The Social And Cultural | Test Questions & Answers Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Social and Cultural Construction of Reality

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. A language with many different words for plants likely reflects that the speakers of that language ______.

a. worship plants

b. use many different kinds of plants

c. do not care about nature

d. can only perceive the plants they can name

Learning Objective: Question 5.1: How does language affect the meanings people assign to experience?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Question 5.1: How Does Language Affect the Meanings People Assign to Experience?

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Through ______, we reduce vocabulary size and take linguistic expressions from one area of experience and apply them to another.

a. metaphor

b. semantics

c. componential analysis

d. analogy

Learning Objective: Question 5.1: How does language affect the meanings people assign to experience?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Borrowing Meaning with Metaphors

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis examines the relationship between which of the following?

a. Metaphors and religious beliefs

b. Reality and culture

c. Political party and belief

d. Language and thought

Learning Objective: Question 5.1: How does language affect the meanings people assign to experience?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Question 5.1: How Does Language Affect the Meanings People Assign to Experience?

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. American English speakers are most likely to use the metaphor of ______ to discuss ______.

a. time; love

b. dance; arguments

c. war; illness

d. birds; families

Learning Objective: Question 5.1: How does language affect the meanings people assign to experience?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Borrowing Meaning with Metaphors

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. What is one key metaphor for the Kwakwaka’wakw?

a. war

b. eating

c. reproduction

d. death

Learning Objective: Question 5.1: How does language affect the meanings people assign to experience?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Kwakwaka’wakw Metaphors of Hunger

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. The expression ______ is an example of metaphoric speech.

a. “lost her battle with cancer”

b. “add insult to injury”

c. “blessing in disguise”

d. “to make a long story short”

Learning Objective: Question 5.1: How does language affect the meanings people assign to experience?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Borrowing Meaning with Metaphors

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. Time in the United States is spoken of and treated as a/an ______.

a. cycle which constantly repeats

b. enemy that must be defeated

c. resource with a finite quantity

d. sporting event with a winner and a loser

Learning Objective: Question 5.1: How does language affect the meanings people assign to experience?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Borrowing Meaning with Metaphors

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. Modern English witches speak of the world as made up of ______.

a. planes of existence

b. demons and angels

c. objects in isolation from other objects

d. nature spirits

Learning Objective: Question 5.1: How does language affect the meanings people assign to experience?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Metaphors of Contemporary Witchcraft and Magic

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. Metaphors like the tarot for modern English witches serve as which of the following?

a. A guide for the interpretation of meaning

b. A direct experience of objective reality

c. A universal experience shared by all

d. A delusion based in ignorance of reality

Learning Objective: Question 5.1: How does language affect the meanings people assign to experience?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Metaphors of Contemporary Witchcraft and Magic

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. Chess pieces are symbolic portrayals of ______.

a. egalitarianism

b. partners in a dance

c. feuding families

d. social hierarchy

Learning Objective: Question 5.2: How does symbolic action reinforce a particular view of the world?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Question 5.2: How does symbolic action reinforce a particular view of the world?

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. The Cannibal Dance of the Kwakwaka’wakw is a/n ______ ritual.

a. death

b. mealtime

c. initiation

d. fertility

Learning Objective: Question 5.2: How does symbolic action reinforce a particular view of the world?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Kwakwaka’wakw Cannibal Dance

Difficulty Level: Easy

12. What impact do rituals such as the Cannibal Dance have on the world?

a. They act to affect the physical world in measurable ways.

b. They allow the group to exert symbolic control over potential threats.

c. They communicate that everyone in the group is equally important.

d. They challenge the power structures of society.

Learning Objective: Question 5.2: How does symbolic action reinforce a particular view of the world?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: The Kwakwaka’wakw Cannibal Dance

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. One ______ in many forms of American media is the quest.

a. ritual

b. key scenario

c. key metaphor

d. analogy

Learning Objective: Question 5.2: How does symbolic action reinforce a particular view of the world?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Dorothy Meets Luke Skywalker

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. Harry Potter, Katniss Everdeen, Percy Jackson, and Jesus are all examples of what Joseph Campbell would call a ______.

a. myth

b. mentor

c. hero

d. quest

Learning Objective: Question 5.2: How does symbolic action reinforce a particular view of the world?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Dorothy Meets Luke Skywalker

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. When Michael Kearney conducted his fieldwork in the Mexican town of Santa Catarina Ixtepeji, he caught himself believing that a witch named Gregoria had successfully attacked him when his arm began to itch. Given that he did not believe in witchcraft prior to his fieldwork, his new belief is an example of ______.

a. mystical experience

b. ritual belief

c. interpretive drift

d. ethnocentrism

Learning Objective: Question 5.3: How do people come to believe what they do, and how do they continue to hold their beliefs even if they seem contradictory or ambiguous?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: The Process of Interpretive Drift

Difficulty Level: Medium

16. According to Tanya Luhrmann, how do people come to new beliefs by?

a. Deciding to be a part of a new group, then adopting their mannerisms, and then beginning to believe

b. Beginning to believe, then practicing the beliefs, then learning about the belief system

c. Learning about the new belief system, then beginning to believe, and then practicing the beliefs

d. Practicing the beliefs, then beginning to believe, and then learning about the belief system

