Michael Tomasello

Question 1

Central problem in human behavioral evolution

Answer 1

altruism especially how it came to be.

Question 2

Believes about altruism

Answer 2

Doesn’t believe altruism is the central process responsible for human cooperation

Question 3

Where did altruism come from

Answer 3

Mutualism might be the birthplace of altruism.

Question 4

To get from apes group activities to human collaboration we need three basic sets of processes

Answer 4

1. Evolution of social-cognitive skills and motivations for coordinating and communicating
2. Humans had to become more tolerant and trusting for one another
3. Humans had to develop some group-level institutional practices involving public social norms and assignment of deontic status to institutional roles

Question 5

Are humans born cooperative and helpful and society later corrupts them or are we born selfish and unhelpful, and society teaches us better.

Answer 5

Around first birthday when they begin to walk and talk and became truly cultural beings’ human children are already cooperative and helpful in many though obviously not all situations

Does not believe that human altruism is a single trait but rather that humans are altruistic in different domains of activity.

Question 6

Helping

Answer 6

Infants helped solve four different kinds of problems: Fetching out of reach objects, removing obstacles, correcting an adult’s mistake, choosing the correct behavioral means for a task.

Question 7

5 Reason to believe that helping others with simple physical problems such as these is a natural emerging human behavior.

Answer 7

1. The relatively early onset of the behavior
2. Parental rewards and encouragement do not seem to increase helping behavior
3. Third reason to believe infants are not helping just for reward is that chimpanzees engage in the same behavior. (chimpanzees helped in the go fetch out of reach object condition)
4. A new study found that children in more traditional cultures help in basically the same situations.
5. Young children’s helping behavior is mediated by empathetic concern

Question 8

Informing

Answer 8

This is special form of helping that only child engage in. Apes do not even comprehend pointing. Apes follow gaze.
Human infants on the other hand not only inform other of things they also interpret informative intentions directed at them.

Question 9

Sharing

Answer 9

Virtually all experts agree that apes are not very altruistic in the sharing of resources and food. Warneken study chimpanzees help others attain their instrumental goals. But it’s for themselves.
Foraging food chimp and mother: 84 attempts to get food from mother 50 rejected

Question 10

Reciprocity and norms

Answer 10

There is very little evidence in any of these three cases helping to inform and sharing that the altruism children display is a result of acculturation parental intervention or any other form of socialization.
Children help those who have been helpful to others more.
Experimental economics chimps always accepts when getting something. People reject offers under 30 euros.

Question 11

Why do children respect social norms?

Answer 11

1. Authority coming from interactions with adults

2. Reciprocity coming from interactions with coequals

Question 12

Young children thus become more adult-like in their understanding of social norms by coming to comprehend even more about.

Answer 12

• The arbitrary nature of norms

* The independence of norms forms any specific individual

Question 13

Culture ready / helpfull

Answer 13

Children come to culture ready to be helpful, informative, and generous in the right situations. But as they become independent children must be more selective and aim their altruistic acts toward others who will not take advantage of them and who might even reciprocate.