Week 1, Lecture 1 - intro

Question 1

Why is Darwins theory of evolution controversial?

Answer 1

Because it contradicts religious views

Question 2

What is Sociobiology?

Answer 2

An evolutionary approach of ethologists that focussed on function rather that stimuli

Question 3

What is function in sociobiology?

Answer 3

The ultimate explanation - long term

Question 4

What is stimuli in sociobiology?

Answer 4

Proximate explanation - immediate

Question 5

Why was Wilsons book “The New Synthesis” controversial?

Answer 5

• Accused of biological determinism and in conflict with cultural determinism (important for sociologists)
• Accused of enthusiastic “just-so” storytelling was another problem

Question 6

What is the standard social sciences model?

Answer 6

Everything is learned - biology has no part to play

Question 7

Why did evolutionary psychology arise from?

Answer 7

arose in response to criticisms of sociobiology

Question 8

Does evolutionary psychology focus on behaviour or the mechanisms that underlie it?

Answer 8

The mechanisms that underlie it

Question 9

Does evolutionary psychology believe people are different or the same universally?

Answer 9

Believes in human universals

Question 10

What school of thought does evolutionary psychology follow? Give some example of what this looks like

Answer 10

A modular and adaptive school of thought
- innate psychological mechanisms
- domain specific “mental organs”
- modularity of the mind

Question 11

What do evolutionary psychologists believe are some universal characteristics of human nature?

Answer 11

• experience and expression of emotion
• spoken language
• status and roles including division of labour
• incest avoidance
• developmental trajectories (infants learning to walk, talk etc at same time)

Question 12

What is the environment of evolutionary adaptedness (EEA)?

Answer 12

An environment (think savanna) that humans learnt to adapt to. traits from this adaptation still exist within us today

Question 13

When was the term EEA first used?

Answer 13

Bowlby (1950s onwards)

Question 14

Can maladaptations result from adaptations for the EEA? Give an example

Answer 14

Yes e.g., humans being afraid of spiders despite many living in countries where they are not a threat

Question 15

What are some criticisms of evolutionary psychology?

Answer 15

• not that different from sociobiology (pan-adaptationism and “just so” storytelling”
• out of date understanding of evolution

Question 16

What are some limitations of the EEA?

Answer 16

• little is know about what it was like
• there was a long evolutionary history before then
• diverse habitats
• not evident that modern hunter-gatherers are representative
• humans are still evolving

Question 17

What are some limitations of domain general psychology?

Answer 17

• the ability to learn = adaptation
• cognitive abilities might be by-products of more general abilities
• cognition involves integration across domains

Question 18

What is a limitation of human universals?

Answer 18

• overlook important variation in individuals

Question 19

What is the goal of behavioural ecology?

Answer 19

to determine how differences among individuals can be due to optimality and fitness explanations

Question 20

Does behavioural ecology look at adaptive responses in local environments or a single universal environment?

Answer 20

local environments

Question 21

Is behavioural ecology interest in proximate mechanism?

Answer 21

no more interested in the evolution behind it

Question 22

How is behavioural ecology studied?

Answer 22

• small-scale societies are studied
• same approach is used as early ethnographers but a different theoretical background is used –> trying to show how humans have adapted to their environment
• use historical datasets to see how environment influences population level behaviour

Question 23

What does facultative mean?

Answer 23

flexible in environments

Question 24

What does obligate mean?

Answer 24

committed to 1 strategy/environment

Question 25

What is a niche?

Answer 25

An environment and way of life of an organism
Greater overlap leads to greater competition (e.g., prey size)

Question 26

What is optimality?

Answer 26

• adaptive trade offs for the best possible outcome

Question 27

What is ecophysiology?

Answer 27

whether to invest in growth or reproduction

Question 28

What are some criticisms of behavioural ecology?

Answer 28

• focus on adaptive behaviour not adaptations
• focus on behaviour not psychology
• ignores constraints on adaptiveness i.e., simplifying the assumption that natural selection will always favour traits with high fitness

Question 29

What are the 2 levels of explanation?

Answer 29

Ultimate causation - evolutionary explanation
Proximate causation - immediate circumstances

Question 30

What are the 4 questions of the LOE?

Answer 30

Function (adaptation) - fitness value of a trait
Evolution (phylogeny) - evolutionary history of a trait
Development (ontogeny) - traits variation throughout development
Causation (mechanism) - immediate circumstances affecting a trait