Cultural Anthropology Exam Preparation Guide
Course Introduction
Cultural Anthropology explores the diverse ways in which human societies organize their lives, express meaning, and interact with their environments. The course examines cultural practices, beliefs, and institutions from kinship and religion to language, art, and politics across different societies around the world. Through ethnographic studies and cross-cultural comparisons, students gain insights into how culture shapes identity, behavior, and worldviews, while also critically considering concepts such as cultural relativism, globalization, and social change. The course fosters understanding and appreciation for cultural diversity and equips students with analytical tools to interpret the complexities of contemporary global societies.
Recommended Textbook
Cultural Anthropology 9th Edition by Raymond Scupin
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Chapter 1: Introduction to Anthropology
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Q1) Which of the following best summarizes the effect of the rift between anthropologists committed to either a humanistic or scientific approach?
A) It has fostered a richer understanding of human existence.
B) It has thwarted growth within the field.
C) It has forced humanistic anthropologists to employ the scientific method.
D) It has driven the field to become more sociological.
Answer: A
Q2) Archaeologists spend more time digging up garbage than digging up treasure.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Anthropology courses are more relevant to students interested in obtaining degrees in business than those pursuing careers in education.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 2: Human Evolution
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Q1) The theory of natural selection was arrived at simultaneously and independently by two different scholars.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) The family of mammals known as primates, to which humans belong, arose about 67 million years ago.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Fossil and archaeological evidence suggests that the first hominins to practice intentional burial of their dead were __________.
A) modern Upper Paleolithic Homo sapiens
B) Homo erectus
C) Neandertals
D) Homo habilis
Answer: C
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Chapter 3: Culture
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Q1) According to Marvin Harris, the dietary practices of various cultures may be rooted in ecological conditions.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) According to Marvin Harris's hypothesis about pork prohibitions, traditional societies that keep and eat pigs __________.
A) have greater access to herbal medicines
B) are more likely to live in or near forests
C) probably originated in desert climates
D) bathe and clean them on a regular basis
Answer: B
Q3) Which of the following would be considered a "folkway" of contemporary culture in the United States?
A) bowing when you are introduced to someone
B) dating before marriage
C) sitting on the floor to eat dinner
D) taking off your shoes when you enter a house
Answer: B
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Chapter 4: Psychological and Cognitive Anthropology
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Q1) Humans cannot ignore or override their basic, inborn drives.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Early anthropologists, such as E. B. Tylor, suggested that incest taboos originated in order to __________.
A) encourage alliances and cooperation between descent groups
B) avoid the serious consequences of genetic interbreeding
C) strengthen the role of patrilineal descent groups
D) regulate and limit sexual behavior within small communities
Q3) The field of structural anthropology, founded by Claude Lévi-Strauss, has as one of its basic premises the notion that there is a "deep universal structure" to cultural phenomena. According to Lévi-Strauss, this structure is characterized by __________.
A) thought in images and symbols, completely divorced from language
B) cognitive patterns that reflect unconscious sexual desires
C) the development of consciousness through personal revelations
D) reasoning based on the construction of contrasting pairs
Q4) Culture allows humans to adjust to a wide range of physical environments.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 5: Language
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Q1) One goal of anthropological linguistics is to determine the number of phonemes that exist in different languages. This goal is accomplished by examining the use of
A) minimal pairs
B) phone taps
C) maximal differences
D) syntax units
Q2) According to Herbert Terrace's research, chimpanzees are highly intelligent animals that can learn many signs, but cannot understand syntax.
A)True
B)False
Q3) It has been suggested that major cultural advances, cultural evolution, and human creativity could not have occurred before adequate language ability evolved.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Would it be possible to have a culture without a language? Discuss two theories about how language and culture evolved along with the human species.
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Chapter 6: Anthropological Explanations
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Q1) Edward B.Tylor and other eighteenth-century thinkers asserted that "primitives" around the world would eventually evolve through the stages of barbarism to become civilized like Europeans, but that these "primitives" would need some help from the civilized world to reach this ultimate, ideal stage. This perception that Western society is the center of the civilized world and that non-Western societies are inherently inferior is called __________.
A) logical negativism
B) logical positivism
C) ethnocentrism
D) devolution
Q2) Much of the ethnographic record has been compiled by men.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of the following theoretical orientations interprets cultures much like literary texts?
