Chapter 8 Flashcards
Human Nature
Collection of adaptations that defines us as humans.
Natural Selection
Process by which adaptations are created and change takes place over time.
Variants
Better enable an organism to survive and reproduce would lead to more descendants.
Hostile Forces of Nature
Food shortages, diseases, parasites, predators, and extremes of weather.
Sexual Selection
Traits evolved because they contributed to an individual’s mating success.
Intrasexual Competition
Members of the same sex compete with each other for sexual access to members of the other sex.
Intersexual Competition
Members of one sex choose a mate based on their preferences for particular qualities.
Genes
Packets of DNA that are inherited by children from their parents in distinct chunks.
Differential Gene Reproduction
Reproductive success relative to others.
Inclusive Fitness Theory
Personal reproductive success plus effects you have on the reproduction of your genetic relatives, weighted by genetic relatedness.
Adaptation
Reliably developing structure in the organism, which, because it meshes with the recurrent structure of the world, causes the solution to an adaptive problem.
Adaptive Problem
Anything that impedes survival or reproduction, or anything whose solution increase the odds of survival or reproduction.
Special Design
Features of an adaptation are recognized as components of specialized problem-solving machinery.
Xenophobia
Fear of strangers.
Byproducts of Adaptations
Evolutionary process also produces things that are not adaptations.
Evolutionary Byproducts
Incidental effects that are not properly considered to be adaptations.
Evolutionary Noise
Random variations that are neutral with respect to selection.
Domain Specific
Designed by the evolutionary process to solve a particular adaptive problem.
Functionality
Notion that our psychological mechanisms are deigned to accomplish particular adaptive tasks.
Deductive Reasoning Approach
Theory-driven method of empirical research is one approach to scientific investigation.
Inductive Reasoning Approach
Data-driven method of empirical research.
Mate Deprivation Hypothesis
One theory of sexual aggression against women has proposed that men who have experienced deprivation of sexual access to women are more likely to use aggressive tactics.
Social Anxiety
Distress or worry about being negatively evaluated in social situations.
Evolutionary-Predicted Sex Differences
Holds that the sexes will differ in precisely those domains where women and men have faced different sorts of adaptive problems.
Effective Polygyny
A few males will sire multiple offspring, whereas some will have none at all.
Sexually Dimorphic
Highly different in size and structure.
Frequency-Dependent Selection
Process whereby the reproductive success of a trait depends on its frequency relative to other traits in the population.
Reactively Heritable
Secondary consequence of heritable body-build.
Restricted Sexual Strategy
Marked by delayed intercourse and prolonged courtship.
Unrestricted Mating Strategy
Man’s level of commitment to her is irrelevant, so prolonged assessment of his prior commitments is not necessary.
Psychopathy
Cluster of personality traits marked by irresponsible and unreliable behavior, egocentrism, impulsivity, an inability to form lasting relationships, superficial social chiasm, and a deficit in social emotions such as love, shame, guilt, or empathy.
K-Strategy
Greater effort is allocated to survival and heavy parenting over effort allocated to obtaining many mate.
Balancing Selection
Occurs when genetic variation is maintained by selection because different levels on a trait dimension are adaptive in different environments.
Numerousness
Expectation is that there are many psychological adaptations, because different adaptations are required to solve different adaptive problems.
