Evolutionary psychology week 1 Flashcards
Lamark: theory of the Inheritance of acquired characteristics
when animals had the inner “need” they use and diffuse traits
Darwin: survival of the fittest
Within a population of animals, not all will survive, some of them do better and will therefore survive and reproduce
Mendel 1st law
segregation: you get one allele from your mother and 1from your father. These are randomly copied
Mendel 2nd law
Independent Assortment: Genes do not depend on each other
three essential ingredients of natural selection
variation, inheritance, selection
variation
the presence of differences in sequences of genes between individual organisms of a species
inheritance
the transfer of genetic sequences from one generation to the next generation
selection
the preferential survival and reproduction or preferential elimination of individuals with certain genotypes
sexual selection
the process by which individuals compete for access to mates and fertilization opportunities
Inter-sexual competition
Traits that are passed on because they are good at attracting opposite sex mates
Intra-sexual competition
Traits that are passed on because they are good at winning same sex competition
the runaway effect
strong men have more strong offspring which, on their turn, will also make stronger offspring, men on average are likely to get stronger and stronger
adaptations
the inherited characteristics that are naturally selected because they helped to solve a “problem of survival” or a “problem of reproduction”
by-products
a trait that evolved “not because it was selectively advantageous, but because it was inextricably linked to another trait that was reproductively advantageous
noise
random effects without any function
an evolved psychological mechanism
exists in the form it nowadays does because it solved a specific problem of survival or reproduction. Key concepts; problem solving, informative, fast, automatic and universal
2 methods for testing evolutionary psychology hypotheses
- Observation explained by theory (Bottom-up)
- Hypothesis extracted from theory (Top-down)
adaptive problems
input –> decision –> output
the hunting hypothesis of food
people evolved in hunting because the price was bigger. Meat is of high caloric value and when killing an animal there was enough food for the whole family.
The Showing off hypothesis of hunting
hunting led through a status competition between men. Better hunters had more status, mates and better resources for their children
The gathering hypothesis
Women’s role was gathering of food as plants, seeds and nuts. Women better with multi-tasking and object memory.
The Embryo Protection Hypothesis
Pregnancy sickness is an Adaptation because morning sickness helps to avoid and excrete toxins
