€¦ · Web viewThis is an open-book exam. You may bring and use your texts, dictionary, thesaurus, a writing handbook, class handouts, notes, outlines, drafts, memos, and a Ouija

Culture and Personality Final, Spring 2009, page 1

Anthropology 4616 Culture and Personality

End of Semester Exam

Spring 2009

12 May 2009

This exam is available in electronic formfrom the General Purpose Course WebDrop Folder at

<https://webdrop.d.umn.edu>

If you are uploading a file to WebDrop call it something like

your emailname_CP_final

do not use the characters " ' # :

Upload all six of your questions in one file.Do not upload them separately in six files.

You must finish and turn in or upload this exam by 1:55 p.m.

This is an open-book exam. You may bring and use your texts, dictionary, thesaurus, a writing handbook, class handouts, notes, outlines, drafts, memos, and a Ouija board. You may also use references and materials from your other classes and the web, with the caveat, of course, that you properly cite any sources you use. Friends, however, are not permitted.

You may bring and use your laptop but you must upload your exam to your WebDrop folder at the end of the exam period <https://webdrop.d.umn.edu>. Please upload the entire exam as one file, including the optional take-home question if you choose to do that question.

NOTE: If you normally generate a .wps file (from the Microsoft Works word processor) please turn in your paper as a .rtf (Rich Text Format) document. ( It does not work simply to type in the .rtf extension on an existing .wps file. You must load the original document and then resave it as a .rtf file type.)

Answer SIX (only 6) of the following eleven questions. Keep in mind that there is more than one approach you can take in answering these questions.

Follow these guidelines:

1. Organize your answer before you begin.

2. Be sure to state:1. What or who something is

https://webdrop.d.umn.edu/#title

https://webdrop.d.umn.edu/#title


2. Where it occurred or is located (if appropriate)3. How it is important4. When it occurred5. Why it is important

3. State YOUR position or approach clearly.

4. Cite specific examples or references to support your statements.

5. Mention problem areas or other relevant materials which you would like to consider further in a more thorough statement. That is, when you're finished with your answer, what major questions are still left unanswered?

6. Summarize your argument or discussion.

7. Wherever appropriate use materials from more than one region of the world.

8. Remember that each of your responses should have a beginning, a middle, and an end.

9. Note: Do not discuss any topic at length in more than one question.

01. From the CPforum:

xxx


xxx


xxx


xxx



xxx

06 From the text and class presentations:

Chapter 11 discusses AAcculturation,@ and the authors propose an AAcculturation Framework@ (Fig. 11.1, p. 302), ATypes of Acculturating Groups@ (Fig. 11.2, p. 304), AAcculturation Strategies@ (Fig. 11.3, p. 306), AA Framework for Acculturation Research@ (Fig. 11.4, p. 310), and AFactors Affecting Acculturation@ (Table 11.1, p. 312).

A. How do the Yanomamö use or not use boundary maintaining mechanisms in their acculturation situations. Use the materials from Chapter 11 where appropriate.

B. Over the time span of two generations, what do you expect the results of the Yanomamö approach will be on the modal personalities of the Yanomamö people? Use the materials from Chapter 11 where appropriate.

07 Cumulative synthesis:

Take any one topic in Culture and Personality studies and relate that topic to each of the twelve chapters of the text (this can be at any level of analysis). (Your answer should thus have at least twelve parts to it, albeit some of them may be short.) The chapters included:

1. The Socio-Cultural Nature of Human Beings2. Cross-Cultural Research: Scope and Methods3. Human Development and Informal Education4. Perceptual and Cognitive Processes5. Alternative Views on Human Competence: General Intelligence

and Genetic Epistemology6. Everyday Cognition and Cognitive Anthropology7. Motives, Beliefs, and Values8. Males and Females and the Relations between Them9. Culture and Aggression10. Intercultural Relations in a Shrinking World11. Acculturation12. Conclusions


08 Chapter 12: "Conclusions"

Chapter 12 discusses “Conclusions” to Human Behavior in Global Perspective. What are the five major conclusions you personally draw from your studies of Culture and Personality so far. Be sure to explain why.

09 Some have suggested cultures need persons with "abnormal" personalities and behavior in order to clearly define culturally normative behavior. Argue for or against this proposition.

10 Optional Take-Home Question:

NOTE: Essentially you may make up ONE question total. You may either do that as a take-home and bring it to class with you, or you may do that in class the day of the exam. If you elect to do the optional take-home exam and bring it with you to class, then you must choose five (5) additional of the remaining questions presented on the actual exam, as they are presented on the exam.

Do not ask a question relating to your class presentationor to your term paper.

If you do not like these questions, make up and answer a question of your own choice relating to a topic having to do with Culture and Personality which you have not considered in your other answers and concerning a topic related to the materials covered in class since the midterm exam. Do not select a topic that was part of your in-class presentations. (If you think these questions are fantastic but simply prefer to make up one of your own, go ahead.)

Answers should contain specific information supporting your position. Both your question and your answer will be evaluated.

If you elect to make up and answer a question, you may prepare your question and answer in advance and bring it with you to the exam. If you prepare your question in advance you only need to answer five (5) other questions in class.

