Chapter 8: The Problems of Kinship

Question 1

Hamiltons Rule: the inclusive fitness of an organism is not a ___ __ ___ but a property of its ___ or ___.

Answer 1

the inclusive fitness of an organsim is not a property of himself, but a property of its actions or effects.

Question 2

How is inclusive fitness calculated?

Answer 2

from an individual’s own reproductive success + his effects on the reproductive success of his relatives, each related by the coefficient of relatedness.

Question 3

altruism could evolve if the __- to the self were outweighed by the ____ to the ____ of the altruism

Answer 3

altruism could evolve if the COST to the self were outweighed by the BENEFTIS to the RECIPIENT of the altruism

Question 4

numerical hamiltons rule

Answer 4

altruism occurs when c

Question 5

Hamilton’s theory of : ___ ___ was the most important modification to

Answer 5

theory of inclusive fitness was the most important modification to Darwin’s theory of Evolution

Question 6

relationship between sibling rivalry and wealth of family? proof? why?

Answer 6

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.

Question 7

according to sulloway, sibling niches are determined by:

Answer 7

birth order.

Question 8

which birth order sibling tends to be the most rebellious to the rules established in the household? why?

Answer 8

the middle child tends to be the most rebellious because they have th eleast to gain by maintaining an existing oder.

Question 9

T/F: parents tend to favor the first born

Answer 9

true

Question 10

T/F: the parents offer more investment to the youngest child than the middle child

Answer 10

true

Question 11

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?

Answer 11

both middle children. Middle children tend to feel less family identity

Question 12

___ __ affescts the niches a person selects

Answer 12

birth order

Question 13

in terms of parental investment, why do middle children end up identifying less with their families?

Answer 13

• 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

Question 14

how much are grandparents related to their grand children?

Answer 14

by 0.25

Question 15

grandmother hypothesis

Answer 15

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

Question 16

all kinship systems make critical decisions along the lines of __-

Answer 16

sex

Question 17

ego centered kin terminology?

Answer 17

the idea that all kin terms are centered around a focal individual of topic (ex/ your AUNTS brother)

Question 18

9 aspects of the hypothesis about universal kinship

Answer 18

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

Question 19

IN TERMS OF UNIVERSAL ASPECTS OF kinship, the relationship between parents and children are ____. Why/

Answer 19

the relationship is asymmetrical. as kids get older, they are more useful to their parents than their parents are to them.

Question 20

T/F a siblings status amongst all other siblings will be a core component of self concept

Answer 20

true

Question 21

3 hypothesis used to explain altruism (such as in ground squirrels)

Answer 21

1) predator confusion hypothesis
2) parental investment hypothesis
3) inclusive fitness hypothesis.

Question 22

explain predator confusion hypothesis in ground squrrels

Answer 22

the alarm call might function to confuse a predator by creating a mad scramble in which all the ground squirrels rush around for safety.

Question 23

explain the parental investment hypothesis in ground squirrels

Answer 23

the adults may call an alarm because their offspring are more likely to survive— the call may be a form of parental investment

Question 24

explain the inclusive fitness hypothesis in ground squirrsl

Answer 24

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.

Question 25

which of the three hypotheses for ground squirrels was provne most correct

Answer 25

the inclusive fitness hypothesis

Question 26

parental differences in babies differentiating parents by smell

Answer 26

babies can tell their mothers by smell from other women, but they cannot tell their fathers by smell.

Question 27

how does genetic relatedness of siblings affect their ability to differentiate by smell?

Answer 27

siblings can differentiate between their siblings and otehr people, but they cannot detect half siblings.

Question 28

relationship between association during childhood and sexual aversion

Answer 28

kids who were raised together at childhood develop sexual aversion towards one another. Mechanism of incest avoidance even though they are not realted.

