Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Evolution and Human Behaviour (PSYC2537) > 4. Kin Selection > Flashcards

4. Kin Selection Flashcards

1
Q

Natural selection selects for behaviours that increase whose chance of survival?

A

Our own, not other people’s

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Why do we help others to survive, even when it may negatively affect our own chances of survival?

A

Inclusive fitness - we help those who share our genes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Kin selection is…

A

the propensity to be altruistic to our relatives, which increases our own inclusive fitness

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What is kin selection based on?

A

inclusive fitness

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Who devised the theory of kin selection?

A

William Hamilton (1964)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Kin selection correlation

A

Help given to relatives positively correlated with relatedness (i.e. how many genes on average are shared)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

How did Hamilton express the relationship between helping relatives and relatedness?

A

Hamilton’s Rule

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Formula for Hamilton’s Rule

A

rB>C
r = relatedness
B = benefit to recipient
C = cost actor incurs for performing act

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Hamilton’s Rule: The bigger the value of r…

A

the greater the difference between the cost and benefit can be

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Why are we more likely to rescue a sibling from a burning building than a cousin?

A

The value of r is less for the second cousin than it is for a sibling (we share fewer genes)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What is r in Hamilton’s Rule?

A

probability that 2 individuals share the same gene

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Study testing Hamilton’s Rule in humans (Fieldman et al., 2001)

A

Tested Hamilton’s Rule in humans
Painful task for cash prizes (for different recipients each time)
Duration of task positively linked to prize
The greater the relatedness, the longer an individual would endure the painful task

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Social behaviour of Hymenoptera:

A

e.g. ants, wasps, bees
individuals care for another’s offspring, defend and clean the nest
workers are sterile and devote lives to aiding survival and reproduction of the “queen” and her offspring

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Eusociality in Hymenoptera

A

All members of the nest are related - ‘super sisters’ that share 75% of genes
By helping they enhance survival and reproductive chances of kin
In terms of inclusive fitness, better to help many other than reproduce themselves

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Smith, Kish and Crawford (1987)

A

Analysed wealth inheritance in an American sample
Individuals more likely to bequeath (and more) to direct descendants (offspring) than relatives with a lower r value (e.g. spouses)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Females are more likely to care for a child of a relative than a non relative among…

A

Ye’kwana, Efe pygmies, black communities in the USA and Hungarian Gypsies

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What is the r of an adopted offspring?

A

0

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Adoption in Polynesia

A

as many as 1/4 of all children are adopted

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Adoption: Sahlins (1976)

A

shows that evolutionary biology is irrelevant to human behaviour

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Adoption: Joan Silk (1980)

A

adoption was mostly by post-reproductive or infertile couples of distant relatives

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Kin recognition in mice

A

Mice can recognise offspring due to smells produced by their Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Study on recognition of twins (Roberts et al., 2005)

A

Individuals able to identify which 2 t shirts had been worn by twins by the smell

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

Importance of kin recognition

A

It is important to be able to identify who within a group is a relative

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Kin recognition: study by DeBruine (2002) on trust

A

Evidence for humans recognising physical cues of kinship
Ps shown pictures of others - would they help them in a trust game?
Ps more likely to trust partners whose face had been manipulated to look like them
Not due to familiarity - no effect for famous people

25
Q

Kin recognition: email study (Oates & Wilson, 2002)

A

Sent emails requesting help (from someone with either same or different surname to recipient)
Individuals more likely to help others who shared their surname, especially if it’s rare

26
Q

Why can’t helping other with the same surname be an adaptation?

A

Surnames are very recent in our history

27
Q

Westermarck Effect

A

Animals receive negative imprinting - prevents them from finding people they grew up with sexually attractive
Reduces likelihood of mating with close relatives and producing less viable offspring

28
Q

Evidence for Westermarck Effect

A

Evidence in many animals, suggesting it is very early adaptation

29
Q

Grandparental Investment

A

The presence of grandmothers positively affected the inclusive fitness of offspring among 18th/19th century Finnish communities

30
Q

Grandparental Investment: Lahdenperä et al. (2004)

A

Individuals begin families earlier, had longer reproductive life, shorter gap between offspring & produce offspring more likely to survive into adulthood

31
Q

Why do the closest relatives receive the most help?

A

They share the most genes

32
Q

Helping relatives increases…

A

inclusive fitness

33
Q

High reproductive value (RV)

A

individual of a specific age with high likelihood of producing future offspring

34
Q

When is reproductive value (RV) the highest?

