Deck 15: Culture

Question 1

In the 1930s, the Kelloggs co-reared their 10-month-old son Donald with a 7-month-old chimpanzee named Gua. As a result,

A) Donald copied many of Gua's behaviors.
B) Donald treated Gua like another human infant.
C) Gua grew up to be much less violent than most chimps.
D) Gua learned to speak a few words, though not clearly.

Answer 1

Donald copied many of Gua's behaviors.

Question 2

Flinn (2005) described seven characteristics of human culture. Which of the following is NOT one of these characteristics?

A) It has emergent properties at the group level, such as shared values and beliefs.
B) It involves mental phenomena, including conscious thoughts.
C) It is transmitted both by learning processes and by transfer of genetic materials.
D) It uses arbitrary symbols to form mental representations and communicate thoughts.

Answer 2

It is transmitted both by learning processes and by transfer of genetic materials.

Question 3

Because of the nature of the Chinese writing system compared with Western alphabets, imaging studies show more activation in the _____ areas of both hemispheres when reading Chinese as compared with reading a Western language.

A) auditory
B) spatial
C) tactile
D) visual

Answer 3

visual

Question 4

Henrich and McElreath (2007) suggest that there are three key concepts that can be used to consider human culture from an evolutionary perspective. Which of the following is NOT one of these key concepts?

A) Culture as learned behavior.
B) Cultural capacities as adaptations.
C) Cultural evolution.
D) Culture-gene coevolution.

Question 5

The field of cultural neuroscience is defined by a number of themes. Which of the following is NOT one of them?

A) The ability of the brain to recognize and store complex patterns.
B) The close connection between an individual and his or her environment.
C) The manner in which the brain is involved in social behavior.
D) The readiness of the brain to establish relationships and absorb information.

Question 6

The theory of _____ suggests that competition among social groups could favor the spread of fitness-enhancing cultural beliefs and prosocial behavior.

A) cultural group selection
B) enhanced cultural fitness
C) prosocial adaptation
D) social group enhancement

Question 7

Culture can produce durable changes in human behavior, which in turn can influence evolutionary changes. Therefore, Richerson and Boyd (2005) suggest that genes and culture

A) coevolve.
B) coexist.
C) collaborate.
D) cooperate.

Question 8

Norenzayan and Sherif propose that particular religious beliefs and behaviors are evolutionary adaptations for group living in large communities that have maximized genetic fitness. The problem with this approach is that it does not account for

A) changes in religious beliefs and behaviors over time.
B) differences in religious beliefs and behavior around the world.
C) the fact that no genes for religiosity have been found.
D) the practice of religion in small communities.

Question 9

One example of cultural transmission in chimpanzees is the fashioning of tools from twigs, which they use to

A) beat each other.
B) fend off predators.
C) fish for termites.
D) scratch their backs.

Question 10

When Henrich and McElreath (2007) talk about cultural capacities as adaptations, they are referring to the evolution of _____ that could be used in the service of developing and maintaining culture.

A) human capacities
B) innate behaviors
C) physical features
D) psychological motives

Question 11

Tomasello and colleagues (2005) emphasize the development of _____ during the human infant's first two years of life as the basic cognitive skills needed for the development of culture.

A) attachment style
B) language ability
C) motor skills
D) shared intentionality

Question 12

The study of how organisms can modify their environment and how this changes evolutionary selection pressures is referred to as the

A) ecological selection approach.
B) environment of evolutionary adaptedness.
C) nature-nurture debate.
D) niche construction perspective.

Question 13

It is thought that writing was developed as humans made the transition from _____ to _____.

A) Africa, Asia and Europe
B) hunting-gathering, agriculture
C) the Stone Age, the Bronze Age
D) woodlands, grasslands

Question 14

Ambady and Bharucha (2009) describe three possible mechanisms underlying the differences described in cultural mapping. Which of the following is NOT one of them?

A) Cultural learning and how experience influences brain structure.
B) Role of the environment in shaping culture.
C) Similarities and differences in genetic makeup.
D) Similar patterns and differences in these patterns across cultures.

