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Individual differences and Crime > Evolutionary Psychology > Flashcards

Evolutionary Psychology Flashcards

1
Q

What is an Adaption?

A

-Physical or psychological trait that consistently features in a species’ history
- At a previous point in species’ evolutionary history it solved a particular problem that had a fitness-maximizing consequence
- Complex and well-organized

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2
Q

What isnt an Adaption?

A

Some traits can be down to chance through

  • genetic drift – e.g., natural variation & frequency of a trait down to mathematical chance
  • by-product of some other trait (sickle cell anemia)
  • random
  • vestigial trait - e.g., appendix,wisdom teeth, goose bumps
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3
Q

What is a Hominin?

A

Humans, extinct human species &ancestors
Hominids= great apes

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4
Q

What separates hominins (homo) from other hominids?

A

Bipedal locomotion:
- Shaped by environment
- Different diet – more varied covering wider area
- Feet developed better arches for bearing weight of torso
- Diet/ different shaped jaws and skulls

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5
Q

Early hominids: Australopithecus afarensis

A
  • Eastern Africa
  • 3 million years ago
  • Shares some traits with chimps (long arms,curved fingers for living in tress, flat nose, brow ridge)
  • Fairly short (around 4 foot)
  • Small canines & bipedal
  • Lasted 900K years
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6
Q

Early hominins: Homo habilis

A

-2.2 – 1.15 MYA Sub-Saharan Africa
- Stone tools
- Face less protruding & small canines (change in diet)
- Larger brain than Australopithecus
- Use of tools reflect abstract thought (tools solve problems)

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6
Q

Early hominins: Homo erectus

A
  • 1.9mya – 150kya
  • Africa now migrated into Eurasia (possible speciation due to ecological niche – h.heidelbergensis & h. ergaster)
  • Long legs and short arms
  • 4.9 – 6.1 ft
  • Growth rate similar to humans
  • Increased brain size – “encephalisation” – can handle and process complex info to own advantage, hunting – exploit the environment in more than one way
  • Acheulean technology stone tool technology
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6
Q

Early hominins: Homo heidelbergensis

A
  • 600 – 200 KYA
  • Africa, Europe & West Asia
  • Ancestor to anatomically modern humans (in Africa)and Neanderthals (in Europe)
  • Bigger brain (frontal and parietal lobes – language and touch)
  • Taller
  • Parabolic jaw shape (change of diet)
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7
Q

Early hominins: Homo neanderthalensis

A
  • 400-40 KYA
  • Europe & Eurasia
  • Complex stone & bone tools
  • Hunting
  • Evidence of symbolism (manifest abstract thought)
  • Art
  • Buried the dead- awareness of own mortality, ritual
    -Flutes (from bone) – creating music
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7
Q

Other hominin species

A
  • Denisovans (East Asia)
  • Homo floresiensis (Indonesia) – contemporary hominins also died out around same time as Neanderthals
  • Many more species emerging – phylogenetic tree of hominins is lot more complex than originally thought
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8
Q

Anatomically modern homo sapiens

A
  • From 200 kya?
  • Left Africa into Europe about 75 kya

Differences from Denisovans & Neanderthals:
- No occipital bun
- High forehead
- Smaller teeth and jaw
- Less robust skeleton
- Longer maturation rate

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9
Q

History of symbolism: beginnings

A

Shell beads from Blombos caves in South Africa, 77-100 thousand years ago(engraved pigment, up to 100 kya

Ostrich shell engravings, 60kya, also South Africa

Using ochre as body paint – alteration of the self to make an impression – signal enhancement

Caves of Altamira (Spain) and Lascaux (France): 25-30 kya

Venus of Willendorf: 22 – 24 kya

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10
Q

Significance of symbolism

A
  • A “diagnostic trait” of humans; “self-domestication” –watershed moment in human history
  • Complex sociality, increased cognitive complexity: accumulation of understood associations require episodic memory
  • Future planning
  • Aspects of cultural traditions embodied in the material replication of forms
  • Thinking “at a distance” (between the meaning & object it represents)
  • Indicate a “downloading” of object information into the abstract
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11
Q

