Behaviour and Ecology Flashcards
1
Q
Outline common elements of anthropocentrism, including examples of these qualities being seen in the animal kingdom
A
- intelligence- assessment of chimp working memory using. umber sequence patterns- 90% right compared to human 1/30- suggests chimps outperform in short term working memory (note- role of language- intelligence is just word not real entity need to specify and not work backwards from)
- morality- chimps have awareness when not being given fair reward (capacity to understand fairness)
- culture/ spirituality- Goodall- awe/wonder exhibited in primates e.g. watching waterfall (note- may be anthropomorphising, but parsimony principles means shouldn’t include possibility that same underlying mechanisms in closely related species
- deep bonds- found monkeys gather round spy monkey when perceived as dead and observed changes in mood and displays of empathy, can measure oxytocin release when bonding
2
Q
Outline the study of humans in the context of the animal kingdom
A
- Complex cognition, social behaviour and traditions can be found in non-human animals i.e. they must be thought of as part of the natural world.
- We can analyse human psychology, relationships and culture as adaptations that have evolved via natural selection.
- Uniquely large demographic success- adapt/strategise to inhabit newly all planets environments- results in great cross-cultural diversity
3
Q
Outline Tinbergens 4 questions about behaviours (1963)
A
- What is the evolutionary history of the behaviour?
- What is the ontogeny of the behaviour i.e. how is the behaviour driven by developmental processes?
- What are the proximate causes of the behaviour? E.g. physiological underpinnings
- What is the ultimate function of the behaviour i.e. how does/did it increase evolutionary fitness?
4
Q
Outline human perspective on genetic representation in offspring
A
- not that humans care or have subconscious interest in genetic fitness (Pinker, 1997)
- Under Darwins 3 pillars (variation, heritability + competition), fitness enhancing traits become more prevalent in population over many generations
- e.g. don’t have sex as want to propagate genes, do because genes coding for sexual desire were propagated (if mutation for no promoting hormones, would go extinct in 1 generation)
5
Q
Outline evolutionary psychology
A
- Human psychology consists of mental modules which have been selected to deal with specific fitness related problems e.g. ‘cheater detection module’
- Modules evolved in response to pressures faced recurrently by our Pleistocene ancestors livings as HGs – The Environmental of Evolutionary Adaptedness (EEA).
- In post-Neolithic transition populations cognition and behaviour is often maladaptive as natural selection is slow
- Behaviour is relatively inflexible and genetically determined- genetic evolution slow so psychological is also- lag creates mismatch
- Human nature is universal; thus studying diversity and using ethnographic methods is a low priority in EP
6
Q
Outline human behavioural ecology
A
- emphasises behavioural flexibility0 diversity in local conditions- reaction norms which produce adaptive behaviour in response to socio-ecological conditions (adaptionist)
- behavioural and phenotypic gambits- no contraints in terms of proximate mechanisms (not concerned) or genetic architecture
- concerned with understanding behavioural diversity within and between societies
- emphasis on ethnographic fieldwork
- topics of interest- production systems, reproductive behaviour (mate choice and marriage systems), cooperative behaviour, life history
7
Q
list different ways of life throughout human history
A
- hunting and gathering
- horticulture
- farming
- pastoralism
- industrialised market economies
8
Q
Outline hunter gatherer societies
A
- ~95% of our species’ history- until 10kya
- Extant simple HGs forage for nutrient dense resources and acquisition, depends on skill and luck- no cultivation
- rely heavily on food sharing due to lack of food storage,
- Populations structured into fluid multi-family camps; nomadic
- Politically egalitarian (no dominance hierarchy)
- Usually serially monogamous
9
Q
Outline horticulture
A
- Small-scale agricultural practice in simple gardens
- more sedentary
- Low productivity compared with intensive agriculture - no irrigation, crop rotation etc- ‘slash and burn’ technique.
- Usually practiced alongside foraging
- Relatively egalitarian and settlement more stable than HGs
- Almost all matrilineal societies are horticulturalists
10
Q
Outline farming as way of life
A
- Neolithic revolution occurred ~10kya.
- Inequality from farmers accumulating resources, storing food and owning land
- The productive unit is usually the family
- Inheritance usually patrilineal
- Farmers are sedentary and usually patrilocal
- Marriages are often polygynous; but the rare instances of formal polyandry occur among agricultural societies
11
Q
Outline pastoralism
A
- practice animal husbandry, heavily reliant
- Semi-nomadic moving between focal pasture sites at different times of year, usually driven by seasonal changes – transhumance (portable resource)
- Raiding to capture livestock of other groups is common
- Status + cattle inheritance is strictly patrilineal – ‘the cow is the
enemy of matriliny and the friend of patriliny.’ (Aberle 1961) - Inequality high and polygyny is common
12
Q
Outline industrialised market economies
A
- No longer reliant on self supporting substinence, economic activities are specialised and commerce is fundamental.
