Test 1 Flashcards
What do biological and cultural evolution have in common, according to Portin?
a. Theorists can use evolutionary logic to explain changes and transmission of both biological and cultural characteristics over time
b. Both biology and culture involve changes in information stored in the brain and other repositories of knowledge
c. In both biological and cultural evolution, changes can be rapid, even within a single generation
d. Biological and cultural evolution do not have anything in common with each other
e. Biology and culture both rely on genetic adaptation to the environment
a. Theorists can use evolutionary logic to explain changes and transmission of both biological and cultural characteristics over time
Why do some ideas spread and resist change over generations while others do not?
a. Ideas resist change over generations ONLY if they are written in books.
b. As long as the individual has Facebook and has made his/her timeline public, these ideas will spread and resist change over generations
c. Information that is useful for one generation is taught to the next one. The next generation will learn and decide whether the information is still useful for their generation and whether it is worthy of teaching to their offspring.
d. Any idea or knowledge produced by elite members of a culture will spread over the population and resist change over time.
e. None of the other options is true
c. Information that is useful for one generation is taught to the next one. The next generation will learn and decide whether the information is still useful for their generation and whether it is worthy of teaching to their offspring.
How is culture transmitted over the generations?
a. Culture is transmitted from one generation to another through a process of selection.
b. None of the other options is correct.
c. Cultural transmission is based on competition; the ideas of the dominant culture will replace the beliefs of the dominated, and will be taught to the next generation.
d. Culture is ONLY transmitted from the parents to offspring.
e. Culture is information stored in the gene. It does not matter where you were born, your genes define the person you will be.
a. Culture is transmitted from one generation to another through a process of selection.
Some of the similarities and differences between Axelrod & Hamilton and Nowak’s theories of the evolution of cooperation are that:
a. Axelrod & Hamilton’s theory provides a more complete catalogue of evolutionarily stable mechanisms that allow for cooperation
b. Axelrod & Hamilton view altruism as an important trait predicting cooperation, whereas Nowak focused only on mathematically verifiable mechanisms
c. Axelrod & Hamilton’s simulation does not allow for cooperative strategies requiring communication through a social network, whereas the strategies described later in Nowak’s theory require network-based communication to work
d. Axelrod & Hamilton restrict their attention to the mathematics of evolution at the individual-level, whereas Nowak focuses on a qualitative account of group-level processes
e. The two theories are more or less mathematically equivalent
c. Axelrod & Hamilton’s simulation does not allow for cooperative strategies requiring communication through a social network, whereas the strategies described later in Nowak’s theory require network-based communication to work
Is it correct to equate the brain with a computer? Why or why not?
a. No. The brain processes logical information just as a computer does, but it does not have multiple modules
b. None of the other options is correct
c. No. Human beings are not computers, we are wetware shaped by evolution, culture, and communication
d. Yes. Because the brain is based on digital logic as the computer is.
e. Yes. Because the brain has some specific digital programs to process information from the body and the environment
c. No. Human beings are not computers, we are wetware shaped by evolution, culture, and communication
From an evolutionary point of view, how have human beings created tools, technology, and modern society?
a. Modern society was created only because of individual genius’ capacity for creativity.
b. Human beings have improved society through collective learning, using language to develop knowledge that can be shared across time and space.
c. Each new generation develops their own knowledge and improvements, independent of what came before.
d. The knowledge transmitted by genetic inheritance from generation to generation is the main reason for progress.
b. Human beings have improved society through collective learning, using language to develop knowledge that can be shared across time and space.
Which of the following is true of the Prisoner’s Dilemma Game (PDG)?
a. The PDG models the role of conscious choice in a sophisticated simulation of decision-making involving a competitive tournament
b. Mutual cooperation yields the best outcome for the individual
c. The payoff matrix is used to model rewards and costs of punishing another organism for cheating in social exchange
d. If you cooperate and the other defects, they get the best outcome and you get the worst: this is defined as the Sucker’s Payoff
e. Mutual defection leads to a better overall outcome than mutual cooperation
Feedback
d. If you cooperate and the other defects, they get the best outcome and you get the worst: this is defined as the Sucker’s Payoff
In an evolutionary view of life, do human beings have to be aware of cheaters?
