introduction to evolutionary psychology

Question 1

what was darwin’s theory of evolution?

Answer 1

evolution by natural selection

Question 2

what is darwin’s definition of fitness?

Answer 2

how good a species is at reproducing

Question 3

what is darwin’s goal of fitness?

Answer 3

lifetime reproductive success

Question 4

what did E.O. Wilson focus on?

Answer 4

ultimate causation rather than proximate causation

Question 5

what did richard dawkins discover?

Answer 5

the selfish gene

Question 6

what is sociobiology accused of?

Answer 6

biological determinism, reductionism and ‘just so’ storytelling

Question 7

who disliked sociobiology?

Answer 7

sociologists

Question 8

who are tooby and cosmides?

Answer 8

they are key evolutionary psychologists

Question 9

what did tooby and cosmides theorise?

Answer 9

‘the adapted mind’

Question 10

what are the four key elements of tooby and cosmides’ modular and adaptive school of thought?

Answer 10

modularity of the mind (fodor), cognitive revolution, domain specific ‘mental organs’, innate psychological mechanisms

Question 11

what is the role of domain specific ‘mental organs’ in relation to change?

Answer 11

natural selection can act on domain specific ‘mental organs’ to create change

Question 12

what is the EEA?

Answer 12

environment for evolutionary adaptedness

Question 13

what does EEA say about evolutionary history?

Answer 13

99% of evolutionary history took place in the savanna 1.7ka-10ma before homo

Question 14

what does john bowlby believe about attachment?

Answer 14

attachment to parents is adaptation

Question 15

is attachment seen in other species?

Answer 15

attachment is seen in other species, it is biologically driven in monkeys

Question 16

what is the EEA accused of?

Answer 16

panadaptationism and just so storytelling

Question 17

what is a critique of human universals?

Answer 17

they overlook important variation such as influences on sexual selection

Question 18

what are the implications of EEA on learning and cognitive abilities?

Answer 18

the ability to learn is adaptive, so cognitive abilities may just be byproducts of general abilities

Question 19

what is behavioural ecology?

Answer 19

adaptive responses to the environment (contrasting EEA)

Question 20

what is the goal of behavioural ecology?

Answer 20

to determine how difference among individuals can be due to optimality and fitness

Question 21

what des behavioural ecology observe?

Answer 21

how environments influence population-level behaviour (e.g. mating success)

Question 22

what does behavioural ecology measure?

Answer 22

adaptability in proximate currencies (e.g. calories)

Question 23

what is niche?

Answer 23

environmental way of life of an organism, a profession

Question 24

what does greater overlap cause?

Answer 24

greater competition

Question 25

what is the ‘carpentered niche’?

Answer 25

the muller-lyer illusion doesnt fool hunter gatherers living in forests, only fools those living in urban areas where buildings fit the illusion

Question 26

what is optimality?

Answer 26

adaptive trade offs

Question 27

how was optimality used in smith (1985)

Answer 27

inuits needed to reduce the amount of seal hunters due to the social pressure they caused in a big group

Question 28

what are the 6 patterns of life history strategy?

Answer 28

development, maturation, reproduction, growth, survival, lifespan

Question 29

what are the two levels of explanation?

Answer 29

ultimate causation and proximate causation?

Question 30

what is ultimate causation?

Answer 30

evolutionary levels, concerned with function and evolution

Question 31

what is proximate causation?

Answer 31

the immediate circumstances, concerned with development and causation

Question 32

what is function/adaptation?

Answer 32

the fitness value of a trait

Question 33

what is evolution/phylogeny?

Answer 33

evolutionary history of a trait

Question 34

what is development/ontogeny?

Answer 34

traits vary through development