the nature of culture “culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art,...
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The Nature of Culture
“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).
E. B. Tylor (1871) gave us the most famous definition:
What is this thing called culture, anyway?
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 author of your text offers this definition:
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
Mind is largely a function of brain with special areas associated with special functions
These areas evolved over millennia of adaptation as food foragers.
Steven Pinker; John Tooby
i.e. Wernike’s and Broca’s areas.
The Nature of Culture
“Mental templates” formed on a palimpsest, not a tabula rasa.
Word of many uses… “high” culture, “low” culture, agriculture, cultivate, cult… “way of life”
CULTURE/culture
CULTURE - way of life of human beings - ethnology
culture - way of life of a specific group of human beings - ethnography
MAINLY learned
The Nature of Culture
O wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us! It wad frae mony a blunder free us, An' foolish notion: What airs in dress an' gait wad lea'e us, An' ev'n devotion!To a Louse: On Seeing One On a Lady’s Bonnet, At Church
--Robert Burns, 1786
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.
MAINLY learned
The Nature of Culture
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……….
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
Neonatal period (Neonate or newborn)
The period of life immediately after birth
The average North American newborn weighs about 7 pounds and measures about 20 inches Neurons grow rapidly….dendrites show an estimated 500% increasein density within the cortex from birth until age 2 in normal children.
The Nature of Culture
Early Development:
Moro (Startle) reflex: Draws up legs, archs back when startled.
Neonatal / Infancy
Rooting reflex: Neonate responds to stimulation by sucking.
Babinsky reflex: Baby spreads toes when foot tickled.
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– 2 months: Smiling at
caregiver.– 6 - 9 months: Shyness, fear.
• Visual Cliff (Gibson & Walk, 1960)– Development of fear of
heights.
Separation AnxietyApprehension when child is separated from caretaker.
Begins around 6 months.
Emotional bond between infant and caretaker.
The Nature of Culture
• Cognitive Development• Egocentric (self-centered thought)• Animism (attributes volition to inanimate objects)
– 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
CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT
MAINLY learned
SR conditioning
Prägung (Imprinting) - Konrad Lorenz
Symbolic learning
The Nature of Culture
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 and a stable, often irreversible effect.
Classical conditioning (Ivan Pavlov; John Watson, Behaviorism. 1924 )
Associationism (Animal Intelligence 1911, Law of Effect)
Operant conditioning ( B.F. Skinner About Behaviorism. 1974 )
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 ObservationCulture Shock
Comparative Method
Important Dichotomies
Emic/Etic
Inside/Outside
Overt/Covert
Real/Ideal
subculture
How Cultures Are Studied
Culture Change
acculturation
functional prerequisites
culture loss
cultural evolution
cultural diffusion
A Major Aspect of Culture Change in TexasThrough Mid Century
Figure 3.1 Legal immigrants admitted to the U.S. by region of birth.
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Percent of Texas Population by Age Groupand Ethnicity, 2000
* Projections are shown for the 1.0 scenario
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Percent of Texas Population by Age Groupand Ethnicity, 2040*
Projected Proportion of Population byRace/Ethnicity in Texas, 2000-2040*
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Projected Percent of Net Change Attributable to Each Race/Ethnicity Group
in Texas for 2000-2040*
Anglo3.9%
Black5.3%
Hispanic78.2%
Other12.6%