A) symbolic anthropology
B) textual anthropology
C) literary anthropology
D) ideational anthropology
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Chapter 7: Analyzing Sociocultural Systems
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Q1) Political leaders in band societies control economic resources and exercise far-reaching political power.
A)True
B)False
Q2) One difference between industrial and postindustrial societies is that in the latter
A) production is entirely mechanized
B) more people are employed in service and high-technology occupations
C) trade occurs on a global level
D) people earn higher salaries
Q3) One weakness of cross-cultural studies is that ethnographic reporting across cultures may be inconsistent.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Why is the term "tribe" problematic? What is the origin of the word and how has it been applied to describe people within and outside of anthropology? Write a well-supported argument for or against its continued use within anthropological circles today.
Q5) What are the benefits and limitations of conducting cross-cultural research?
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Chapter 8: Environment, Subsistence, and Demography
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Q1) Which of the following would have the effect of lowering fertility?
A) marriage at a younger age
B) sexual abstinence
C) weaning babies earlier
D) an earlier onset of menarche
Q2) Why are the Native American societies of the Northwest Coast such as the Bella Coola, Haida, and Tlingit considered atypical of chiefdom societies?
A) They cultivated taro, yams, and sweet potatoes.
B) They were governed by tribal councils.
C) They were hunters and gatherers and did not practice horticulture.
D) They had no urban centers.
Q3) Mortality rates have always been lower in agricultural societies.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Ju/'hoansi San women were often able to gather enough food from wild sources in one or two days to feed their children for an entire week.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 9: Technology and Economies
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Q1) The mobility of the pastoralist lifestyle required them to develop elaborate technologies for transporting and taking care of domesticated animals.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of the following would be a common form of generalized reciprocity in Western societies?
A) common acceptance of the value of the dollar
B) communal use of public restrooms
C) a salary increase accompanying a job promotion
D) giving and receiving birthday presents
Q3) The predominant form of economic exchange found in chiefdoms is redistribution.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Despite the domination of the peasantry by the state or landlords, the peasantry often adapted at the level of the village or community by cooperating in the production, distribution, exchange, and consumption of goods, thus assuring that individual families did not become destitute.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 10: Social Structure, The Family, Gender, and Age
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Q1) Rules of endogamy in Hawaiian chiefdoms actually resulted in sibling marriages.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Unilineal descent groups are lineage groups that do which of the following?
A) trace their ancestry to both the father's and mother's ancestors
B) trace their ancestry to either the father's or the mother's ancestors
C) establish a new lineage by severing ties to any ancestors
D) define themselves on the basis of relations through marriage
Q3) Iroquois tribal society was organized around matrilineal descent groups, the members of which lived together in a longhouse, had collective rights over land and tools, and were influential in decision-making processes.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Chiefdoms are hierarchically ranked societies.
A)True
B)False
Q5) The dominance of males over females was common in many chiefdom societies.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 11: Politics, Warfare, and Law
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Q1) According to anthropologist Robert Carneiro, the objective of many chiefs was to do which of the following?
A) increase the extent of their territory in order to control the surplus production of surrounding communities
B) maintain the peace with their neighbors in order to avoid armed conflict
C) become full-time religious leaders and use impressive rites and rituals to prove that they were gods
D) disencumber themselves of material possessions and incur debts of personal obligations from their followers through potlatch-like ceremonies
Q2) In tribal societies, how are disputes and conflicts usually resolved?
A) by skilled individuals who function as mediators or negotiators
B) by formal judgments passed by a tribal council
C) by aggressive and violent behavior, often resulting in death
D) by participation in games of chance
Q3) Nationalism is a strong sense of loyalty to a nation-state based on shared language, values, and culture.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 12: Religion and Aesthetics
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Q1) Religion appears to be a cultural universal, although specific practices and beliefs vary significantly from culture to culture.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What did Aztec sacrifice and Hopi Katchina cult activities have in common?
A) They were both aimed at promoting better weather conditions.
B) They were led by shamans.
C) They engendered support for each society's divine rulers.
D) They were prohibited to women.
Q3) The Yanomamö induce hallucinations in order to have direct contact with the spirit world through which of the following means?
