to domesticated animals than the Incas.
C) The Spaniards had horses for battle, whereas the Incas were on foot.
D) The Incas were historically exposed to more diseases than the Spaniards.
E) The Spaniards lived closer to livestock for thousands of years, unlike the Incas.

Question 15

The historical prevalence of pathogens in a region correlates positively with the degree to which people value conformity.This finding is argued to be evidence for

A) theory of mind.
B) transmitted culture.
C) the ratchet effect.
D) the Flynn effect.
E) evoked culture.

Question 16

Whereas the term ________ describes explanations using factors that occurred a long time ago, the term ________ describes explanations using factors that have direct and immediate effects.

A) distal causes; proximate causes
B) evoked culture; transmitted culture
C) direct causes; indirect causes
D) biological evolution; cultural evolution
E) vertical transmission; horizontal transmission

Question 17

According to Jared Diamond, why were the germs brought by the Spaniards so much deadlier to the Incans than the Incan germs were to the Spaniards?

A) The Spaniards had developed cleaner habits than the Incans.
B) The Incans lived closer together, so the Spanish germs were transmitted far more easily.
C) The Spaniards had lived in close proximity to domesticated animals for much longer than the Incans.
D) The large Eurasian continent allowed the Spaniards to be exposed to a larger variety of germs than the relatively smaller South American continent of the Incans.
E) The Spanish diet contained more antibiotic agents than the Incan diet.

Question 18

Which of the following best illustrates the importance of transmitted culture?

A) The Nuer and Dinka live in different ecological conditions, but they have very similar cultures.
B) On an island in the Pacific, people relied on fishing for many centuries and the culture changed very little during that time; however, the culture changed drastically once people could no longer fish in the surrounding ocean.
C) The crew of Captain Sir John Franklin survived in the cold for two years without the help of the natives.
D) Evoked culture explains only biological responses to environments, while transmitted culture explains both biological and learned behaviors.
E) Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer, survived two years in the Arctic due to the knowledge given to him by the Netsilik.

Question 19

Is conformity an example of evoked culture or transmitted culture, and why?

A) transmitted culture, because the conformity motive varies widely across cultures
B) transmitted culture, because certain conformity behaviors have spread quickly across different geographical settings
C) evoked culture, because the majority of cultural differences are evoked rather than transmitted
D) evoked culture, because psychological differences such as the motive to conform are more often caused by evoked culture rather than transmitted culture
E) evoked culture, because stronger norms promoting conformity arose in response to the prevalence of pathogens in certain ecologies

Question 20

Which of the following is true when comparing biological evolution with cultural evolution?

A) Both types of evolution occur extremely quickly, within a single generation.
B) Biological evolution is faithful, while cultural evolution is not faithful.
C) Both types of evolution must result in greater numbers of surviving offspring.
D) Biological evolution is quicker than cultural evolution because the possibility of horizontal cultural transmission from multiple people overwhelms learners.
E) Biological evolution leads to more useful ideas than cultural evolution does.

Question 21

Dynamic social impact theory can explain why

A) cultural norms for manners have changed over time.
B) residents of one community have more conservative political attitudes than residents of another, nearby community.
C) Pizarro and a small band of Spanish soldiers were able to conquer the Incan empire.
D) cultural evolution can occur much faster than biological evolution.
E) people score higher on IQ tests today than they did a generation ago.

Question 22

Based on research about cultural transmission, which of the following YouTube advertisements is the LEAST likely to be spread to other people?

A) a car commercial that is extremely weird and does not feature any cars
B) a home renovation company's advertisement that contains useful tips on how to make home repairs
C) a fraternity's recruitment advertisement that is full of racial stereotypes
D) a mayor's election campaign video that uses clear, succinct points to describe her platform
E) an insurance company's advertisement that induces a lot of fearful emotions in the audience

Question 23

Justina tells her co-worker that there is free pizza in the lunch room, and before she knows it, everyone in her workplace seems to find out and eats all the pizza.This occurrence illustrates that what kind of ideas are likely to spread?

A) communicable ideas
B) useful ideas
C) emotional ideas
D) minimally counterintuitive ideas
E) all of the above

Question 24

Imagine that the first settlers of the island of Cremenia, were artists who highly valued creativity.Generations later, the inhabitants of Cremenia are known for creative works, and many of the most successful artists are from Cremenia.This is an example of

A) the increase in collectivism.
B) the influence of early conditions.
C) pluralistic ignorance.
D) environmental stability.
E) increasing intelligence.

Question 25

Which of the following stories would be most likely to persist over time?

