Introduction

Question 1

Jean Baptiste Lamarck’s Pre-Darwinian Concept

Answer 1

• Believed that organisms tend to progress toward higher forms
• Features and characteristics of organisms are inherited

Question 2

Leopold Chretian Frederick Dagobert Cuvier’s Pre-Darwinian Concept

Answer 2

• Proposed that species are extinguished periodically by sudden catastrophes to be replaced by another species

Question 3

3 main concepts of the Theory of Natural Selection

Answer 3

1. Variation
2. Inheritance
3. Selection

Question 4

Definition of ‘Variation’

Answer 4

Organisms vary across a multitude of dimensions of attributes

Question 5

Definition of ‘Inheritance’

Answer 5

Some of the attributes that vary are inherited and reliably passed down to offspring over generations

Question 6

Definition of ‘Selection’

Answer 6

Organisms with heritable attributes reproduce and have more offspring as those attributes help overcome the problem of survival and reproduction

Question 7

Definition of ‘Fitness’ in evolutionary sciences perspective

Answer 7

The odds of an organism with a certain attribute surviving till reproduction

Question 8

2 types of ‘sexual selection’

Answer 8

1. Intra-sexual competition
2. Inter-sexual competition

Question 9

Explain ‘Intra-sexual competition’

Answer 9

Competition between members of the same sex to gain sexual access to mates directly or indirectly

Question 10

Explain ‘Inter-sexual competition’

Answer 10

Manifests as preferential mate choices and those who do not have advantageous characteristics are less likely to be chosen as mates

Question 11

Darwinism after Darwin

Answer 11

1. Classic Darwinism
2. Mendelian genetic
3. Post-synthesis

Question 12

What concepts are under Mendelian genetics?

Answer 12

1. Mutation
2. Genetic inheritance
3. Etc.

Question 13

Mendelian genetics supports Darwin’s theory of natural selection by…

Answer 13

Defining by which mechanism inheritance occured (via genes)

Question 14

What concepts are under post-synthesis?

Answer 14

1. Ethology
2. Inclusive fitness and kin selection
3. Evolutionary-developmental theories
4. Multilevel selection
5. Adaptive lags

Question 15

Ethology indicates…

Answer 15

An adaptation in the form of a physical characteristic requires the organisms to enact behaviors that make use of the adaptation for organisms to benefit from it

Question 16

Inclusive fitness indicates…

Answer 16

Inclusive fitness = classical fitness + (effect of organism’s action on the fitness of genetic relatives x genetic relativeness)

Question 17

Explain the Hamilton rule

Answer 17

rB > C; Benefits to genetic relatives must be greater than the cost to self
r: proportion of shared genes
B: fitness benefits in terms of how many offspring are produced
C: fitness cost to self

Question 18

Group selection is…

Answer 18

A mechanism of evolution in which natural selection acts at the level of the group instead of at the level of individual or gene
-> This indicates that selfish organisms will perish

Question 19

2 reasons why group selection is now disfavored are

Answer 19

1. Altruistic organisms are less likely to survive while selfish organisms are more likely to survive and reproduce
2. Selections at the genetic level work against selection against group level

Question 20

Define adaptation

Answer 20

Evolved solutions to specific problems that contribute either directly or indirectly to successful reproduction

Question 21

3 criteria for a characteristic to be considered an adaptation

Answer 21

1. Reliability
2. Efficiency
3. Economy

Question 22

Explain Reliability

Answer 22

Does the mechanism regularly develop in most or all members of the species across all normal environments?
Does the mechanism perform dependently in the context in which it is designed to function?

Question 23

Explain Efficiency

Answer 23

Does the mechanism solve a particular adaptive problem well and effectively?

Question 24

Explain Economy

Answer 24

Does the mechanism solve a particular adaptive problem without extorting huge costs from the organism?

Question 25

What are Robert Trier's 3 Seminal Theories?

Answer 25

1. Theory of reciprocal altruism 2. Parental investment theory 3. Parent-offsprings conflict theory

Question 26

Explain the theory of reciprocal altruism

Answer 26

Defined the condition where altruism could have evolved -> Altruistic helping could be beneficial when there is potential for repayment for the altruistic act in the future

Question 27

Explain parental investment theory

Answer 27

- Sex that invests more in its offspring will be more selective when choosing a mate - Less investing sex will have intra-sexual competition for access to mates

Question 28

Explain parental-offsprings conflict theory

Answer 28

- Resources invested in offspring are resources not available elsewhere -> Parents look to maximize fitness benefits from parental resources invested, while offspring look to maximize parental resources gained from parents

Question 29

How is sociobiology different from evolutionary psychology

Answer 29

Sociobiology: Goes straight from ancestral environment to behaviors Evolutionary psychology: Includes the psychological mechanisms that are affected by the ancestral environment that explains how the end-product (behaviors) generated

Question 30

3 common misconceptions about evolutionary psychology

Answer 30

1. Genetic determinism 2. Inflexibility 3. Optimal design

Question 31

What is genetic determinism?

Answer 31

A view that genes determine phenotypes, such as morphology, psychology, or behavior, with little or no environmental influence

Question 32

How is genetic determinism rejected?

Answer 32

Environmental influence is apparent at all stages of the evolutionary process and evolutionary psychology is an interactionist approach

Question 33

What is inflexibility?

Answer 33

Evolved characteristics are impossible to change

Question 34

How is inflexibility rejected?

Answer 34

Evolved characteristics require triggers to activate; the extent to which change can happen depends on the extent to which plasticity is favored by natural selection (adaptive plasticity)

Question 35

What is adaptive plasticity?

Answer 35

The extent to which plasticity is favored by natural selection

Question 36

What is optimal design?

Answer 36

Adaptations that organisms possess today are optimally designed over generations of selection

Question 37

How is optimal design rejected?

Answer 37

The existence of evolutionary or adaptive time lag (evolutionary mismatch) Specific adaptations have subsequent 'costs'

Question 38

2 types of analysis from Tinbergen's Four Question

Answer 38

1. Proximate analysis -> Explanations that address the immediate causes of a behavior or mental process 2. Ultimate analysis -> Explanations that address distant historical origins of how and why the psychological structures are responsible for producing the behavior or mental process

Question 39

2 types of fallacies

Answer 39

1. Naturalistic fallacy 2. Moralistic fallacy

Question 40

What is a Naturalistic fallacy

Answer 40

The belief that what is natural is always good

Question 41

What is the Moralistic fallacy

Answer 41

The belief that what is good is how nature is