Glossary

Question 1

Conformity bias

Answer 1

The tendency to behave in the same or similar way to how other people are behaving in a given situation.

Question 2

DNA

Answer 2

Deoxyribonucleic Acid, the molecule that encodes genetic information and forms the basis of genetic inheritance.

Question 3

Dual inheritance theory

Answer 3

A model of cultural evolution which views genes and cultural elements (memes) as separate forms of inheritance that need not necessarily interact with each other.

Question 4

EEA

Answer 4

(Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness): the conglomeration of past environments, including environmental pressures, in which currently observed adaptations were shaped.

Question 5

ESS

Answer 5

(Evolutionarily Stable Strategy):a strategy that cannot be successfully invaded by any alternative strategy. The concept of an ESS recognizes that exactly what makes the best strategy depends on what everyone else in the population is doing. In this context, strategies may be either behavioural (a decision rule on how to behave, such as ‘always punish those who defect on social contracts’) or anatomical (such as the development of horns or other weapons).

Question 6

Fertility

Answer 6

The number of children produced by an individual in a given time period.

Question 7

Fitness

Answer 7

A measure of an individual’s genetic contribution to future generations, relative to that of other individuals.

Question 8

Free-rider

Answer 8

An individual who takes advantage of the generosity of others by accepting the benefits of a social contract (or social living), but reneges on paying the associated costs.

Question 9

Gossip hypothesis

Answer 9

A theory for the evolution of language, which suggests that language evolved to bond large social groups.Building on the observation that monkeys and apes use grooming to bond their social groups, the gossip hypothesis claims that humans evolved language as a more efficient means of servicing social relationships in large groups.

Question 10

Group selection

Answer 10

A now discredited theory that evolution occurs for the ‘good of the species (or group)’. Though widely held by biologists until the 1960s, group selection is in direct conflict with the principles of Darwinian evolutionary theory which assumes that selection occurs at the level of the individual (or, more strictly speaking, the gene).

Question 11

Heritability

Answer 11

The amount of phenotypic variation in a population that is the result of genetic differences between individuals in the population.

Question 12

Imprinting

Answer 12

A special case of learning, or ‘programmed learning’; the process whereby a young animal becomes attached to another individual, usually its mother. Animals that have imprinted tend to attend and stay very close to the animal they have imprinted on.

Question 13

Intentionality

Answer 13

A reflexively hierarchical scaling of belief states, defined by words such as believe, suppose, imagine, assume, intend, etc. First order intentionality is the capacity to have a belief about the contents of one’s own mind; second order intentionality that of having a belief about someone else’s mind state; and so on. Second order intentionality is equivalent to having Theory of Mind

Question 14

Intersexual selection

Answer 14

A form of sexual selection where female choice drives selection for male traits that are attractive to females.

Question 15

Intrasexual selection

Answer 15

A form of sexual selection that is driven by same-sex competition for access to opposite-sex partners. Examples of intrasexually selected traits include large body size and weaponry, such as canine teeth.

Question 16

Kin selection

Answer 16

Selection favouring altruistic acts between relatives, when the product of the benefit of the altruistic act to the recipient and the degree of relatedness is greater than the cost to the donor.

Question 17

Lifetime Reproductive Success (LRS)

Answer 17

The total number of living offspring that an individual contributes to the next generation.

Question 18

Maladaptive

Answer 18

A trait, character or behaviour which results in an organism possessing or performing it to have lower genetic fitness (q.v.) than one which does not.In the extreme case, it may result in premature death or the failure to reproduce.

Question 19

Meme

Answer 19

A term that refers to a unit of culture, analogous to gene.

Question 20

Mind reading

Answer 20

The ability to understand the contents of another individual’s mind (see Theory of Mind).

Question 21

Natural selection

Answer 21

Darwin’s theory of the process by which evolutionary change occurs. Based on the principles of variation, inheritance and adaptation, the process of natural selection produces adaptations.

Question 22

Naturalistic fallacy

Answer 22

The principle that ‘Is’ does not mean ‘Ought’: a philosophical argument which states that we should not infer that a particular behaviour is ‘good’ or ‘right’ from the fact that it occurs, or is natural.

Question 23

Neocortex

Answer 23

The thin layer of neural tissue on the outside of the brain.The neo- cortex accounts for a large amount of brain volume in primates compared to other mammals, reaching as much as 80 per cent of total brain volume in humans.

Question 24

Niche construction theory

Answer 24

A theory which states that, rather than organisms being ‘blindly’ selected by the environment, in some cases organisms often modify the environments they occupy. In so doing, they set up a feedback loop for the action of natural selection.

Question 25

Motherese

Answer 25

An instinctive and distinctive style of speaking to young infants involving a higher pitched voice, a softening of intonation, large pitch contours and the use of short repetitive sentences.

Question 26

Multi-level selection

Answer 26

A theory for the evolution of altruism which states that selection operates not only on the individual but also at the level of the group in which the individual finds itself.Not to be confused with group selection (q.v.).

Question 27

Mutualism

Answer 27

Behaviour that increases the fitness of both actor and recipient.

Question 28

Parental investment

Answer 28

Any investment that parents make in an offspring which increases that offspring’s chances of surviving. By definition, such investment imposes a cost to the parents as measured by their ability to invest in other offspring, current and future.

Question 29

Phenotypic gambit

Answer 29

The tactic used by research scientists to generate and test hypotheses about the adaptiveness of behaviour. The phenotypic gambit allows researchers to ignore the effects of other processes and so to focus on reproductive outcomes.

Question 30

Prosocial

Answer 30

Attitudes or behaviours (such as generosity, forgiveness, etc.) which enhance the cohesion of social groups.

Question 31

Prosody

Answer 31

The melodic features of speech (for example, tone and pitch) that, combined with linguistic components, facilitate meaning and emotional content.

Question 32

Reciprocal altruism

Answer 32

A theory (based on the assumption that individuals take turns to exchange beneficial acts over a period of time) which explains how altruistic acts between unrelated individuals can evolve. In each exchange, the benefit of the acts to the recipient must be greater than the cost to the actor. Sometimes also known as tit-for-tat.

Question 33

Reproductive value

Answer 33

A measure of the average contribution to subsequent generations of individuals at any given age, relative to the contribution of the average individual.

Question 34

Sexual selection

Answer 34

A category of natural selection where the traits that are selected are those that increase an individual’s likelihood of reproducing,rather than surviving. Sexual selection can operate intersexually or intrasexually (q.v.).

Question 35

social brain hypothesis

Answer 35

The hypothesis which explains the evolution of large brain size, particularly in primates, as being driven by the need to solve complex social problems. It asserts that, rather than being driven by ecological problem solving, brain size evolved in response to the dynamic and sometimes unpredictable social world in which individuals are constantly forging and breaking alliances.

Question 36

Theory of mind

Answer 36

The ability to be aware of, and have a theory about, the thoughts, feelings, desires and intentions of other individuals. Theory of mind is believed to be a prerequisite for deception, imitation, and empathy. See also Intentionality.