- The residential unit is the nuclear family and monogamy is often socially imposed.
- Inequality is variable but usually high.
- Family size substantially reduced in societies that have undergone the demographic transition
- WEIRD societies
13
Q
Outline sex differences in gametes/fundamental reproductive physiology
A
- anisogamy- difference sin size and form of gametes between sexes
- Oogamy- large non-motile eggs and small motile sperm
- eggs lower in number and more metabolically costly to produce
14
Q
Outline the influence of sex difference in gametes/fundamental reproductive physiology on reproductive strategy
A
- Fewer and costlier sex cells set females on an evolutionary trajectory to invest relatively more time and energy in offspring to ensure a return on initial investment.
- Greater parental investment e.g. carrying and breastfeeding(Trivers1972) results in a slower potential reproductive rate for females (Clutton- Brock & Vincent 1991) esp. mammals (internal gestation and lactation)
- limiting resource on male fitness is mates; whereas is resources for females (e.g. food) that provide energy for reproduction and increase offspring survival
- A male mating with a different female everyday continuously increases his reproductive success, a female mating with a different male everyday does not
- means predict that females will be the choosy sex (drivers, 1972) as seek fitness return, and that males will compete for mating access
- sexual selection can take intra (some mass more likely to be chosen than others- direct competition) or inter sexual form (chosen as mate by member of opposite sex)
- intrasexual- may be direct physical e.g. sperm competition- mediated by post-copulation physiological mating mechanism- e.g. testes size (proxy for sperm competition)
15
Q
Outline made choice as mediated by investment
A
- when males only contribute sperm, females attracted to costly signals of male genetic quality (e.g. healthy genes/immune system) that will be ingested by offspring; males may search for signals of fecundity but aren’t choosey
- when offspring benefit from male parental investment, females consider the resources (genetic/material) a male can offer e.g. through gifts, and males consider females residual reproductive value and genetic quality
16
Q
Outline honest signals and physical attractiveness
A
- For a signal to evolve, must be honest/costly to fake
- Zahavi’s handicap principle e.g. high testosterone supresses the immune system and produces a strong jawline
- Symmetry- ability to maintain stable development in spite of environmental pressures- reflects genetic quality and immunocompetence (heterozygosity)
- genetic dispositions that promote attraction to honest qualities indicative of fitness do well, simultaneous benefit to mate as good to be chosen
- signal only in equilibrium if honest/reliable has to be related to genetic quality for selection to favour disposition for attractiveness- has to be costly to select those able to express signal (true representation of genetic fitness)
17
Q
Outline human mate choice as a result of reproductive strategy/investment
A
- human offspring highly dependent so expect women to care about willingness and ability to invest resources, not just genes
- variation both within and between populations in male parenting effort
- Men ought to be attracted to signals of reproductive value since women’s fecundity declines with age (attracted to health/youth/fecundity signals)
- evolutionary psychology- males do invest in humans so should choosy, and females not just considering genetic quality as resources/investment important
18
Q
Study on sex differences in human mate choice across populations
A
Buss (1989):
- 37 populations
- In all 37 populations men rated physical attractiveness as more important than women; and in 36/37 women rated financial prospects as more important than men
- cultural variation was more pronounced than variation between the sexes
19
Q
Case study on cultural variability/ecological adaptation of sex comparisons in mate choice
A
Marlowe, 2004:
- Hadza hunter-gatherer- disease burden and pathogen stress very high
- women’s resource acquisition crucial to support family
- physical attractiveness equally important to men and women
- men often state women’s work ethics is important driver of partner choice
20
Q
terminology- mating/marriage
A
poly = many
mono = one
gamía = spouses
gyne = woman
anēr = man
- monogamy- M-F
- polygyny- 1 M multi F
- polyandry- multi M 1F
- promiscuity- multi M multi F
Mating ≠ Marriage; Genetic ≠ Social
21
Q
Outline rates of polyandry and reasons
A
- Women’s reproductive output is not a function of number of mates/husbands.
- If women are aiming to secure paternal investment for needy offspring, they ought to minimise paternity uncertainty
- Men will be less inclined to care for young if they are unsure of biological parentage
- When polyandry does occur it is usually fraternal i.e. multiple brothers married to one woman as have overlapping genetic interests (seen in Tibetan populations)
22
Q
Outline the polyandry threshold model
A
- female fitness is largely impacted by resources provided by mate questions why would be complicit in polygyny
- Orians, 1969- if male territory quality demonstrates substantial variation polygyny can be adaptive for females
- A female may have better resource access as the second mate of a territory rich male than the sole mate of a territory poor male
- could achieve same level of fitness as co-female of met with more resources- in populations of sufficient inequality- if have more than double resources (especially if arriving into population- richest males already taken)
- Borgerhoff-Mulder (1988) applied the PTM to humans when studying marriages practices of the Kipsigis agro- pastoralist
