problem 4

Question 1

Kin selection

Answer 1

evolutionary strategy that favors the reproductive success of an organisms relatives, even at a cost to own reproduction/ survival

Question 2

Hamilton’s rule

Answer 2

Kin selection causes genes to increase in frequency when the genetic relatedness of a recipient to an actor multiplied by the benefit to the recipient is greater than the reproductive cost to the actor (r*b > c)

Question 3

inclusive fitness

Answer 3

Ability of an individual organism to pass on its genes to the next generation, taking into account the shared genes passed on by the organism’s close relatives

Question 4

alloparenting

Answer 4

An individual other than the biological parent of an offspring that performs the functions of a parent

Question 5

altruism

Answer 5

Selfless concern for the well-being of others – behaviour that benefits others at costs for the actor

Question 6

mutual-benefit behavior

Answer 6

Behaviour that is beneficial both to the actor and the recipient (type of cooperation)

Question 7

by-product benefits

Answer 7

Situations where the mutual benefit arises simply from every individual following its own immediate self-interest

Question 8

direct reciprocity

Answer 8

we help individuals that help us (tit-for-tat)

Question 9

indirect reciprocity

Answer 9

Help is given to individuals based on their reputation, bad acts (such as not helping) reduce an individual’s reputation while good acts (such as helping) increase an individual’s reputation

Question 10

green beard effect

Answer 10

explanation of selective altruism among individuals of a species. Occurs when an allele produces 3 effects: a perceptible trait (the green beard), recognition if this trait by others, preferential treatment of individuals with the trait

Question 11

eusociality

Answer 11

Highest level of organization of animal sociality, is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care, overlapping generations within a colony of adults, a division of labour into reproductive + non-reproductive groups
(bees/ ants)

Question 12

philopatry

Answer 12

tendency of an organism to stay in/ habitually return to a particular area

Question 13

reproductive altruism

Answer 13

behavior that increases others fitness + permanently decreases own fitness

Question 14

ultimate explanations

Answer 14

Why something occurs – “real” reason behind a behavior, concerned with the fitness consequences of a trait or behavior + whether it is (or is not) selected

Question 15

proximate explanations

Answer 15

How something occurs, concerned with the mechanisms that underpin the trait or behavior

Question 16

parochial altruism

Answer 16

Self-sacrifice to benefit our own group (“in-group love”) and to hurt or sabotage out-groups (“out-group aggression”)

Question 17

grudger

Answer 17

always co-operates unless the other defects – then he only defects (he is pissed off)

Question 18

tester

Answer 18

strategy starts of cooperating and then defects to see what the opponent does and to find out their strategy

Question 19

network reciprocity

Answer 19

If a co-operator pays a cost, c, for each neighbor to receive a benefit, b, + defectors have no costs + their neighbors receive no benefits, network reciprocity can favor cooperation. The benefit-to-cost ratio must exceed the average number of people, k, per individual: b / c > k

Question 20

group selection

Answer 20

describes natural selection operating between groups rather than between individuals

Multi-level selection = Selection on the lower level (within groups) favors defectors, whereas selection on the higher level (between groups) favors co-operators, b/c > 1+(n/m)

Question 21

generous tit-for-tat

Answer 21

If the other cooperates, you cooperate – if the other doesn’t cooperate, you sometimes do not cooperate as well

Question 22

stay-loose-shift

Answer 22

You keep your strategy as long as you win, if you lose, you change your strategy

Question 23

prisoner’s dilemma

Answer 23

Situation in which 2 players each have 2 options whose outcome depends crucially on the simultaneous choice made by the other, often formulated in terms of 2 prisoners separately deciding whether to confess to a crime

Question 24

reproductive restraint

Answer 24

adaption that has evolved because it increases likelihood of population surviving through bad years

Question 25

evolutionary stable strategy (ESS)

Answer 25

behavioral policy that, once common in a population, cannot be out -competed by any alternative behavioral policy

Selfishness always out -competes altruistic behaviour because altruism is not an evolutionarily stable strategy