psych 304: exam 1

Question 1

evolutionary psychology’s four key questions

Answer 1

◦ why is the mind designed the way it is? what causal processes created, fashioned, or shaped the human mind into its current form?
◦ how is the human mind designed? what are its mechanisms or component parts, and how are they organized?
◦ what are the functions of the component parts and their organized structure? what is the mind designed to do?
◦ how does input from the current environment interact with the design f the human mind to produce observable behavior?

Question 1

evolution: definition

Answer 1

change over time, gradual change in species

Question 2

who was jean-baptiste lamarck?

Answer 2

first evolutionist to speak of evolution and assumed species adapt to their environment

Question 3

lamarck’s theory of evolution

Answer 3

◦ believed in two major causes of species change: natural tendency for each species to progress toward a higher form and the inheritance of acquired characteristics
◦ animals must struggle to survive and this struggle causes their nerves to secrete a fluid that enlarges the organs involved in the struggle (e.g., giraffes evolved long necks through their attempts to eat from higher and higher leaves)
◦ neck changes that came about from these strivings were passed down to succeeding generations of giraffes = inheritance of acquired characteristics (soft inheritance)
◦ was put to a final end by Weismann barrier, the principle that hereditary information moves only from genes to somatic cells, never in reverse

Question 4

catastrophism

Answer 4

◦ Baron Georges Leopold Chretien Frederick Dagobert Cuvier
◦ species are extinguished periodically by sudden catastrophes and then replaced by different species

Question 5

who was charles darwin?

Answer 5

first to explain how change might take place over time

Question 6

darwin’s travels

Answer 6

◦ traveled from 1831 to 1836, where he collected samples of birds and other animals from Galapagos Islands
◦ found that different finches had a common ancestor but had become different from each other because of the ecological conditions on each island

Question 7

how did darwin get to his theory?

Answer 7

◦ unearthed key to the puzzle of adaptations in Thomas Malthus’s An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798), which introduced Darwin to the notion that organisms exist in numbers far greater than can survive and reproduce
◦ the result must be a “struggle for existence”
◦ he eventually came up with the theory of natural selection

Question 8

theory of natural selection: three ingredients

Answer 8

principle of variation, principle of inheritance, principle of selection

Question 9

principle of variation

Answer 9

◦ individuals in a population have variation in their physical and behavioral traits (i.e., phenotype)
◦ organisms vary in all sorts of ways
◦ variation provides raw materials for evolution

Question 10

principle of selection

Answer 10

◦ selection pressure: any phenomena which alters the behavior and fitness of living organisms within a given environment
◦ organisms with heritable variants leave more offspring because those attributes help with the tasks of survival or reproduction

Question 11

principle of inheritance

Answer 11

◦ principle of inheritance: some of this variation is heritable (i.e., due to genotype)
◦ only some of these variations are inherited, these are the ones that play a role in the evolutionary processt

Question 12

theory of sexual selection

Answer 12

◦ focused on adaptations that arose as a consequence of successful mating
◦ intrasexual competition: competition between members of one sex, the outcomes of which contributed to mating access to the other sex
◦ intrasexual selection or preferential mate choice: those with desired qualities will be chosen as mates; evolutionary change occurs because the qualities desired in a mate increase in frequency with the passing of each generation

Question 13

the role of natural selection and sexual selection in evolutionary theory

Answer 13

◦ natural and sexual selection are not the only causes of evolutionary change
◦ evolution by natural selection is not forward looking and is not intentional
◦ selection is gradual

Question 14

genetic drift

Answer 14

◦ random changes in the genetic makeup of a population, can occur through mutation, founder effects, and genetic bottlenecks
◦ happens to all populations, has drastic effect in small populations, driven by chance not selection

Question 15

founder effect

Answer 15

◦ small portion of a population establishes a new colony and the founders of the new colony are not genetically representative of the original population
◦ other definition: reduction in genetic variation that happens wehn a small group of individual starts a new population

Question 16

genetic bottleneck

Answer 16

◦ reduction in genetic variation that happens due to a dramatic reduction in population size (population crash), changes gene pool