10 Current Affairs:


The featured story in Natural History this month (May 2008) is on Marco Iacoboni’s work “Mental Mirrors: Special cells in the brain mimic the actions and intentions of others, forming the basis of empathy and social connections.”

Red area shows location of mirror neurons in the ventral premotor cortex, the part of the brain responsible for coding object-oriented movements such as grasping, holding, and manipulating. This region lies adjacent to the primary motor cortex, which sends electric signals to the muscles. Illustration © Marco Iacoboni

Question: How is current research like Iacoboni’s likely to affect Culture and Personality studies?

The story from Natural History http://nhmag.com/master.html?http://nhmag.com/0508/0508_feature.html:

WHAT DO PEOPLE REALLY DO all day, every day? We “read” the world. And much of the world consists of other people. When a tennis player raises his racquet, for example, you know instantly whether he’s going to take a practice swing or throw his racket across the court in anger. We all make dozens—hundreds—of such distinctions every day. It is, quite literally, what we do, usually without a second thought. It all seems so ordinary.

In fact, it’s extraordinary—and even more extraordinary that it feels ordinary! We achieve our very subtle understanding of other people thanks to certain collections of special cells in the brain called mirror neurons. They are at the core of how we navigate through our lives. They bind us with each other, mentally and emotionally.

Mirror neurons are incredibly powerful; “vicarious” would not be a strong enough word to describe their effects. When we watch movie stars kiss onscreen, some of the cells firing in our brains are the same ones that fire when

http://nhmag.com/master.html?http://nhmag.com/0508/0508_feature.html


we kiss our lovers. And when we see someone else suffering or experiencing pain, mirror neurons help us to read her or his facial expression and make us viscerally feel the suffering or the pain of the other person. Those moments, I will argue, are the foundation of empathy (and possibly of morality). Research on mirror neurons gives anyone interested in how we understand one another some remarkable food for thought.

CONSIDER THE TEACUP EXPERIMENT I published an account of in 2005 [see illustration below]. Test subjects are shown three video clips involving the same simple action: a hand grasping a teacup. In one clip, there is no context for the action, just the hand and the cup. In another, the subjects see a messy table, complete with cookie crumbs and dirty napkins—the aftermath of a tea party, clearly. The third video shows a neatly set table, in apparent readiness for the tea party. In all three video clips, a hand reaches in to pick up the cup. Nothing else happens, and the grasping action observed by the subjects in all three versions of the experiment never changes. Besides the difference in context, there is only one other variation: in the “neat” scenario the cup is full, whereas in the messy one the viewer cannot tell if the cup contains liquid.

Do mirror neurons in the brains of the subjects notice the differences in context and in the contents of the cup? Most definitely. When a subject observes the grasping scene with no context at all, mirror neurons are the least active. The neurons are more active when the subject watches the after-tea-party scene, but they are most active during the neat, full-cup scene. Why? Because drinking is a much more fundamental intention for us than cleaning up. The teacup experiment—now well known in the field of neuroscience—belongs to a wealth of recent empirical evidence suggesting that our brains are capable of mirroring the deepest aspects of the minds of others at the fine-grained level of a single brain cell. Reading the intention of others is only one example of the kinds of distinctions that can be made with a remarkable lack of effort. We do not have to draw complex inferences or run complicated algorithms. Instead, we use mirror neurons.

Mirror neurons were first discovered in the brains of monkeys, where they are concentrated in two linked areas, called the ventral premotor cortex and the inferior parietal lobule, that are important for selecting appropriate motor behavior. Mirror neurons make up approximately 20 percent of the neurons in those regions, which lie close to the primary motor cortex, the area of the brain that sends electric signals to the muscles. In humans, however, mirror neurons may be located in many more regions of the brain, in varying amounts. (I hope to publish new findings about their location soon.)

Mirror neurons seem to have nothing in common with deliberate, effortful, and cognitive attempts to imagine being in somebody else’s shoes. So how do they actually predict the action that will follow an observed scene? How do they let us understand the intention associated with such an action?

My hypothesis is this: we activate a chain of mirror neurons when we watch an action. This chain of neurons can anticipate a whole sequence—say, reaching for the cup, grasping it, bringing it to the mouth—and so can simulate the intention of the human we are watching.

Mirror neurons in such a chain may be of different types. One kind—so-called strictly congruent mirror neurons—respond to identical actions, either performed or observed. For instance, a strictly congruent mirror neuron fires both when a monkey grasps an object with two fingers, in a “precision” grip, and when that same monkey sees another primate grasping with a precision grip. A different mirror neuron, also strictly congruent, fires when the monkey grasps with its whole hand as well as when the monkey sees somebody else grasping in the same fashion.

Other mirror neurons, however, show a less strict correspondence between performed and observed actions. Those are known as broadly congruent mirror neurons. They fire at the sight of actions that may not be identical, but that achieve similar goals. For instance, a broadly congruent mirror neuron may fire when the monkey is grasping food with its hand, and also when the monkey sees somebody else bringing food to the mouth.

