1
Q
What are the 4 areas EP seeks to understand? (PDFI)
A
- 1.) casual processes that shaped human minds
- 2.) “design” of the mind (its mechanisms and organization)
- 3.) functions the mind serves (what it’s designed to do)
- 4.) how interaction between design & current environment shape behavior
2
Q
What are the 3 key components of natural selection? Define each
A
- variation: within the trait (ex. giraffes and neck length)
- inheritance: only the variations that are inherited by offspring are passed down
- selection: organisms w/ desriable variants produce more offspring bc variants help w/ survival and reproduction
3
Q
What is sexual selection? What are the types of sexual selection?
A
- inconsistency w/ natural selection; competition over mates that results in differential reproduction
- Intrasexual comp: competition for mates by members of one sex (ex. male-male competition, males compete for access to mates)
- intersexual comp: individuals of one sex choose partners based on specific qualities (“female choice”)
4
Q
How does evolution act as a sieve?
A
- selection acts like a sieve bc it filters out undesirable traits (that dont help with surv. or repr.) and remaining traits serve a specific adaptive purpose
5
Q
Who are the major theorists and what were their contributions?
A
- Darwin: natural and sexual selection
- William Hamilton: inclusive fitness; passing on genes is important (gene’s eye view)
- George Williams: how to determine what’s an adaptation; argued against group selection (idea that whole groups out compete other groups)
- Robert Trivers: reciprocal altruism, parental investment (sex differences), parent-offsping conflict
- Leda Cosmides and John Tooby: founders of EP, people have a cognitive sturcture designed by evolution
- David Buss: men and women face diff adaptive problems which leads to sex differences in behavior
- Randy Thornhill: rape adaptation, pathogens influence xenophobia
- Steve Gangestead: women have cyclical hormonal changes that affect mate choice
- Martin Daly and Margo Wilson: there are adaptation for physical aggression, studied homicide
6
Q
Explain what’s wrong with the misconception “people strive to have as many children as possible”
A
- fitness is not the “goal” of an individual
7
Q
Explain what’s wrong with the misconception “human behavior is genetically determined
A
- EP perspective not about genetic determinism
- 2 ingredients to behavior: evolved adaptations and environmental input
8
Q
Explain what’s wrong with the misconception “because cultures are so different, there can be no evolution for humans”
A
- cultural variation does not eliminate an evolutionary explanation
- “cognitive architecture” influences which ideas/beliefs are important in the culture
- idea of evoked culture: culture diff may be due to diff environmental conditions faced by diff groups
- transmitted culture: values that exist in one mind spread to other minds through observation interaction (may create new selection pressures)
9
Q
Explain what’s wrong with the misconception “current mechanisms are optimally designed”
A
- adaptations do no need to increase fitness in the current environment but they did in past environments on average (ex. we like the taste of fatty foods bc in past aided in selection pressure)
10
Q
What is the Savannah Principle?
A
- people initially evolved in the African Savannah
- our brains do not deal well with situations that did not exist in our past ancestral environment
11
Q
What is the standard social science model?
A
- 1.) humans are exempt from biology
- 2.) evolution stops at the neck (doesn’t consider psych adaptations)
- 3.) human nature is a tabula rasa (blank slate): experience is the only thing that matters
- 4.) human behavior is a product of the environment and socialization (not biology)
12
Q
What evidence exists to indicate that the eye does not need to be created by a creator?
A
- the eye could evolve rapidly by producing many small rapid adaptations
- ex. light-sensing patches, to cup-like eye (to see light and shadow), to addition of lens to focus images
- additionally the eye contains many imperfections including blind spots and the potential for retinal tearing
13
Q
What are the three products of evolution and give an example of each
A
- adaptation: traits that solve problems of survival and reproduction, inherited and reliably developing, ex. umbilical cord
- by-product: characteristics w/ no function that are “carried along” with other characteristics, ex. belly button product of umbilical cord
- noise: random effects due to mutations, chance effects during development, etc, not linked to adaptive process, ex. shape of belly button
14
Q
What is the EEA?
A
- Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness: selection pressures that occurred during the time period when an adaptation was being shaped, not a specific time or place
15
Q
What does it mean to say something is a “proximate cause” of behavior? The “ultimate cause” of behavior?
A
- proximate cause: direct cause of behavior; how adaptions behavior
- ultimate cause: why does an adaptation exist; historical pathways leading to a behavior (origin of behavior and its alteration over time), past effects of natural selection in shaping current behavior (past & current utility of the behavior in reproductive/adaptive terms)
16
Q
Explain the concept of adaptation
A
- traits that helped solve problem of survival and reproduction
- some individuals had this trait and passed on to subsequent generations
- serve a “special purpose”
- involve historical or selective pressures that lead to design of trait
17
Q
What does it mean that the brain is a domain specific organ and not a general purpose organ? Why do evolutionary psychologists emphasize domain specificity? (Buss)
A
- evolved solutions must be specific to fit the problem
- mind is designed to take in certain info (limited cues activate each adaptation)
- inputs tell a an organism the particular adaptive problem they’re facing
- output can be physiological, info for other mechanisms, or behavior
- output is directed toward the solution to a specific adaptive problem
18
Q
What is meant by human nature?
