Chapter 6: biological approach

Question 1

evolutionary theory

Answer 1

behaviours seen in people are present bc in the evolutionary history of the human species, these behaviours were helpful/necessary for survival

Question 2

evolutionary theory: ex. Sociometer theory of self esteem (leary)

Answer 2

our feelings of self esteem evolved to monitor the degree to which we are accepted by others

Question 3

Depression as adaptive?

Answer 3

people suffer diff kinds of depression as a result of diff causes

• may be adaptive reactions:
  1. pain signals that something has gone wrong and must be fixed
  2. crying may often be a useful way of seeking social support
  3. fatigue/pessimism can prevent one from wasting E on fruitless endeavours

Question 4

sex diffs in mate selection

Answer 4

men place higher valye on physical attractiveness
women are more likely to value economic security

heterosexual men desire mates several years younger than themselves

women prefer mates who are older than themselves

men and women seek the greatest likelihood of heaving healthy offspring who will survive to reproduce

women: youth and physical health are essential
men: essential in his capacity to provide resources conducive to children thriving

Question 5

complications in mate selection theory?

Answer 5

1. a women you lacks a certain % of body fat will stop menstruating and be unable to conceive
2. whether we consider someone attractive can be determined by whether we like them, as well as vice versa
3. male physical attractiveness is more important to many women than the standard evolutionary explanation seems to allow

Question 6

men mating strategies

Answer 6

tend to want more sexual partners

succees in having the greatest number of children by having as many children by as many women as possible

Question 7

women mating strategies

Answer 7

selective about their mating partners, and have a greater desire for monogamy and a stable relationship

more likely to have viable offspring if she can convince the man to stay and support her and the family they create

Question 8

Sociosexuality

Answer 8

men tend to score higher on sociosexualty

but unrestricted women score equally high as men and are more interested in physical attractiveness and social visibility of partners

Question 9

Sociosexuality: speed dating study (back et al. 2011)

Answer 9

men high in trait were more accurate (knew their “mate value”)

women’s accuracy was predicted by agreeableness, not sociosexuality

Question 10

sexy son hypothesis

Gangestad (1989)

Answer 10

some women follow an atypical reproductive strategy

• instead of maximizing the reproductive viability of their offspring by mating with a stable male, they instead take their chances with an unstable but attractive one
• if they produce a boy, the son will be just like his dad (sexy) and he will have many children

Question 11

evolutionary explanations for individual differences

Answer 11

1. diversity is essential
2. behvaioural patterns evolved as reactions to particular environmental experiences
3. people may have evolved several possible behavioural strategies, and use the one that makes sense given other characteristics
4. some biologically influenced behaviour may be frequency dependent

Question 12

objections and responses: methodology

Answer 12

• ad-hoc explanations
• difficult to test empirically
• postulate instincts toward behvaiour that are not reflected by most people
• not all traits or behaviours may be adaptive, but may instead be unfortunate side effects of other adaptations

Question 13

objections and responses: reproductive instinct

Answer 13

today people limit their own reproduction

but: peple have a tendency toward certain behaviours because of the effect of similar behaviours on past generations’ reproductive outcomes not because of any current intention to propagate their genes
i. e you wouldn’t be here unless you ancestors had children and they sexual urges based on reproductive instinct

Question 14

objections and responses: conservativism

Answer 14

empbodies a certain conservtaive bias

seems to imply thet the current behavioural order was not only inevitable, but also is probably unchangeable

but theorists say this is irrelevant from a scientific standpoint

Question 15

objections and responses: human flexibility

Answer 15

evolutionary accounts seem to describe behaviour as genetically programmed into the brain, whereas a general lesson of psychology is that humans are extraordinarily flexible

explains behaviour with a modular approach, but also acknowledges flexibility to explain individual differences

Question 16

objections and responses: biological vs. social?

Answer 16

many behavioural phenomena may be the result of humans flexibility reposting to circumstances, especially social structure

eg. sex differences come not from innate patterns, but from reasonable and flexible responses to the biological facts