Question 17

mutation

Answer 17

◦ copying error in a piece of DNA
◦ changes in DNA
◦ external influences: exposure to specific chemicals, radiation
◦ are random

Question 18

Gregor Mandel’s peas

Answer 18

◦ studied inheritance of 7 different features in pea plants
◦ demonstrated that genes are the units of heredity
◦ inheritance is particulate (passed on intact to their offspring in genes), not blended

Question 19

genotypes

Answer 19

◦ entire collection of genes within an individual/set of genes an organism carries (bb)

Question 20

phenotypes

Answer 20

◦ set of observable characteristics, based on genotypes and environment (blue eyes)

Question 21

tinbergen’s four “why’s” of behavior”

Answer 21

◦ immediate influences on behavior [proximate: how]
‣ what is cause of behavior?
◦ developmental influences on behavior [proximate: how]
‣ how the behavior develops?
◦ function of behavior, or adaptive purpose it fulfills [ultimate: why]
‣ what is the function of the behavior?
◦ evolutionary or phylogenetic origins of behavior [ultimate: why]
‣ why did the behavior evolve as it did?

Question 22

proximate (how)

Answer 22

◦ how did environment and the individual’s genetic makeup interact to produce the behavior?
◦ what body systems (nervous, hormonal, etc) are involved in this behavior?

Question 23

ultimate (why)

Answer 23

‣ what is the function?
‣ how does/did this trait help individuals increase their genetic representation in future generations?
‣ what environmental pressures selected for this trait?
‣ how has this behavior changed over evolutionary history?

Question 24

inclusive fitness theory

Answer 24

◦ inclusive fitness: 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 ◦ inclusive fitness can be viewed as the sum of an individual's own reproductive success, plus the effects their actions have on the reproductive success of their genetic relatives

Question 25

William D. Hamilton

Answer 25

◦ created inclusive fitness theory ◦ classical fitness: passing on genes through the production of offspring ‣ Hamilton believed this was too narrow ◦ he theorized that natural selection favors characteristics that cause an organism's genes to be passed on, regardless of whether the organism produces offspring directly

Question 26

products of evolution by natural selection

Answer 26

adaptations, by products, random effects/noise

Question 27

adaptations

Answer 27

◦ inherited and reliably developing characteristics that came into existence through natural selection ◦ they helped to solve problems of survival or reproduction better than alternative designs existing in the population during the period of their evolution ◦ must be genetic "for" an adaptation ◦ natural selection cannot act on traits that don't get sent to offspring ◦ example: umbilical cord

Question 28

adaptations (simpler definition)

Answer 28

◦ evolved solutions to specific problems that contribute either directly or indirectly to successful reproduction

Question 29

by products

Answer 29

◦ characteristics that do not solve adaptive problems and do not have functional design ◦ they are carried along with characteristics that do have functional design because they happened to be coupled with those adaptations ◦ belly button

Question 30

noise

Answer 30

◦ random effects produced by forces such as chance mutations, sudden and unprecedented changes in the environment, or chance effects during development ◦ not linked to the adaptive aspects but it's independent of these features ◦ some are beneficial ◦ variation in belly-button shape/type

Question 31

primary product of evolution by selection

Answer 31

adaptations

Question 32

adaptations criteria

Answer 32

‣ reliability: does the mechanism regularly develop in most or all members of the species across all "normal" environments and perform dependably in the contexts in which it is designed to function? ‣ efficiency: does the mechanism solve a particular adaptive problem well and effectively? ‣ economy: does the mechanism solve the adaptive problem without extorting huge costs from the organism?