Learning Objective: Question 5.3: How do people come to believe what they do, and how do they continue to hold their beliefs even if they seem contradictory or ambiguous?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Process of Interpretive Drift

Difficulty Level: Medium

17. The process of secondary elaboration is used to ______.

a. shift from one belief to another in the face of new evidence

b. maintain a belief despite evidence that challenges the belief

c. draw out meaning from mysterious rituals

d. describe what happens when a person leaves their religious community

Learning Objective: Question 5.3: How do people come to believe what they do, and how do they continue to hold their beliefs even if they seem contradictory or ambiguous?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Explaining Why the Sun Moves Around Earth

Difficulty Level: Medium

18. Galileo’s torture by the Catholic Church was an attempt to maintain the Earth-centric universe belief through ______.

a. secondary elaboration

b. appeals to faith

c. appeals to authority

d. selective perception

Learning Objective: Question 5.3: How do people come to believe what they do, and how do they continue to hold their beliefs even if they seem contradictory or ambiguous?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Explaining Why the Sun Moves Around Earth

Difficulty Level: Medium

19. Answering a child’s question about Christianity by saying, “God works in mysterious ways,” is an example of ______.

a. an appeal to faith

b. suppressing evidence

c. an observation

d. contradiction

Learning Objective: Question 5.3: How do people come to believe what they do, and how do they continue to hold their beliefs even if they seem contradictory or ambiguous?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Explaining Why the Sun Moves Around Earth

Difficulty Level: Medium

20. Why are anthropologists susceptible to interpretive drift?

a. They try to be open to others’ beliefs

b. They must fit in with the groups they study

c. They engage with other cultures’ practices, which can lead to changes in beliefs

d. They practice relativism

Learning Objective: Question 5.3: How do people come to believe what they do, and how do they continue to hold their beliefs even if they seem contradictory or ambiguous?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: The Process of Interpretive Drift

Difficulty Level: Medium

21. One way that people maintain beliefs despite contradictory evidence is through ______.

a. interpretive drift

b. selective perception

c. positivism

d. the hero quest

Learning Objective: Question 5.3: How do people come to believe what they do, and how do they continue to hold their beliefs even if they seem contradictory or ambiguous?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Explaining Why the Sun Moves Around Earth

Difficulty Level: Easy

22. When anthropologists convert to the beliefs of those they study, it shows that ______.

a. the beliefs are objectively true or real

b. the anthropologists are just as naïve as those they study

c. everyone is the same when you put aside ethnocentric beliefs

d. practicing new beliefs can shift how people see the world

Learning Objective: Question 5.3: How do people come to believe what they do, and how do they continue to hold their beliefs even if they seem contradictory or ambiguous?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Process of Interpretive Drift

Difficulty Level: Medium

23. Some modern witches say their magic is objectively real, while others view their beliefs as a metaphor for how the universe works. These differing views represent ______.

a. the falsehood of the belief system

b. examples of interpretive drift

c. different standards of truth

d. the uniformity of belief within religions

Learning Objective: Question 5.3: How do people come to believe what they do, and how do they continue to hold their beliefs even if they seem contradictory or ambiguous?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Explaining Why the Sun Moves Around Earth

Difficulty Level: Medium

24. Mary Douglas outlined ______ different cultural types.

a. two

b. five

c. seven

d. nine

Learning Objective: Question 5.4: How can we account for different meanings people assign to experiences?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Question 5.4: How can we account for different meanings people assign to experiences?

Difficulty Level: Easy

25. How do group and grid constraints differ?

a. Group refers to loyalty and exclusivity of group membership, while grid refers to individual freedoms or limitations.

b. Group refers to group freedoms or limitations, while grid refers to the level of mobility allowed.

c. Group refers to rules that apply to everyone within the society, while grid refers to rules that apply only to the lowest strata of society.

d. Group refers to the people with whom one can interact, while grid refers to the places one can go with freedom.

Learning Objective: Question 5.4: How can we account for different meanings people assign to experiences?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Question 5.4: How can we account for different meanings people assign to experiences?

Difficulty Level: Medium

26. Cultural types lead to ______.

a. interpretive drift

b. an assumption of heterogeneity within groups

c. a particular lens through which members view the world

d. stereotypes

Learning Objective: Question 5.4: How can we account for different meanings people assign to experiences?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Question 5.4: How can we account for different meanings people assign to experiences?

Difficulty Level: Medium

27. The culture type that experiences neither group nor grid constraints is the ______.

a. hermit

b. fatalist

c. individualist

d. egalitarian

Learning Objective: Question 5.4: How can we account for different meanings people assign to experiences?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Question 5.4: How can we account for different meanings people assign to experiences?

Difficulty Level: Easy

28. The hierarchist cultural type experiences ______ constraints.

a. high group and high grid

b. high group and low grid

c. low group and high grid

d. low group and low grid

Learning Objective: Question 5.4: How can we account for different meanings people assign to experiences?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Question 5.4: How can we account for different meanings people assign to experiences?