A) Two brothers enjoy playing basketball together on the weekend, during their free time.
B) A child ate too much blueberry pie for dessert, and now she has a stomach ache.
C) A crocodile spins 14 times and reaches with its purple hand for a lightbulb, which makes a whistling sound.
D) A girl boards the school bus, sits in her usual seat, and begins to doze off when the bus starts to fly.
E) Two students, one who is Hindu and one who is Christian, discuss their religious beliefs.

Question 26

Emie believes that culture has been changing rapidly in recent years.What evidence best supports Emie's view?

A) People have been scoring higher on the SAT.
B) The slave trade that occurred centuries ago in parts of Africa affects the level of trust in those countries now more than ever.
C) An increasing focus on materialism and money has made many cultures more individualistic.
D) Collectivistic cultures have, overall, become more collectivistic than they were decades ago.
E) Increased interconnectedness across cultures has led to decreased tribalism over the last several decades.

Question 27

Pluralistic ignorance is likely to lead to

A) rapid cultural evolution.
B) an overall drop in IQ scores.
C) the persistence of particular cultural practices.
D) intraregional cultural variation.
E) accurate perceptions of the popularity of cultural norms.

Question 28

Minimally counterintuitive ideas tend to persist within a culture because

A) they do not violate expectations at all.
B) religions make use of minimally counterintuitive ideas.
C) they tend to be remembered more than intuitive ideas.
D) they are completely outlandish statements.
E) they are useful and emotional ideas.

Question 29

It is not at all unusual for the officers at Police Station 54 to observe their colleagues using confrontational interview techniques.Even though they do not personally like the technique, many officers believe that the practice is widely approved of by others and expected of them.This is an example of

A) pluralistic ignorance.
B) a fundamental attribution error.
C) a contemporary legend.
D) conformity.
E) the autokinetic effect.

Question 30

One study examining a number of the tales of the Brothers Grimm, such as "Hansel and Gretel" (Norenzayan et al., 2006), found that

A) the most successful tales tended to have more emotional impact.
B) the most successful tales tended to lack counterintuitive elements.
C) the most successful tales were the longest stories.
D) unsuccessful tales tended to provoke feelings of disgust.
E) unsuccessful tales tended to have too many counterintuitive elements.

Question 31

Tori loves watching television.She sometimes watches up to 10 hours a day, which is a normal amount for people in her generation.Tori's mom tells her that watching TV may actually have consequences for the culture of her generation.Based on the research on cultural change, is her mom right? Why or why not?

A) Yes, watching TV leads to behaving passively, contributing to increased conformity.
B) Yes, watching TV can make people socially isolated, contributing to increasing individualism.
C) Yes watching TV programs on demand has led to more appreciation for orderliness and authority.
D) No, watching TV lowers intelligence in individuals but does not have societal effects.
E) No, watching TV has not been shown to be linked to any broader cultural effects.

Question 32

Which of the following is true about cultural change in the United States?

A) Americans today score lower on the SAT than they did a generation ago.
B) Americans today score higher on the SAT than they did a generation ago.
C) Performance on the Raven's Matrices test reveals that Americans have lower IQs today than they did a generation ago.
D) "Culture-bound" IQ tests have shown increases in American intelligence over the past generation, but "culture-free" IQ tests have not shown any changes.
E) IQ increased among Americans in the first half of the twentieth century but has been decreasing since then.

Question 33

Which of the following is an example of pluralistic ignorance?

A) Boston continues to reflect its Puritan origins, whereas Philadelphia continues to reflect its Quaker origins.
B) There is increasing globalization of world cultures.
C) Baseball in Japan retains some distinctive Japanese elements.
D) Binge drinking is a popular habit among underage college students.
E) Southern Italy remains less civic than northern Italy in ways that reflect the regional differences that were evident 800 years ago.

Question 34

Research on the rise of individualism shows that books published in the United States over the past 200 years have shown an increase in words such as

A) "we," "us," and "our."
B) "individualism," "collectivism," and "division."
C) "obedience," "authority," "obligated," and "belong."
D) "choose," "unique," "self," and "individual."
E) "morality," "individuate," "rights," and "status."

Question 35

Which of the following is a proposed explanation for the Flynn effect?

A) People are getting worse nutrition in their diets now than ever before.
B) The modern world is becoming increasingly global and simplified, requiring fewer learning and problem-solving skills.
C) Modern popular culture has become more challenging for consumers than in previous generations.
D) The percentage of people with degrees in higher education has decreased in recent decades.
E) The amount of education required for jobs has decreased for both men and women.