Language & symbolism

A
  • Impossible without language (external symbolic storage)
  • Info conveyed without need for demonstration
  • Language is the nexus of symbolic cognition
  • Relies on ability to blend concepts to produce new concepts of increasing complexity
  • Symbols eventually became systematised, from which grammar emerged
  • Underlies humour, spiritual and religious imaginary, appreciation of aesthetics
  • Requires neural complexity and dedicated areas of the brain
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12
Q

Development of Theory of Mind

A
  • Ability to understand intentions of others at increasing levels of complexity
  • Others’ minds are like our own; similar thoughts and intentions
  • Others also see that in us
  • Hunting would have required this (Boxgrove site 500 kya; Homo habilis, hand axes)
  • Apes have some ToM but appear not to use it collaboratively
  • Recursive process (reflect and change) leading to the expectation and reciprocation of help
  • Mutual cooperation led to social structures that govern sociality
  • Crucial for language (and symbolism)
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13
Q

Social Intelligence Hypothesis (Chance & Mead, 1953; Jolly, 1966; Humphrey, 1976)

A

Selective pressures caused by social environment- competition & cooperation with conspecifics important factor in evolution and shaping of brain and cognition in animals

Psychological arms race between conspecifics – “Machiavellian” strategies (i.e., ability to manipulate other people) led to large brains and distinct cognitive abilities in primates

Complexity of social interactions in groups = cognitively demanding

Theory of Mind – the ability to put yourself in the mind of someone else

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14
Q

Social Brain Hypothesis (Barton &Dunbar, 1997)

A
  • Correlation between relative brain size (neocortex) and social group size
  • Predation is related to group size
  • Social cohesion needed to avoid predation
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15
Q

Social Brain Hypothesis

A
  • Sociality is incredibly cognitively demanding

-Extension of pair-bonding relationship maintenance from mate to friend

  • Brain developed in response to social demands rather than ecological demands, although ability to exploit a variety of environments also important
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16
Q

Neocortex

A
  • where complex thinking goes on
  • not just about regulating basic functions
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16
Q

What does Neocortex size correlate with?

A
  • Grooming cliques
  • Rates of tactical deception
  • High male ranking reproductive success (negatively) where lower males have to use social deception to attract mates
  • The amygdale- part of brain that deals with emotion processing
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16
Q

Neocortex and group size

A
  • Species with large average group sizes are the most corticalised
  • As group size increases individuals have to remember more info about dyadic interactions and relations
  • Exponential increase in strategic possibilities within polyadic interactions and relationships
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16
Q

Dunbar’s number- Social brain hypothesis

A
  • Calculation that humans have cognitive capacity/ constraint for meaningful info held of 150 individuals
  • Not just about memory but integrating and managing info about the constantly changing relationships between individuals within a group
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17
Q

Dunbar’s number

A

Hierarchical groupings of info held about 150 individuals:

  • Clique (3-5 individuals)* Sympathy group (12-20 individuals) (special ties, contacted typically once a month)
  • Affinity group/Bands (30-50 individuals) (hunter-gatherer societies – overnight camps)
  • Active network/ Clan/ regional group (150 individuals)
  • Larger scale groupings – megaband (500 – tribe/1000-2000k linguistic group)
  • More than 150 requires formal laws and police force; kinship &affinity become insufficient for social cohesion (Forge, 1972)
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18
Q

Communication in social networks

A
  • Effort required to maintain relationships

Tied to:
- Emotional intensity of relationship
- Likelihood of receiving support from that network member
- Likelihood of relationship decaying in emotional intensity over time

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19
Q

What does relationship quality depend on?

