Transcript 07CULT1

The Nature of Culture
What is this thing called culture, anyway?
E. B. Tylor (1871) gave us the most famous definition:
“Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge,
belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and
habits acquired by man as a member of society" (Tylor 1871).
The author of your text offers this definition:
The values, beliefs, and perceptions of the world shared by
members of a society, that they use to interpret experience and
generate behavior, and that are reflected in their behavior”
(Haviland, 2003).
The Nature of Culture
Traditionally, a word of many uses…”high”culture, “low” culture,
agriculture, cultivate, cult…”way of life”
However, a more modern source, the American Heritage English
Dictionary, gives a primary definition of culture which is
substantially different than earlier primary definitions:
"The totality of socially transmitted
behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and
all other products of human work and thought."
The Nature of Culture
Biological basis - computational theory of mind
Steven Pinker; John Tooby
Mind is largely a function of brain with special areas
associated with special functions
i.e. Wernike’s and Broca’s areas.
These areas evolved over millennia of adaptation as food
foragers.
“Mental templates” formed on a palimpsest, not a tabula rasa.
The Nature of Culture
Word of many uses… “high” culture, “low” culture,
O wad
some Power
the
giftie
gieof us
agriculture,
cultivate,
cult…
“way
life”
To see oursels as ithers see us!
CULTURE/
culture
It wad frae
mony
a blunder free us,
An' foolish notion:
CULTURE
life of
human
beings
What airs
in dress- way
an'ofgait
wad
lea'e
us,- ethnology
An' ev'n devotion!
culture - way of life of a specific group of human beings To a Louse: On Seeing One On a Lady’s Bonnet, At Church
ethnography
--Robert Burns, 1786
MAINLY learned
The Nature of Culture
Socialization - the processes involved in acquisition
of ability to function as a member of
society…does not involve symboling.
Enculturation - the processes involved in acquisition
of culture…requires symboling.
Ethnocentrism - a central feature of enculturation.
The Nature of Culture
MAINLY learned
Before birth….beginning of socialization.
Shortly after birth begins process of differentiation.
Within three weeks recognizes significant others.
By six months beginning symbolic learning/language sounds.
Beginning of enculturation……….
The Nature of Culture
Early Development: Prenatal period
Fetal Phase
The fetal phase of prenatal development lasts from nine weeks
after fertilization to birth.
During this period each of the organ systems continues to grow
and mature, and the overall size of the fetus increases
dramatically. The proportions change; as the arms and legs
grow, the head no longer seems so much out of proportion to the
rest of the body. During the first weeks of the fetal phase the sex
organs begin to take shape.
The Nature of Culture
Early Development:
Neonatal period (Neonate or newborn)
The period of life immediately after birth
The average North American newborn weighs about 7
pounds
Neurons
and
grow
measures
rapidly….dendrites
about 20 inches
show an estimated 500% increase
in density within the cortex from birth until age 2 in normal children.
The Nature of Culture
Neonatal / Infancy
Rooting reflex: Neonate responds to stimulation by sucking.
Babinsky reflex: Baby spreads toes when foot tickled.
Moro (Startle) reflex:
Draws up legs, archs back when
startled.
Vision: Baby can see up to about 12 inches away.
Cognitive ability: Can imitate mother’s facial expressions.
The Nature of Culture
• Infancy: From 2 weeks to 24 months.
– Physical Development
•
•
2 months: Raise head and chest off floor.
6 months: Sit unaided.
– Cognitive Development
• Infant actively involved with environment
» Picks up objects and put them in mouth.
» Realizes that objects still exist even when they are not in sight.
(Object Permanence)
The Nature of Culture
• Emotional & Social
Development
–
–
• Visual Cliff (Gibson &
Walk, 1960)
2 months: Smiling at
caregiver.
6 - 9 months: Shyness, fear.
–
Development of fear of
heights.
Emotional bond between infant and caretaker.
Separation Anxiety
Apprehension when child is separated from caretaker.
Begins around 6 months.
The Nature of Culture
• Cognitive Development
Egocentric (self-centered thought)
• Animism (attributes
volition to inanimate objects)
CHILDHOOD
DEVELOPMENT
•
–
Transductive reasoning
•
Logical errors regarding cause-and-effect.
– Because two things co-occur, one must cause the other.
• Emotional & Social Development
–
Change in peer relationships
•
•
•
Solitary play
Parallel play
Cooperative play
The Nature of Culture
MAINLY learned
SR conditioning
Classical conditioning (Ivan Pavlov; John Watson, Behaviorism. 1924 )
Associationism (Animal Intelligence 1911, Law of Effect)
Prägung (Imprinting) - Konrad Lorenz
Operant conditioning ( B.F. Skinner About Behaviorism. 1974 )
Imprinting (Prägung, in the original German) is defined as follows:…a
relatively rapid learning process that takes place during a short,
sensitive period in early youth. It has a prominent-sensitive phase
Symbolic
and a stable, often irreversible effect.
learning
Based on ability to create and manipulate symbolic systems…the
neurological basis of CULTURE that had been attained by about 100,000
years B.P.
How Cultures Are Studied
Participant Observation
Important
Dichotomies
Culture Shock
Emic/Etic Method
Comparative
Inside/Outside
Overt/Covert
Real/Ideal
How Cultures Are Studied
Culture Change
acculturation
functional prerequisites
culture loss
cultural evolution
cultural diffusion
subculture
A Major Aspect of Culture Change in Texas
Through Mid Century
Figure 3.1
Legal immigrants admitted to the U.S. by region of birth.
Percent of Texas Population by Age Group
and Ethnicity, 2000
Pe rce nt
80.0
72.6
67.1
66.4
63.5
60.2
60.0
57.2
53.0
47.8
44.0
39.5
40.0
45.0
45.0
40.5
38.4
38.0
44.4
43.1
41.6 41.3
38.6
35.3
30.5
26.7
24.2
22.4
20.6
20.3
20.0
16.7
0.0
s
<
5
ar
ye
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to
s
9
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14
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Anglo
39
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40
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44
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45
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His panic
49
s
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50
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54
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55
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59
s
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64
s
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65
+
s
ar
e
y
Percent of Texas Population by Age Group
and Ethnicity, 2040*
80.0
Pe rce nt
69.9
70.0
67.8
66.5
66.8
66.0
65.5
66.4
64.3
62.6
60.6
60.0
56.7
55.2
52.3
50.0
39.8
40.0
37.1
30.0
20.0
25.3
17.7
19.3
19.9
20.3
19.8
19.3
19.4
20.5
20.6
26.5
27.2
21.9
10.0
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34
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49
54
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64
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Anglo
* Proje ctions are s how n for the 1.0 s ce nario
His panic
Projected Proportion of Population by
Race/Ethnicity in Texas, 2000-2040*
Percent
70.0
59.1
60.0
53.1
53.1
50.0
46.4
45.2
39.2
40.0
37.5
32.0
30.5
30.0
24.2
20.0
11.6
11.1
10.0
10.2
9.1
5.9
4.5
3.3
7.3
7.9
0.0
2000
2010
2020
2030
Year
Anglo
Black
Hispanic
Other
2040
8.8
Projected Percent of Net Change
Attributable to Each Race/Ethnicity Group
in Texas for 2000-2040*
Black
5.3%
Hispanic
78.2%
Anglo
3.9%
Other
12.6%