Do non-human primates have culture similar to humans? Communication skills mostly support that these primates have culture because primates learn communication through gestures and facial expressions. Anthropological definition of culture is all aspects of human adaptation, including technology, traditions, language, religion, and social roles. Culture is a set of learned behaviors; it is transmitted from one generation to the next through learning and not by biological or genetic means.…
People believe that we are at the top of all animals and we are, for now, but other primates are not so far behind. Jane Goodall has witnessed chimpanzees making and using tools, hunting, planning and intelligence, spontaneous dance-like display,…
For many years, numerous individuals including anthropologists have attempted to explain how a single species evolved into another. From the time of Charles Darwin to Creationism, anthropologists have established that chimpanzees are human’s closet relative. Furthermore, with the extensive voluminous amount of information, not only are chimpanzees genetically and evolutionary similar to human but share analogous traits. For instance, chimpanzees like human make and utilized tools in various techniques. Another trait shared is eutheria, where offspring depend on the placenta and grown internally of their paternities. In addition to the highly mobile digits that assist chimpanzees in grasping and climbing. These illustrations are just a few. This paper is twofold; to highlight humans and chimpanzees shared traits that can aid in recreating the past of humans, secondly to heighten my knowledge of the evolution of humankind and chimpanzees.…
Many scientists have experimented with animals, to prove that they do have the capacity to communicate. For example, Beatrice and Allen Gardner trained a chimpanzee named Washoe to use about one hundred and sixty signs, including signs for “apple,” “tickle,” “flower,” and “more.” Washoe even learned to combine signs into simple phrasese, such as “more fruit” and “gimme flower.”…
It may be argued that one’s culture is indicative of the way in which they behave. Is this an accurate assumption? Tess calls attention to the difficulties we face in ascertaining whether nature or nurture poses a greater influence to human behaviour, and I am inclined to agree with her assumption that the two are interdependent. Our behaviour is deeply rooted in the functioning of the society in which we live, something which indicates the interference of evolution in teaching us the valuable role of society in relation to our ultimate survival. For it is the ability to adapt to the cultural norms surrounding us via what Hogan refers to as “archaic, powerful and compulsive tendencies,” [Hogan, 1985] that contributes to the overall success of human social life. This is exemplified through the examination of ancient human society. DeWaal points out the ever-present “strife and competition which… pose the strongest threat to [human] existence” [DeWaal, 1996], and Pinker refers to the idea of reciprocity as being “ubiquitous in foraging societies” [Pinker, 1997]. These two facets of social existence may in fact be linked in that they work to counter one another. Rather than constantly competing in the interests of the self, early human beings came to realise the benefits of co-existing with one another. We are all subject to this same evolutionary history which tells us that social harmony is key in our ultimate survival, and this requires adherence to our common culture. In other words, we are nurtured with reference to the teachings of our nature, therefore in this case the two cannot be separated as they are reliant on one another.…
ANTH100 – Introduction to Anthropology APUS Assignment: Be An Anthropologist 2 Due by 11:59p on Sunday of Week 6 Purpose: The goal of this exercise is to observe a ‘cultural scene’ as an anthropologist would (i.e. based on everything you have learned in the course to-date). The student will analyze their observations in terms of themes from the subfield of cultural anthropology such as how it helps frame our societies (family, lifestyle, lineage, language and communication) and, in some ways, its evolution. Description: Culture as we have discussed in our readings and lecture notes is an incredible advantage that has allowed humans to enter almost every niche in nature. The development and maintenance of culture is what sets humans apart from…
From Culture As Given, Culture As Choice by Dirk Van Der Elst, some concepts to know: distinguish between behaviors that are innate versus behaviors that are learned (chapter 2), distinguish between “culture” and “society” (chapter 3), define “symbols” and “gestures” (Chapter 4), define “deviance” and “syncretism” (chapter 8), and define “science” and “hypothesis” (chapter 9).…
Twelve Monkeys is a American science fiction movie, film on 1995, by Terry Gilliam. It highlights the participation of the starring Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe and Brad Pitt.…
1. These cultures are common because both have tool use, complex grooming and courtship. For example, young chimpanzees are taught how to crack nuts and when they run into technical problems the mother is always there to help them. This is quite like how humans would react. The parents teach the young how to complete and overcome certain task. Another example is the “leaf clipping” behavior. Just like how one set of humans might use one thing for a certain task, whereas another set might use the same thing for a completely different task is basically the same as how different sets of chimpanzees use the whole “leaf clipping” behavior.…
These non-human primates compared to human primates in many ways. For example, they all share the concept of caregiving. In all three primate groups I observed the mother caring for her baby. In humans the mother also cares for her baby when is born in similar ways as the non-human primates. I learned a lot of information about primates by doing this assignment, observing the behaviors of each primate group was impressive and that the way they behave is similar to humans.…
As we saw in “Ape Genius”, the apes could observe others and learn how to use tools, for example, as we saw them with sticks used to retrieve insects; but they couldn’t teach others this new skill they had acquired. The apes could merely learn from observation, this meant that there is no furthering of these ideas. The ideas could not evolve, and were stuck at the primitive level that they were originally learned at. In the documentary, we see scientists attempting to teach apes and in turn have them teach others by performing a variety of experiments. Even with human intervention the apes still could not teach others, this ability to both learn and teach seems to be purely a human one. One that allows for us to grow and evolve together, as a people. Meno also shows us how we can learn from other people, Socrates leads Meno on a journey of understanding the correct meaning of virtue. Socrates asks Meno many questions that help to tailor his thinking and push him in the direction of understanding the true meaning. Together they can reach a definition that suits them…
E. Race is a social construct and is therefore a necessary tool for categorizing people of various cultures…
When young primates or kids try to learn things they look up to the adults around them as their role model. Learning how to interact with humans or non-human beings requires that one observes and make errors along the process. This occurs at a young age whenever kids play with other kids and interact among each other. The behaviors they pick up are learned as the time goes by and the influence someone might have on you. When kids interact with other kids they learn new skills that they use to their advantage and keep learning from it. Also, a young primate or human learn things different at different times because of their environment and how it affects them. Culture plays an important role on how they are to behave as well because each family…
2. Construct a model of cross-cultural misunderstanding, using the information presented by Lee in this article.…
Cultural neuroscience is a new interdisciplinary science that investigate how shaping the neurobiological mechanisms by the values, cultural practices and beliefs. Cultural neuroscience link to each other theories from various disciplines, including anthropology, cultural psychology, neuroscience and population genetics and neurogenetics (Chiao and Ambady, 2007; Chiao et al., 2010). In this field, researchers are looking to better understand how genetic and cultural factors effects on the mind, brain and behavior, not only in lifetime but also in during different periods in evolutionary timescales (Chiao and Ambady, 2007). Repeated ceremonies reinforce some biological and neural pathways in a particular environment. Frequent cultural practices called neural pathways during doing cultural practices that ultimately lead to a change in the neural structure and function (Kitayama and Tompson, 2010).…