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Details Title: cultural anthropology Description: cultural anthropology terms Total Flash Cards: 101 Created: 10/08/2007 21:16:45	To study from this set of flash cards, or to create your own your own study flash cards, register HERE. If you are already a registered user, CLICK HERE.
Cards Term culture-bound Definition theories about the world and reality based on the assumptions and values of one's own culture Term applied anthropology Definition the use of anthropological knowledge and methods to solve practical problems, often for a specific client Term physical anthropology Definition systematic study of humans as biological organisms Term molecular anthropology Definition branch of biological anthropology that uses genetic and biochemical techniques to test hypotheses about human evolution, adaptation, and variation Term paleoanthropology Definition study of the origins and predecesors of the present human species Term primatology Definition study of living and fossil primates Term forensic anthropology Definition field of applied physical anthropology that specializes in the identification of human skeletal remains for legal purposes Term archaeology Definition study of material remains, usually from the past, to describe and explain human behavior Term linguistic anthropology Definition study of human languages Term cultural anthropolgy Definition the study of customary patterns in human behavior, thought, and feelings. It focuses on humans as culture-producing and culture-reproducing creatures Term ethnography Definition a detailed description of a particular culture primarily based on fieldwork Term fieldwork Definition the term anthropologists use for on-location research Term participant observation Definition in ethnography, the technique of learning a people's culture through social participation and personal observation within the community being studied, as well as interviews and discussion with individual members of the group over an extended period of time Term ethnology Definition the study and analysis of different cultures from a comparative or historical point of view, utilizing ethnographic accounts and developing anthropological theories that help explain why certain important different or similarities occur among groups Term holistic perspective Definition a fundamental principle of anthropology, that the various parts of culture must be viewed in the broadest possible context in order to understand their interconnections and interdependence Term informants Definition members of a society being studied who provide information that helps the ethnographer make sense of what is being said and done Term medical anthropology Definition a specialization in anthropolgy that brings theoretical and applied approaches from cultural and biological anthropology to the study of human health and disease Term fact Definition an observation verified by several observers skilled in the necessary techniques of observation Term hypothesis Definition a tentative explanation of the relation between certain phenomena Term theory Definition in science, an explanation of natural phenomena, supported by a reliable body of data Term doctrine Definition an assertion of opinion or belief formally handed down by authority as true and indisputable Term globalization Definition worldwide interconnectedness, evidenced in global movements of natural resources, trade goods, human labor, finance capital, information, and infectious diseases Term culture Definition a society's shared and socially transmitted ideas, values, and perceptions-which are used to make sense of experience and generate behavior and which are reflected in behavior Term society Definition an organized group or groups of interdependent people who generally share a common territory, language, and culture and who act together for collective survival and well-being Term gender Definition the cultural elaborations and meanings assigned to the biological differentiation between the sexes Term subculture Definition a distinctive set of standards and behavior patterns by which a group within a larger society operates Term ethnic group Definition people who collectively and publicly identify themselves as a distinct group based on various cultural features such as shared ancestry and common origin, language, customs, and traditional beliefs Term ethnicity Definition the set of cultural ideas held by an ethnic group Term pluralisic society Definition a society in which two or more ethnic groups or nationalities are politically organized into one territorial state but maintain their cultural differences Term enculturation Definition the process by which a society's culture is transmitted from one generation to the next and individuals become members of their society Term symbols Definition signs, emblems, and other things that represent something else in a meaningful but arbitrary way Term social structure Definition the rule-governed relationships-with all their rights and obligations-that hold members of a society together. this includes households, families, associations, and power relations, including politics Term infrastructure Definition the economic foundation of a society, including its subsistence practices, and the tools and other material equipment used to make a living Term superstructure Definition a society's shared sense of identity and worldview. the collective body of ideas, beliefs, and values by which a group of people makes sense of the world-its shape, challenges, and opportunities-and their place in it. this includes religion and national identity Term Human relations Area Files (HRAF) Definition an ever-growing catalogue of cross-indexed ethnographic data, filed by geographic location and cultural characteristics. Housed at Yale University and available on the internet Term ethnohistory Definition study of cultures of the recent past through oral histories; accounts left by explorers, missionaries, and traders; and through analysis of such records as land titles, birth and death records, and other archival materials Term ethnocentrism Definition the belief that the ways of one's own culture are the only proper ones Term cultural relativism Definition the thesis that one must suspend judgement of other peoples practices in order to understand them in their own cultural terms Term paleoanthropologists Definition anthropologists specializing in the study of human evolutionary history Term primatologists Definition specialists in the behavior and biology of living primates and their evolutionary history Term evolution Definition changes in the genetic makeup of a population over generations Term genes Definition the inherited molecular code that specifies the biological traits and characteristics of eac individual Term adaptation Definition both a process and a result of a series of beneficial adjustments of organisms to their environment Term natural selection Definition the principle of mechanism by which individuals having biological characteristics best suited to a particular environment survive and reproduce with greater frequency than individuals without those characteristics Term species Definition a population or group of populations having common attributes and the ability to interbreed and produce live, fertile offspring Term