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Evolution and Human Behaviour (PSYC2537) > 3a. Human Evolutionary History > Flashcards

3a. Human Evolutionary History Flashcards

1
Q

What does SSSM stand for?

A

The Standard Social Science Model

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2
Q

What does the SSSM assume?

A

Humans are blank slates
Human behaviour is malleable
Behaviour is shaped by social and cultural learning

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3
Q

What is the evolutionary approach to human behaviour?

A

Behaviour is the result of interactions between EVOLVED PREDISPOSITIONS and ENVIRONMENTAL CONTINGENCIES.

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4
Q

What did Tooby and Cosmides argue about the SSSM?

A

They argued that the SSSM stifled other approaches to human behaviour

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5
Q

What does Ellis (1996) say about sociology’s decline?

A

It is due to biophobia (yet Darwinism is strong in biology and animal behaviour)

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6
Q

‘Sociobiology’ (the book)

A
  • 1975
  • E. O. Wilson
  • First serious attempt to challenge SSSM
  • Evolutionary principles applied to human behaviour
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7
Q

Sociobiology (the subject)

A

instantly controversial

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8
Q

What was sociobiology criticised for?

A

Suggesting unique human traits have biological origins
Equating humans with insects
Being racist & sexist
Confrontational language and lack of evidence discredited it

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9
Q

The roots of evolutionary psychology lie in…

A

sociobiology

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10
Q

Why is evolutionary psychology unpopular?

A

Due to its history

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11
Q

Who first proposed evolutionary psychology?

A

Cosmides & Tooby

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12
Q

How does evolutionary psychology differ from sociobiology?

A

Its focus on cognition

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13
Q

TRUE OR FALSE: The brain is a general problem solver.

A

False: there were no general problems that our ancestors faces (only specific)

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14
Q

Problems are domain-specific. For example…

A

Avoiding predators

Finding mates

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15
Q

What analogy for the brain is used in evolutionary psychology?

A

Brain as a Swiss Army Knife (not computer)

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16
Q

What kind of behaviour does the brain generate?

A

environment-appropriate

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17
Q

The brain is shaped by natural selection to…

A

solve adaptive problems

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18
Q

Brain processes

A

Brain’s processes are not conscious
Brain is modular
Modules adapted to solve problems faced by our ancestors

19
Q

How many years ago did mammals evolve?

A

Approximately 120 million years ago

20
Q

How many years ago did primates evolve?

A

Approximately 85 million years ago

21
Q

How many years ago did the first apes evolve?

A

Approximately 20 million years ago

22
Q

How many years ago did hominids evolve?

A

Approximately 6-8 million years ago

23
Q

What does EEA stand for?

A

Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness

24
Q

EEA is a…

A

hypothetical concept

25
Q

What shaped our minds and bodies?

A

Selection pressures operating over 2.5 to 3 million years

26
Q

What characterises us as humans?

A 
Intelligence
Language
Theory of Mind
Bipedalism
Hairlessness
27
Q

Who coined the term ‘EEA’

A

Early evolutionary psychologist, Bowlby (1969)

28
Q

What are selected for in the EEA?

A

Unique physical and psychological traits of humans

29
Q

When and where was the EEA?

A

No particular time or place

30
Q

Where did humans live 4 million years ago? How did they live? How do we know this?

A

Grassland savannahs in Eastern Africa
They had a hunter gatherer existence
We know due to archaeological evidence

31
Q

Two competing views as to where and when modern Homo sapiens emerged

A

The out of Africa hypothesis

The multi-regional hypothesis

32
Q

The out of Africa hypothesis

A

A later African population of Homo erectus led to modern Homo sapiens and these then gradually spread out of Africa displacing earlier hominids

33
Q

The multi-regional hypothesis

A

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

34
Q

Support for the out of Africa hypothesis

A

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

35
Q

What characteristics are unique to humans?

A 
Intelligence 
Language
Theory of mind
Bipedalism
Carnivorous
Highly social
36
Q

What are human universals?

A

Aspects of human behaviour which are universal

37
Q

Aspects of human culture that are universal:

A

Pair bonding
Incest taboo
Sexual jealousy
Childhood fears

38
Q

Human universals relate to conditions in the…

A

EEA

39
Q

Traits can be…

A

Adaptations (provide fitness benefits)
By-products
Random variation
Disease

40
Q

Theory-driven (top down) approach to generating hypotheses in evolutionary psychology

A

make hypothesis based on theory and test it

41
Q

Observation-driven (bottom up) approach to generating hypotheses in evolutionary psychology

A

observe a phenomenon, hypothesise an adaptive function and test this

42
Q

How do we test evolutionary hypotheses?

A 
Comparative methods
Cross-cultural research
Studying modern hunter-gatherers
Comparing men and women
Comparing behaviour across contexts
Experimental methods
43
Q

How important are evolutionary explanations of behaviour?

A

Impossible to understand human behaviour without evolutionary perspective
Not an area of psychology, but an APPROACH

Evolution and Human Behaviour (PSYC2537) (14 decks)

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