3a. Human Evolutionary History Flashcards
What does SSSM stand for?
The Standard Social Science Model
What does the SSSM assume?
Humans are blank slates
Human behaviour is malleable
Behaviour is shaped by social and cultural learning
What is the evolutionary approach to human behaviour?
Behaviour is the result of interactions between EVOLVED PREDISPOSITIONS and ENVIRONMENTAL CONTINGENCIES.
What did Tooby and Cosmides argue about the SSSM?
They argued that the SSSM stifled other approaches to human behaviour
What does Ellis (1996) say about sociology’s decline?
It is due to biophobia (yet Darwinism is strong in biology and animal behaviour)
‘Sociobiology’ (the book)
- 1975
- E. O. Wilson
- First serious attempt to challenge SSSM
- Evolutionary principles applied to human behaviour
Sociobiology (the subject)
instantly controversial
What was sociobiology criticised for?
Suggesting unique human traits have biological origins
Equating humans with insects
Being racist & sexist
Confrontational language and lack of evidence discredited it
The roots of evolutionary psychology lie in…
sociobiology
Why is evolutionary psychology unpopular?
Due to its history
Who first proposed evolutionary psychology?
Cosmides & Tooby
How does evolutionary psychology differ from sociobiology?
Its focus on cognition
TRUE OR FALSE: The brain is a general problem solver.
False: there were no general problems that our ancestors faces (only specific)
Problems are domain-specific. For example…
Avoiding predators
Finding mates
What analogy for the brain is used in evolutionary psychology?
Brain as a Swiss Army Knife (not computer)
What kind of behaviour does the brain generate?
environment-appropriate
The brain is shaped by natural selection to…
solve adaptive problems
Brain processes
Brain’s processes are not conscious
Brain is modular
Modules adapted to solve problems faced by our ancestors
How many years ago did mammals evolve?
Approximately 120 million years ago
How many years ago did primates evolve?
Approximately 85 million years ago
How many years ago did the first apes evolve?
Approximately 20 million years ago
How many years ago did hominids evolve?
Approximately 6-8 million years ago
What does EEA stand for?
Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness
EEA is a…
hypothetical concept
What shaped our minds and bodies?
Selection pressures operating over 2.5 to 3 million years
What characterises us as humans?
Intelligence Language Theory of Mind Bipedalism Hairlessness
Who coined the term ‘EEA’
Early evolutionary psychologist, Bowlby (1969)
What are selected for in the EEA?
Unique physical and psychological traits of humans
When and where was the EEA?
No particular time or place
Where did humans live 4 million years ago? How did they live? How do we know this?
Grassland savannahs in Eastern Africa
They had a hunter gatherer existence
We know due to archaeological evidence
Two competing views as to where and when modern Homo sapiens emerged
The out of Africa hypothesis
The multi-regional hypothesis
The out of Africa hypothesis
A later African population of Homo erectus led to modern Homo sapiens and these then gradually spread out of Africa displacing earlier hominids
The multi-regional hypothesis
Homo erectus migrated out of Africa into Europe & Asia about 2 m.y.a and evolved to locan environments
Homo sapiens arose from Homo erectus, with regional adaptations explaining racial differences
No clear difference between Homo sapiens and Homo erectus - part of same species lineage
Support for the out of Africa hypothesis
Lack of transitional fossils between H. erectus & H. sapiens in Europe & Asia
DNA evidence - Neanderthals are distinct
Mitochondrial DNA - we all share a more recent ancestor (about 70,000 years) than multi-regional hypothesis would predict
Human DNA very similar - suggests modern humans didn’t evolve in separate areas
What characteristics are unique to humans?
Intelligence Language Theory of mind Bipedalism Carnivorous Highly social
What are human universals?
Aspects of human behaviour which are universal
Aspects of human culture that are universal:
Pair bonding
Incest taboo
Sexual jealousy
Childhood fears
Human universals relate to conditions in the…
EEA
Traits can be…
Adaptations (provide fitness benefits)
By-products
Random variation
Disease
Theory-driven (top down) approach to generating hypotheses in evolutionary psychology
make hypothesis based on theory and test it
Observation-driven (bottom up) approach to generating hypotheses in evolutionary psychology
observe a phenomenon, hypothesise an adaptive function and test this
How do we test evolutionary hypotheses?
Comparative methods Cross-cultural research Studying modern hunter-gatherers Comparing men and women Comparing behaviour across contexts Experimental methods
How important are evolutionary explanations of behaviour?
Impossible to understand human behaviour without evolutionary perspective
Not an area of psychology, but an APPROACH
