What is a life history and why is this method controversial?
What will be an ideal response?
Answer: The ideal answer will include:
1. A life history is an in-depth description of an individual's life.
2. Early efforts with this method sought out "typical" or representative individuals to study; later life histories focused on individuals in unique social niches.
3. The value of the method was questioned by Franz Boas, who argued that individuals' own accounts of their lives could not be trusted.
4. A response to this argument is that even if the history is colored by the teller, it will provide numerous insights about the culture.
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The eighteenth-century biologist Comte de Buffon:
A. argued that the earth was the center of the universe B. believed that living forms are immutable C. proposed that the earth is much older than 6,000 years D. developed a classification of the living world that is still used today
Nonhuman primates:
A. do not possess culture in any form; only humans do B. do adjust to new situations through learned behavior, but they do not have behavioral patterns that are passed on C. both adjust to new situations through learned behavior and have behavioral patterns that are passed on D. have complex cultural traditions that they rely on to adapt to their environment
Ecological studies trace adaptations backwards in time to understand the causes of change within a species
Indicate whether the statement is true or false
Human __________ are genetically "open," meaning that genes flow between them
Fill in the blank(s) with correct word