Chapter 6 - Charles Darwin and the evolving mind

Question 1

uniformitarian theory

Answer 1

the earth’s main features are the result of gradual processes that occured over a long period of time and that these processes are still happening in the present

Question 2

catastrophism

Answer 2

geological features arose as a result of a few sudden massive cataclysms on earth

Question 3

William (Bishop) Paley

Answer 3

created the argument of design

Question 4

argument of design

Answer 4

the highly complicated organs of species are so perfectly constructed that they must have been designed by God

Question 5

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck

Answer 5

proposed that species evolve and change because they adopt learned characteristics from their parents

Question 6

natural selection

Answer 6

different environments favor certain types of orgnaimsis to survive and reproduce, the most adaptive survive and continue the population with stronger genes

Question 7

Alfred Wallace

Answer 7

reached the same conclusion about evolution as Darwin and made Darwin feel confident to publish his book “The Origin of Species”

Question 8

polygenesis

Answer 8

different races of human evolved from different forebearers

Question 9

monogenesis

Answer 9

claimed that all humans share a common ancestor

Question 10

sexual selection

Answer 10

the evolution and selection of traits specifically favourable to reproduction

Question 11

complementarity of the sexes hypothesis

Answer 11

men and women have characteristics which complement each other

Question 12

variation hypothesis

Answer 12

natural selection works more on males than females
- men are more varied in their characteristics

Question 13

ontogeny

Answer 13

the study of the development of the individual

Question 14

Ernst Haeckel

Answer 14

claimed that any development of an individual could tell us something about the development of a species (phylogeny)

Question 15

social darwinism

Answer 15

the most intelligent and productive people will win if they are left to compete with each other, leading to a steady improvement of society
- coined by Herbert Spencer

Question 16

Georges Romanes

Answer 16

used the human-animal comparative method to study animal behavior and developed comparative psychology

Question 17

human-animal comparative method

Answer 17

comparing similarities and differences between species to understand evolutionary relationships

Question 18

Edward Wilson

Answer 18

introduced the term “socio-biology”

Question 19

socio-biology

Answer 19

the brach of research into the evolutionary origins of social behavior in animals, including humans