Exam 1 Study Guide (Multiple-Choice)
The exam concentrates on portions of the reading (and related class presentations and discussions). The material below could appear on the test in a variety of forms
Anthropology
Chapter 1
Is participant observation a good way to study human life? Why/why not?
Key method(s)
Motivations for anthropological research
Advantages of ethnography
Disadvantages of ethnography
Strategies & practices of fieldwork
Critiques of fieldwork
Ethical issues
Examples of ethnographic studies
Key Terms
ethnography
participant observation
Chapter 2
The authors suggest that what most distinguishes human beings from other species “is our capacity to conceptualize the world and to communicate these conceptions symbolically” (34)
The authors contend that the difference between “food” and “not-food” is to some degree a cultural matter. What evidence do they offer for saying this?
Key Terms
Culture
Cultural relativism
Chapter 3
Distinguish between a focus on culture and a focus on society (54)
Distinguish between the research interests of sociologists and anthropologists
Provide examples of manifest and latent functions performed by various institutions
Key Terms
Division of labor
Social structure
Joking relationship
Avoidance relationship
Structural situation
Function
· Manifest
· Latent
Chapter 4
The authors briefly discuss “same-sex marriages” (80-81). How do they differ from the kinds of relationships supported by some contemporary Americans?
The authors write, “A single society may easily accommodate a variety of family types” (83). Be aware of some of these types
Explain the similarities and differences between “race” and “ethnicity” as understood by anthropologists.
Key Terms
Levirate marriage
Sororate marriage
Polygyny
Polyandry
Patrilineal
Matrilineal
Chapter 5
Identify what the author thinks are the key characteristics of a good scientific theory.
Understand why it may be more important to find evidence against an idea than evidence for it.
Understand why social scientists often cannot do experiments, and be able to suggest alternatives to the use of experiments.
Steve Bruce says that is especially important to look for “reasons not to believe [an idea of explanation], to seek evidence that does not fit” (3).
Bruce says explanation in the social sciences is not the same as explanation in chemistry or physics. Understand why he says that?
Sociology
Chapter 2
Understand the author’s argument against biological determinism in human life, including a treatment of the idea of “world-openness.”
Be able to summarize the author’s proposals for sociological as opposed to simply biological explanations of human behavior.
Explain how reciprocal roles rather than biological determinants organize human societies.
Bruce refers to “regulation. Be prepared to explain his belief that a moral force, a shared culture that specifies what we can desire and how we can attain these goals, takes the place of the biological straitjacket” (21).
Bruce writes, “We are socialized in the culture so that important elements of it become embedded in our personalities:” (22)
According to Bruce, “Human biology does nothing to structure human society.” (22). Assess this claim with respect to his remarks and also to the treatment of marriage in John Monaghan, and Peter Just, Social and Cultural Anthropology: A Very Short Introduction.
Bruce writes, “the realm that interests sociologists is neither ‘all in the mind’ nor entirely external to our consciousness: it is inter-subjective.” (26) What does he mean?
Key Terms
Sociology
Social construction (of reality)
Biological determinism
World-openness
Role
Chapter 4
Describe Max Weber’s way of differentiating social classes.
Understand Robert Merton’s typology of individual adaptation
Be able to summarize possible sociological explanations for rising divorce rates.
Bruce says people often confuse an individual’s chances of upward mobility with “the opportunity for social advancement” (64). What does he mean?
Key Terms
Modernization
Social mobility
Psychology
Chapter 1
Say what psychology studies and indicate why it is not easy to do so.
Briefly describe the main methods employed in psychology (see page 8).
Identify and describe the main branches of psychology see pages 9 and 10).
According to Butler and McManus, “’Psychology has the same goals as any other science: to describe, understand, predict, and learn how to control or modify the processes it studies.” Compare this understanding of science with that offered by Steve Bruce in Sociology: A Very Short Introduction.
Compare the statements below about psychology and sociology.
Key Terms
Gestalt psychology
Psychoanalysis
Humanistic psychology
Chapter 2
Explain what the authors mean when they write, “what we are ultimately aware of is a combination of sensory stimulation and interpretation.” 15
Identify factors that interfere with attention.
Describe Ulric Neisser’s perceptual cycle
Understand the difference between bottom-up and top-down processing.
What do the authors mean when they write, “perception is not just a matter of passively picking up information from the senses, but the product of an active construction process”? 14
Key Terms
Perception
Attention
Signal detection theory
Sensory deprivation
Subliminal perception
Bottom-up processing
Top-down processing
Chapter 3
What do the authors mean when they say “contemporary psychologists . . . think of memory as an activity, not a thing?”
Be able to describe classical condition/association learning.
Be able to describe operant conditioning and the role of reinforcement in learning.
Be able to describe the three different kinds of memory store discussed in the chapter.
Be able to describe how babies learn through
Contingencies
Discrepancies
Transactions
Key Terms
Contingencies
Discrepancies
Transactions
Association Learning
Classical Conditioning
Operant conditioning
Reinforcement
Behavior Modification
Chapter 4
Identify ways in which non-conscious mental activities play important parts in human activities.
Be able to describe three kinds of reasoning: deductive, inductive, and dialectical.
Understand how reliance on past experience can be both helpful and unhelpful in problem solving.
Key Terms
Concepts
Deductive reasoning
Inductive reasoning
Dialectical reasoning
Positive transfer effect
Mental set
Functional fixedness
Chapter 5
Be able to differentiate between emotions and motivations.
Be able to discuss primary and secondary motives.
Be able to describe Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Be able to describe and compare homeostatic drive theory and goal theory.
Key Terms
Emotion
Motivation
Primary motives
Secondary motives
Homoeostatic drive theory
Goal theory
Cognitive labeling theory
Chapter 6
Be able to discuss attachment theory What are the three main types of attachment
Be able to describe Erik Erikson’s theory of stages of development (see Table 6.2 on age 80)
Key Terms
Critical periods (in human development)
Attachment
Attachment figure
Strange situation
Primary care-giver
Psychosocial crisis
Disengagement theory
Activity theory
Cohort effect
Chapter 7
Be able to siscuss intelligence tests, identifying what they try to do and indicating some of the difficulties involved in designing them and evaluating the scores.
Key Terms
Intelligence
Intelligence tests
Intelligence quotient (IQ)
Mental age
Personality
Chapter 8
Be able to describe different ways of defining abnormal behavior: psychological; medical; statistical and social; existential; and normalizing or health-based.
Be able to describe different types of abnormal behavior (as described in Table 8.1 on pages 103-104)
Be able to explain abnormal behavior in terms of medical; psychodynamic; humanistic; and cognitive-bevahioral
The authors write, ““Psychologists have recognized that part of the difficulty in defining abnormal behaviour arises from the fact that such behaviour may have reflected an entirely adaptive response in an earlier environment.” (101) What do they mean by this?
Key Terms
Abnormal psychology
All types listed in Table 8.1 (pages 103-104)
Diagnosis
Medical model
Defense mechanism
Free association
Cognitive-behavior therapy
Chapter 9
Define social facilitation and give examples of it.
Be able to describe social psychological findings with respect to leadership, conformity, obedience, and prejudice.
Key Terms
Social Psychology
Social facilitation
Audience effect
Coaction effect
Leadership
Conformity
Obedience
Prejudice