Week 2

Question 1

What is the acronym for the big five factors of personality?

Answer 1

OCEAN

Question 2

What does the O in OCEAN stand for?

Answer 2

Openness: creative, curious, reflective: NOT unimaginative, unsophisticated

Question 3

What does the C for OCEAN stand for?

Answer 3

Contentiousness: organised, practical, hardworking: NOT impractical, lazy

Question 4

What does the E in OCEAN stand for?

Answer 4

Extroversion: high energy, assertive, adventurous: NOT silent, timid

Question 5

What does the A in OCEAN stand for?

Answer 5

Agreeable: kind, cooperative, trustful: NOT stingy, selfish

Question 6

What does the N in OCEAN stand for?

Answer 6

Neuroticism: unstable, disconnected, tense: NOT relaxed, stable

Question 7

What are Tinbergen’s four questions?

Answer 7

-Causation (what?)
-Ontogeny (how?)
-Phylogeny (when?)
-Functional (why?)

Question 8

What category does causation fall into?

Answer 8

Proximate explanations

Question 9

What category does ontogeny fall into?

Answer 9

Proximate explanations

Question 10

What category does phylogeny fall into?

Answer 10

Ultimate explanations

Question 11

What category does functional fall into?

Answer 11

Ultimate explanations

Question 12

What does causation look at?

Answer 12

Mechanisms and cognition

Question 13

What does ontogeny look at?

Answer 13

Development and nature interacting with nurture

Question 14

What does phylogeny look at?

Answer 14

Evolutionary history

Question 15

What does functional look at?

Answer 15

Adaptation and explanations for adaptation

Question 16

Can all personality be explained by behavioural plasticity?

Answer 16

No

Question 17

Give an example of how personality cannot be explained by behavioural plasticity

Answer 17

Twin and adoption studies by Loehlin 1982

Question 18

What kind of process is natural selection

Answer 18

A winnowing process

Question 19

What did Tooby and Cosmides say in 1992 about human genetic variation?

Answer 19

That human variation is overwhelmingly sequestered into functionally superficial biochemical differences, leaving our complex functional design universal and species typical

Question 20

Is personality selectively neutral?

Answer 20

Heritable variation in personality has no functional consequences from an evolutionary perspective. It might have no effect of reproduction, therefore if this is correct, personality is selectively neutral

Question 21

What did the Finnish study by Jokela in 2011 state?

Answer 21

High extroversion, high openness, low neuroticism are associated with an increased number of children

Question 22

What did the study by Alvergne et al. 2010 state?

Answer 22

That neuroticism is associated with an increased number of children in women in Senegal

Question 23

Is personality linked to health and longevity?

Answer 23

Masui et al. 2006 looked at Japanese centenarians and found them high in openness in both sexes, and high in conscientiousness and extroversion in females

Question 24

With this information, does it seem that personality is without function from an evolutionary perspective?

Answer 24

It doesn’t look like personality is without function from an evolutionary perspective

Question 25

Why does is look like personality is not without function from an evolutionary perspective?

Answer 25

Personality has measurable effects on reproductive success and fitness related traits in various populations

Question 26

What happens if mutations occur too quickly?

Answer 26

Selection cannot remove them instantly

Question 27

What is the mutation-selection balance?

Answer 27

When an equilibrium state is reached when the population is too large and mutations frequent

Question 28

What do single gene traits require?

Answer 28

Weaker selection pressure

Question 29

What is needed for polygenic traits?

Answer 29

More variation is needed before selection removes deleterious mutations

Question 30

What do heterozygous have over homozygous individuals?

Answer 30

Reproductive advantage e.g. sickle cell anaemia

Question 31

What are genetic polymorphisms associated with?

Answer 31

Different traits

Question 32

What are costs and benefits of different strategies dependent on?

Answer 32

Frequency in population

Question 33

What does changes in the frequency in a population create?

Answer 33

A fluctuation selection pressure

Question 34

Give an example of reproductive tactics

Answer 34

Bluegill sunfish: parental males, sneaker makes, satellite males

Question 35

Describe the characteristics and behaviour of parental males bluegill sunfish

Answer 35

Characteristics: larger, older, more colourful Behaviour: build and guard nests in shallow water, attract females to their nests with vibrant colouration and courtship displays, aggressively defends the nest

Question 36

Describe the behaviour and characterises of the sneaker male bluegill sunfish

Answer 36

Characteristics: smaller, younger, less colourful Behaviour: hide near nesting sites and dart into nest while female and parental males are spawning, releases sperm quickly and escapes before being caught, focus is on opportunistic fertilisation

Question 37

Describe the characteristics and behaviour of satellite male bluegill sunfish

Answer 37

Characteristics: intermediate in size and mimic female colouration and behaviour Behaviour: approach nests while resembling females to avoid triggering aggression from the parental males, position themselves near spawning pairs and release sperm simultaneously with the parental males

Question 38

What is frequency dependent selection?

Answer 38

Theoretical idea that this happens in humans in relation to psychopathy

Question 39

Do population genetics models assume stable selection pressures all the time?

Answer 39

No, for example the changing climate in Galapagos finches and their beak sizes

Question 40

How do Guppies change?

Answer 40

Both physically and behaviourally in face of different levels of predation

Question 41

What are the evolutionary benefits of extroversion?

Answer 41

Mating success, social allies, exploration of environment

Question 42

What are the evolutionary costs of extroversion?

Answer 42

Physical risks, family stability

Question 43

What are the evolutionary benefits of neuroticism?

Answer 43

Vigilance to dangers, striving and competitiveness

Question 44

What are the costs of neuroticism?

Answer 44

Stress and depression, with interpersonal and health consequences

Question 45

What are the benefits of openness?

Answer 45

Creativity with effect on attractiveness

Question 46

What are the costs of openness?

Answer 46

Unusual beliefs, psychosis

Question 47

What are the benefits of conscientiousness?

Answer 47

Attention to long-term fitness benefits, life expectancy and desirable social qualities

Question 48

What are the costs of conscientiousness?

Answer 48

Missing of immediate fitness gains, obsessionality and rigidity

Question 49

What are the benefits of agreeableness?

Answer 49

Attention to mental states of others, harmonious interpersonal relationships, valued coalitional partner

Question 50

What are the costs of agreeableness?

Answer 50

Subject to social cheating, failure to maximise selfish advantage

Question 51

What mechanism maintains variation in human personality?

Answer 51

-most likely explanation is environmental heterogeneity -it leads to fluctuating selection pressures -the fact that these traits offer trade-offs means that there is a lot of capacity for this environmental heterogeneity to maintain variation in personality

Question 52

What does evolutionary biology provide?

Answer 52

A series of theories suggesting mechanisms by which heritable variation can be maintained in behavioural traits, and early results look promising, even though the study of evolutionary function of personality types is in its infancy