a. No. Human beings are focused on cooperation as a strategy of survival, and cheaters are an exception to the rule of cooperation.
b. Yes. Because cheaters do not contribute to the reproduction of their own genes
c. No. Cheaters are not supposed to survive evolutionary competition.
d. No. Cheaters are a modern social problem specific to the context of civilization and economic surpluses
e. Yes. Human beings’ strength as individuals is multiplied by cooperation, but cheaters are a threat to group life because they take benefits without fulfilling obligations
e. Yes. Human beings’ strength as individuals is multiplied by cooperation, but cheaters are a threat to group life because they take benefits without fulfilling obligations
Which of the following provides a good illustration of some of the “design issues” involved in human evolution?
a. The process of adaptation has driven the human being to acquire higher and higher levels of intelligence, as evidenced by larger and larger brains during the last 100,000 years
b. Biological evolution is independent from social and cultural evolution
c. None of these choices
d. The pelvis (bone) is involved in both locomotion and child bearing, and adaptation involving one (i.e. standing upright) affects the other (i.e., the size of the hole through which a baby is born)
e. Competition (survival of the fittest) ensured that an optimally efficient design emerged for upright locomotion among human beings
d. The pelvis (bone) is involved in both locomotion and child bearing, and adaptation involving one (i.e. standing upright) affects the other (i.e., the size of the hole through which a baby is born)
What is culture?
a. The social norms governing cooperation between group members.
b. Genetic variations resulting from adaptation to the environment.
c. Switching from competition to cooperation because of kinship relations.
d. Information shared amongst members of a group, which can be stored in many sources, influences behaviour, and persists over generations
e. Programming of the mind that distinguishes between different individuals in a group.
d. Information shared amongst members of a group, which can be stored in many sources, influences behaviour, and persists over generations
Taking into account the fact that human beings are self-conscious and have a theory of mind, which of the following statements is WRONG?
a. We infer states of mind to others.
b. We are active makers of meaning, and what we infer about others affects our own actions.
c. We recognize ourselves in a mirror, we give one another names, and we fear or anticipate our own deaths.
d. We guess what others are thinking and what their intentions are.
e. We can predict peoples’ behavior mainly through their physical appearance
e. We can predict peoples’ behavior mainly through their physical appearance
Which of the following statements best represents the basic idea of evolution theory?
a. Evolution always requires competition
b. Evolution leads to infinite possibilities
c. Organisms evolve over a massive period of time as a result of accumulated changes inherited from their ancestors.
d. Organisms are a product of Intelligent Design
e. Evolutionary thinking involves cause-to-effect reasoning
c. Organisms evolve over a massive period of time as a result of accumulated changes inherited from their ancestors.
How can altruistic individuals sacrifice their own inclusive fitness in social exchanges with others and still manage to pass their genes on to the next generation?
a. Altruistic individuals can identify cheaters better
b. Cooperation between non-kin is the main reason why altruistic individuals survive.
c. Altruistic individuals exist because of a genetic aberration.
d. Altruistic individuals must maintain moral superiority to survive competition versus non-altruistic individuals.
e. Kin selection allows altruistic individuals to survive because we tend to help close kin, and the survival of a family member means the survival of one’s own genes
e. Kin selection allows altruistic individuals to survive because we tend to help close kin, and the survival of a family member means the survival of one’s own genes
Which of the following is true about the Prisoner’s Dilemma Game (PDG) in Axelrod & Hamilton’s simulation, and an interpretation of their results using Nowak’s theory of the evolution of cooperation?
a. Tit-for-tat was unable to reproduce itself as successfully as an All-Defect (All-D) strategy because it relies on kin selection
b. Tit-for-tat, the most successful strategy, could be viewed as inclusive of kin selection and direct reciprocity as evolutionarily stable cooperative strategies
c. Nowak agrees with Axelrod & Hamilton that there is no basis for group-based selection in evolutionary theory
d. Axelrod & Hamilton’s simulation is considered as classic in the literature because it models all of the mechanisms necessary for the evolution of cooperation in human beings
e. Game theory is too abstract to be of much utility in modelling the evolution of human beings
b. Tit-for-tat, the most successful strategy, could be viewed as inclusive of kin selection and direct reciprocity as evolutionarily stable cooperative strategies