An important subset of the broadly congruent type of mirror neurons fire in anticipation of logically related actions. These logically related mirror neurons, as they are logically called, are probably the neuronal elements needed to understand intentions associated with observed actions. I see you grasping a cup with a certain kind of grip, and my grip mirror neurons fire, the strictly congruent ones. So far I am only simulating a grasping action. However, given that the context suggests drinking, my logically related mirror neurons, the ones that code for the action of bringing the cup to the mouth, fire even before the cup is brought to the mouth. By activating this chain of mirror neurons, my brain is able to simulate the intentions of others.


Why do some cells fire for actions that are logically related? No one knows for sure, but it’s likely that mirror neurons “learn” from experience—such as when babies watch or interact with their caregiver. Suppose a baby sees a caregiver’s hand put food on the table, and then the baby grasps the food to eat. Grasping food and seeing food placed become associated in the baby’s brain. It’s not that the mirror neurons know there is a logical connection between the two actions; rather, the baby-caregiver interaction links the two as part of a sequence.

MIRROR NEURONS HELP EXPLAIN an essential characteristic of humans: we have an instinct to imitate one another—to synchronize our bodies, our actions, even the way we speak to each other. This synchrony we enjoy with others often has an emotional component. For example, a study of how an interviewer’s warmth impacts an interviewee’s reaction showed that warm interviewers—those that leaned forward, smiled, and nodded—elicited similar movements, smiles, and nods from interviewees.

Such motor mimicry seems to play not only a communicative role, but also a perceptual one. Psychologist Ulf Dimberg of Uppsala University in Sweden demonstrated exactly that by studying the activity of facial muscles of subjects looking at pictures of happy or angry faces. When subjects were observing happy faces, activity increased in the cheek muscles that contract to smile; when they were observing angry faces, activity spiked in brow muscles that contract in anger.

Why all the mimicry? The answer comes from a study led by Paula M. Niedenthal, an American social psychologist who is director of research at Université Blaise Pascal in France. In her experiment, two groups of participants were asked to detect changes in the facial expressions of other people. The key was that one group was prevented from freely moving their own faces by holding a pencil between their teeth. The pencil severely restricts the ability to smile, frown, and make most other facial expressions—just try it. Therefore, the pencil hinders mimicry. Surprisingly, the participants holding the pencils between their teeth were much less successful in detecting changes in others’ emotional facial expressions than were participants who were free to mimic the expressions they observed. Mimicking others is not just a way of communicating nonverbally; it helps us to perceive others’ expressions (and therefore their emotions) in the first place.

I believe that mirror neurons provide an automatic simulation (or “inner imitation”) of the facial expressions of other people, and that the process of simulation does not require explicit, deliberate recognition of the expression mimicked. Mirror neurons send signals to the emotional centers located in the limbic system of the brain, and thus trigger emotions appropriate to the observed facial expressions—the happiness associated with a smile, the sadness associated with a frown. Only after we feel the emotions internally are we able to explicitly recognize them. When a participant is asked to hold a pencil between his teeth, the motor activity required by that action interferes with the motor activity triggered by mirror neurons to mimic the observed facial expressions. The subsequent cascade of neural activations that would lead to explicit recognition of emotions is also disrupted.

If mimicry indeed supports recognition of emotions, then it follows that good imitators should also be good at recognizing emotions, and so endowed with a greater empathy for others. The tendency to imitate others and the ability to empathize with them ought to be correlated. That is exactly the hypothesis tested by the social psychologists Tanya L. Chartrand and John A. Bargh, then of New York University. In one experiment of theirs, the subjects were asked to choose the most stimulating pictures from a set of photographs. They were videotaped, and their motor behavior was measured. An experimenter pretending to be another subject sat in the same room with every real subject. (In experimental jargon, the posing subject was the “confederate.”) While the real subject was choosing a picture, the confederate was engaged in a very deliberate action, either rubbing his face or shaking his foot. Analyzing the videotapes, Chartrand and Bargh discovered that subjects unconsciously mimicked the action of the confederate. Subjects sharing the room with the face-rubbing confederate rubbed their own faces more than subjects who shared the room with shaking confederates, and vice versa.

In a second experiment, Chartrand and Bargh tested the hypothesis that one of the functions of the “chameleon effect,” or mimicry, is to increase the likelihood that two individuals will readily get along. Again, participants were asked to choose pictures in the company of a confederate pretending to be another participant. This time the participant and confederate took turns describing what they saw in various photos. All the while, the confederate either imitated the spontaneous postures, movements, and mannerisms of the subject or kept a neutral posture. At the end of the interactions, participants were asked to complete a questionnaire to report how much they liked the other participant (that is, the confederate) and how smoothly they thought the interaction had gone. You can predict the results by now: the participants who were mimicked by the confederates liked those confederates much more than the participants who were not imitated. Furthermore, the mimicked subjects rated the smoothness of the interaction higher than the participants who were not imitated. Clearly, imitation and “liking” tend to go together.