A
  • Time invested in relationship
  • Time spent on communication daily is 20%
  • Maintaining relationships is highly cognitively demanding (needs more brain)
  • Relationships cognitively costly – if you get it wrong it can cost you in terms of survival and reproduction
20
Q

Birth of evolutionary psychology

A
  • Charles Darwin – “The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex” (1871)
  • Still relatively young subject field – early 1990s
  • Seminal work of Tooby & Cosmides, also Stephen Pinker & David Buss
21
Q

Tooby & Cosmides (1992) – theoretical background

A
  • Rooted in cognitive psychology information processing approach

Integrated Causal Model:

  • Beyond Standard Social Science model which separates culture and other human phenomena from biological, or evolutionary causes
22
Q

Tooby & Cosmides (1992)- Processing mechanisms

A

Evolved info processing mechanisms adaptations specialised for behaviours involved in mate selection, language acquisition, family relations & cooperation:

  • Generates human culture e.g., religion, art and language
  • Basis universal but uniquely shaped depending on specific features of environment like ecology,economy, demographic and inter group social contexts
  • Adaptations based on demands of our unique evolutionary history
23
Q

What is a psychological adaptation?

A
  • ”Reverse engineering” – engineered problem-solving mechanism
  • Behaviour is regulatory output from incoming info from environment being processed by the brain
  • Shaped by natural and sexual selection
24
Q

Environmental of Evolutionary Adaptedness (EEA)

A
  • Neural modules/ mechanisms shaped by the Environmental of Evolutionary Adaptedness (EEA)
  • Solve problems consistently posed in environment: Domain specific cognitive specialisations:
  • Cognitive abilities such as types of sensory perception, preferences for visual and facial stimuli etc., seen in infants from a very young age
  • Different adaptive problems over life course –mechanisms emerge according to when needed (e.g.,language acquisition
  • Also varies according to sex
25
Q

How are psychological adaptations designed?

A
  • Emotions and emotional communication
  • Humans interact in a mutually beneficial way with non-relatives
  • Complex social interaction
  • Long-term planning
26
Q

Different aspects of evolutionary psychology

A
  • Personality
  • Altruism & kin selection
  • Parental investment theory & parenting
  • Mate choice
  • Language
27
Q

Personality as an adaptation- Big 5

A
  • Conscientiousness - reliability
  • Extraversion – social adeptness
  • Agreeableness - cooperation
  • Openness – flexibility
  • Low neuroticism- confidence
28
Q

Personality as an adaptation- “dark traits”

A
  • Psychopathy – evolutionary stable strategy
  • Narcissism
  • Antisocial behaviour
29
Q

Altruism

A
  • Poses problem because it increases fitness of another individual at your expense
30
Q

Kin selection

A
  • Someone from your family benefits
31
Q

Parenting: Parental Investment Theory

A
  • Level of consideration given to potential mate is a function how much energy is expended in childcare
  • Women automatically primary care-giver:9 months given to child-bearing at least

-Men can do absolutely the minimum if they want

32
Q

Parenting: Parental Investment Theory- Conditions

A

Short term mating:
- good genes are better (physical characteristics)

Long term mating:
- good “parenting” traits more important

Condition of environment matters:
- High vs Low mortality and morbidity

33
Q

Parenting in humans

A
  • Humans cant be born anymore developed
  • Trade off between big brains and being bipedal (giving birth is still dangerous)
34
Q

Parenting in humans: Children

A

Human babies and children incredibly energy/ resource consuming:

  • Somatic development
  • Learning needed for effective functioning
35
Q

Parenting in humans: Bi-parental

A

Bi-parental care beneficial:

  • Depends on quality of the mate
  • Wider family and community help essential
  • Wider family (helpers in nest)
  • Allo-parenting (Grandparents)
36
Q

Trivers- Willard effect (1973)

A

How a mother apportions energy/ resources to children depending on the quality of the environment

  • Males take up more energy/resources and are more sickly
  • Mothers in poor condition will have preference for female offspring
  • Mothers in good condition are able to invest in male offspring
  • E.g., Cigany (Hungarian Gypsy);Mukogodo of Kenya
37
Q

Mate-choice

A

Intrasexual (competition between males)

Intersexual (females choose their fellas)

38
Q

Fisher’s runaway selection (1930)

A

A physical trait becomes more extreme because it is reliably selected for by females(e.g., Peacock’s feathers)