A
- cumulative product of the experiences of our ancestors affects how we feel/behave
- human nature is universal
- a product of both out innate human nature and our unique experiences and environment
19
Q
Why does EP not seek to find the specific genes that play a role in behavior to make the claim that there is an evolutionary history of behavior?
A
- genes are polygenic- many genes work together to do different things
- studying the specific design features of an adaptation show us that an adaptation must be evolved - helps us understand what the ancestral environment was like
20
Q
What is inclusive fitness? Who proposed it?
A
- proposed by William Hamilton
- total measure of organism’s reproductive success including success of future generations
21
Q
Define natural selection
A
- process by which traits become more or less common in a population due to consistent effects upon survival or reproduction upon the bearers
22
Q
How can we identify adaptations?
A
- bottom-up or “reverse engineering” - examine the solution (adaptation) and try to figure out what problem caused need for it; observation driven (ex. women like masculine faces, hypothesis: masculine faces are cues for good genes)
- top-down - examine the problem and try to figure out what the possible solutions could have been; theory driven (ex. theory: paternity certainty; hypothesis: men will guard women to prevent cheating)
23
Q
What are the criteria for adaptations? (REECS)
A
- reliability: does the adaptation develop in most or all members of a species under normal environment; does it perform dependably in the contexts to which it is adapted
- efficiency: does the mechanism solve a particular adaptive problem well; how effectively the trait is designed
- economy: not unnecessarily costly; some constraints due to previous adaptations and/or sexual selection (ex. male peacock tails costly in terms of predation)
- complexity: evolved traits are often complex so that they can solve a problem well enough; if it’s complex its probably not due to chance (ex. the eye)
- specificity: a trait should not serve another function equally well (ex. wing designed for flight, not equally as well designed for catching prey)
24
Q
What is an exaptation?
A
- traits that evolved for one reason and then co-opted for another purpose
- ex. human ear bones evolved from gill arches in fish
- ex. penguin wings
25
What is an evolutionary arms race?
- co-evolution between organisms in conflict
| - ex. hosts & parasites, predator & prey
26
What is sexually antagonistic coevolution? What evidence supports this?
- things that optimize one partner's outcomes do not match those that optimize the other partner's outcomes
- similar to Red Queen Principle but specific about sexual competitions within species adaptations
- Rice's fruit fly study: males allowed to evolve while females weren't, so male fitness increases and had higher reproductive success; while female fitness decreased
27
What is the function of sexual jealousy?
- to keep a mate faithful
28
Who is more likely to be upset by emotional infidelity? Sexual infidelity?
- emotional - women more upset, they want parental investment
- sexual - men, bc of paternity uncertainty
29
What is mate guarding? How does it benefit and cost each sex?
- def: behaviors used to reduce a mate's interest in others and to keep partner in the relationship
- benefits to males: increase paternity certainty
- men mate guard more when women are high fertility
- women resist mate guarding: think partners controlling, less invested and less intimate in their relationships
30
How are propriety mate retention tactics related to violence toward an intimate partner for men? For women?
- men who use these tactics = more violence against women
- men more violent when they believe partner is interested in someone else
- women's violence not linked to mate retention strategy; usually defense
31
Possible evolutionary reasons for aggression
- acquire or defend resources that are important for reproduction or survival
32
What are the two competing evolutionary explanations for why homicide occurs?
- slip-up hypothesis: men use violence as means of coercive control and to eliminate the sources of conflict; sometimes the violence turns into homicide
- homicide adaptation theory: humans (esp men) evolved specific psychological mechanisms that predispose them to kill other under certain predictable circumstances (ex. warfare, intrasexual rivalry, infidelity)
33
Are kin more or less likely to be killed and why
- kin less likely to be killed bc of inclusive fitness theory
34
Are men or women more aggressive? How are women aggressive?
- depends on type of aggression
- men commit most homicides, more likely to be physically aggressive
- women more likely to use indirect aggression
35
What are the reasons for sex differences in aggression
- women can't increase reproduction by mating with many males (less incentive for competition)
- women invest more in children so her death would have serious conseq. for offspring survival
36
In what ways do women compete for access to mates?
- women compete with other women by changing their appearance
37
What is the sexual double standard?
- women reinforce this
- put downs based on reputation
- won't befriend someone with a bad reputation
38
Do males fight directly over women?
- NO
| - they fight over status bc ancestrally high status = higher reproductive success
39
Describe the age crime curve. What other behaviors fit the pattern? How is it related to the age-genius curve?
- "every quantifiable human behavior that is public and costly" follows similar curve (genius curve almost idential)
- peaks in 20s
- why - expressions of men's competitive desires to increase reproductive success
40
Why does men's productivity decrease in their 30s?