A

In individuals just passed through puberty and are ready to reproduce

35
Q

Different relatives, different help: Essock-Vitale & McGuire (1985)

A

LA women were more likely to help kin that were younger than them (high RV)

36
Q

Different relatives, different help: Burnstein et al. (1994)

A

Help in life-threatening situations decreased as age of kin member increased

37
Q

Different relatives, different help: Smith et al. (1987)

A

Individuals leave more wealth to offspring than siblings even though both have r of 0.5

38
Q

Trivers Willard effect

A

Parents invest more in offspring sex that give greatest evolutionary pay-off (i.e. greatest number of grandchildren)

39
Q

How does differing values of r between relatives lead to parent-offspring conflict?

A

Offspring want maximum parental care (to maximise their inclusive fitness) but parents would rather share this between offspring

40
Q

What causes conflict in the womb?

A

Mother has only 50% stake in foetus, whereas foetus has 100% stake in itself
Also food supply

41
Q

How do many spontaneous abortions and miscarriages occur without the mother knowing?

A

Due to an evolved mechanism that detects chromosomal abnormalities in foetuses

42
Q

Haig (1993)

A

Foetuses can produce human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)m which prevents the mother menstruating and allows the foetus to remain implanted in the uterus
Is it he foetus’ evolved mechanism to prevent being aborted

43
Q

Conflict in the womb - food supply (Haig, 1993)

A

The foetus receives food from mother’s blood supply
Early stages of pregnancy - placental cells destroy arteriolar muscles that control blood flow to foetus
When foetus wants nutrients - releases hormones to mother’s bloodstream causing other arteries to constrict, but increases nutrients & blood to foetus
Leads to increase in blood pressure in mother –> damage to kidneys (pre-eclampsia)

44
Q

How does differing values of r between relatives lead to sibling rivalry?

A

In a family, siblings will compete for parental care

Each will seek more than their fair share

45
Q

Example of siblicide

A

Chicks may throw siblings out of the nest in order to gain further resources

46
Q

Why is paternity certainty important for males to avoid being cuckolded?

A

Investing care into a non-genetic offspring decreases inclusive fitness

47
Q

Paternity certainty - Platek et al. (2002)

A

Genetic resemblance affects male investment - males invest more in ‘offspring’ when they saw pictures of them that had been morphed to look like them

48
Q

TRUE OR FALSE: Babies look more like their fathers than their mothers.

A

False: They look more like their mothers

49
Q

How can principles of paternity certainty be applied to grandparental investment?

A

Grandparents know that their daughter’s offspring are genetically hers
However due to paternity uncertainty the same can’t be said for a son’s offspring
Also grandmothers have greater paternity certainty than grandfathers

50
Q

Why is inbreeding linked to poor quality of offspring?

A

Due to the presence of dangerous alleles, of which everyone has around 2-3
However, only a problem if an individual has 2 recessive copies of that allele (not 1 dominant & 1 recessive)
Inbreeding with genetically similar individuals increases chances that both parents have that allele and pass it on
The closer the relative, the greater the chance of offspring inheriting both alleles

51
Q

What is the likelihood and amount of investment a parent gives based on?

A

The r value they share with offspring

52
Q

What leads to investment in non-genetic offspring in humans?

A

Moral, social norms

53
Q

TRUE OR FALSE: There is evidence that non-genetic offspring receive the same amount of care than genetic relatives.

A

False

54
Q

Infanticide & parenthood - study in Canada

A

Examined cases of 408 Canadian children killed by a parent figure
Rates of death higher for step-parents
Risk of infanticide greatest for children 2 years old or younger
Independent of effects of socio-economic status & personality of abusers

55
Q

Infanticide & parenthood - Cross cultural study

A

Cross-cultural

Ache of Paraguay, 43% of children of step-families died before age 15, compared to 19% raised by genetic parents

56
Q

TRUE OR FALSE: On average a child raised in a step family will have lower reproductive success than those raised by genetic parents.

A

True

57
Q

Infanticide & parenthood - study in Trinidad

A

Step-fathers in Trinidad interacted less (and also in a less friendly manner) with step-children than genetic offspring

58
Q

What is the general rule of thumb for kin recognition?

A

identify those close to you during development as being kin (i.e. Lorenz’s chicks)

Evolution and Human Behaviour (PSYC2537) (14 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions