AP Human Culture Study Guide
Culture is shared patterns of learned behavior, attitudes and knowledge.
What does each part of definition mean?
“Shared patterns” it is believed or practiced by a lot of people
“Patterns” It is repeated over and over again in different places
“Learned” excludes race because it is not a requirement that skin color is often a common feature across a
culture group, it is not inherited
Is ethnicity included in culture? Why or why not. Yes, because they share a common background
A culture trait refers to a single component of a culture. Give an example. Blue jeans, eating cereal for breakfast, not
working on Sundays
A culture region is an area that shares a large number of culture traits. Give an example. North Africa speaks Arabic, In
the US: the Southwest, The South, the Northeast, The Midwest, etc.
A culture realm is based on a few broad cultural similarities Give an example. North America (US, Canada and Mexico),
Europe (Western, Northern, Mediterranean and Eastern Europe)
Study the map of Culture Regions of the US.
When several traits are related, they are referred as a cultural complex. Examples are:
1. Masai culture: All stress the importance of cattle, basis of their diet, more cattle means you are more
important
2. US and Canada: Automobile, status of prestige, symbol in place in society, key component in popular culture
How is the US automobile industry and example of culture complex?
American vacations people drive somewhere, road trips, time and money put into making a car look good, teenagers
want cars;
Originally located in the northern parts of the US (Detroit) but has diffused to the sourth and overseas
Different cars in different states (trucks vs cars)
NASCAR: started mainly in Virginia and the Carolinas and has now spread to the entire country
An artifact is anything a culture produces. Which subsystem does it fall under? Give an example of an artifact.
It falls under the technological subsystem. An example is blue jeans, iPad, potato chips, etc.
Give an example of cultural convergence. It is when two or more cultures share culture traits making them similar,
Japanese people eating McDonalds on a regular basis and Americans eating sushi on a regular basis.
sociofacts are traits that guide how people in a culture are expected to interact with each other and how their social
institutions are structured. Which subsystem does it fall under? Give an example of a sociofact. This falls under the
sociological subsystem. An example is Greetings, personal space, etc.
Mentifacts are ideas, beliefs, values and knowledge of a culture. Which subsystem does it fall under? Give an example
of a mentifact. It is part of the ideological subsystem. An example is democracy, freedoms, etc.
The movement of culture traits form one place to another is called cultural diffusion.
What are barriers to diffusion? Give an example. Slow or stop diffusion, example: physical barriers, persecutions,
genocides, etc.
A hearth is the place where something begins.
What does Hagerstrand’s model say about cultural diffusion (figure 6D.2)?
He divides population into those who do not know of an innovation, those who do know but choose not to adopt it and
people who adopt the innovation. He state that the number of those who adopt innovation and those who know of it
increase. If there are barriers, the number of adopters will remain high. He includes the population of people who are
simply too geographically isolated to have any knowledge of innovation.
How can the transfer of an idea or thing travel from one place to another?
Through communication, observation, marketing or physical means
What is a vector? Agent of diffusion
What are Malcolm Gladwell’s three principles? Define each.
1) “The law of the few”- ideas and items alike are diffused through the efforts of a select group of people,
some are well connected to lots of people, well informed and good at explaining things to others
2) “stickiness factor”:- how well an idea resonates once it is introduced, people need to see a good reason for
the idea or item and how it will fit into their lives
3) “power of context”- diffusion relies on prevailing conditions, the right time and place to accept the new thing
Relocation diffusion refers to when people move and they take their cultural baggage, economic know-how and
technology with them. This includes diseases
What does Figure 6D.6 say about relocation diffusion? Diffusion of the English language based on the movement of the
English. Most of the time people adopt the language of the place they move to, but this did not happen with English.
What does figure 6D.7 say about contagious diffusion? Wal-Mart began in Arkansas and moved to the Southeast and
eventually to areas with a hospitable terrain
What does figure 6D.8 say about Hierarchical diffusion? Jazz moved from music center to music center not to places
around it
Contagious diffusion spreads to nearby places. Give an example. Any of the cultural hearths
Hierarchical diffusion is a pattern whereby things move from one place to other places that have similarities or are
otherwise going to be more receptive.
Reverse hierarchical diffusion is when a particular innovation begins in places that are distinctly not centers and then
over time begins to make its way up conventional hierarchies. They are also known as “groundswells.”
Study the Cultural Hearths map.
What is cultural landscape? Give an example. Refers to the appearance of a location, the items that give it a particular
appearance. Example: vegetation, bodies of water, buildings, roads, etc.
What did Carl Sauer emphasize on cultural landscape? He challenged the view that nature determines culture, he said
environment can influence human actions but emphasized that cultural groups modify their environments extensively
What else can cultural landscapes reflect other than material culture? Nonmaterial culture such as ideology or power
(where different groups live in a city, acceptance of lifestyles, etc)
What is social construction of space? Ideas that society shapes the spatial nature of our world, how does the cultural
landscape of your community reflect the values of your community
What is the difference between folk and popular culture? Give examples of each.
Folk culture: culture that is traditional, no longer widely practiced by a large group and generally isolated (farming
techniques, making quilts, etc)
Popular Culture: Aspects of culture that are wide spread, fast changing and transmitted by mass media (fads, clothing,
music, etc)
Foodways refers to how people prepare and consume food.
Study the foodways found in the US.
Describe each of the following:
Early American Homes Georgian style, rectangual gables are on the side of the house, roof does not overhang
the walls. Some had semicircular fanlight over the front door.
Early 19th Century Homes: Time period when Americans were in love with ancient Greek and Roman cilivlzations
naming towns and children after classical names. Homes have columns or look like ancient temples. Frontfacing gables where the roofline runs from front to back.
Mid-19th Century Homes: Gothic Revival and Italianate house styles, times were flourishing because a lot of
people were building new homes
Victorian Homes: Cozy rooflines, odd-shaped windows, porches and ornamental designs on the outside walls
Second Empire Homes: Most built in the 10years after the Civil War, based on styles of Europe at the time and
have a mansard roof
Early 20th Century Homes: Prairie-style homed or Tudor designs, smaller bungalow-style homes. Catalog homes
were also common before World War II.
Post World War II Homes: Split-level or single-level ranch-style homes, smaller styles flourished in the baby
boom. Then by the 1970’s contemporary styles with unconventional shapes begun to appear.
Looking at the following examples of sports, how do they explain how they reflect cultural values?
Figure 6I.1 Location of Pro Hockey Teams Most of the teams in 1971 were in the northern US or Canada because
it was traditionally played outdoors in cold evnironments. Once techonolgoy allowed for indoor rinks to be
more practical and the population shifted southward and westward where there is enough people to support
major sports teams
Figure 6I.2 Candlepin and Duckpin Bowling: Concentrated in the NE and Mid-Atlantic. Candlepin uses small ball
and pins that are straighter than a standared pin and are not cleaned way after the first ball is thrown. Duckpin
bowling also uses small balls but the pins look like regular bowling pins that have been shrunken. Both can be
considered folk culture sport.
How is the construction of sports facilities justified? Because they generate economic revenue that helps a city and it
helps the morale of the community
Study the notes taken from class presentations.