culture

Meaning: Culture is the set of shared beliefs, values, norms, language, symbols, practices and objects of a group, learned and passed on through socialization rather than inherited biologically. It divides into material culture (physical objects such as tools and buildings) and symbolic, or nonmaterial, culture (ideas, rituals, language, values, norms).

On the MCAT: Passages describe a practice and ask you to classify it: material versus symbolic culture, norm versus value, dominant culture versus subculture or counterculture. Related ideas include cultural lag (material culture changing faster than symbolic culture can adapt), cultural diffusion, assimilation, and ethnocentrism versus cultural relativism. Theory questions are common: functionalists see culture as shared values that help hold society together, while conflict theorists see the dominant culture as serving powerful groups.

Common confusion: Culture is not the same as society. A society is the people interacting within a defined territory; culture is the shared meanings and practices they hold. Culture also differs from race, so similar cultural practices can appear across racial groups. Ask whether the trait is a learned, shared practice or meaning (culture) or a category that society assigns based on perceived physical traits (race).