In their final, most critical experiment, Chartrand and Bargh tested the hypothesis that the more you mimic others, the more you are concerned about other people’s feelings—that is, the more empathy you have. The setting was the same as in the first experiment, with the confederates either rubbing their faces or shaking their feet. The novel aspect, though, was that the participants also responded to a questionnaire that measured their empathic tendencies. Chartrand and Bargh found a strong correlation between the degree of imitative behavior displayed by a participant and his or her tendency to empathize. The more the subject imitated the face rubbing or the foot shaking, the more empathic an individual that subject was. These results suggest that it is in large part through mimicry that we are able to feel what other people feel, and so to respond compassionately to their emotional states.

The well-designed studies of Chartrand and Bargh are compelling, and join a host of others. For example, couples tend to have a “higher facial similarity” (they look more alike) after a quarter century of married life than at the time of their marriage. Moreover, the happier the marriage, the higher the couple’s facial similarity. That’s no surprise, really. Loving, sharing, and living together makes a spouse somewhat like a second self. Such examples point to the vital role of mirror neurons in our interactions with others.

BECAUSE “MIRRORING” IS ESSENTIAL for empathy and social connection, impairment of the capacity to mirror can have profoundly negative consequences. In the late 1980s, psychiatrist and developmental psychologist R. Peter Hobson at University College, London, made a series of observations about children with autism that are very suggestive in the light of the later discovery of mirror neurons. Hobson was convinced that the main deficit in autism was emotional, not cognitive, and that it lay in the children’s inability to “identify” with the emotions of others. To explore this hunch, Hobson devised a series of experiments that tested the ability of children with and without autism to notice facial expressions and to imitate behaviors associated with emotions—two skills vital to social communication and bonding that we now think may depend on normally functioning mirror neurons.

With his colleague S. Jane Weeks, a psychologist then at the Institute of Psychiatry in London, Hobson showed children with and without autism pictures of women or men, wearing either woolen caps or floppy hats, and making either happy or gloomy faces. The children were asked to sort the pictures based on how they differed. Obviously, the children could have chosen to sort by gender, hat, or facial expression. The first time, both the non-autistic children and those with autism used gender to sort the pictures. Weeks and Hobson then asked them to sort the pictures again, this time without regard to gender. Here came the difference: non-autistic children picked facial emotion as the sorting factor, whereas children with autism picked the hat. Such results encouraged Hobson in his conviction that the problem for children with autism is the missing emotional connection.

To test whether imitation deficits in children with autism are linked to their inability to resonate emotionally with other people, Hobson and his colleague Anthony Lee of the Tavistock Clinic, London, came up with an experiment in which children could imitate both what people did to accomplish a goal and the “style” with which they conducted themselves. Initially the children—divided into one group with autism and another without—were not even told to imitate Lee, who simply said, “Watch this.” Then he performed simple actions with a number of objects. For example, he strummed a stick along a pipe rack, making a graceful and gentle strumming action for half of each group, and a harsh strumming for the other half of each group. After a break, the children were allowed to use the stick and pipe. What did they do? All the children strummed the stick along the pipe rack, but only the non-autistic children imitated the harsh or gentle style that Lee had adopted in front of them.

It should come as no great surprise, then, but serves as important proof, that at least six different laboratories using a variety of techniques for studying the human brain have recently confirmed deficits in mirror neuron areas and their interactions with the limbic system in individuals with autism.

OUR GROWING KNOWLEDGE of the powerful neurobiological mechanisms underlying human sociality provides an invaluable resource not only for understanding and helping children with social deficits, but also for helping all of us learn how to increase empathy in our lives and in the world. My hope is that a more explicit understanding of our empathic nature will become a factor in the deliberate, reflective discourse that shapes society. For instance, our knowledge of the basis of human sociality can help us open ourselves to other cultures without losing touch with our own.

People often say that they are moved to sadness when they watch a tearjerker film; they are moved to joy when their child hits a home run or performs in a recital. In a literal sense, they are indeed “moved.” Their mirror neurons are subtly activating the matching muscles in their faces and bodies. There is something like physical contact, like a beautifully synchronized partner dance, when we orchestrate motions and emotions in our minds while watching


someone else.

People seem to have the intuition that “being moved” is the basis of empathy, and thus of morality. We have evolved to connect deeply with other human beings. Our new awareness of how literally this is true can and should bring us even closer to one another.


Three video clips involving the same simple action of grasping a cup were shown to test subjects: in the first, the action occurs against no background (left); in the second, the background is a messy table complete with cookie crumbs and dirty napkins, implying the aftermath of a tea party (middle); in the third, the context is a neat tabletop, in apparent preparation for a party (right).

The neat scenario suggests that the intent behind grasping the full cup is to drink, whereas the messy scenario suggests an intent to clean up. The blue-green bars under the images represent the relative amount of activity of the observer’s mirror neurons.

Based on context, mirror neurons can distinguish intention. The activity of the observer’s mirror neurons is greatest for the neat scenario—almost double the amount in the messy one—because drinking is a more fundamental intention than cleaning up.

Illustration © Melisa Beveridge

Marco Iacoboni, © 2008.

