Anthro Midterm 1, UC BERKELEY
ACTUAL Exam Questions and
CORRECT Answers
What are the four fields of anthropology? - CORRECT ANSWER - 1. archaeology -
culture as interpreted through bones
2. cultural anthropology - study cultural practices
3. linguistic anthropology - how people make and use language
4. biological anthropology - theories of DNA
What topic of focus unifies all the fields of anthropology? - CORRECT ANSWER - It is
the study of people
Linguistics - CORRECT ANSWER - the scientific study of the structure, sounds, and
meaning of language
Archaeology - CORRECT ANSWER - study of culture via artifacts and relics of early
mankind
Primatology - CORRECT ANSWER - the study of living primates and particularly their
similarities and differences and why they may exist
Skeletal Biology - CORRECT ANSWER - The study of the human skeleton in relation to
other tissues such as muscles and tendons.
Paleoanthropology - CORRECT ANSWER - study of anatomy and behavior of humans
and our extinct relatives
What were the first origin myths and what was the concept of fixity of species? - CORRECT
ANSWER - The first origin myths found that the world is fixed and unchanging, life is a
,series of creations reflecting increasingly perfect organisms and there is a great watchmaker
designing people.
Fixity of species is a term which means all species remained unchanged throughout the history of
the earth
What is the Great Chain of Being? - CORRECT ANSWER - god, angels, humans,
animals, plants, minerals
What contribution did John Ray and Carl Linnaeus make to classifications of organisms and our
place in nature? - CORRECT ANSWER - John Ray - defined and establish species
(defined by individual capacity to reproduce)
Carl Linnaeus - added class and order, included humans in the animal kingdom
How did people interpret the fossil record in the early 17th and 18th century? - CORRECT
ANSWER - leonardo da vinci suggested that fossils are extinct organisms and the deeper
you go the older they are. BUT for a while they believed in biblical time frames
Lamarckian v Darwinian theories of evolution - CORRECT ANSWER - darwin: wanted to
explain geologic record, suggested environment was shaping and changing organisms
lamarck: animals drive to accomodate environment "inheritance of acquired charecteristics"
Influences on Darwin's Theory of Evolution - CORRECT ANSWER - Lyell- slow
incremental pace of geologic change
Malthus- resource competition
Wallace - discovered logic of natural selection
What is selective intentional breeding and how did it help Darwin? - CORRECT
ANSWER - selective intentional breeding - The intentional breeding of organisms with
, desirable traits in an attempt to produce offspring with enhanced characteristics or traits that
humans consider desirable.
Darwin used this as a springboard to explain natural selection - its non purposeful breeding
intentional v inadvertent artificial breeding - CORRECT ANSWER - intentional: breed for
certain traits, aka wolfs to dogs
inadvertent artificial selection: peppered moths survived in ash
differential reproduction - CORRECT ANSWER - organisms with the best adaptations are
most likely to survive and reproduce
What does survival of the fittest mean? - CORRECT ANSWER - fittest means relative
reproductive success, how something best fits with the environment
Does evolution mean progress? - CORRECT ANSWER - Evolution on earth is not about
progress. It is spontaneous and leads towards increasing complexity. It's a very complex bush.
Difference between stabilizing, directional, and disruptive selection - CORRECT
ANSWER - Stabilizing - favors the average individuals in a population (ex: humans baby
weight, number of offspring)
Directional - selection favors extremes (ex: same variation of heights but overall taller)
Disruptive - selection favors divergent forms (ex: male and female height differences)
What are chromosomes? How many do humans have? - CORRECT ANSWER - A tightly
coiled strand of DNA within a cells nucleus. Humans have 46 or 23 pairs
What is a gene and what is an allele? - CORRECT ANSWER - gene - a section of DNA
that codes for a particular trait
allele - an alternative form of a gene
ACTUAL Exam Questions and
CORRECT Answers
What are the four fields of anthropology? - CORRECT ANSWER - 1. archaeology -
culture as interpreted through bones
2. cultural anthropology - study cultural practices
3. linguistic anthropology - how people make and use language
4. biological anthropology - theories of DNA
What topic of focus unifies all the fields of anthropology? - CORRECT ANSWER - It is
the study of people
Linguistics - CORRECT ANSWER - the scientific study of the structure, sounds, and
meaning of language
Archaeology - CORRECT ANSWER - study of culture via artifacts and relics of early
mankind
Primatology - CORRECT ANSWER - the study of living primates and particularly their
similarities and differences and why they may exist
Skeletal Biology - CORRECT ANSWER - The study of the human skeleton in relation to
other tissues such as muscles and tendons.
Paleoanthropology - CORRECT ANSWER - study of anatomy and behavior of humans
and our extinct relatives
What were the first origin myths and what was the concept of fixity of species? - CORRECT
ANSWER - The first origin myths found that the world is fixed and unchanging, life is a
,series of creations reflecting increasingly perfect organisms and there is a great watchmaker
designing people.
Fixity of species is a term which means all species remained unchanged throughout the history of
the earth
What is the Great Chain of Being? - CORRECT ANSWER - god, angels, humans,
animals, plants, minerals
What contribution did John Ray and Carl Linnaeus make to classifications of organisms and our
place in nature? - CORRECT ANSWER - John Ray - defined and establish species
(defined by individual capacity to reproduce)
Carl Linnaeus - added class and order, included humans in the animal kingdom
How did people interpret the fossil record in the early 17th and 18th century? - CORRECT
ANSWER - leonardo da vinci suggested that fossils are extinct organisms and the deeper
you go the older they are. BUT for a while they believed in biblical time frames
Lamarckian v Darwinian theories of evolution - CORRECT ANSWER - darwin: wanted to
explain geologic record, suggested environment was shaping and changing organisms
lamarck: animals drive to accomodate environment "inheritance of acquired charecteristics"
Influences on Darwin's Theory of Evolution - CORRECT ANSWER - Lyell- slow
incremental pace of geologic change
Malthus- resource competition
Wallace - discovered logic of natural selection
What is selective intentional breeding and how did it help Darwin? - CORRECT
ANSWER - selective intentional breeding - The intentional breeding of organisms with
, desirable traits in an attempt to produce offspring with enhanced characteristics or traits that
humans consider desirable.
Darwin used this as a springboard to explain natural selection - its non purposeful breeding
intentional v inadvertent artificial breeding - CORRECT ANSWER - intentional: breed for
certain traits, aka wolfs to dogs
inadvertent artificial selection: peppered moths survived in ash
differential reproduction - CORRECT ANSWER - organisms with the best adaptations are
most likely to survive and reproduce
What does survival of the fittest mean? - CORRECT ANSWER - fittest means relative
reproductive success, how something best fits with the environment
Does evolution mean progress? - CORRECT ANSWER - Evolution on earth is not about
progress. It is spontaneous and leads towards increasing complexity. It's a very complex bush.
Difference between stabilizing, directional, and disruptive selection - CORRECT
ANSWER - Stabilizing - favors the average individuals in a population (ex: humans baby
weight, number of offspring)
Directional - selection favors extremes (ex: same variation of heights but overall taller)
Disruptive - selection favors divergent forms (ex: male and female height differences)
What are chromosomes? How many do humans have? - CORRECT ANSWER - A tightly
coiled strand of DNA within a cells nucleus. Humans have 46 or 23 pairs
What is a gene and what is an allele? - CORRECT ANSWER - gene - a section of DNA
that codes for a particular trait
allele - an alternative form of a gene