39
Q

Hamilton-Zuk’s good genes hypothesis (1982)

A

Females prefer males who are resistance to parasites – good genes cannot be observed directly, therefore signaled through secondary sexual traits (e.g., plumage – peacocks

40
Q

Zahavi’s handicap principle (1975)

A
  • Only those with good genes can withstand costly traits (e.g., testosterone)
41
Q

How EP can explain “abnormal psychology”- Depression

A
  • Adaptive rumination hypothesis (Andrews & Thomson, 2009)
  • Signal for help? (e.g., post-natal depression, Watson & Andrews, 2002)
  • Might be part of creativity But might be a result of empathy?
42
Q

How EP can explain “abnormal psychology”- Anxiety/ Neuroticism

A
  • Avoid dangerous predicaments
  • Why women are higher in anxiety – related to being primary child-carer
43
Q

How EP can explain “abnormal psychology”- Schixotypy

A

Creativity (O-Reilly, Dunbar, & Bentall, 2001)

44
Q

How EP can explain “abnormal psychology”- Anti-social beh

A

Adaptive response to hostile environment

45
Q

How EP can explain “abnormal psychology”- Psychopathy

A

Cheater strategy – exploit the altruists (Mealey, 1995)

46
Q

EP & “Abnormal psychology”

A

These traits work on a spectrum basis – extreme ends are pathological & problematic

  • E.g., depression leading to suicide
  • Autistic traits leading to severe autism
  • Most extreme traits only affect a small majority of the population (5% or less)
  • Some operate on a frequency dependent basis:* E.g., psychopathy, can’t have too many cheaters
  • Potential mismatch between environments
47
Q

What is “abnormal” anyway?

A
  • Culturally constructed – culture itself constructed through evolutionary pressures, cultural practices someway solves some evolutionary problem
  • Cultures deferentially accept certain behaviours
  • Potentially starting point for traits that do eventually become of everyone’s psychology
48
Q

Controversies in EP

A
  • “Just-so stories”
  • After Rudyard Kipling’s book
  • Animal physiology explained by random explanation – e.g., camel got his hump because he refused to work, but giving hump where he could store food, meant could work for days
  • Evolutionary theory is such that it can be stretched beyond all recognition into explaining psychological phenomena

-Genetic determinism

49
Q

Controversies in EP- justify racist/ sexist sterotypical views

A
  • Rushton – race & IQ
  • Men are from Mars, women are from Venus

-It’s just the way men and women are

  • Explanations of rape… Spousal violence… Why step-parents are more likely to killtheir step-children..
50
Q

Theoretical criticisms of EP

A
  • How do we know how our stone-age ancestors addressed adaptive problems?
  • Tooby & Cosmides: there are standard adaptive problems like finding a mate,securing the best possible mate, avoid dying, provide optimal care for offspring
51
Q

Theoretical criticisms of EP

A

We cannot know the pre-existing psychology of our ancestors – would have contributed to their interaction with the environment and subsequent psychological development

  • Tooby & Cosmides use this as part of their rationale – two-way relationship between environment shaping psychology and psychology shaping environment
52
Q

Theoretical criticisms of EP

A
  • We don’t know the environment in which our ancestors lived in
  • Don’t have other homo species to compare with - - - - Similarities with other species
  • Commonalities between cultures –we’re probably a lot more similar than we think
  • Pace of technology has outstripped human evolution (Fermi paradox)
53
Q

Methodological criticisms of EP

A
  • We can’t time trave

-Use of psychometrics

  • But are able to generate testable hypotheses
  • Other psychology studies completely subject to same methodological problems (general ecological validity and generalisability)
54
Q

Some genetic basis for homosexuality

A
  • Same-sex alliances
  • Seen in other species
  • Males who were bred to exhibit same sex-behaviour produced daughters with higher rates of reproduction
  • Seems to make sense that there is some level of bi-sexuality – being at one end or the other of this spectrum is just that – there will be variation

Individual differences and Crime (9 decks)

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