Eusociality and Reciprocal Altruism Flashcards
3 general characteristics of eusocial systems
overlap in generations between parents and offspring
cooperative bond/parental care
a rigid caste system including reproductive division of labor
what is haplodiploid?
reproductive system in which males are haploid and female are diploid
what is frequency dependent selection?
the idea by Ronald fisher that’d the frequency of one sex falls, the subsequent production of that sex will be favored
the haplodiploid hypothesis states that workers should invest in sisters rather than
brothers
the haplodiploidy hypothesis states that queens should prefer to invest equally in
females and males
how do sterile workers control sex ratios?
queens lay equal amount of male and female eggs, workers determine sex of eggs and kill males
3 general conditions for reciprocal altruism
the cost to the actor is < or = to benefit of recipient
recipient must reciprocate
failure of recipient to reciprocate is punished
how do vampire bats reciprocate? explain the experiment to prove this
Wilkinson sorted bats according to r and withheld food from some of them, he recorded which bats brought back blood for the hungry ones. bats were more likely to regurgitate blood for close relatives, and those that had reciprocated
reciprocal altruism Is most favorable among species that are
long lived
intelligent
highly social
(homo sapiens)
selection for behavior among non kin that increases fitness of actor where valuable favors are later returned by the original recipient
reciprocal altruism
selection for altruistic behavior among non kin that increases fitness of actor based on reputation
indirect reciprocity
the ability to understand and share the feelings of another
empathy
the ability to attribute our own mental states to others , a mostly human charactersitic
theory of the mind
ability to understand and reason about the contents of someone else’s thinking
sophisticated abstract thought
ability to understand and reason about the contents of someone else’s thinking
sophisticated abstract thought
the cognitive ability for abstraction dramatically increases potential for cooperation via indirect reciprocity because it makes selfishness very
expensive
a shared set of beliefs regarding the supernatural cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, usually involves ritualism as a binding agent
religion
why should religion or other supernatural beliefs in reward/punishment persisitanc come as no surprise?
they are adaptations that increases individuals fitness
how does selection favor religious beliefs?
conscience guard against selfish behavior
conscience reward for altruistic behavior
