Auditory Looming
the idea that you can hear objects coming in
Auditory looming evolutionary benefit
Listeners reliably overestimate the chance of rising level tones relative to equivalent falling level tones.
This overestimation could provide a selective advantage because rising intensity can signal source movement toward an organism.
EMT and predation risk
nocturnal animals are adaptive because they’re reducing the likelihood of predation
EMT and detecting dangerous animals
prey will avoid potentially dangerous animals perhaps more than they should because it could be a very costly error
EMT and cooperation towards strangers
The dictator game shows that people are less generous, but will still give money to strangers.
Our pyschology favors being cooperative because in our ancestral environment, more interactions were repeated.
EMT and belief in supernatural agents
If God is real, then not believing is a very costly error.
EMT and food aversion
Throwing out food that might be expired because we want to minimize the risk of getting sick
EMT and illusion of animacy
We tend to detect anything that moves, even if it isn’t dangerous because it minimizes cost
EMT and detecting deception
E.g. Falsely accusing a friend of lying is risky, so we may tend to be less skeptical of friends than, for instance, a salesperson
EMT and egocentric bias
We think we’re being understood better than we are because it’s better to assume you’re more clear than less (since it’s more efficient)
How do temporal and ecological constraints relate to error management?
Risk taking increases when time is running out and fewer opportunities are available.
E.g. a gazelle may take the risk of going to a watering hole for fear of dehydration, even if there’s risk that a predator is lurking
