Chapter 8: The Problems of Kinship Flashcards
Hamiltons Rule: the inclusive fitness of an organism is not a ___ __ ___ but a property of its ___ or ___.
the inclusive fitness of an organsim is not a property of himself, but a property of its actions or effects.
How is inclusive fitness calculated?
from an individual’s own reproductive success + his effects on the reproductive success of his relatives, each related by the coefficient of relatedness.
altruism could evolve if the __- to the self were outweighed by the ____ to the ____ of the altruism
altruism could evolve if the COST to the self were outweighed by the BENEFTIS to the RECIPIENT of the altruism
numerical hamiltons rule
altruism occurs when c
Hamilton’s theory of : ___ ___ was the most important modification to
theory of inclusive fitness was the most important modification to Darwin’s theory of Evolution
relationship between sibling rivalry and wealth of family? proof? why?
the more resources that can be allocated, the higher the sibling competition and rivalry
seen in rural Ethiopia: as economic conditions improved and parents had more to give, sibling competition and rivalry over parental resources actually icnreased.
proposed that the adaptive problems imposed by parents will create different niches for children.
according to sulloway, sibling niches are determined by:
birth order.
which birth order sibling tends to be the most rebellious to the rules established in the household? why?
the middle child tends to be the most rebellious because they have th eleast to gain by maintaining an existing oder.
T/F: parents tend to favor the first born
true
T/F: the parents offer more investment to the youngest child than the middle child
true
which sibling (in terms of birth order) are least likely to name a person in the family who they feel closest with? Which ones are less likely to help a family member who needs help?
both middle children. Middle children tend to feel less family identity
___ __ affescts the niches a person selects
birth order
in terms of parental investment, why do middle children end up identifying less with their families?
- first borns receive all parental investment before the other siblings come
- youngest child receives all the parental investment once the older siblings leave the nest
- middle child must share investments his entire life
how much are grandparents related to their grand children?
by 0.25
grandmother hypothesis
the idea that menopause was an evolutionary mechanism to prevent women from reproducing at a certain age and actually help their children with raising new offspring.
proof is that grandmothers often invest more in grand children than grandfathers
all kinship systems make critical decisions along the lines of __-
sex
ego centered kin terminology?
the idea that all kin terms are centered around a focal individual of topic (ex/ your AUNTS brother)
9 aspects of the hypothesis about universal kinship
1) kin terminology is ego centered. All kin terms are centered around a focal individual
2) kinship systems make critical distinctions along the lines of SEX because women do not achieve the same reproducitve benefits of having multiple partners, but men do
3) generation is used as a dividing factor when describing families
4) closeness is linked to genetic relatedness
5) cooperation and solidarity is linked to genetic relatedness
6) elder members of an extended kin family will encourage the younger members to behave more altruistically and cooperatively toward collateral kin
7) one’s position within an extended kin network will be core components of self concept
8) people seem keenly aware about who their real kin are
9) kinship terms will be used to persuade and influence other people because it is a term of closeness and thus makes you want to invest in them a bit more
IN TERMS OF UNIVERSAL ASPECTS OF kinship, the relationship between parents and children are ____. Why/
the relationship is asymmetrical. as kids get older, they are more useful to their parents than their parents are to them.
T/F a siblings status amongst all other siblings will be a core component of self concept
true
3 hypothesis used to explain altruism (such as in ground squirrels)
1) predator confusion hypothesis
2) parental investment hypothesis
3) inclusive fitness hypothesis.
explain predator confusion hypothesis in ground squrrels
the alarm call might function to confuse a predator by creating a mad scramble in which all the ground squirrels rush around for safety.
explain the parental investment hypothesis in ground squirrels
the adults may call an alarm because their offspring are more likely to survive— the call may be a form of parental investment
explain the inclusive fitness hypothesis in ground squirrsl
although the signaller might die, their genes would be continued through their siblings and relatives.
the signal alerts the vehicles that contain copies of the squirrels genes, providing an inclusive fitness benefit.
which of the three hypotheses for ground squirrels was provne most correct
the inclusive fitness hypothesis
parental differences in babies differentiating parents by smell
babies can tell their mothers by smell from other women, but they cannot tell their fathers by smell.
how does genetic relatedness of siblings affect their ability to differentiate by smell?
siblings can differentiate between their siblings and otehr people, but they cannot detect half siblings.
relationship between association during childhood and sexual aversion
kids who were raised together at childhood develop sexual aversion towards one another. Mechanism of incest avoidance even though they are not realted.
the three innate primitives of social cognition
universal grammar governing all systems of kin classification
1) genealogical distance
2) social rank (older more higher ranked than younger)
3) group membership
humans have 4 ways of recognizing kin:
1) smell
2) physical similarity, particularly of the face
3) through association
4) through kin classification that arised from the three innate primitives of social cognition
2 factors that influence whether one would help another kin
1) chance of helping will increase as a function of genetic relatedness
2) the helping will incrase as the recipients reproductive value increases. (older will help the younger with more reproductive value)
How does age, extent of helping, and the scenario condition relate to one another?
in life or death situations, people are more likely to help younger people
in trivial situations people are more likely to help older people (ex/ helping an elderly person grocery shop rather than helping an 18 year old )
helping in hypothetical scenarios _____ as the degree of genetic relatedness decreased
decreased as genetic relatedness decreased
Which sex initiates more kin contact? proof?
Women do. In the Himba group, women strive to maintain kin contact. After they get married, they still visit their families.