Good Luck!



xxxxzzzz

01. Current Affairs / Chapter 10: "Intercultural Relations in a Shrinking World"

Yesterday (Monday, 18 December 2006) BBCNews reported on Google’s most-searched for terms of 2006: “Social networks top Google search -- Social networks Bebo and MySpace were the two most searched for terms of 2006 using Google's search engine.” Other 2006 search trends were noted in the BBCNews article:

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6189809.stm>

Social networks top Google search

Social networks Bebo and MySpace were the two most searched for terms of 2006 using Google's search engine.

The two rival sites allow users to create individual web pages, with photos, music and video.

The football World Cup was the third most searched for term while Paris Hilton topped the news searches.

The top 10 searches were dominated by web 2.0 developments, such as video site Metacafe, music streaming service Radioblog and encyclopaedia Wikipedia.

The word video was the seventh most searched for term of 2006, reflecting the growth in services such as YouTube and MetaCafe, and offerings from Google, Yahoo and MSN.

TOP 10 GOOGLE SEARCHES 2006 1. Bebo 2. MySpace 3. World Cup 4. Metacafe 5. Radioblog 6. Wikipedia 7. Video 8. Rebelde 9. Mininova 10. Wiki

Mexican soap opera Rebelde was the eighth most searched for term on Google over the last 12 months, a sign of the importance of the Spanish language on the net.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6189809.stm


Rebelde ended its run on television in June but the actors in the soap opera have formed a popular band, called RBD, which keeps interest in the soap opera alive.

The top news searches of 2006 were dominated by celebrity, illness, tragedy and the bizarre.

Orlando Bloom was the second most searched for item on Google News, followed by cancer, podcasting, hurricane Katrina and bankruptcy.

Google was asked a lot of questions in 2006 and the most popular "Who is....?" question was about Borat, the TV and film character created by Sacha Baron Cohen.

Surfers also asked lots of questions about Hezbollah and different types of drugs, from Acyclovir to Xanax.

In the "How to" section, people most wanted to learn how they could refinance, set up a wiki page, drift, podcast, scream and levitate.

In the battle of the celebrity weddings, Nicole Kidman's marriage to singer Keith Urban was searched for more often than Tom Cruise's nuptials with Katie Holmes. Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/6189809.stm

Published: 2006/12/18 12:10:38 GMT

© BBC MMVI

Questions:

From one point of view the emerging phenomena of global interaction and information flow on the web might be considered an extension of the materials presented in Ch. 10, "Intercultural Relations in a Shrinking World.”

A. What, if anything, does the information reported yesterday by BBCNews tell you about the emerging “national character” of the growing network of on-line denizens?

B. How would you design a research project to study the personality types of people using the internet?

02. Chapter 6: "Everyday Cognition"

Chapter 6 covers “Everyday Cognition.” What is “Everyday Cognition,” and why is that important to Culture and Personality studies?

03. Current Affairs / Chapter 7: "Motives, Beliefs, and Values"


Yesterday (Monday, 18 December 2006) BBCNews also reported “Schism looming for Anglican Communion: Two of the oldest and largest parishes in the US have chosen to break from their bishop and become a mission of the Nigerian Church.”

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6189089.stm>

“The Truro Church and the Falls Church [in America] voted to place themselves . . . under the authority of the Anglican Archbishop of Nigeria, Peter Akinola, [who] has called for the Episcopal Church to be expelled from the worldwide Anglican Communion . . . [of] an estimated 77 million Anglicans across the world. . . .”

Questions:

The world could be witnessing a religious schism of a world religion virtually unparalleled since the days of King Henry VIII and Martin Luther.

A. What, does that tell you about "Motives, Beliefs, and Values"?

B. How do you suppose the American, the British, and the Nigerian views (of the current events facing the Anglican and Episcopal Churches in their countries) differ?

The full text of Monday’s BBCNews article follows:

Schism looming for Anglican Communion By Jane Little BBC News, Washington

Two of the oldest and largest parishes in the US have chosen to break from their bishop and become a mission of the Nigerian Church.

Five others have also voted to split.

The congregations at Truro and Falls Church date from the 1700s and were once a part of the mother Church of England.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6189089.stm


The former President George Washington worshipped at Falls Church.

But now they have voted to sever ties with their own church and, in a move destined to cause conflict, to fight the bishop of Virginia for their church property estimated to be worth $25m.

They will turn instead to the 17-million-member church in Nigeria for direction.

The bishop of Virginia, Peter Lee, called it a "sad day for the church".

He also stressed that the church properties are "held in trust" for the diocese and the Episcopal Church and he will insist on retaining them.

Step further

The dispute follows a decision three years ago to consecrate a gay man, Gene Robinson, as bishop of New Hampshire.

Conservatives were further alienated by the election this summer of the first female presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katherine Jefferts Schori, who voted for him.

Seven dioceses of the Episcopal Church have refused to accept her authority and formed their own network, but it remains within the church.

These Virginia parishes have gone a step further, one that could lead to deeper division within the global Anglican Communion.

Reverse mission

The defectors have opted to join an umbrella organisation called the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (Cana).

It is a Nigerian mission to America, and represents an intriguing reversal of missionary lines as a former colonial church in Africa takes a slice of the West.

