Final answer:
Cultural traits are individual elements of culture, while cultural complexes are combinations of traits around an activity, and cultural patterns are overarching themes within a culture.
Step-by-step explanation:
How do cultural traits, cultural complexes, and cultural patterns differ:
The correct answer is A) Cultural traits are individual elements of a culture such as a specific belief, practice, or custom. For example, the use of chopsticks in East Asian countries is a cultural trait. Cultural complexes are combinations of various cultural traits bonded together around a particular activity or feature. An example of this could be the various elements associated with traditional tea ceremonies in Japan, which include the tea itself, the utensils, the ritual procedures, and the social context.
Finally, cultural patterns are the overarching themes and systems characteristic of a culture that create a coherent worldview and encompass practices related to values, social norms, and structures; they are represented in the ways individualism and collectivism shape social behaviors within different societies.