Evolutionary Theories

Question 1

on the scale of proximal to distal, what is proximal and what is distal?

Answer 1

proximal = behaviour, distal = evolution

Question 2

when did humans migrate out of africa?

Answer 2

1.8 million years ago

Question 3

when did humans migrate to europe?

Answer 3

0.78 million years ago

Question 4

what is natural selection?

Answer 4

characteristics that are adaptive for survival are more likely to be passed on

Question 5

what is sexual selection?

Answer 5

characteristics that are desirable to a mate; characteristics that win intrasexual competition

Question 6

what are 3 factors that show how some psychological features are adaptive for survival and reproduction?

Answer 6

functional, domain specific, numerous

Question 7

in evolutionary psychology, what do we test hypotheses for?

Answer 7

design features of mechanisms eg. memory for evolutionary relevant info - Nairne, et al. 2009

Question 8

what are the three levels of explanation?

Answer 8

evolved characteristics of human nature; evolved group differences and structure of individual differences (nomothetic approach); individual uniqueness (idiographic approach)

Question 9

describe female mating strategies

Answer 9

more parental investment, more selective, value partners ability to protect, provide, and be faithful. look for resources, status, ambition, maturity, dependability, intelligence, compatibility, commitment, strength, health…

Question 10

describe male mating strategies

Answer 10

lower parental investment, more short-term mating, in long term mates, value features indicating fertility and fidelity. look for youth, beauty and faithfulness

Question 11

what is the traditional evolutionary view of the evolution of individual differences?

Answer 11

individual differences reflect random variation and can be discarded as irrelevant “noise”

Question 12

what is the modern view of the evolution of individual differences?

Answer 12

traits reflect range of equally adaptive strategies - no single optimal combination across contexts/time

Question 13

name the 4 different types of selection

Answer 13

stabilising, directional, fluctuating, negative frequency-dependent

Question 14

what is the life history theory?

Answer 14

Wilson, 1975. diff individuals use diff strategies to axioms survival and reproduction. due to finite energy, there is trade-off between cost and benefit, eg. mating effort vs parental investment (MacDonald, 1997). usually applied to look at species and some sex differences

Question 15

what is the ‘K’ factor?

Answer 15

underlying personality dimension reflecting mating effort vs parental investment (Rushton, 1985)

Question 16

describe low K

Answer 16

“cad” - mating effort

Question 17

describe high K

Answer 17

“dad” - parental investment

Question 18

how does high attachment to own father relate to K value?

Answer 18

leads to higher K value

Question 19

how does high attachment to partners relate to K value?

Answer 19

leads to higher K value

Question 20

how does high effort to attract mates relate to K value?

Answer 20

leads to lower K value

Question 21

how does high machiavellianism relate to K value?

Answer 21

leads to lower K value

Question 22

how does high risk-taking relate to K value?

Answer 22

leads to lower K value

Question 23

describe the Big Five personality traits.

Answer 23

openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism. universal, seen in other species, moderate-high heritability estimates, relevant for challenges of survival and reproduction in context of group living

Question 24

what is the extra personality added to the Big Five to made HEXACO?

Answer 24

honesty/humility

Question 25

how is extraversion linked to sexual partners?

Answer 25

higher extraversion is related to a higher number of sexual partners

Question 26

how is extraversion linked to infidelity?

Answer 26

higher extraversion is related to a higher likelihood of infidelity

Question 27

describe the costs of extraversion (and the main researcher)

Answer 27

Nettle, 2005. infidelity and children by multiple partners reduces investment in children. more likely to be hospitalised. higher criminal/anti-social behaviour. more grandchildren!

Question 28

who has a higher K-factor in general, males or females?

Answer 28

females.

Question 29

how does very high psychoticism relate to K value?

Answer 29

leads to low K value

Question 30

how does high neuroticism relate to K value?

Answer 30

leads to low K value (not as low as psychoticism though)

Question 31

how does high extraversion relate to K value?

Answer 31

it does not.