Inclusive Fitness Flashcards
(15 cards)
What is the problem of altruism in evolutionary theory?
Altruism reduces the fitness of the individual performing it while benefiting others, which should lead to altruistic traits being eliminated by natural selection.
What are the four types of fitness exchange between animals?
What is inclusive fitness?
An individual’s total evolutionary success, including both direct fitness (own offspring) and indirect fitness (offspring of others who share the same genes).
What is kin selection?
An evolutionary strategy where individuals increase the survival of their shared genes by helping relatives, even at a personal cost.
What is Hamilton’s Rule?
Altruism can evolve if: r × b > c (relatedness × benefit to recipient > cost to donor).
Why do bees sacrifice themselves for the hive?
Worker bees are 75% related to each other, so altruistic defence increases the fitness of shared genes.
What behaviours can kin selection explain in humans?
• Parental investment
• Grandparental support (grandmother effect)
• Support from non-breeding relatives (e.g., aunts, uncles)
What is reciprocal altruism?
Helping others with the expectation that the favour will be returned in the future.
What are the conditions for reciprocal altruism?
- Propinquity (repeated interactions)
- Slow discounting of delayed rewards
- Low cost, high benefit exchanges
- Cheater detection and punishment.
How do vampire bats demonstrate reciprocal altruism?
They regurgitate blood to starving bats, gaining long-term survival benefits through mutual aid.
Why is cheater detection important in cooperative groups?
It prevents exploitation and ensures that only contributors benefit from the common good.
What is the social theory of intellect?
Human intelligence evolved to manage complex social relationships, including memory, deception, planning, and fairness.
How do humans enforce fairness/prosocial behaviour?
• Emotional responses to cheating
• Punishment of unfair behaviour
• Social contracts and norms.
What does the Wason Selection Task reveal about human cognition?
People solve it more easily when framed as a social contract, suggesting evolved mechanisms for detecting cheaters.
Why do humans help strangers without expecting reciprocation?
• Reputation benefits
• Cultural norms of trust
• Internalised moral emotions (e.g., guilt, fairness).
