Anthropology 101 Exam with Complete Solutions

Anthropology 101 Exam with Complete Solutions Cultural Relativism - Answer-The position that the values and standards of cultures differ and deserve respect. Anthropology is characterized by methodological rather than moral relativism: In order to understand another culture fully, anthropologists try to understand its member's beliefs and motivations. Methodological relativism does not preclude making moral judgments or taking action Ethnocentrism - Answer-The tendency to view one's own culture as best and to judge the behavior and beliefs of culturally different people by one's own standards Creationism - Answer-Explanation for the origin of species given in Genesis: God created the species during the original six days of Creation Independent Invention - Answer-Development of the same culture trait or pattern in separate cultures as a result of comparable needs and circumstances Diffusion - Answer-Borrowing between cultures either directly or through intermediaries Uniformitarianism - Answer-Belief that explanations for past events should be sought in ordinary forces that continue to work today Acculturation - Answer-The exchange of cultural features that results when groups come into continuous firsthand contact; the original cultural patters of either or both groups may be altered, but the groups remain distinct. Enculturation - Answer-The social process by which culture is learned and transmitted across the generations Hominid - Answer-A member of the taxonomic family that includes humans and the African apes and their immediate ancestors Hominin - Answer-A member of the human lineage after its split from ancestral chimps; used to describe all the human species that ever have existed, including the extinct ones, but excluding chimps and gorillas Adaptive - Answer-Favored by natural selection in a particular environment Mendelian genetics - Answer-Studies ways in which chromosomes transmit genes across the generations Population genetics - Answer-Field that studies causes of genetic variation, maintenance, and change in breeding populations Recessive - Answer-Genetic trait masked by a dominant trait Dominant - Answer-Allele that masks another allele in a heterozygote Heterozygous - Answer-Having dissimilar alleles of a given gene Homozygous - Answer-Possessing identical alleles of a particular gene Natural selection - Answer-Originally formulated by Charles Darwin; the process by which nature selects the forms most fit to survive and reproduce in a given environment, such as the tropics.