Question 15

In studies on attribution, it has been found that Westerns are more likely to _____ attributions, whereas Asians are more likely to make _____ attributions.

A) causal, noncausal
B) individual, collective
C) intentional, unintentional
D) personal, situational

Question 16

Humans in their early years ______ what is around them to an even greater degree than other animals, and this is the likely beginning of culture.

A) explore
B) imitate
C) observe
D) react to

Question 17

Gelfand and colleagues (2011) found that cultures that had present-day or historical threats such as territorial conflicts, resource scarcity, or exposure to high levels of pathogens tended to

A) be more active in shaping their environment.
B) have higher levels of aggression and violence.
C) more strictly regulate social behavior.
D) prefer their practices over those of other cultures.

Question 18

Using fear faces of Japanese and Caucasian individuals, Chiao and his colleagues (2008) found participants showed greater amygdala activation when viewing members of

A) their own cultural group.
B) their own gender.
C) the other cultural group.
D) the other gender.

Question 19

Nisbett and his colleagues have found that people from East Asia tend to pay more attention to _____, whereas people from the West tend to pay more attention to _____.

A) background, foreground
B) context, objects
C) groups, individuals
D) people, things

Question 20

The historical record suggests that religion developed as culture developed and is not a(n) _____ in the classical sense of the term.

A) adaptation
B) byproduct
C) institution
D) meme

Question 21

Northern Europeans have a gene that allows them to continue digesting milk products after the traditional time of weaning; a person with such a gene would have had an advantage because dairy products are a high quality food source and, in probably less than _____ years, that advantage would have enabled the gene to be passed on to almost all of the European population.

A) 1000
B) 10,000
C) 100,000
D) 1,000,000

Question 22

According the Flinn (2005), culture (or its effects) is partly _____; that is, cultural traits (e.g., stone points, political monuments) exist outside the soma (physical body) of the culture-bearing organism.

A) extrasomatic
B) psychosomatic
C) somatoform
D) somatosensory

Question 23

Cultural variation is seen in terms of the diversity of cultural beliefs, knowledge and artifacts; one example of such variation is language, of which there are approximately _____ spoken around the world.

A) 70
B) 700
C) 7,000
D) 70,000

Question 24

The term _____ refers to those components of culture, such as language, attachment, kin relations, and so forth, that are universal characteristics of human beings.

Question 25

The preparation of food using fire led to the consumption of more meat, a cultural phenomenon, favored certain types of digestive structures and mechanisms, a physiological phenomenon. This is an example of culture-gene _____.

Question 26

Lumsden and Wilson refer to the patterns of culture that are transmitted from one person to another as _____; these can be specific tools, customs, foods, and so forth, and like genes, they can be analyzed in terms of whether they increase the inclusive fitness of those humans that acquire them.

Question 27

A variety of researchers from various fields have begun to study how organisms can modify their environment and how this changes evolutionary selection pressures. This approach has been referred to as the _____ perspective, and it suggests that humans may be more active in sharing their own evolution than traditionally thought.

Question 28

An often-quoted example of cultural transmission in other species is _____ in a group of Japanese macaque monkeys.

A) social grooming
B) lip smacking
C) potato washing
D) termite fishing

Question 29

One pathway of cultural learning comes from genetically evolved _____ adaptations that support our tendency to imitate those who have resources, fame, and status; in thinking about culture from this standpoint, you would use the logic of natural selection with its emphasis on adaptation and survival.

A) behavioral
B) physiological
C) psychological
D) social

Question 30

Writing was developed some _____ years ago by the Sumerians of Mesopotamia, and it is assumed to have independently developed in Egypt, China, and Mexico in the following centuries.

A) 500
B) 5,000
C) 50,000
D) 500,000

Question 31

In a variety of social science disciplines including anthropology, sociology, and psychology, there has been a mind set commonly called the _____, which is a model of human behavior emphasizing experience as the major factor in determining our behavior.