Question 33

environment of evolutionary adaptedness (EEA)

Answer 33

◦ selection pressures that occurred during an adaptation's period of evolution responsible for producing the adaptation ◦ the EEA for each adaptation refers to the selection forces, or adaptive problems, that were responsible for shaping it over deep evolutionary time

Question 34

theory of parental investment

Answer 34

◦ the sex that invests more resources in its offspring (often the female) will evolve to be more choosy or discriminating in selecting a mate ◦ the sex that invests fewer resources in its offspring will evolve to be less choosy and more competitive with members of their own sex for sexual access to the valuable, high-investing opposite sex

Question 35

Out of Africa theory (OOA)

Answer 35

◦ proposes that modern humans evolved in Africa and then migrated into Europe and Asia, replacing all previous populations, including the Neanderthals ◦ anatomical, archeological, and genetic evidence support the OOA

Question 36

multi-regional continuity theory

Answer 36

after the first migration from Africa 1.8 million years ago, the different groups of humans in different parts of the world slowly evolved in parallel with each other, all gradually becoming modern humans

Question 37

hostile forces of nature

Answer 37

◦ encountered dangers to their survival ‣ extremes of climate, harsh weather, food shortages, toxins, diseases, parasites, predators, hostile conspecifics (members of the same species) ◦ create adaptive problems for humans

Question 38

folk biology

Answer 38

◦ intuition that living things come in discrete packets that correspond to distinct species ◦ each distinct species has an internal "essence" that produces its growth, bodily functions, external form, and special powers ◦ emerges early in life and is universal across cultures ◦ example: if piglet is raised by cows, it will oink when it grows up rather than moo; lions have essence that produces canine teeth and specialized claws that can kill you

Question 39

behavioral immune system

Answer 39

◦ collection of adaptations that function to avoid disease that could be transmitted by bacteria and viruses contained in food, infected non-human organisms, and infected humans ◦ emotion of disgust is a key component of the behavioral immune system

Question 40

disgust

Answer 40

◦ hypothesized adaptation that serves as a defense against microbial attack, protecting people from the risk of disease ◦ involves feelings of revulsion and nausea, motivates strong withdrawal from the disgust-producing stimulus

Question 41

predictions for disgust:

Answer 41

◦ should be evoked most strongly by disease-carrying substances ◦ disgust elicitors should be universal across cultures ◦ disgust should activate the immune system ◦ people should show an especially good memory for objects that have been touched by sick or diseased individuals

Question 42

antimicrobial hypothesis

Answer 42

◦ spices kill or inhibit the growth of microorganisms and prevent the production of toxins in the food we eat and so help humans to solve a critical problem of survival--avoiding being made ill or poisoned by the foods we eat ◦ spices most powerful in killing bacteria: onion, garlic, allspice, oregano

Question 43

frugivory by-product hypothesis

Answer 43

◦ the human penchant for drinking alcohol is not an adaptation but rather is a by-product of adaptive fondness for ripe fruit ◦ all humans have adaptations that favor the consumption of ripe fruit, but drink alcohol instead ◦ ancestors: ripe fruit, modern humans: alcohol ◦ cooking could be an adaptive behavior that prevents us from getting sick from our food

Question 44

adaptive function of separation anxiety

Answer 44

◦ loss of protection from attachment figure

Question 45

how much of our DNA do we share with chimps and bonobos?

Answer 45

chimps: 99% bonobos: 98.7%

Question 46

mitochondrial eve

Answer 46

has been suggested that all present living humans can trace their ancestry back to a single female living in Africa around 200,000 years ago

Question 47

did charles darwin invent the theory of evolution?

Answer 47

no, he proposed a mechanism that could cause evolution (natural selection)

Question 48

do all mutations matter for evolution?

Answer 48

no

Question 49

somatic mutations

Answer 49

occur in non-reproductive cells and won't be passed onto offsprings

Question 50

germ line mutations

Answer 50

mutations that can be passed onto offsprings in reproductive cells, and matter to evolution

Question 51

assortive mating

Answer 51

preference for similar genotypes and phenotypes

Question 52

disassortive mating

Answer 52

preference for different genotypes or phenotypes

Question 53

adaptations are ___

Answer 53

inherited, reliable, and have to solve problems

Question 54

adaptive problems: survival

Answer 54

◦ finding, choosing, and processing appropriate food ◦ avoiding predators ◦ combatting pathogens ◦ keeping warm ◦ navigating the environment

Question 55

adaptive problems: reproduction

Answer 55

◦ choosing and wooing appropriate mates ◦ competing with same-sex rivals ◦ scheduling births ◦ identifying kin ◦ caring for children

Question 56

adaptive problems: sociality

Answer 56

◦ helping relatives and allies, cooperating ◦ learning and teaching ◦ political alliance and between-group conflicts ◦ avoiding exploitation

Question 57

what is a genotype?

