Lecture 4 Flashcards
Proximate explanation
Immediate cause, more specific, less general
Ultimate explanation
Adaptive cause, more general, less specific
Niko Tinbergen–> 4 questions:
- Causation; why, proximate mechanism
- Ontogeny; how/when did it develop
- Adaptation; why did it evolve, ultimate mechanism
- Phylogeny; how did it evolve in the species
Causation
proximate level–> trigger, neural mechanism, cognitive mechanism
Adaptation
Ultimate level–> evolutionary benefit, adaptive function
Natural selection
- Variation
- Selection
- Inheritance (erfelijkheid)
Adaptations
Not every trait is currently adaptive (food high in calories) and not every current challenge has an associated adaptation (cars)
By-products
Non-adaptive effects linked to adaptation (fear of harmless snakes)
Noise
Random genetic propagation (rare phobias like fear of cheese)
Mismatch hypothesis
We are adapted to a different environment than that we live in now
Fundamental motives
- Self protection
- Disease avoidance
- Affiliation (verbondenheid)
- Status
- Mate acquisition
- Mate retention
- Kin care
Consumer implications for self-protection
Buy safe and trustworthy products
Consumer implications for disease avoidance
Travel more locally, value cleanliness
Consumer implications for affiliation (verbondenheid)
Buy products to share, gift-giving and communication on social media
Consumer implications for status
Buy luxury, costly altruism, less price sensitivity
Consumer implications for mate acquisition
Buy luxury, impulsive purchasing, improve appearance
Consumer impliciations for mate retention
Buy products to signal bond to each other and others
Consumer implications for kin care
Buy kid-specific products, pay more to benefit kids
Signalling theory
Some traits/behaviours can propagate (verspreiden) because of their signalling function
Conspicuous consumption
Buying unnecessary expensive stuff
Error management theory
Humans have to deal with uncertainty and erros are unavoidable, some errors are costlier than others –> we want to avoid very costly errors