Question 32

As scientists have performed a variety of compelling studies that have reaffirmed Darwin's description of the close connection between an organism and its environment, a new focus has emerged related to culture and the brain; some refer to this field as _____.

Question 33

In cultures with institutions that regulated social norms, individuals reported more _____ and less acceptance of those outside the culture.

A) self-confidence
B) self-efficacy
C) self-loathing
D) self-monitoring

Question 34

_____ rules relate to the manner in which the environment can influence the expression of the genome without directly changing the DNA, even though these patterns of gene expression can be passed on to future generations. For example, the diet of a mouse before conception can influence the hair color of her infants and even her infants' infants.

Question 35

Dawkins (1976) coined the term _____ to denote the unit of cultural information, which can be passed on from one generation to another, just like genes.

Question 36

There is a particular short allele of the 5-HTT gene that is associated with being prone to _____, and it occurs at a much higher rate among Japanese than Europeans. This suggests that genetic variation influences the manner in which cultural structures formalize social interactions.

A) anemia and malaria
B) anxiety and depression
C) attentional deficits
D) lactose intolerance

Question 37

Human societies utilize social institutions for transmitting information; these social processes range from parents and kin imparting information to more formal religious and educational institutions. This kind of transmission of information through social means is referred to as _____.

Question 38

Current views of culture emphasize the _____ world in which we live as we acquire information from others that affects our behavior.

A) external
B) modern
C) psychological
D) social

Question 39

The basic research strategy of _____ focuses on an examination of cognitive and neural differences across cultures. These studies examine the manner in which individuals from different cultures process the same information in different ways, or else they study the manner in which individuals from a single culture process information from different cultures differently.

Question 40

The term _____ refers to the manner in which environmental conditions bring forth particular cultural practices. For example, research suggests that different environmental patterns, such as scarce resources versus supportive environments, may influence which infant attachment patterns are most productive.

Question 41

_____ is the process of understanding what mechanisms underlie the differences in cultural mapping.

Question 42

Even cultural preferences can have a _____ basis. For instance, the reason why dairy products are widely used in European diets but not Asian diets is not simply a matter of social learning; rather, the incidence of lactose tolerance is very high in Europe but low in Asia.

Question 43

Discuss the seven characteristics of culture as determined by Flinn (2005).

Question 44

What is the Standard Social Science Model? Explain how Tooby and Cosmides' (1992) concepts of metaculture, evoked culture, and transmitted culture help us move beyond the limitations of the SSSM.

Question 45

_____ has to do with the manner in which societies place value on various aspects of human existence; we often see these values reflected in the ways in which a society works and what is available to individuals.

Question 46

Many _____ of culture are arbitrary; for example, an American flag is given meaning by the people themselves.

Question 47

Discuss the four themes of cultural neuroscience as presented by Ambady and Bharucha (2009).

Question 48

The debate is not about whether a process is learned or evolved but how each process plays a role. The evolutionary perspective seeks an approach that describes the _____ of cultural experience and psychological predispositions. Thus, the critical question is what mechanisms direct, focus, and allow for cultural learning to take place.

Question 49

Flinn (2005) notes that unlike genetic transmission, cultural transmission takes place outside the _____; this suggests that those physical theories that are able to explain physiological processes may not adequately explain cultural products.

Question 50

Discuss the three key concepts in studying culture from an evolutionary perspective, as proposed by Henrich and McElreath (2007).

Question 51

Discuss the five propositions in Boyd and Richerson's (2005) theory of cultural evolution.

Question 52

It is this _____, which includes the ability to understand another as a person who has goals and seeks to perform self-directed activities, as well as the motivation to share emotions, experiences, and activities, which supports cultural development in humans.

Question 53

Cultural content is transmitted by _____ processes (i.e., cognitive information transfer) and not by the transfer of genetic materials. Hence, culture appears to be a separate inheritance system, uncoupled from genetics.

Question 54

Boyd and Richerson (2005) suggest that cultural change can be viewed in the same manner as _____ changes. That is to say, we can ask why one idea survives in a culture and others do not.