The rector at Truro, the Reverend Martyn Minns, was consecrated a bishop earlier this year by Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola.

He will have authority over the new organisation, which Mr Minns says he hopes will grow as he plants new churches that "work to proclaim the unchangeable truth of the scriptures".

Archbishop Akinola has in the past called homosexual activity a "satanic attack" on the church.


He recently backed Nigerian government plans to penalise gay and lesbian activity with jail terms.

The American conservatives have distanced themselves from his position, arguing that he is under pressure due to tensions within Nigeria between Christians and Muslims.

On the brink

The 77-million-member family of churches known as the Anglican Communion is now poised on the brink of schism.

Many leaders or primates of Anglican Provinces in the developing world have broken ties with the Episcopal Church in America.

A small but growing minority of US congregations have sought or are seeking leadership from them.

This poses a further challenge to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, who as spiritual head of the global church has been fighting what many now see as a losing battle to save it.

Dr Williams appealed to church leaders not to move into each other's territory. But this is precisely what has now happened.

Old geographical boundaries are breaking down as theological and political allegiances take over.

A whole diocese in California is now on the verge of leaving the Episcopal Church.

Its woes and those of the wider Anglican family continue to grow.

Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/6189089.stm

Published: 2006/12/18 11:33:09 GMT

© BBC MMVI

04. Chapter 8: "Males and Females and the Relations between Them"

How would your adult personality be different if you had been born a member of the opposite sex? Why?

Be sure to use relevant materials from Chapter 8, if and where appropriate, in your answer.

05. Chapter 9: "Culture and Aggression"

Argue for or against the proposition that there is such as thing as a “criminal personality.”


06.

08.

09. Hypothetical problem:

Discuss what problems you would have inventing a personality for a space creature in a novel you are writing if this creature had human (and only human) capabilities, but had no shared cultural experiences with any known earth-bound culture.

10. Class Presentations / Analysis:

All societies have at least one form of altered state of consciousness. The altered state would thus seem to be a cultural universal. Discuss:

A. the probable cause(s) for this phenomenon

B. the importance of this phenomenon as a universal cultural trait; and,

C. the implications of this phenomenon for human behavior

11. Class Presentations / Analysis:

In class individual personality change was mentioned or discussed on several occasions.

Some social critics are beginning to suggest that Americans as a group are currently undergoing a shift in modal personality, or at least a change in significant dominant personality traits. Argue for or against this proposition. Be sure to include examples in support of your position.

12. Class Presentations:

Discuss Anishinabe curing in detail, including the role of psychology, cultural beliefs, and social factors in the overall curing process.


13 Optional Take-Home Question:

NOTE: Essentially you may make up ONE question total. You may either do that as a take-home and bring it to class with you, or you may do that in class the day of the exam. If you elect to do the optional take-home exam and bring it with you to class, then you must choose five (5) additional of the remaining questions presented on the actual exam, as they are presented on the exam.

If you do not like these questions, make up and answer a question of your own choice relating to a topic having to do with Culture and Personality which you have not considered in your other answers. Do not select a topic that was part of any of your or your groups' in-class presentations. (If you think these questions are fantastic but simply prefer to make up one of your own, go ahead.)

Answers should contain specific information supporting your position. Both your question and your answer will be evaluated.

If you elect to make up and answer a question, you may prepare your question and answer in advance and bring it with you to the exam. If you prepare your question in advance you only need to answer five (5) other questions in class.

Do not write on any country for which you were one of the presenters.

1. Chapter 6, AEveryday Cognition,@ talks about AWeaving in Various Cultural Contexts.@ What does weaving have to do with Culture and Personality studies?

2. The first subheading in Chapter 7 (AMotives, Beliefs, and Values@) reads, "Why Study Values Cross-Culturally?"

Why?


3. Some suggest that men and women (worldwide) have different personality structures, and different ways of thinking. Argue for or against this proposition, from a cross-cultural perspective, indicating the causes for the differences or lack of differences. Compare your observations with Chapter 8, "Males and Females and Relations Between Them."

(NOTE: This is essentially a Ahologeistic-type@ question about causes, not a question about your opinion of whether or not you think men and women in our society are different.)

Be sure to use relevant materials from Chapter 8 (AMales and Females and the Relations between Them@) in your answer.

4. In Chapter 9, ACulture and Aggression" the authors maintain, APunishment of aggression, as most psychologists have long been aware, does not usually have its intended effect. Thus, beliefs about aggression in any society influence the level of aggression itself@ (p. 255). They continue, AThe story is even more complex because the real antecedents of aggressive behavior are numerous. They are both ecological and structural@ (p. 255). The authors then go on to provide a AConceptual Framework for Aggression Research@ (Figure 9.1., on p. 256).

Take any one major incidence of aggression occurring today and analyze it in terms of the above quotes, using the conceptual framework provided by the authors (on p. 256).

