Stone Age Stuff

Question 1

Tenets of Evolutionary Psychology

Answer 1

1. The human brain is a product of natural selection
2. The human brain adapted to solve particular problems which our ancestors faced.
3. The cognitive capacities which our ancestors developed that allowed them to solve problems were heritable.
4. The brains we have now are the brains our ancestors developed years ago.

Question 2

Motto of evolutionary psychology

Answer 2

“Our modern skulls house a stone age mind”

Question 3

Maladaptation theory from evolutionary psychology

Answer 3

A lot of the behaviours we have now were adaptations for how humanity was for 99% of its existence but they are not very useful now in our current urban environment.

Question 4

Examples of maladaptation in humans (cravings):

Answer 4

We crave salts and sugars, this may have been beneficial in the past when salts and sugars were harder to come by and would help us bulk up and survive but now they lead to us becoming unhealthy, so it’s now a maladaptation.

Question 5

Examples of maladaptation in humans (fears):

Answer 5

We have inate fears of snakes and spiders, this may have been useful when these things caused a larger number of deaths but in the modern world they are very uncommon causes of deaths.

Question 6

give an example of what evolutionary psychologists say is a key evolutionary adaptation

Answer 6

the ability to detect cheaters in our environment (those who break social norms)

Question 7

Evolutionary psychologist view of the cognitive tasks of the brain

Answer 7

they are assorted in cognitive modules, each module handles one cognitive task such as one for calculation, one for determining friend from foe etc. Like how each organ handles one bodily function.

Question 8

Why is the e.p view of the cognitive tasks of the brain a plausible argument?

Answer 8

When one function of the brain is damaged it doesn’t necessarily mean all other functions are damaged: e.g. patients who have amnesia and those with aphasia still have many of their other cognitive functions intact.

Question 9

What is ecological inheritance?

Answer 9

Parts of the environment that are inherited by offspring from their parents as opposed to genetic inheritance that is inherited through parent’s genes.

Question 10

Technical definition of “culture”

Answer 10

Anything that is passed down by social learning from a population to an individual and vice versa.

Question 11

What is “cumulative culture”?

Answer 11

When one generation adds and augments its inherited culture.

Question 12

key result of human culture practices

Answer 12

cultural can affect environmental selection pressures which can result in specific genes being developed