Introduction to evolutionary psychology Flashcards
Darwinism
how species chance overtime through process called natural selection
Natural selection (Darwin)
its a filter thet makes sure the traits that help organisms survive and reproduce are more common in future generations.
Variation
Survival and Reproduction
inheritance
adaptation
Variation
Individuals have different traits. These differences come from random gene changes.
Inheritance
traits are passed from parents to offspring through genes
differential survival
Some traits help individuals survive and reproduce better. Those individuals are more likely to pass on their traits.
Adaptation
Over time, helpful traits become common in the population, helping species adapt to their environment. (mostly inherited, can be learned)
darwin’s observation
Heritable Variation
Ability of overpopulation
The stability of population
Heritable variation
Individuals within a population show variation in their traits, and these traits can be passed from parents to offspring
ability of overpopulation
Theoretically every species has the ability to grow in number so large that it exceeds the biological carrying capacity of its containing natural ecological system.
The stability of population
Despite the ability to produce many offspring, population sizes generally remain stable over time because not all offspring survive.
what prohibits species from overpopulating
Resources
food
water
tools
shelter
sexual patner
what is heritabe variance good for?
Those individuals who adapt more successfully to their environment will accumulate more resources.
They will also have more surviving offspring
Adaptive
a trait that facilitates ones survival or reproductive sucess
(giraffe neck, or riding bicycle)
traits of adaptivity
- result of random mutation and not planned evolution
- heritable (etc: brown eyes)
Functional adaptation
This is a trait that evolved because it provides a clear survival or reproductive advantage
yes its adaptive
yes its adaptation
Dysfunctional Byproduct
trait that does not serve a functional purpose in terms of survival or reproduction (vestigial structures)
not adaptive
not adaptation
Exaptation
trait that evolved for one purpose but was later co-opted for a different function. (feathers where used for temperature, later used for flights)
yes its adaptive
not adaptation
Obsolete Adaptation
trait that was once useful for survival or reproduction but has become less relevant due to changes in the environment or lifestyle.
Not adaptive
yes adaptation
2 main mechanisms of natural selection
Stabilizing selection
Directional selection
Stabilizing selection
- purifying the selection
- gets rid of extreme phenotypes
- favors intermediate variants
Directional selection
favors extreme phenotype
Genetic Drift
change in the frequency of alleles in a population due to random chance.
The bottleneck effect
it occurs when a population is drastically reduced in size due to a catastrophic event, leading to a loss of genetic diversity.
The founder effect
When a new population is established by a small group of individuals, their limited genetic traits become the primary traits of the new population. This can lead to reduced genetic diversity compared to the original, larger population
continuity hypothesis
- Humans evolved gradually from the animal kingdom
- Common ancestors with chimpanzees
Analogy with primates
humans and primates show similar emotions and ways of expressing them
the way we express emotions have deep evolutionary roots shared with our primate relatives
Cross-cultural similarities
people from different cultures express their emotions in same way
the way we show emotions is something we’re born with, not learned by our cultures
Innate ability
blind people express the same way.
showing emotions is something we’re born with
positive and negative eugenics
positive: encourage people with high fitness and intelligence to mate together
negative: attempt to prohibit reproduction among those who are considered unfit.
Eugenics (Galton)
aims to improve the genetic quality of the human population through selective breeding
Anthropology
study of human developmental in all aspects
Cultural relativity
behavior needs to be understood in terms of culture
culture differences is NOT equal to genetic differences
Standard Social Science Model (SSSM) Toody & Cosmides
- Humans are born as Blank slates
- Human behavior is infinitely malleable
- Cultural is an autonomous force in evolution
- learning processes are general
- Biological is unimportant to understanding behaviour
ethology
Darwin - Natural selection
- behaviors evolve because they provide survival and reproductive advantages.
Lorenz - Imprinting
- animals (e.g., ducklings) form attachments to the first moving object they see, which helps with survival and learning.
Tinbergen - Fixed action patterns (FAPs)
- instinctive behaviors triggered by specific stimuli. Developed the four questions framework to study animal behavior (Causation, Development, Function, Evolution).