Question 36

Army recruits are assigned randomly into specific sleeping quarters, where they do a lot of socializing during break time and at night.The political and religious attitudes of the recruits were surveyed before they were assigned sleeping quarters, and then again after several weeks of training.The generals found that the recruits' political and religious ideas tended to form clusters based on their sleeping quarters.Which of the following can best explain this situation?

A) Useful ideas spread more easily.
B) Minimally intuitive ideas are more transmittable.
C) People in close contact tend to influence each other.
D) Early conditions have disproportionate influences.
E) Small differences lead to large effects.

Question 37

Which of the following is true about cultural change in the United States?

A) Elderly Americans are less socially engaged now than elderly Americans were 40 years ago.
B) On average, Americans are more likely to belong to formal organizations now than they were 40 years ago.
C) Americans socialize more now than they did 40 years ago.
D) Americans are more trusting now than they were 40 years ago.
E) Americans value materialism more now than 40 years ago.

Question 38

The textbook describes the relationship between IQ changes across time and television viewing as showing

A) decreases in verbal intelligence but increases in problem-solving intelligence.
B) decreases in problem-solving intelligence but increases in pattern-recognition skills.
C) increases in intelligence for the elderly, but decreases in intelligence for children and adolescents.
D) increases in all kinds of intelligence for everyone.
E) decreases in all kinds of intelligence for everyone.

Question 39

Which of the following ideas is most likely to spread?

A) The teacher has a bright personality.
B) There was a bug in someone's lunch at the cafeteria.
C) The freeway exit will be closed tomorrow.
D) A whale runs across the slide and sneezes into his porridge.
E) Today the new iPhones can be purchased for only $10, but they are being sold at an ice cream shop.

Question 40

A few townsfolk begin a movement promoting social harmony.Over time, they expand the movement by interacting with other townsfolk.Soon they have influenced the whole town to join in the movement.This best illustrates which of the following?

A) Shweder's definition of cultural psychology
B) Triandis's individualism-collectivism model
C) Latané's dynamic social impact theory
D) distal causes
E) vertical cultural transmission

Question 41

Vancouver has many different neighborhood areas, including Richmond and Strathcona.Richmond is politically more conservative, while Strathcona is politically more liberal.Create an account based on dynamic social impact theory to explain how it is that these different neighborhoods seem to have different forms of political culture.

Question 42

On Planet Belia, two civilizations, the Edinia and the Elash, have coexisted for centuries in the same environmental context.Both civilizations have marriage rituals (for this question, assume that marriage rituals can only be either monogamous or polygamous).You know that Edinians believe that polygamy is generally better than monogamy, so there are more polygamists than monogamists in Edinia.To determine whether evoked culture or transmitted culture plays a bigger role in affecting marriage rituals, you visit Edinia and Elash and try to find the proportion of marriages that are monogamous versus polygamous.Draw a bar graph of what your data would look like if transmitted culture plays a bigger role than evoked culture.

Question 43

Justify why the cultural practice of eating seal blubber found among many indigenous populations in the Arctic is both an evoked culture and a transmitted culture.

Question 44

How does climate relate to cultural traditions?

A) Colder climates predict more collectivistic cultural traditions.
B) Hotter climates have greater opportunities for evoked culture.
C) Stable climates predict stronger maintenance of cultural traditions.
D) Recent climate variability has led to a more globalized culture.
E) Wetter climates predict more individualistic cultural traditions.

Question 45

The classic Pacman videogame is very simple to play compared to the videogame World of Warcraft, which is much more complex.How has playing either Pacman or World of Warcraft been associated with changes in the broader culture?

Question 46

Suppose that in the future, worldwide climate continues to become more extreme and variable.What will be the most likely effect of this climate change on culture?

A) Indigenous groups will continue to maintain their native languages.
B) People will become less involved in community organizations that teach traditional values.
C) Rates of bilingualism will increase.
D) People will become less interested in living in multicultural societies.
E) More people will immigrate to places with collectivistic rather than individualistic cultures.

Question 47

Your professor wants to upload a video of talking horses, and he wants it to go "viral" (i.e., spread very quickly to many people).Based on the different factors that cause ideas to spread, give examples of what the video would need to include for it to have the highest likelihood of spreading.

Question 48

While chatting with your friend, she tells you that people nowadays have less intelligence than people used to.Evaluate whether this claim is true and be sure to use empirical data to address the issue.

Question 49

Imagine two cities, Utada and Evenia, that are quite different.Utada's temperature has fluctuated significantly, while Evenia has been experiencing less climate variability.How would you predict future cultural change versus cultural persistence in Utada and Evenia? Draw a graph depicting your predictions.