social life

Question 1

benefits of group living

Answer 1

avoiding predation
joint foraging
defence of territory
care of offspring
information

Question 2

costs of group living

Answer 2

competition with group for resources
disease more easily spread

Question 3

how is stress related to group size

Answer 3

cortisol levels of stress very high when in low group size
optimal group size results in lowered stress

Question 4

asocial social systems

Answer 4

live a solitary life and mate promiscuity

Question 5

monogamy social system

Answer 5

one male, one female

Question 6

examples of monogamous social systems

Answer 6

human and gibbon

Question 7

polygyny social system

Answer 7

one male, multiple females

Question 8

example of polygyny social system

Answer 8

gorillas

Question 9

various mating social system

Answer 9

multiple males and multiple females

Question 10

example of various mating social systems

Answer 10

chimpanzees, humans

Question 11

polyandry social systems

Answer 11

female mates with several males - males only have one mate

Question 12

how is sociality related to brain size

Answer 12

Relative higher brain size in relation to body mass increases in social animals
More cognitive capacity required for recognition and group activity

Question 13

brain sizes in primates

Answer 13

Brain size correlates with the group sizes
Relationships are established with multiple members of a group

Question 14

how is less predation related to brain size

Answer 14

more likely to survive - longer life span so higher brain span is required

Question 15

what is Dunbar’s number

Answer 15

human brain size predicts a group size of around 150

Question 16

why may Dunbar’s number be accurate

Answer 16

hunter gatherer communities often establish group sizes of approx. 150

Question 17

what is an obligate sociality

Answer 17

loneliness seen as bad for us - linked to depression

Question 18

how are human groups social

Answer 18

Multimale and multifemale groups with embedded mating pairs (monogamy) or females and several males (polygyny)

Question 19

what is virilocality

Answer 19

wives moving to husbands families

Question 20

what is uxorilocality

Answer 20

husbands moving to females families

Question 21

what often makes human sociality different

Answer 21

joint ventures and large scale co-operations - more exaggerated than other species

Question 22

define cooperation

Answer 22

Behaviour that provides a benefit to another individual, and is maintained because it does so

Question 23

mutual benefit behaviour

Answer 23

Behaviour that benefits the recipient and the actor
Widespread in nature

Question 24

define altruism

Answer 24

Behaviour that benefits another individual but is detrimental to the actor

Question 25

when does altruism occur

Answer 25

only evolves when altruist and recipient are related - too costly

Question 26

what is direct reciprocity

Answer 26

Cost for the actor does not outweigh the benefit for the actor
Individuals have to repeatedly interact

Question 27

what is indirect reciprocity

Answer 27

A helps B and is therefore more likely to be helped by C
costs do not always outweigh the benefits
often involves maintaining reputation

Question 28

what provides a stabilising mechanism for cooperation

Answer 28

punishment

Question 29

what is involved in social learning

Answer 29

learning feeding behaviours
learning mate preferences
tradition

Question 30

factors of social learning

Answer 30

Fast changing environment means individual learning more beneficial
Cost of individual learning
Proportion of social learning in the population

Question 31

why is human nature seen as cumulative

Answer 31

accumulate knowledge and building upon ideas to result in improvement

Question 32

how is cumulative culture replicated in a lab

Answer 32

spaghetti towers