Answer 57

set of genes passed down from parent

Question 58

what is gene?

Answer 58

smallest unit of heredity, one unit in a genotype

Question 59

all adaptations carry ___

Answer 59

a cost whether it be a metabolic cost

Question 60

convergent evolution

Answer 60

process by which unrelated or distantly related organisms evolve similar forms or adaptations

Question 61

adaptive behavior

Answer 61

behavior which contributes directly or indirectly to an individual's survival or reproductive success and is thus, subject to the forces of natural selection

Question 62

non-adaptive (maladaptive) behavior

Answer 62

behavior or trait is one that is counterproductive to an individual's survival or reproductive success

Question 63

exadaptation

Answer 63

◦ performs function but not formed by natural selection for its current use ◦ remaining but may not be used currently for what they were used for in the past (different function)

Question 64

vestigial adaptation

Answer 64

◦ they are remaining but functionless ◦ adaptations for past environments but not current one

Question 65

adaptive value of disgust

Answer 65

move us away from contamination or pathogens

Question 66

adaptive value of fear

Answer 66

keep us away from possible threats or dangerous situations

Question 67

one of the biggest predators is ___

Answer 67

disease pathogens

Question 68

red queen hypothesis

Answer 68

◦ also known as the evolutionary arms race ◦ prey and predator constantly evolve together: "organisms must constantly adapt while pitted against ever-evolving opposing organisms in an ever-changing environment" Val Valen (1973)

Question 69

pathogen

Answer 69

bacterium, virus, or other microorganism that can cause disease

Question 70

virulence

Answer 70

harmfulness of a pathogen

Question 71

evolved defense mechanisms

Answer 71

◦ physiological immune system ◦ behavioral immune system ◦ food-related behaviors/traditions

Question 72

food-related behaviors/traditions

Answer 72

◦ eating presents dangers to survival ◦ humans have evolved set of behavior to prevent ingesting dangerous foods ◦ our taste preferences can be an adaptive behavior that prevents us from eating harmful foods

Question 73

antimicrobial hypothesis: predictions

Answer 73

◦ spices should kill or inhibit food-spoilage microorganisms ◦ spices should be used in food that spoils most rapidly ◦ spices should be used most in climates were food spoils most rapidly

Question 74

physiological immune system

Answer 74

◦ external barriers to infection ◦ chemical barriers to infection ◦ cellular defenses ◦ COSTLY!!!! takes a lot of our body to protect ourselves from pathogens!!!

Question 75

external barriers to infection

Answer 75

skin, mucus membrane lining, urinary tracts, etc provide first line of physiological defense of invasions from pathogens

Question 76

chemical barriers to infection

Answer 76

protective chemicals within the body

Question 77

cellular defenses

Answer 77

natural pillar cells in the body like the T-cells and antibodies

Question 78

behavioral immune system

Answer 78

◦ facilitates avoidance of pathogens ◦ not always costly!

Question 79

"universal emotion"

Answer 79

◦ squinting of the eye, wrinkling of the nose, raising the upper lip, "UGH!" sound ◦ protects mucus membrane by making them smaller ◦ lessens the chances of being infected by it

Question 80

parasite avoidance theory

Answer 80

disgust is an adaptation serving to bias behavior away from risks of infectious disease

Question 81

expulsion behavior

Answer 81

spitting, gagging, vomiting - presents us from getting sick

Question 82

bonobos vs chimps performance

Answer 82

• bonobo outperform chimps on cooperative and altruistic tasks, while chimps were better at systemizing behaviors • bonobos better at gaze following, food sharing, cooperation, and social play • chimps better at tool use, causal reasoning, spatial memory, and aggression