Summarise Darwin’s original Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection - what are the 5 main points?
- Variation: Individuals within a species are variable in terms of their morphology, physiology and behaviour
- Heritability: Some of the variation within the species is heritable
- Competition: Individual within species compete for resources (e.g. food, mates, shelter)
- Natural selection: As a result of competition and variation, some individuals will leave more (viable) offspring than other (biological fitness – cf. social standing)
- Adaptation: Consequently, the individuals that survive are (more) adapted to the environment
What are the 3 parts of Darwin’s ‘adaptation’ in his Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection?
o Functionality: Serve a purpose
o Domain specific: Designed to solve particular problems
o Numerous: Development of a variety of adaptive (and differential) mechanisms
What is sexual selection?
- Sexual selection: The result of the competition between members of the same species for mates
Summarise Darwin’s Theory of Evolution by Sexual Selection
o Adaptive traits: Characteristics (both physical and psychological) of one sex that are preferred (on average) by members of the other sex (Buss et al., 1990)
o Individuals that possess (more) adaptive traits have a mating advantage and thus a higher chance of reproducing
o Sexual Strategy Theory (SST; Buss & Schmitt, 1993): Mating strategies differ due to sex (or sexual dimorphism) and whether a short-term or long-term relationship is sough
What are the different sex preferences in Darwin’s Theory of Evolution by Sexual Selection?
♣ Female preferences: e.g. Ambition, high-status profession, good health, older, physically strong
♣ Male preferences: e.g. Lustrous hair, smooth skin, clear eyes, WHR (.67-.80), fidelity, and faithfulness
♣ For both sexes: Healthy, loving, emotionally stable, understanding, committed, dependable, intelligent
What are 3 strategies of Sexual Strategy Theory (SST) to obtain mates?
♣ Competitor derogation
• Put down a competitor in front of a potential mate by saying/showing competitor’s weaknesses
♣ Deception or self-promotion
• Promote the traits you think are desirable
♣ Coercion
• E.g. Rape, stalking
What is Evolutionary Personality Psychology?
- The academic study of how evolutionary (personality) psychology and adaptation can be used to explain the evolution of human personality
What are Buss’ premises for the Theory of Personality and Adaptation?
o Evolutionary theory can provide a framework for the central concepts of personality through:
♣ Providing an understanding of the major goals of humans and the problems related to survival and reproduction
♣ Describing the psychological mechanisms that have evolved to enable humans to reach these goals and solve these problems
♣ Identifying the personality and individual differences components utilized to reach these goals and overcome these problems
Which personality traits have evolved to help with human survival?
o Emotional stability (low Neuroticism)
o Activity, socialization (Extraversion)
o Co-operation, trustfulness, reliability, organisation (low P)
o Knowledge, curiosity, intelligence (Openness)
What are dysfunctional traits (e.g. mental illness)?
- Dysfunctional traits (e.g. mental illness) are a result of context failure, i.e. the activation of adaptive traits in response to stimuli or contexts other than those for which they are (currently) adaptive (Buss, 2006)
How can dysfunctional domain-specific traits be activated for other contexts that they were not evolved for?
♣ Traits can be fooled by dishonest stimuli (e.g. artificially aroused by drugs)
• No fitness reward (as would be case in real activation) – only fake reward (an illusion of reward)
What is the ‘K-factor’?
- K-factor: The ratio of parental investment over mating effort (Rushton, 1985)
What is ‘parental investment’?
o Parental investment: Spending time with offspring (e.g. feeding, protecting) to ensure their survival
What is ‘mating effort’?
o Mating effort: Creating more offspring
♣ The Coolidge effect (Kenrick, 1989)
Which directions do both sexes lean towards in the K-factor?
o Evolutionarily speaking, women are more towards the parental investment (can’t copulate all the time – each reproductive cycle lasts about 9 months) and males toward mating effort (can copulate constantly)
What is ‘kin selection’?
- Kin selection: Helping (close) relatives to survive, can result in an increase in the inclusive fitness of the individual
What is ‘direct fitness’, in relation to kin selection?
o Direct fitness: Viable offspring
What is ‘indirect fitness’, in relation to kin selection?
o Indirect fitness: Viable (biological) relatives
How can within-species variations of the K-factor and kin selection be explained?
- Within-species variations of the K-factor and kin selection can be explained (in part) through variations in personality traits
o Can be determined by personality in humans, not biology
What does Gosling (2001) argue about the relationship of natural (or sexual) selection in creating psychological traits in humans and non-human animals?
- Argues that if natural (or sexual) selection creates psychological traits in humans, there is no reason to assume that it only creates physical traits in non-human animals
o Also capable of creating emotional, motivational and behavioural traits - Suggests that the Big-5 can provide adequate context to consider animal personality
o BUT uses the lexical approach to study animals!
♣ Big-5 may not be an accurate tool as it is based on language (animals’ language skills are different/less compared to humans’) - Showed that certain personality traits (e.g. aspects of extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism) are evident in many animal species (from chimpanzees to butterflies)
What are the 3 aspects of Gosling’s (2001) thesis about the evolution of psychological traits in human and non-human animals?
- Within-species traits variations help us understand the nature of the evolution of personality traits
o Similar to research in humans - Cross-species traits variations help us examine the adaptations of particular traits
o We share niches with other species (similar stressors similar traits to cope) - The study of both of the above is necessary in understanding (animal) personality
What is the coding method in animal personality research?
- Coding: How animals respond to particular behavioural tests (states vs. events)
o E.g. The three personality dimensions found in octopuses are activity, reactivity, and avoidance
What is the rating method in animal personality research?
o Raters asked to assess animals among the personality traits – same as human peer review
Give an example of an animal’s personality dimensions using the rating method in animal personality research
o E.g. Five personality dimensions in hyenas:
1. Assertiveness (confident) 2. Excitability (fearful) 3. Agreeableness with humans (tame) 4. Sociability (friendly) 5. Curiosity (impulsive)
-
Lecture 218
-
Lecture 317
-
Lecture 429
-
Lecture 542
-
Lecture 619
-
Lecture 744
-
Lecture 824
-
Lecture 933
-
Lecture 1014
-
Lecture 1126
-
Lecture 1237
-
Lecture 1318
-
Lecture 1423
-
Lecture 15 (no lecture 15)0
-
Lecture 1632
-
Lecture 1716
-
Lecture 18 (not assessable)0
-
Lecture 190
-
Lecture 200
-
Lecture 210
-
Lecture 220
-
Lecture 230
-
Lecture 240
-
Lecture 250
-
Lecture 26 (not assessable)0