T/FKin has positive effects on fertility
true. women who spend time with kin often have a shorter inter-birth interval
what factors of children affect the amount of time a parents grieves if they die?
1) birth rank. Parents grieve more for the oldest
2) health. Parents grieve more for a healthy child
What factors affect how vigilant a person is over Kin’s romantic relationships?
1) individuals have greater vigilance over the mating relationships of their close relatives (you care about who your brother dates more than who your cousin dates
2) individuals maintain greater vigilance over the mating of their female rather than their male kin (higher reproductive costs if a mistake is made)
kinship and cortisol levels
kids in nuclear families have the lowest amounts of cortisol
kids who live with single mothers have higher levels of cortisol, but if they have siblings its actually LOWER
kids who live with a step father and step siblings in the house have the highest amounts of cortisol
during periods of evolutionary bottle necks, genetic relatives exert a strong influence on the odds of survival. example?
on the may flower coming to America, 51% of the people died. The ones that survived had mothers and siblings that were also on the boat. Showed more altruism to one another.
Why do parents leave more of their will to their children rather than their siblings even thoguh they have the same amount of genetic relatedness?
because the children often have a higher repreoductive value than the parent’s siblings, who are most likely older.
Men tend to leave their estate to their ____, where as women tend to leave their estate to their ____.
Men tend to leave their estate to their WIVES_, where as women tend to leave their estate to their CHILDREN
What dictates the amount of resources a man will allocate to their wives in their will?
if the woman is older, he will leave more resources to her because there is a higher chance that she will not remarry and use his resources on another man’s kid.
If his wife is fairly young and there is a chance of being remarried, less resources are often given to hsi wife, and the man gives his will to his kids
older men are more likely than older women to ___
remarry
which sex allocates their will to a greater number of beneficiaries?
women
which grandparent has the most grandeparental certainty? the least?
the mother of the mom has 100% certainty that that grand child is hers
the father of the dad has the least certainty:
1) he might not be the actual father of the dad
2) the dad might not be the actual father of the child
which grand parent tends to invest most in the grand child?
the mother’s mother.
which grand parent invests the second most into the child
the mother’s father. there is still some parental uncertainty but they still know that their daughter had the child.
Paternal grandMOTHERS should devote FEWER resource than ___ ___ MATERNAL grandFATHERS only when paternal grandmothers also have:
daughters. A paternal grand mother might cut back on investing in her son’s childrnen because they have their daughter’s children as a MORE GENETICALLY SECURE OUTLET
rank all 4 grandparents in terms of their parental investment
1) maternal grand MOTHER
2) maternal grand FATHER
3) paternal grand MOTHER
4) paternal grand FATHER
which grand parent do children feel closest to? which grand parent grieves most if a grandchild dies/
both for maternal grand MOTHER
absent father hypothesis (the compliment of the grandmother hypothesis)
the idea that it is beneficial to women to live a large part of their life in menopause because their MATES DO NOT LIVE AS LONG AS THEM. If they have a child late, it is likely the father will die and cannot contribute resources.
alternatively, a man can reproduce longer than a female is able to remain fertile, so it is possible that the MAN WILL LEAVE when the women gets older, and allocate his resources to a younger mate. Thus, it is beneficial to the woman to not be able to have kids if they will not be cared for by the father that abandoned the family.
in general, genetic relatedness is lowest through the ___ line
paternal line. Seen even in aunt and uncle investment. Maternal aunts invest more in the children than paternal aunts. And aunts generally just invest more than uncles
matrilineal family
a family that does not have a male (single mother family)
offspring sacrifice ____ by delaying departure from the family unit
reproduction
2 primary costs to offspring for living with their parents
1) reproductive costs - parents tend to interfere with mating attempts
2) competition for resources is concentrated rather than dispersed.
explain the ecological constraints model for family formation
the idea that families emerge when there is a scarcity of reproductive vacancies.
The family is held together because the benefits of leaving is low. Because of reproductive vacancies, there is no longer a possibility of reproducing early if the offspring leave, so they might as well just stay with the parents.
explain the family benefits model for family formation.
families are maintained because of the benefits they provide for the offspring.
the ____ ___ model and the __ ___ model of family formation are synthesized in Emlen’s Theory of the Family. What three premises are there?
the ecological constraints model and the family benefits model.
3 premises of the Emlen’s model
1) families form when there are more offspring than there are reproductive vacancies
2) families will form when offspring must wait for an available reproductive vacany
3) families will form when the benefits of staying at home are large.
Families that control many ____ will be more stable and enduring than families that lack them. Why?
families with more RESOURCES are more stable
leading cost of divorce is either infidelity or DEBT (lack of resources). Children in higher resource families also stay in the family LONGER because they are more choosy as to when to leave
loss of an existing breeder (typically death of the father) and replacement by a breeder (step father) who is genetically unrelated to family members already present will increase ___ ___
SEXUAL AGGRESSION.
Step fathers often show signs of sexual aggression to step daughters. Having a stepfather in the home puts girls at ALL AGES at a greater risk of sexual abuse.
according to Emlen, mature offspring will continue to reside at home if:
1) there is a scarcity of mating opportunity externally
2) when there are distinct benefits of staying at home (ex// financial, food)
critiques to Emlen’s family formation hypothesis
1) post menopausal women can continue to aid their families and cannot exploit available reproductive vacancies
2) people often engage in extensive reciprocal exchange with nonkin.
