Evolution

Question 1

What is evolution?

Answer 1

How species change over time, adapting to their environment

Question 2

What is adaptive significance?

Answer 2

This is how effective an adaptation is in aiding the organism to deal with their changing environmental conditions

Question 3

What are ultimate causes of behaviour?

Answer 3

Evolutionary conditions which have slowly shaped the behaviour of our species

Question 4

What are proximate causes of behaviour?

Answer 4

Immeidate environemntal variables that affect behaviour

Question 5

What is the aim of evolutionary psychology?

Answer 5

describe and explain how an organisms evolutionary history contributes ti the behavioural patterns and cognitive strategies it uses for reproduction and survival

Question 6

What is homology and what is it eveidence for?

Answer 6

Homology is the fact we are similar to other species and share similar features in our anatomy. This is evdidence for evolution

Question 7

How are fossils evidence for evolution, how can we date them?

Answer 7

We can compare DNA and see if it is similar and estimate the date of them by their carbon contnet as carbon decays at a constant rate (depending on amou t of air it is exposed to)

Question 8

What normal process influenced darwins theory of natural selction?

Answer 8

Artificial selection in famring

Question 9

What does natural selction mean in terms of genetic influence?

Answer 9

Individuals with the most survivign offspring have a stronger genetic influence over the next generations

Question 10

What arw the two key points of natural selction?

Answer 10

• variation in genotype and phenotype

- competition

Question 11

What are the two main contributors to having surviving offspring?

Answer 11

• Survival of yourself

- having sex

Question 12

What is reproduction sucess?

Answer 12

Refers to the number of viable offspring in relation to other members of the species

Question 13

What are the 4 things darwin said

Answer 13

• Communtiies are dynamic
• Evolution Is gradual and continuous
• We all descended from one common ancestor
• Natural selection is not only during changing environments but also to mainitian status quo in constant conditions

Question 14

What is the human evolution history?

Answer 14

1. Homohabilis
2. Homoerectus
3. Homosapiens
4. Neanderthals

Question 15

Discuss humans having big expsive brains and how we knopw this

Answer 15

we know they are important as we have them. We know they are expensive as tey have many downfalls like high energy consumption, deaths in childbirth and childhood mortality (smaller brains would not give such high rates, so must be important that the brain is the size it is).

Question 16

What are the two main things the evolution of humans seemed to favoured?

Answer 16

• Bipedalism

- Encephalisation (increasing brain size)

Question 17

What is paleoanthropology?

Answer 17

Study of human behaviour using fossil remains mainly by speculating

Question 18

What is the naturalistic fallacy and what is an example of this?

Answer 18

Naturalistic fallacy is the fallacy that all that is naturally occuring is good. It can be argued that anxiety is evolutionary adaptive

Question 19

Colour vision and optimalisation

Answer 19

Animals have different numbers of cones, suggesting what a species is left with is the optimal for our tasks

Question 20

What are proximal explantions of behaviour?

Answer 20

Argue the mechanics of something, like doing something because it is fun

Question 21

What are ultimate explantions of behaviour?

Answer 21

These argue the behaviours are due to evolutionary factors

Question 22

Are ultimate and proximal exaplanations mutually exclusive?

Answer 22

No they can be mashed together

Question 23

List the 4 mating types in animals

Answer 23

• monogamy
• polygyny
• polyandry
• polygynandry

Question 24

What is polygyny?

Answer 24

One male with multiple females- the females are investing more

Question 25

What is polyandry?

Answer 25

One female with mor than one male- common in egg layong species

Question 26

What is polygynandry? what can it result in

Answer 26

Multiple males with multiple females- increased protectio for offspring as males dont know who there offspring is. This can result in consortship however- a type of sexual monogamy

Question 27

Why do females invest more in parenting?

Answer 27

- large gestation periods - less oppurtunity to reprodyce - childbirth risks - nursing the child - limited amount of children possibel to have

Question 28

Issues arising from monogamy

Answer 28

- jealousy - infedility - poaching

Question 29

Brain chemicals and mongamy

Answer 29

- oxytocin | - AVP (vasopressiion) adminstering this in voles leads to prefernce for an exclusive partner and increases paternal care

Question 30

Male and female differences in jealousy and infedility

Answer 30

Males are more likely to be affected by sexual infedility and jealous of sexual acts whereas women are more likely to be affected by emotioanl infedility and jealous of emotional acts

Question 31

Discuss factors affecting poaching

Answer 31

- agreeable people less likely to poach - extraverted people more likely to be poached - etrophillic tendencie people are more liekly to poach - attractiveness and wealth are key factors into whether poaching works - women use ego boosting and males use resource flaunting

Question 32

Aspects of a partner affecting marriage satisfaction and likelihood to abuse.

Answer 32

How agreeable, dependable and emotionally stable a partner is

Question 33

personality types associated with promiscuity

Answer 33

Sensation seeking personality types

Question 34

Discuss factors in mate selection for humans

Answer 34

- parental investment (we want high parental investment + those with higher will be pickier) - WHR - voice depth - body hair - size - laughter - facial symmetry - extraversion - similar attractiveness to themselves, almost perfect rather than perfect

Question 35

What is parental investment?

Answer 35

It is putting time, effort and the life risk involved in procreation, feeding, nurturing and protecting the offspring

Question 36

What is altruism

Answer 36

“unselfish concern of one individual for the welfare of another” e.g. life sacrifice. This is an odd behaviour as we adapt in order to survive and sacrificing ourselves goes against survival instincts. But it is thought natural selection favours this trait as it promotes he survival of offspring and therefore the survival of our genes.

Question 37

what is kin selection?

Answer 37

Biological favouritism towards relatives

Question 38

What is group selection?

Answer 38

We select a group to be part of, we want this group to survive as it means that we are more likely to survive

Question 39

What is reciprocal altruism?

Answer 39

Altruism for non relatives, Trivers sais this is due to humans functioning better s groups as it gives as more oppurtunity for interactions, provide and recieve support.

Question 40

What are the factors mediating altuism?

Answer 40

- sharing genetic history | - emotional closesness (sense of concern ans caring for another and enjoying a comfoting emotional relationship)

Question 41

Evidence for the factors that mediate altruism

Answer 41

- stepfathers more commonly abuse than bioloigcal fathers | - cohabitation puts women at more of a risk than marriage

Question 42

what are the criticisms for sociobiology and evolutionary psychology?

Answer 42

* Social biologists see humans as wanting to be as fit as possibly which is not seen in real life., this is deemed the sociobiological fallacy. * Indusive fitness is how everything can somehow be explained to improve fitness, therefore it is too broad * Political objections, it is feared that the idea of natural selection can lead to ideas of superiority of races or groups * Our knowledge of the past is too limited to use ti to explain behaviour * Natural selection no longer plays much of a part in human population due to medicine advances and the value of human life.