primate Definition an individual belonging to subgroup of mammals including lemurs, lorises, tarsiers, monkeys, apes, and humans Term hominoids Definition the broad-shouldered tailless group of primates that includes all living and extinct apes and humans Term bipedalism Definition a special for of locomotion on two feet found in humans and their ancestors Term Australopithecus Definition the genus including several species of early bipeds from southern and eastern Africa living between 4.2 and about 1 million years ago, one of whom was directly ancestral to humans Term Oldowan Definition the first stone tool industry beginning between 2.5 and 2.6 million years ago Term Lower Paleolithic Definition Old Stone Age spanning from about 2.5 million to 250,000 or 200,000 years ago and characterized by Oldowan and Acheulean tools Term homo habilis Definition "handy man"-the first fossil members of the genus homo appearing 2.5 million years ago, with larger brains and smaller faces than australopithecines Term homo erectus Definition "upright man" - a species within the genus homo first appearing just after 2 milion years ago in Africa and ultimately spreading throughout the Old World Term Neandertals Definition a distinct group of archaic homo samiens inhabiting Europe, Southwest Asia, and south-central Asia from approximately 125,000 to 30,000 years ago Term Mousterian Definition the tool industry of the middle Paleolithic used by all people in europe, the middle east, and Africa, from 125,000 to 40,000 years ago Term Upper Paleolithic Definition the last part (40,000-10,000 years ago) of the Old Stone age, featuring tool industries characterized by long slim blades and an explosion of creative symbolic forms Term multiregional hypothesis Definition the hypothesis that modern humans originated through a process of simultaneous local transition from Homo Erectus to homo sapiens throughout the inhabited world Term race Definition in biology, a subgroup within a species, not applicable to humans Term signals Definition instinctive sounds or gestures that have a natural or self-evident meaning Term descriptive linguistics Definition the branch of linguistics that involves unraveling a language by recording, describing, and analyzing all of its features Term phonetics Definition the systematic identification and description of distinctive speech sounds in a language Term phonology Definition the study of language sounds Term phonemes Definition the smallest units of sound that make a difference in meaning in a language. can alter meaning, but have no meaning by themselves Term morphology Definition the study of the patterns or rules of word formation in a language (including such things as rules concerning verb tense, pluralization, and compound words) Term morphemes Definition the smallest units of sound that carry a meaning in language. Term frame substitution Definition a method used to identify the syntactic units of language. for example, a category called "nouns" may be established as anything that will fit the substitution frame "I see a ___" Term syntax Definition the patterns or rules for the formation of phrases and sentences in a language Term grammar Definition the entire formal structure of a language, including morphology and syntax Term form classes Definition the parts of speech or categories of words that work the same way in any sentence, such as nouns, verbs, and adjectives Term gesture Definition facial expressions and bodily postures and motions that convey intended as well as subconcious messages Term kinesics Definition a system of natating and analyzing postures, facial expressions, and body motions that convey messages Term proxemics Definition the cross-cultural study of humankind's perception and use of space Term paralanguage Definition voice effects that accompany language and convery meaning. (giggling, groaning, sighing; voice qualities such as pitch and tempo) Term voice qualities Definition in paralanguage, the background characteristics of a speaker's voice, including pitch, articulation, tempo, and resonance Term vocalizations Definition identifiable paralinguistic noises that are turned on and off at perceivable and relatively short intervals. these include vocal characterizers (giggling, sighing), vocal qualifiers (volume, tempo), and vocal segregates ("oh oh") Term vocal characterizations Definition in paralanguage, vocalizations such as laughing, crying, yawning, or "breaking," which the speaker "talks through" Term vocal qualifiers Definition in paralanguage, vocalizationsof brief duration that modify utterances in terms of intensity. include volume, pitch, tempo Term vocal segregates Definition in paralanguage, vocalizations that resmble the sounds of language but do not appear in sequencesthat can properly be called words. "oh oh expressions" Term tonal language Definition a languagein which the sound pitch of a spoken word is an essential part of its pronunciation and meaning Term historical linguistics Definition the branch of linguistics that studies the histories of and relationships among languages, both living and dead Term language family Definition a group of languages descended form a single ancestral language Term linguistic divergence Definition the development of different languages from a single ancestral language Term glottochronology Definition in linguistics, a method for identifying the approzimate time that languages branched off from a common ancestor. it is based on analyzing core vocabularies Term core vocabularies Definition the most basic and long-lasting words in any language-pronouns, lower numerals, and names for body parts and natural objects Term pidgin Definition a language in which the syntax and vocabulary of two other languages are simplified amd combined Term linguistic nationalism Definition the attempt by ethnic minorities and even countries to proclaimmmm independence by purging their language of foreign terms Term creole Definition a pidgin language that has become the mother tongue of society Term ethnolinguistics Definition a branch of linguistics that studies the relationship between language and culture Term linguistic relativity Definition the preposition that language plays a fundamental role in shaping the way members of a society think and behave Term gendered speech Definition distinct male and female syntax exhibited in various languages around the world Term dialects Definition varying forms of a language that reflect particular regions, occupations, or social classes and that are similar enough to be mutually intelligible Term code switching Definition the process of changing from one language or dialect to another Term Definition Term displacement Definition the ability to refer to things and events removed in time and space Term Definition Term Definition Term modal personality Definition the body of character traits that occur with the highest frequency in a culturally bounded population Term intersexuals Definition people born with reproductive organs, genitalia, and/or sex chromosomes that are not exclusively male or female Term transgenders Definition people who cross-over or occupy a culturally accepted intermediate position in the binary male-female gender construction Term ethnic psychosis Definition mental disorders specific to particular ethnic groups Term Definition