5. Chapter 10, AIntercultural Relations in a Shrinking World@ the authors say the following:

AThe nation-state is a relatively new form of political organization. . . . During much of the twentieth century, and at an accelerating pace following the end of World War II, many new nations were created out of former colonial possessions of major European and Asian powers. This led to a process known as >nation-building,= which is described in Box 10.1. . . . Less obvious perhaps than the political and economic aspects of nation-building, its psychological components are nevertheless fundamental. A nation is not merely a geopolitical fact; it is also a state of mind@ (pp. 278-279).

Discuss the authors= assertions, arguing for or against the proposition that Al-Qaeda terrorists are a Anation state.@


6. Some have suggested that mental illness at least occasionally has an adaptive function. Argue for or against this proposition.

7. Compare and contrast your in-class presentation with that of any other Culture and Personality in-class student presentation.


8. In Week 10 the following question was raised: “On the other hand, how do different practices in different cultures produce ‘Culture-Bound Syndromes,’ which are unique psychological correlates?”

Discuss these questions.

9. On Friday, 28 April 2006, The Guardian (UK) ran an article called “Fearful ways to meet a lover” <http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1763512,00.html>. It read in toto:

Scientists have revealed six steps to follow for men or women to land the perfect partner, by making themselves more attractive to the opposite sex.

The methods, published in the New Scientist magazine, are based on findings from a variety of studies. The six key areas identified by researchers are:

Experience fear together. A 1970s experiment showed men who met women on a rickety bridge found the encounter sexier than those who met on a stable bridge. Going to a funfair has a similar effect, with members of the opposite sex looking more attractive to people who had just got off a rollercoaster;

Body language. When people meet a stranger, it is estimated that 55% of their impression is based on appearance and body language. Mirroring posture may help, but not folding arms helps to create a bond;

Music. US psychologists at North Adams state college in Massachusetts discovered that women found pictures of men more attractive when they were listening to soft rock;

Chemistry. The chemical phenylethylamine (PEA) - known as the "love molecule" - is found in chocolate. It is also linked to the effects of exercise, as is the brain chemical dopamine, which produces a feeling of euphoria;

Eye contact. Gazing into a potential lover's eyes increases feelings of closeness and attraction. Meeting another person's gaze stimulates the parts of the brain associated with rewards;

Jokes. An experience that makes people laugh creates feelings of closeness between strangers, researchers found. Laughing is thought to release endorphins into the body, promoting a sense of well-being.

From what you have learned in Culture and Personality

(A) Is this “advice” holistically sound?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1763512,00.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/


(B) Compare and contrast how this “advice” would likely apply in your own culture and in two of the cultures you have “met” in Culture and Personality this semester (for a total comparison of three cultures)

Cultures include, but are not limited to, the following:

“English” English of EnglandTodas of IndiaYanomamö of VenezuelaSamoans of Taû Island in American SamoaNew Orleans Black Indians!Kung San (AKA Khoisan, "Bushmen")“Malaysians”Aymara Indians of BoliviaHmong of Appleton, WIAnishinabe (Chippewa) of Leech Lake and Fond du Lac, MNAmish of America

10. Compare and contrast any two (only 2) of the following individuals in the context of what you learned in this class, but do not choose any which you may have discussed in another question:

Alejandro Mamani (from the Faces of Culture series)N!ai (from "Arranged Marriages")

Paul Buffalo or Jimmy JacksonArigo (the Brazilian healer)John, the English man (from Stranger in the Mirror: An Examination of Visual Agnosia)Joseph Mcmoneagle (from the "ESP" segment of Science Frontiers: Put to the Test)George W. Bush

H. Pope Pope Benedict XVII. Yourself

11. Identify four (only 4) of the following ideas in three or four sentences each:

assimilationecocultural frameworkadaptationachievement motivation@primordial@ groupspsychological concomitants of nationalismthe “sociocultural paradigm@equivalence sorting


12. It is common to explain the psychological trait of as the result of a single cause.

A. Fill in the blank and explain why you think can or can not be adequately explained by a single causative factor.

B. How would you research this problem cross-culturally?

Note the quality of analysis in this question will be considered when evaluating your response.

13. Compare the "national character" of two cultures (or subcultures) with which you have had personal firsthand contact. (Do not answer this question if you have not had personal experience with other cultures or sub-cultures.) “Personal firsthand contact” can include study abroad, extended travel, your family hosting an exchange student, someone from your close family marrying an individual from another culture or sub-culture. . . .)

14. In Week 09 the following questions were raised: “Do similar practices in different cultures produce similar psychological correlates? And do these include birth order practices and their effects on personality?” Then we looked at “freelisting” exercise results re birth order practices and their effects on personality, and the possibility of “clustering” those results.

15.

16. How would you design a research project to test whether people who know more than one language differ from monolinguals in psychological characteristics? (Cf., Psychology Today, March 1981, Vol. 15., No. 3, pp. 9 12.) Include in your answer how you would determine whether this was a linguistic, a cultural, or a physical phenomenon -- or how it is a combination of these three.

