Modern Evolutionary Behaviour Flashcards
What is the first common misunderstanding of evolutionary behaviour and culture?
Genetic determinism: all things are determined by genes.
This is not compatible with human learning and culture, there is also not that much genetic variation in modern humans!
- Genetics AND environment shape phenotypes
- Behavioural traits are more sensitive/responsive to environmental influences than morphological and physiological traits
What are some false dichotomies?
Culture vs. Biology
Nature vs. Nurture
What is the second common misunderstanding of evolutionary behaviour and culture?
Behaviours are not controlled by genes: genes actually do play a factor in behaviours, natural selection shapes learning mechanisms so that behaviour can adjust to local conditions
What makes humans different from primates?
Culture
- Culture is an adaptation
What is culture?
Information acquired by an individual through some type of social learning (you are not born knowing your culture, you acquire it).
- Transmitted not only by relatives
- Can be transmitted by many different people through many different ways
What is the first way culture is acquired?
Social facilitation: activity of one animal indirectly increases the chance that other animals will learn on their own.
- Proximity and oppertunity
- Every individual “figures it out” every time
What is the second way that culture is acquired?
Observational learning: learn by watching skilled individuals
- Imitation
- Allows for cumulative cultural change
Discuss language in humans.
- All human cultures have the same capacity for language (ability, morphology for spoken language)
- All languages have common grammar
- All languages have ways to define relationships between words (syntax)
- Suggests a common underlying structure to language
- Special cognitive adaptation for human language
What are memes?
An idea, behaviour, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture. Genes and memes influence each other (cultural practices can now alter gene frequencies)
What is the dual inheritance theory?
Memes are under selection.
- Memes compete for attention (survival)
- More memes exist than can survive
- There is variation in ability of memes to be transmitted (survive)
- Memes are heritable
What is maladaptation in memes?
- Memes are subjected to natural selection
- Memes can spread even if they’re not beneficial
- We can be influenced by maladaptive or “bad” memes
Is cultural or biological evolution faster?
Cultural evolution