Difficulty Level: Medium

29. Beliefs about the world reflect which of the following?

a. an objective reality

b. a socially constructed understanding of reality

c. individual views without influence from society

d. a collective consciousness

Learning Objective: Question 5.4: How can we account for different meanings people assign to experiences?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Question 5.4: How can we account for different meanings people assign to experiences?

Difficulty Level: Easy

30. The military is an example of which cultural type?

a. individualist

b. fatalist

c. egalitarian

d. hierarchist

Learning Objective: Question 5.4: How can we account for different meanings people assign to experiences?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Question 5.4: How can we account for different meanings people assign to experiences?

Difficulty Level: Easy

31. A society with high group but low grid constraints would be most likely to believe that ______.

a. all within the group are equal and superior to those outside the group

b. all people both within and outside of the group are equal

c. those within the group are superior to those outside the group, but people within the group are not equal

d. those within the group are of less value than those outside the group

Learning Objective: Question 5.4: How can we account for different meanings people assign to experiences?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Question 5.4: How can we account for different meanings people assign to experiences?

Difficulty Level: Medium

32. The belief that the economy is unpredictable and that individuals cannot do much about their place within the economic system is characteristic of the ______ cultural type.

a. individualist

b. fatalist

c. egalitarian

d. hermit

Learning Objective: Question 5.4: How can we account for different meanings people assign to experiences?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: What Kinds of Worldviews Are Associated With Each Cultural Type?

Difficulty Level: Medium

33. Revitalization movements tend to happen under which circumstances?

a. Following social upheavals

b. In times of peace

c. Immediately following conquest

d. Among settlers in new lands

Learning Objective: Question 5.5: How can people reorder their view of the world if it becomes unsatisfactory?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Question 5.5: How can people reorder their view of the world if it becomes unsatisfactory?

Difficulty Level: Easy

34. Revitalization movements often share which common goal?

a. the violent overthrow of oppressor groups

b. stockpiling wealth

c. reducing inequality

d. secularization

Learning Objective: Question 5.5: How can people reorder their view of the world if it becomes unsatisfactory?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Mother Ann Lee and the Shakers

Difficulty Level: Medium

35. The two statements, “Rashida is bossy,” and “Rashida is a strong leader,” differ in their ______.

a. accuracy

b. cultural type

c. frame

d. theoretical perspective

Learning Objective: Question 5.5: How can people reorder their view of the world if it becomes unsatisfactory?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Political Counseling and the Power of Metaphor

Difficulty Level: Medium

True/False

1. Anthropological research involves determining whether various religious beliefs are true.

Learning Objective: Question 5.1: How does language affect the meanings people assign to experience?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Metaphors of Contemporary Witchcraft and Magic

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Ritual participants can really experience powerful feelings during a ritual.

Learning Objective: Question 5.2: How does symbolic action reinforce a particular view of the world?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Ritual of Contemporary Witchcraft and Magic

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Believers interpret ritual failures as evidence that their belief systems are flawed.

Learning Objective: Question 5.3: How do people come to believe what they do, and how do they continue to hold their beliefs even if they seem contradictory or ambiguous?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Process of Interpretive Drift

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. The data supports the worldview of the fatalist cultural type.

Learning Objective: Question 5.4: How can we account for different meanings people assign to experiences?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Question 5.4: How can we account for different meanings people assign to experiences?

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. The Ghost Dance was an example of a revitalization movement.

Learning Objective: Question 5.5: How can people reorder their view of the world if it becomes unsatisfactory?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Wovoka and the Ghost Dance

Difficulty Level: Easy

Short Answer

1. What do the key metaphors in American culture reflect about how Americans see the world?

Learning Objective: Question 5.1: How does language affect the meanings people assign to experience?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Borrowing Meaning with Metaphors

Difficulty Level: Hard

2. Analyze a piece of Western media (book, movie, or play) that you have enjoyed recently in terms of Joseph Campbell’s work on myths. How does the main character fit the role of ‘hero’ and what do the qualities of the hero reflect about American ideals? What journey does the hero take? Who serves as mentor to the hero? What obstacles does the hero face? What helpers appear to aid the hero? What is the hero’s goal?

Learning Objective: Question 5.2: How does symbolic action reinforce a particular view of the world?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Dorothy Meets Luke Skywalker

Difficulty Level: Hard

3. How do people protect their beliefs when evidence exists that does not support their beliefs?

Learning Objective: Question 5.3: How do people come to believe what they do, and how do they continue to hold their beliefs even if they seem contradictory or ambiguous?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Explaining Why the Sun Moves Around Earth

Difficulty Level: Hard

4. Compare and contrast societies with high grid versus low grid constraints.

Learning Objective: Question 5.4: How can we account for different meanings people assign to experiences?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Question 5.4: How can we account for different meanings people assign to experiences?

Difficulty Level: Hard

5. Compare and contrast the worldviews of the hierarchist and the egalitarian cultural types.

Learning Objective: Question 5.4: How can we account for different meanings people assign to experiences?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Question 5.4: How can we account for different meanings people assign to experiences?

Difficulty Level: Hard