17. How is the process of complementing influenced by culture? How is it influenced by biology?


18. Chapter 11 discusses AAcculturation,@ and the authors propose an AAcculturation Framework@ (Fig. 11.1, p. 302), ATypes of Acculturating Groups@ (Fig. 11.2, p. 304), AAcculturation Strategies@ (Fig. 11.3, p. 306), AA Framework for Acculturation Research@ (Fig. 11.4, p. 310), and AFactors Affecting Acculturation@ (Table 11.1, p. 312). The authors also point out that there is consensus that acculturation operates both at the individual and on the group levels. Using the framework and approach provided by the figures and table mentioned in this question, (a) analyze one case study of Apsychological acculturation@ relating to an individual, and (b) one case study relating to group-level acculturation. The individual can be part of the group you analyze.

19. Bernie Siegel, M.D., author of Love, Medicine and Miracles, wrote:

AMaurice Kouguell has published a book, DAPTH: Accessing the Unconscious in the Practice of Hypnosis and Counseling, which takes a big step in [encouraging the growth of knowledge and discovery of techniques which may be used in conjunction with hypnosis]. He has presented clearly and effectively a guidebook on the use of a procedure known as 'Draw a Person, Tree, House'. It shows what I choose to term a discovery channel which offers incredible advantages in the evaluation of clients, analysis of their personalities, revelation of factors which have helped create attitudes and belief systems which effect (for better or worse) their lifestyles, behaviors, strengths and weaknesses. . . . DAPTH, an acronym for Draw a Person, Tree, House, can be used both in the initial assessment of the client, and as a means of measuring progress in future sessions. It uncovers problems which may be beyond the awareness of the client and can reveal the appropriateness or contra-indication of hypnosis in specific cases.@ <http://www.brooksidecenter.com/book_reviews.htm>

How does your DAPTH picture offer Aincredible advantages in the evaluation of [you], analysis of [your personality], revelation of factors which have helped create attitudes and belief systems which effect (for better or worse) [your lifestyle], behaviors, strengths and weaknesses?@

20. A. An article in the New England Journal of Medicine suggested that people who are kind to and considerate of others have fewer physical ailments, and, live longer. It has also been pointed out many times that people who have


holdable pets (i.e., dogs, cats, etc., rather than goldfish) get sick less often, and when ill, get better faster. A host of studies in recent years have also shown that people who believe in a higher power (i.e., a Agod@ of some sort) also get sick less often, and when ill, get better faster. How would such findings in medicine relate to anthropological studies of Culture and Personality?

OR answer 14.B.

B. A nationally televised program on a major news network covered a story indicating that, in the United States, people who were prayed for by others recover from illness faster. The program noted that you can now Ahire@ a nun to pray for a speedy recovery for a loved one. We are assured that none of the sisters personally get any of the money contributed for their prayers, and that none of them know how much was actually contributed to the convent in return for their prayer services. The good sisters maintain that this is a legitimate practice. How would such findings in medicine relate to anthropological studies of Culture and Personality?

21. In his acceptance speech President Bill Clinton said, "If we have no sense of community, the American dream will continue to wither." He also said, "This is America. There is no 'them'; there is only 'us'." Now that you've had some time to observe and to think about this you probably have some important observations to make. (1) Discuss the President's position in light of the Culture and Personality research and theory presented in Chapter Ten, "Intercultural Relations in a Shrinking World." In your discussion be sure to cite specific examples on how the research/theory supports/does not support Clinton's propositions. (2) If you were advising Gore, how would you recommend he handle this question as he steps up his campaign to succeed Clinton in the White House -- based on Culture and Personality research?

22. On 5 May 2001 the Monitor on Psychology (Volume 32, No. 5) published an article by Siri Carpenter entitled AMindreading Ability Helps Organize Thinking,@ which suggested that Achildren=s understanding of their own and other=s mental states shapes their most basic understanding of the world around them.@ A copy of the article is attached.

Interpret Carpenter=s article in terms of the materials covered in this Culture and Personality seminar.

23. (A) Do an anthropological analysis of your own personality, including an analysis of how it came to be the way it is at present. (B) Then indicate how "typical" your personality is of your culture. (C) Finally, indicate what would have to happen to you for you to undergo a significant personality change.


Be sure to explain each part of this question.

24. On page 36 of Psychological Anthropology Erika Bourguignon states, "The concept of a species-specific "perceptual world" is of crucial importance in recognizing a uniquely human mode of adaptation." What is "species-specific 'perceptual world?'" Do you agree that it is of crucial importance in recognizing a uniquely human mode of adaptation?" If so, why? If not, why not?

25. Explain the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis as it relates to you (i.e., an English-speaking American); what does your language do to your personality?

26. On page 34 of Psychological Anthropology Erika Bourguignon states, "Hallowell's approach to human evolution was "conjunctive." Discuss what that means, and why it is important.

(1) imposed etic(2) "psychic unity of mankind"(3) socialization(4) eidetic imagery(5) human nature(6) culturally constituted behavioral environment(7) real culture(8) the ecocultural framework(9) life history(10) Müller-Lyer illusion(11) normative orientation

27. Individuals in a foreign culture often experience "cultural shock." Explain this phenomenon in terms of Culture and Personality studies.

Documents

€¦ · Web viewThis is an open-book exam. You may bring and use your texts, dictionary, thesaurus, a writing handbook, class handouts, notes, outlines, drafts, memos, and a Ouija