EST 200 1st Edition Exam 1 Study Guide Lectures 1 12 Adaptation the process by which organisms cope with environmental stress Ecology it is the scientific study of the relationship between organisms and their environment Anthropology is the scientific study of humans Global in scope holistic in vision scientific in method Anthropology Studies humankind at all times and in all places Methods associated with anthropology participant observation while conducting fieldwork Fieldwork firsthand experience with the people being studied and the usual means by which anthropological information is obtained regardless if other methods that anthropologist may use fieldwork usually involves participant observation for an extended period of time often a year or more Participant Observation is the fieldwork method most closely associated with anthropology While conducting fieldwork the anthropologist participates in the daily activities and learns the language of the people being studied Ethnocentrism the judging of another culture or culture trait by your own culture standards assuming that your culture is correct Example we disagree with what other cultures may find completely acceptable Cultural Relativism the attitude that a society customs and ideas should be viewed within the context of that society s problems and opportunities Anthropology It is your job as an anthropologist not to make judgments of other cultures You must be unbiased Observation In order to fully try to understand culture it is highly important that you learn and speak the language and participate in the daily activities of that culture Different kinds of anthropology a Physical Anthropology or biology b Anthropological linguistics the study of human language c Archaeology study of the human past d Cultural Anthropology study to understand the concepts of other cultures e Applied Anthropology Culture set or rules or standards learned and shared by members of a society which when acted upon by the members produce behaviors that fall within a range of variance the members consider proper and acceptable Culture trait any trait of humans acquired in social life and transmitted by communication language sound or gesture What is a culture Each culture is a collection of people cooperating to ensure their collective survival and wellbeing Needs some degree of predictable behavior Why cultures do exists To deal with the problems or matters that concern them Do cultures die Yes Function of a culture A culture must strike a balance between the self interests of individuals and the needs of society as a whole A culture must have the capacity to change in order to adapt to new circumstances or to the altered perceptions of existing circumstances Enculturation Means to adapt to the prevailing cultural patterns of one s society Taught to us by our child care givers usually our biological parents but does not have to be Society Is a group of people who occupy a specific locality and who share the same cultural tradition There is only one race Research has shown that racial characteristics represent biological adaption to climate and have nothing to do with differences in intelligence or cultural superiority Because individuals who share a culture tend to marry within their society and thus to share certain physical characteristics some people mistakenly believe that there is a direct relationship between culture and race There is none There is only ONE race the human race All culture is learned by growing up with it Human needs are the same as those of other animals a Air b Water c d e f g Food Shelter Security Companionship Sexual gratification Each culture determines in its own way how these needs will met Cultural Integration Is the tendency for all aspects of a culture to function as an interrelated whole Cultural materialistic approach the approach to anthropology that regards the manner in which a culture adapts to its environment as the most significant factor in it development Integration the tendency for all aspects of a culture to function as an interrelated whole Is mental illness influenced by culture Yes Pibloktoq A condition found among some inuit adults of Greenland usually women who become oblivious to their surrounding and act in agitated eccentric ways They strip naked and run out in the snow Amok Another disorder which occurs in Malaya Indonesia and New Guinea It s characterized by bouts of depression and withdrawal followed by fits of tremendous energy during which the individual becomes mad Wiitiko a type of psychosis found mostly among the males of some North American Indian tribes including the Ojibwa and Cree The individuals has the delusion that he is possessed by the spirit of a Wiitiko a cannibal giant and he has illusions and cannibalistic impulses There are several theories as to its cause Diffusion Defined as the process by which cultural elements are borrowed from another society and incorporated into the culture of the recipient group This method sometimes allows a group to bypass stages or mistakes in the development of a process or institution Acculturation Defined as the changes that occur when different cultural groups come into intensive contact i The source of new cultural items is the other society ii Usually occurring in contact with the weaker group doing a lot of the cultural borrowing iii Conquest of colonization by the stronger group is a direct method to bring about cultural change in the weaker society iv Example American Indian relations schools Theory The Social Evolutionist Edward B Tylor 1832 1917 From Oxford University Physical scientist First to work on social science culture Culture evolved from simple to complex and all society passed through 3 basic stages 1 Savagery 2 Barbarism 3 Civilization Progress was therefore possible for all Lewis Henry Morgan Interested in local Iroquois Indians and defended their reservation in a land grant case In gratitude the Iroquois adopted Morgan His famous book Ancient Society discusses his theory about the development of the family As a lawyer his thinking was logical he became interested in the family and devised 6 stages that he though the family went through to go along with Tylor three stages Both these theories reflect the thinking of the times but both were ethnocentric As all thinking by honest sincere well trained scientist pushes the discipline to go further in its thinking the social theorist pushed the young discipline of