Evolution Flashcards
Which type of selection focuses on reducing variation to identify the most adaptive trait for the environment the individual finds themselves in and this characteristic is passed on across generations?
Natural selection
-selection of more beneficial traits
Evolution is selecting which type of traits?
selecting the most adaptive traits
-explain their adaptive function (extroversion) and variation (high/low)
Natural selection: selection of more beneficial traits
Traits have fitness, name the 2 indicators of fitness adaption:
(1) fecundity [number of offspring]
(2) survivorship [live long enough to reproduce]
Traits develop as fitness indicators
fecundity means
[number of offspring]
survivorship means
[live long enough to reproduce]
Name the 3 pattern types of Natural selection:
Directional selection
Stabilising selection
Disruptive selection
Sexual selection: caused by competition for access to mates
Name the 2 types of competition:
Inter-sexual (mate competition)
Intra-sexual (competition for dominance hierarchies in one gender)
Which type of selection arises from differences in reproductive success caused by competition for access to mates
Sexual selection
Natural selection
Which type of selection pattern is this?
-selecting traits that are overall positive for adaptation
higher levels of IQ trait expression
Directional
Natural selection
Which type of selection pattern is this?
-balancing selection of traits
birth weight not too heavy or light (median range)
Natural selection
Which type of selection pattern is this?
-extremisms of a trait (both high and low expressions) can be beneficial
Sexual Dimorphism (strong masc fem characteristics)
What is the proportion of total phenotypic variation in the population that is due to genetic variation (h2)?
Heritability
Heritability:
What does this equation stand for?
Not all genetic variance is transmitted from one generation to the next.
Name 1 which is transmitted
Name 2 that are not transmitted
Additive effects
Dominance (interaction of alleles at same locus of chromosome)
and
Epistasis (interaction of alleles at different loci of chromosome) are not
interaction of alleles at different loci of chromosome is known as
Epistasis
interaction of alleles at same locus of chromosome is known as
Dominance
Suggest three possible mechanisms for the evolution of personality:
Selective Neutrality
Mutation-Selection
Balancing-Selection
Are there traits that maybe associated with reproductive success?
measures of FFM
measures of reproductive success:
More children and children who live to 5 year
Ultimate reproductive success = the number of children times the mean survival of children to age 5, given their BMI
Yes, Neuroticism
Greater reproductive success in women is linked to average levels of neuroticism
Very high/low levels of Neuroticism= lower chance of reproductivity
Mutation-Selection:
Assortative mating (people with similar traits should be partnering with one another)
Is there evidence for assortative mating?
Yes: but only for personality traits of Openness and Contentiousness
Husbands who wanted kind-considerate wives got:
one with high Agreeableness and Extroversion
BUT
Wives who wanted kind-considerate husbands got:
ones who were aloof, submissive, unmasculine, unsociable, and unamusing: not universal
Evolution of personality:
Fitness-neutral mutations build up and lead to increased genetic variation in the trait (random variation of trait not necessarily aiding longevity or reproduction)
which type of selection theory is this explaining?
Selective Neutrality
THIS IS NOT CORRECT, theory was proven wrong
Evolution of personality:
Natural Selection (decreasing trait variance) balances the effects of mutation (increasing trait variance)
More susceptible to ‘inbreeding depression’ (siblings mate) and ‘out-breeding elevation’
Not the case for personality
Traits should be sexually attractive and show assortative mating (people with similar traits should be partnering with one another) to an extent but not all
which type of selection theory is this explaining?
Mutation-Selection
THIS IS NOT CORRECT, if everyone paired up with people who were the same level of extroversion, there would be no need for selection
What is Higher extraversion in men linked to?
Greater social status and more children
Evolution of personality:
Extremes of a trait are favoured to the same degree by different environments
Via 2 pathways:
Environmental Heterogeneity
Frequency-Dependent Selection
which type of selection theory is this explaining?
Balancing-Selection
BEST THEORY
Balancing-Selection:
What is the term:
Fitness varies across time and space, and are on average neutral across all spatio-temporal contexts
Environmental Heterogeneity
Balancing-Selection:
What is the term:
Positive = favours traits with high frequency – runaway selection
Negative = favours traits with a low frequency
Frequency-Dependent Selection