Biological Anthropology Exam 1 Review
Primate - correct answer ✔✔Member of the mammalian order Primates, including prosmians, monkeys,
apes, and humans, defined by a suite of anatomical and behavioral traits
Evolution - correct answer ✔✔A change in the frequency of a gene or a trait in a population over
multiple generations
Biological anthropology - correct answer ✔✔The study of humans as biological organisms, considered in
an evolutionary framework; sometimes called physical anthropology (origin of modern species/biological
variation)
Hominin - correct answer ✔✔A member of the primate family Hominidae, distinguished by bipedal
posture and, in more recently evolved species, a large brain
Adaptation - correct answer ✔✔A trait that increases the reproductive success of an organism, produced
by natural selection in the context of a particular environment
Anthropology - correct answer ✔✔The study of humankind in a cross-cultural context...includes cultural
anthropology, linguistic anthropology, archaeology, and biological anthropology (in all times and places)
Culture - correct answer ✔✔The sum total of learned traditions, values and beliefs that groups of people
(and a few species of highly-intelligent animals) possess
Biocultural anthropology - correct answer ✔✔The study of the interaction between biology and culture,
which plays a role in most human traits
Cultural anthropology - correct answer ✔✔The study of human societies in a cross-cultural context; the
subdivision that includes ethnology, archaeology, and linguistics (all aspects of human behavior)
,Ethnology - correct answer ✔✔The study of human societies, their traditions, rituals, beliefs, and the
differences between societies in these traits
Ethnography - correct answer ✔✔The practice of cultural anthropology; Studying the minute to minute
workings of human societies; especially non-Western
Linguistic anthropology - correct answer ✔✔The comparative study of language, its origins, and use in
culture; also called anthropological linguistics; acquisition in infancy and childhood
Archaeology - correct answer ✔✔The study of the material culture of past peoples
Artifacts - correct answer ✔✔The objects, from tools to art, left by earlier generations of people
Material culture - correct answer ✔✔The objects or artifacts of past human societies
Paleoanthropology - correct answer ✔✔The study of the fossil record of ancestral humans and their
primate kin
Osteology - correct answer ✔✔The study of the skeleton
Paleopathology - correct answer ✔✔The study of diseases in ancestral human populations
Bioarchaeology - correct answer ✔✔The study of human remains in an archaeological context
Forensic anthropology - correct answer ✔✔The study of human remains applied to legal context
Primatology - correct answer ✔✔The study of the nonhuman primates and their anatomy, genetics,
behavior, and ecology
Human biology - correct answer ✔✔Human growth and development, adaptation to environment
extremes and human genetics
, Physical anthropology - correct answer ✔✔The study of humans as biological organisms, considered in
an evolutionary framework
Observation - correct answer ✔✔Gathering of scientific information by watching a phenomenon
Deduction - correct answer ✔✔A conclusion that follows logically from a set of observations
Hypothesis - correct answer ✔✔A preliminary explanation of a phenomenon; Formation is the first step
of the scientific method
Experimentation - correct answer ✔✔Testing a hypothesis
Data - correct answer ✔✔Scientific evidence produced by an experiment or by observation, from which
scientific conclusions are made
Scientific method - correct answer ✔✔Standard scientific research procedure in which a hypothesis is
stated, data are collected to test it, and the hypothesis is either supported or refuted
Falsifiable - correct answer ✔✔Able to be shown to be false
Paradigm - correct answer ✔✔A conceptual framework useful for understanding a body of evidence
Immutability - correct answer ✔✔Stasis; lack of change
Polygenism - correct answer ✔✔Ancient belief that all people are derived from multiple creations
Monogenism - correct answer ✔✔Ancient belief that people are derived from single creation
Taxonomy - correct answer ✔✔The science of biological classification
Primate - correct answer ✔✔Member of the mammalian order Primates, including prosmians, monkeys,
apes, and humans, defined by a suite of anatomical and behavioral traits
Evolution - correct answer ✔✔A change in the frequency of a gene or a trait in a population over
multiple generations
Biological anthropology - correct answer ✔✔The study of humans as biological organisms, considered in
an evolutionary framework; sometimes called physical anthropology (origin of modern species/biological
variation)
Hominin - correct answer ✔✔A member of the primate family Hominidae, distinguished by bipedal
posture and, in more recently evolved species, a large brain
Adaptation - correct answer ✔✔A trait that increases the reproductive success of an organism, produced
by natural selection in the context of a particular environment
Anthropology - correct answer ✔✔The study of humankind in a cross-cultural context...includes cultural
anthropology, linguistic anthropology, archaeology, and biological anthropology (in all times and places)
Culture - correct answer ✔✔The sum total of learned traditions, values and beliefs that groups of people
(and a few species of highly-intelligent animals) possess
Biocultural anthropology - correct answer ✔✔The study of the interaction between biology and culture,
which plays a role in most human traits
Cultural anthropology - correct answer ✔✔The study of human societies in a cross-cultural context; the
subdivision that includes ethnology, archaeology, and linguistics (all aspects of human behavior)
,Ethnology - correct answer ✔✔The study of human societies, their traditions, rituals, beliefs, and the
differences between societies in these traits
Ethnography - correct answer ✔✔The practice of cultural anthropology; Studying the minute to minute
workings of human societies; especially non-Western
Linguistic anthropology - correct answer ✔✔The comparative study of language, its origins, and use in
culture; also called anthropological linguistics; acquisition in infancy and childhood
Archaeology - correct answer ✔✔The study of the material culture of past peoples
Artifacts - correct answer ✔✔The objects, from tools to art, left by earlier generations of people
Material culture - correct answer ✔✔The objects or artifacts of past human societies
Paleoanthropology - correct answer ✔✔The study of the fossil record of ancestral humans and their
primate kin
Osteology - correct answer ✔✔The study of the skeleton
Paleopathology - correct answer ✔✔The study of diseases in ancestral human populations
Bioarchaeology - correct answer ✔✔The study of human remains in an archaeological context
Forensic anthropology - correct answer ✔✔The study of human remains applied to legal context
Primatology - correct answer ✔✔The study of the nonhuman primates and their anatomy, genetics,
behavior, and ecology
Human biology - correct answer ✔✔Human growth and development, adaptation to environment
extremes and human genetics
, Physical anthropology - correct answer ✔✔The study of humans as biological organisms, considered in
an evolutionary framework
Observation - correct answer ✔✔Gathering of scientific information by watching a phenomenon
Deduction - correct answer ✔✔A conclusion that follows logically from a set of observations
Hypothesis - correct answer ✔✔A preliminary explanation of a phenomenon; Formation is the first step
of the scientific method
Experimentation - correct answer ✔✔Testing a hypothesis
Data - correct answer ✔✔Scientific evidence produced by an experiment or by observation, from which
scientific conclusions are made
Scientific method - correct answer ✔✔Standard scientific research procedure in which a hypothesis is
stated, data are collected to test it, and the hypothesis is either supported or refuted
Falsifiable - correct answer ✔✔Able to be shown to be false
Paradigm - correct answer ✔✔A conceptual framework useful for understanding a body of evidence
Immutability - correct answer ✔✔Stasis; lack of change
Polygenism - correct answer ✔✔Ancient belief that all people are derived from multiple creations
Monogenism - correct answer ✔✔Ancient belief that people are derived from single creation
Taxonomy - correct answer ✔✔The science of biological classification
