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Psych 1XX3 > Evolution I > Flashcards

Evolution I Flashcards

1
Q

What is an adaptation?

A

Biological traits that help an individual survive and reproduce in its habitat

Perform specific functions that make an organism better suited for its environment

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2
Q

What adaptations have helped racoons see in the dark?

A

Front paws became so sensitive that they often don’t require vision to discriminate food items from non-food items in total darkness

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3
Q

Are human eyes an adaptation?

A

Yes

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4
Q

What classifies as a “higher” mental process?

A

Selective Attention

Memory Encoding

Memory Retrieval

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5
Q

In what way are cognitive psychologists also adaptationists?

A

They break down large-scale cognitive processes into adaptive problems or tasks, and then look for adaptations to solve those problems

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6
Q

What are the four basic mechanisms of evolution?

A

Natural selection

Mutation

Genetic drift

Migration

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7
Q

What is natural selection?

A

Differential survival and reproduction of organisms as a result of the heritable differences between them

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8
Q

What are the three essential components of natural selection?

A

1) Variation amongst individuals
2) Differential reproduction success
3) Heritability

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9
Q

What is stabilizing selection?

A

Selection against any sort of departure from the species-typical adaptive design

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10
Q

Describe the situation with Darwin’s Finches and how it shows natural selection

A

There was a drought

Only food left were large, hard, tough seeds

Large beak Finches survived whereas small beak Finches died

(When the drought ended, average sized beaks became more frequent again)

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11
Q

What is Darwinian fitness?

A

Avg reproductive success of a genotype relative to other genotypes

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12
Q

Is natural selection the “survival of the fittest”?

A

No, natural selection maximizes fitness, which is more about reproductive success than survival

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13
Q

What is evolution?

A

Change in gene frequencies over generations

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14
Q

What is sexual selection?

A

The component of natural selection that acts on traits that influence an organism’s ability to obtain a mate

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15
Q

What are the two subtypes of sexual selection? Give examples of each

A

1) Female choice

2) Success in combat

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16
Q

What are the mate choice preferences of peahens (female peacocks)?

A

1) Number of eyespots

2) Left-right symmetry of eyespots

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17
Q

What traits do females tend to look out for when choosing a mate?

A
  • Best resistance to disease

- Best genes for being healthy

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18
Q

How are Sanderling sandpipers different from semipalmated or Dunlin sandpipers?

A

Foraging behaviour

  • race out after receding waves
  • furiously peck at tiny insects on sand
  • race back to shore in front of next wave
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19
Q

What classifies as species-typical behaviour?

A
  • Physical form (topography) of the way an animal moves
    (ex. do they hop?)
  • Habitat preference (where they go, what they eat, how they pursue and capture it)
  • Group size (do they travel in flocks, etc.)
  • Social system (do they mate monogamously, etc.)
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20
Q

What are selection experiments/behavioural genetics studies used for?

A

A way to confirm that behaviour evolves

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21
Q

What are selection experiments/behavioural genetics studies?

A

Selectively breeding those with extreme traits (i.e. most or least aggressive) and change the animal’s typical behaviour

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22
Q

How were selection experiments/behavioural genetics studies used for dogs?

A

People had created dog breeds for selective purposes (i.e. dogs that would kill badgers, etc)

23
Q

Why is the fruit fly a popular candidate in genetics studies?

A

It has a short generation time (possible to see multiple generations in a short amount of time)

24
Q

True or false: adaptations happen for the good of the species

A

False

They’re for the good of the gene, not the entire group

25
Q

Why is foraging in groups advantageous?

a) Increases personal success of obtaining food
b) Increases group success of obtaining food
c) both a) and b)

A

C

26
Q

Why is foraging in groups advantageous in terms of fitness trade-offs?

A

One member cannot forage and look out for predators at the same time. When in a group, few individuals can look up while others forage.

27
Q

How does the rate of head-jerks amongst individual Golfinches correlate with the total number of head-jerks for the whole flock?

A

As group size increases, individual head jerks decrease while total number of head jerks increase

28
Q

What is altruism?

A

Behaviour in which the actor incurs a cost to provide a benefit for the recipient

29
Q

Is foraging in groups considered altruism? Why or why not?

A

No

The actor benefits

30
Q

What is an important component of altruism?

A

It has to be passed down genetically, otherwise it can’t thrive

31
Q

What is direct fitness?

A

Fitness from personal reproduction

32
Q

What is indirect fitness?

A

Fitness from the reproduction of close genetic relatives

33
Q

What is inclusive fitness?

A

Direct fitness + indirect fitness

34
Q

What is Hamilton’s rule? (the expression)

A

Br > C

B = reproductive benefit to the recipient 
r = coefficient of relatedness 
C = cost to actor
35
Q

What is relatedness?

A

The probability that the actor and recipient share the same gene in question; depends on how genes were inherited (i.e. from mother/father, uncle/aunt, etc.)

36
Q

What is the r value for mom/dad?

A

0.5

37
Q

What is the r value for first cousin?

A

0.125

38
Q

What is the r value for aunt/uncle?

A

0.25

39
Q

What is the r value for full siblings?

A

0.5

40
Q

What is the r value for half siblings?

A

0.25

41
Q

What is the r value for grandparents?

A

0.25

42
Q

When talking about eusocial Hymenoptera, why do many individuals help the colony but do not reproduce themselves?

A

Colonies are founded of a small number of individuals, therefore they are very closely related

43
Q

What is the relationship between aggression and relatedness?

A

As relatedness increases, aggression decreases

*Explains aggression between colonies

44
Q

What did Dr. Daly and Dr. Wilson find about homicide?

A

25% of homocides are by ‘relatives’

6% are by actual genetic-relatives

45
Q

Before sexual maturity, we recognize “kin” as people who are….

A

Living close to us

46
Q

How do children recognize their mothers as ‘kin’?

A

She reared them from infancy

She breastfed them

She smells different

47
Q

How do children recognize their siblings?

A

They watch them perform the same acts (as above) with their mother

They live together for a number of years

48
Q

Describe the pattern of alarm calls in ground squirrels

A

Females give calls more often when they live near kin

Males leave kin early on and almost never give alarm calls

49
Q

What is phenotype matching?

A

Mechanism of kin recognition

Evaluation of relatedness between individuals based on an assessment of phenotypic similarity

50
Q

What is self-referential phenotype matching?

A

Phenotype matching by comparing yourself with another individual (as opposed to comparing a known family member with another individual)

51
Q

Why do we help people who don’t look like us?

A

Reciprocity

52
Q

What is direct reciprocity?

A

Situations where individuals help each other and both benefit

53
Q

What is indirect reciprocity?

A

Individuals who help others who have helped others

Earn a better reputation, etc.

54
Q

What was Dr. Debruin’s study on altruism?

A

Player 1 could not trust the other player and keep their money; or trust the other player and have a chance at getting more money

Player 2 could betray the other player and get more money or Player 2 could behave unselfishly and reward Player 1 but get less money themselves

Player 1 was more likely to trust Player 2 if Player 2 resembled Player 1

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