Evolutionary Psychology

Question 1

mate selection

Answer 1

strategy of finding the best partner to have sex and make babies with

Question 2

trait

Answer 2

characteristic

Question 3

psychological trait

Answer 3

way of describing how someone behaves

Question 4

What are examples of psychological traits?

Answer 4

• extraversion/introversion
• intellect
• aggression

Question 5

twin study

Answer 5

a study that measures psychological traits in pairs of identical twins and in pairs of fraternal twins to see how much of their psychological traits are explainable by genetics

Question 6

Describe the procedure for a twin study.

Answer 6

1. Get a group of identical twins.
2. Separate each pair of twins and give them a psychological test.
3. Get a score from the test.
4. In each pair, compare the score from one twin to the score from the other twin.
5. Get a similarity score.
6. Add similarity score of every pair and divide by number of pairs to get the average similarity score for identical twins for that characteristic.
7. Repeat the procedure for fraternal twins.
8. Compare the average similarity score for identical twins for that characteristic to the average similarity score for fraternal twins for that characteristic.
9. Repeat the procedure for another characteristic.

Question 7

similarity score

Answer 7

score used in twin studies to define how similar the scores of two twins are on a psychological test

Question 8

How much DNA do identical twins share with each other? How much DNA do fraternal twins share with each other?

Answer 8

• identical twins share 100% of their DNA

- fraternal twins share 50% of their DNA

Question 9

What would the best mate selection strategy have been for women and why?

Answer 9

Strategy:

• strong man
• protect her during pregnancy
• have resources
• help raise the child

Reasons:

• egg & time limit on reproduction
• time (9 months) & lots of resources into pregnancy

Question 10

What would the best mate selection strategy have been for men and why?

Answer 10

Strategy:

• mate with as many females as possible
• spread DNA around as much as possible
• maximum number of chances to make a baby

Reasons:

• unlimited sperm
• can reproduce entire life

Question 11

Who is it better to save: 5-year-old or 1-year-old? Why?

Answer 11

answer: 5-year-old
reason: he is more likely to live and pass on his genes

Question 12

Who is it better to save: 20-year-old or 40-year-old? Why?

Answer 12

answer: 20-year-old
reason: the 20-year-old has longer to live and so will have more time to fuck and make babies

Question 13

Who is it better to marry: older or younger person? Why?

Answer 13

answer: woman will say older, man will say younger
reason: women need person with more resources, men want someone they can keep making more babies with

Question 14

Which 3 things are most important in selection of a mate?
A. money
B. good looks
C. caring personality
D. physical attractiveness
E. ambition
F. exciting personality

Answer 14

answer: women will answer A, C, D; men will answer B, D, and F
reason: women want a partner that will look after their kid so that he grows up, while men want to fuck as many women as possible so they should be good looking so they are better to fuck

Question 15

heritability

Answer 15

describes how much a trait can be passed on through genes; how much a characteristic depends on genes

Question 16

reproductive potential

Answer 16

ability of an organism to make offspring

Question 17

gene transmission

Answer 17

giving of genetic material into a baby so that it continues living and spreading