Question 29

the three innate primitives of social cognition

universal grammar governing all systems of kin classification

Answer 29

1) genealogical distance
2) social rank (older more higher ranked than younger)
3) group membership

Question 30

humans have 4 ways of recognizing kin:

Answer 30

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

Question 31

2 factors that influence whether one would help another kin

Answer 31

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)

Question 32

How does age, extent of helping, and the scenario condition relate to one another?

Answer 32

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 )

Question 33

helping in hypothetical scenarios _____ as the degree of genetic relatedness decreased

Answer 33

decreased as genetic relatedness decreased

Question 34

Which sex initiates more kin contact? proof?

Answer 34

Women do. In the Himba group, women strive to maintain kin contact. After they get married, they still visit their families.

Question 35

T/FKin has positive effects on fertility

Answer 35

true. women who spend time with kin often have a shorter inter-birth interval

Question 36

what factors of children affect the amount of time a parents grieves if they die?

Answer 36

1) birth rank. Parents grieve more for the oldest

2) health. Parents grieve more for a healthy child

Question 37

What factors affect how vigilant a person is over Kin’s romantic relationships?

Answer 37

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)

Question 38

kinship and cortisol levels

Answer 38

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

Question 39

during periods of evolutionary bottle necks, genetic relatives exert a strong influence on the odds of survival. example?

Answer 39

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.

Question 40

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?

Answer 40

because the children often have a higher repreoductive value than the parent’s siblings, who are most likely older.

Question 41

Men tend to leave their estate to their ____, where as women tend to leave their estate to their ____.

Answer 41

Men tend to leave their estate to their WIVES_, where as women tend to leave their estate to their CHILDREN

Question 42

What dictates the amount of resources a man will allocate to their wives in their will?

Answer 42

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

Question 43

older men are more likely than older women to ___

Answer 43

remarry

Question 44

which sex allocates their will to a greater number of beneficiaries?

Answer 44

women

Question 45

which grandparent has the most grandeparental certainty? the least?

Answer 45

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

Question 46

which grand parent tends to invest most in the grand child?

Answer 46

the mother’s mother.

Question 47

which grand parent invests the second most into the child

Answer 47

the mother’s father. there is still some parental uncertainty but they still know that their daughter had the child.

Question 48

Paternal grandMOTHERS should devote FEWER resource than ___ ___ MATERNAL grandFATHERS only when paternal grandmothers also have:

Answer 48

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

Question 49

rank all 4 grandparents in terms of their parental investment

Answer 49

1) maternal grand MOTHER
2) maternal grand FATHER
3) paternal grand MOTHER
4) paternal grand FATHER

Question 50

which grand parent do children feel closest to? which grand parent grieves most if a grandchild dies/

Answer 50

both for maternal grand MOTHER

Question 51

absent father hypothesis (the compliment of the grandmother hypothesis)

Answer 51

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.

Question 52

in general, genetic relatedness is lowest through the ___ line

Answer 52

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

Question 53

matrilineal family

Answer 53

a family that does not have a male (single mother family)

Question 54

offspring sacrifice ____ by delaying departure from the family unit

Answer 54

reproduction

Question 55

2 primary costs to offspring for living with their parents

Answer 55

1) reproductive costs - parents tend to interfere with mating attempts
2) competition for resources is concentrated rather than dispersed.

Question 56

explain the ecological constraints model for family formation

Answer 56

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.

Question 57

explain the family benefits model for family formation.

Answer 57

families are maintained because of the benefits they provide for the offspring.

Question 58

the ____ ___ model and the __ ___ model of family formation are synthesized in Emlen’s Theory of the Family. What three premises are there?

Answer 58

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.

Question 59

Families that control many ____ will be more stable and enduring than families that lack them. Why?

Answer 59

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

Question 60

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 ___ ___

Answer 60

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.

Question 61

according to Emlen, mature offspring will continue to reside at home if:

Answer 61

1) there is a scarcity of mating opportunity externally

2) when there are distinct benefits of staying at home (ex// financial, food)

Question 62

critiques to Emlen’s family formation hypothesis

Answer 62

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.