A) refraining from food and drink for at least three days
B) drinking a tea brewed from sacred leaves
C) snuff derived from certain plants
D) rhythmic drumming and dancing
Q4) Indian classical dance originated as a way to perform acts of devotion to Hindu deities.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 13: Globalization, Culture, and Indigenous Societies
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Q1) Although the Iroquois traded beaver skins and other furs to the French, they refused to accept guns, ammunition, and liquor as payment.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Christian missionaries to the Hawaiian Islands in the nineteenth century taught native children that their traditional cultural activities were __________.
A) gifts from God
B) to be honored and respected
C) barbaric and uncivilized
D) similar to those of the ancient Hebrews
Q3) Poland and Hungary would be classified as First World countries.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Globalization began in the middle of the last century.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Missionaries in Venezuela have helped preserve the Yanomamö culture.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 14: Globalization in Latin America,Africa, and the Caribbean
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Q1) The pattern of inefficient and localized production and marketing characteristic of haciendas is still present in Latin America today.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Slavery was practiced in African chiefdoms before the arrival of Europeans.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What were haciendas in the Spanish colonies and fazendas in Brazil?
A) large-scale plantations
B) prison camps
C) mining towns
D) military bases
Q4) Latin America had relatively little cultural diversity prior to the arrival of the Spanish.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What were the effects of colonialism on the politics of African nations? What are some of the characteristics of African nations today that can be traced directly to the colonial experience?
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Chapter 15: Globalization in the Middle East and Asia
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Q1) What is meant by the term hamula? How important is the hamula for modern Arabs? What role does the hamula play in familial and economic relationships?
Q2) Sun Yat-Sen, Chiang Kai-Shek, and Mao Zedong ruled China together peacefully from 1900 to 1980.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Polygyny is the most common form of marriage in Islamic societies.
A)True
B)False
Q4) According to caste ideology, all individuals are equal with respect to ritual purity.
A)True
B)False
Q5) In the Arab world, what is the hamula?
A) an idealized, patrilineal descent group
B) a traditional village
C) a group of nomads who travel together
D) an Islamic rite of passage
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Chapter 16: Ethnicity
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Q1) Assimilation does not occur between ethnic groups with similar physical or cultural characteristics.
A)True
B)False
Q2) How has the multiculturalist movement influenced life in the United States?
A) It has fostered increasing conflict among competing ethnic groups.
B) It has reduced the cultural differences between ethnic groups.
C) It has revised educational content to include the historical contributions of non-European ethnic groups.
D) It has had little impact on life in the United States.
Q3) Compare and contrast the experiences of the German and Irish immigrants to the United States in the nineteenth century with immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe in the early twentieth century. Why did they immigrate? What reception did they receive? How did they react and adapt?
Q4) Racial categories persist in popular culture because they have a strong basis in scientific fact.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 17: Contemporary Global Trends
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Q1) If a population is simply replacing itself, we say that the population has achieved what?
A) a demographic stalemate
B) zero population growth
C) its ultimate potential and size
D) Phase 2 of the demographic transition
Q2) The United States, Japan, and Western Europe are now in Phase 2 of the demographic-transition model.
A)True
B)False
Q3) If the world economy becomes completely integrated, will the nations of the world become similar in terms of cultural values, ideals, and mores? Will there be a world culture and world government?
Q4) It appears-from today's perspective-that global changes wrought by multinational corporations have had negative consequences for some developing countries.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 18: Applied Anthropology
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Q1) Which of the following is at the heart of the Elgin Marbles controversy?
A) Greek authorities believe the marbles should be returned to Greece.
B) Pot hunters are seeking the right to maintain ownership over their discoveries.
C) The remains of the Parthenon are in danger of falling into ruin if not properly restored.
D) World leaders are torn over whether the Parthenon should be protected under the auspices of British, Greek, or Turkish authorities.
Q2) When patients in Thailand use a combination of ritual, magic, and modern scientific medicine to treat an illness, they are enacting __________.
A) a culture-specific disorder
B) polymedicalism
C) therapeutic pluralism
D) the multiple treatment scenario
Q3) Examine the concepts of cultural relativism and ethical relativism. Is it possible to understand the values and worldview of another culture and not accept all of their practices and standards? In other words, can one be a cultural relativist and not an ethical relativist at the same time? Support your argument with specific examples.
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