- costs increase
- men better off investing in their families
- productivity diminishes greatly after the birth of a child
41
Is there a psychological adaptation for war?
- defend resources - culture of honor
- co-opt other individual's resources
- deter intrasexual rivals
- increase status within a group
- deter rivals from future aggression or taking resources
- deter mates from infidelity
42
What percent of societies have warfare?
- 95%
43
What percent of men in different groups are involved in war?
- Tahiti: 47%
- Mae enga: 40%
- Germany WWII: 34%
- US WWII: 17%
44
Why do the Yanomamo fight?
- many fights begin over sexual issues (infidelity, stealing women)
45
What are the benefits of warfare?
- may increase reproductive success (inclusive fitness benefits since most ppl in village related)
- men who have killed are preferred by women
- resources
46
What are the costs of war?
- death (although try to decrease risk)
47
What role do women play in war?
- role: cheer, first aid, collect missiles, supplies
| - may also shame cowards, taunt hesitant, help incite the men
48
What other animals go to war? What's the benefit for them?
- chimpanzees
- gain more territory
- more access to fruit trees, females have more to eat and will reproduce faster
49
Describe Hamilton's rule
- Altruist cost < relatedness x benefit's to recipient
| - c < rb
50
What is inclusive fitness?
- individual's own reproductive success plus the reproductive success of relatives (weighed by degree of relatedness)
- closer relatives are, stronger cooperation and less sexual interest
51
What is altruism and how can it evolve among related individuals?
- def: behavior benefits other individuals at a cost to itself
- evolves when cost to altruist is lower than the relatedness of the individual receiving help multiplied by the amount the altruism benefits the receiver
52
Should you always help out relatives?
- depends
| - bc you're 50% related, may not always share the same interests
53
What is sibling rivalry and why does it occur? Under what circumstances is sibling rivalry higher?
- results when there are competing interests between siblings
- greatest when resources related to reproductive success (healthcare, education, heritable wealth)
54
Should parents help each of their children equally all the time?
- tend to invest more in high fitness offspring
| - fitness increases by biasing investment toward higher fitness child
55
What is reciprocal altruism?
- helping others for the benefit of both parties with a cost to altruist
- ex. hunter with a lot of meat gives some to friend who does not have as much. Knows it will be reciprocated
56
How has reciprocal altruism evolved? Even when ppl cheat?
- reciprocal altruism overpowered those who were greedy and they had more reproductive success
- cooperators have mechanisms to point out and avoid cheaters
57
What is the prisoner's dilemma? (tit for tat)
- A rats out B: A leave jail and B gets worse sentence
- rat out each other: both get longer sentence than if they both stayed quiet
- best answer is for both to stay quiet to and both get shortest sentence
58
What are Cosmides' and Tooby's mechanism for detecting cheaters?
1: being able to recognize many different types of people
2: being able to remember past history with different people
3: being able to tell others what you need
4: being able to understand others needs
5: be able to represent the costs and benefits of many items
59
What is indirect reciprocity theory?
- someone has a reputation of being cooperative
| - benefits them bc other cooperative ppl will help them knowing that this person will reciprocate
60
When would altruism be a costly signal?
- ppl go above and beyond with altruistic acts in order to show they are a good cooperator
- these costs show an honest signal
- only those who are high quality can afford the signal
61
According to the stubble study what is most attractive? Most masculine? Best parent?
- most attractive: heavy stubble
- most masculine: full beard (impose costs on women, so less attractive, more likely to cheat and less interested in long term)
- best parent: full beard
62
What are the 5 functions of EPP?
- avoid possibility of infertility of their social mate
- genetic advantage (increase genetic diversity among offspring, males with "good genes")
- direct benefit for herself and offpring (resources availability)
- revenge
- mate-switching
63
Does female choice drive EPP rates?
YES
64
What is the EPP rate in humans?
- about 1-10%
65
What life-history traits are correlated with low rates of EPP? High rates?
- low: need bi-parental raising, high socioeconomic status, long life-span
- high: arranged marriage, high density of individuals, high breeding synchronicity (birds)
66
What is the main difference between MHC class I and class II?
- Class I: found on surface of all cells, presents contents from within cell
- Class II: found only on immune cell surface, preents contents from surroundings
67
What bird does most MHC and bird mate choice understanding come from?
- seabirds - Petrels
68
What sense do birds use to detect differences in MHC genes?
- sense of small (olfactory cues)
69
What does heterozygous mean?
- not same traits (ex. Aa)
70
What were the 3 studies that looked at MHC genes and preferred mate choice?
- odor study: mixed results
- facial study: not conclusive
- marital studies: no significance found
- so... faces/ odor not necessarily used to find mate with different MHC genes
71
Can we conclude that humans mate based on MHC cues?
- its possible
PSY 330 - Evolutionary Psychology
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