L13- genes and the psychosocial environment

Question 1

What are the three components of Darwin’s theory?

Answer 1

Heredity
Variability
Natural selection

Question 2

What are four products of evolution?

Answer 2

• Adaptations- useful, developed through natural selection i.e. umbilical cord
• By-products- Don’t solve adaptive problems and aren’t functional i.e. belly buttons
• Noise- random effects that don’t affect survival/ reproduction
• Exaptation- features that didnt arise for their current use, but were co-opted for new purposes- i.e. birds feathers, originally for temp regulation

Question 3

What is the Standard Social Science Model- SSSM?

Answer 3

This model posits that human knowledge / the mind comes from culture, and evolution plays a small, relatively insignificant part

Question 4

What is a critique of the SSSM?

Answer 4

Ignores the role of evolution in shaping the human mind

Question 5

What is the Evolutionary Psychology Model?

Answer 5

This model states that the human mind is the way it is due largely in part to biology, and that it is made up of content-rich, domain-specific mental modules- we are born with many of these, and create more as our knowledge increases

Question 6

What are examples of problems experienced by early humans?

Answer 6

• Survival
• Mating
• Parenting
• Aiding relatives

Question 7

What is the Behavioural Immune System?

Answer 7

Behaviours and feelings that have arisen fro our early ancestors’ fight for survival

Question 8

What are components of the Behavioural Immune System?

Answer 8

o Parasites and infectious diseases they cause
•	Selective pressure
•	Evolved defence mechanisms
o Disgust
•	Facial blemishes
o	Disease avoidance
•	The world beyond Germ theory
•	Most conventions pertaining to subsistence and social behaviour operate as prescriptions to avoid illness
o Conformity
o Context-contingent conformity
•	When perceived threat is high
•	When perceived threat is low

Question 9

What did Murray and Schaller (12)’s experiment find about the effect of perceived threat, “other dangers” and infections diseases, on conformity?

a) conformity was highest in the “other dangers” condition than control and infections diseases
b) there was no significant difference between the three conditions
c) conformity was highest in the infectious diseases condition
d) conformity was the same in “other dangers” and infectious diseases salience

Answer 9

c) conformity was highest in the infectious diseases condition