22- Human Evolutionary Psychology Flashcards
What is Human behavioural ecology
- Focuses on the reproductive consequences of human behaviour
- Often involves study of tribal (non-westernised) people with assumption that they are close to our ancestors
Most human behaviour is the product of
The interaction of multiple psychological mechanisms -and, over the course of our evolutionary history,these mechanisms would have been shaped by selection
Most aspects of human behaviour are
Under conscious control
Likely features of Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness (EEA)
- Hunter-gather/scavenging subsistence
- Low population density
- Small kin-based groups
- Nomadic or semi-nomadic
- High infant mortality and low life expectancy
- Vulnerability (e.g. predators, disease)
Adaptive problems faced by our hunter-gatherer ancestors
- Eating the right food
- Avoiding predators
- Obtaining mates
- Caring for offspring
- Forming alliances
- Reading other people’s minds
What is Sexual dimorphism
Important factor likely to be selection on males for success in contests against other males (intra-sexual competition)
Human mating systems are predominantly
Polygynous
How does sperm count and time spent with a partner relate
- The less time the couple has spent together (i.e. the greater the risk that the female has copulated with another male) the more sperm the male ejaculates
- The amount of sperm in masturbatory ejaculates does NOT depend on proportion of time together
In potential mates, Females found to value cues to
Resource Acquisition more highly than males
In potential mates, Males found to value characteristics signalling
Reproductive potential more than females
Degree of symmetry in male ornaments indicates
Fitness and low asymmetry preferred by females
Up-suck hypothesis
Female orgasm functions to suck up sperm during sex leading the cervix to gape and dip into the seminal pool
Female preferences for masculinised faces are stronger during
Fertile phase of cycle
Testosterone levels affect
Voice pitch
Daly and Wilson present evidence that children living with a step-parent are more at risk of
Physical abuse
