EEB Exam 2
Machiavellian Intelligence and triadic awareness and examples thereof (DW)
Machiavellian Intelligence: •Nicolo Machiavelli -Wrote the prince MI is using intelligence for primarily selfish and manipulative/deceptive ends. This contrast with collaborative, supportive, uses of intelligence. -animals viewed as competitive, nasty, and selfish -ex.) Primates recruiting help of others and enemy's friends by schmoozing them to help gain support for their conflicts -Opposite example that still shows triadic awareness would be when female gorilla resolves a fight between two young gorillas that are fighting over the stick by breaking it into two peaces and solving the conflict. The "Machiavellian intelligence" hypothesis (or the "social brain" hypothesis) posits that large brains and distinctive cognitive abilities of humans have evolved via intense social competition in which social competitors developed increasingly sophisticated "Machiavellian" strategies as a means to achieve higher social and reproductive success. •Among chimps, hierarchy permeates everything •In female chimps, one female dominates another •In males, power has to be fought for and jealousy guarded against contenders. •DW ascribed intelligent social behavior and maneuvering to animals oThis was strictly forbidden before •He deliberately broke with this tradition and described chimps as schmoozing and scheming machiavellians •Inspired by Menzel and Kummer oMenzel worked on chimps cooperation and communication postulated goals and hinted at intelligent solutions oKummer wondered what drove baboons to act how they do. •He also studied how baboons plan travel routes and who decided where to go, baboon in front or rear •He combined classical ethology with questions about social cognition •Jane Goodall had chimps named Mike and Flo oMike banged kerosene cans together to impress his rivals and he shouted too oFlo had love life and family relations oGoodall's apes had personalities, emotions, and social agendas. •Two examples to help tackle the issues of social skills in primates: oFirst example was when chimps get in a fight, they try to recruit help of other chimps in the colony oChimpanzees losing the battle will beseech their friends by stretching out an open hand to them •They try to recruit support to turn things around oChimps also try to recruit their enemy's friends •They do this by neutralizing them by putting an arm around the enemy's friend and giving them a kiss oThis showed that they had to know the friends of their opponents which took experience. •Individual A had to know of relationship between themselves and B and C as well as relationship between B and C. •This is called *triadic awareness* because it reflects knowledge of entire ABC triangle. -To understand how others relate to one another is basic social skill that is even more important for group living animals oSecond example concerns wild chimps •No obvious connection between male's rank and his size •Small male with right friends can reach the top •This is why a smaller male will have to invest more into alliance formation •A relatively small male spent much more time grooming others, investing more energy into diplomacy such as grooming, to gain support from third parties. •Alpha male with exceptionally long tenure was shown to have a bribery system where he gave monkey meat to allies and denied the meat to rivals. oKalunade was a chimp that was a former alpha male that was dethroned but made a sort of comeback •He did not claim top spot for himself but acted as power behind the scences. oKalunade would switch camps between alpha and beta male •He would groom the alpha then would switch and groom the beta male later as if he was trying to decide who to side with •This was a perfect illustration of a tactic dubed by Toshi as *allegiance fickleness*. •Susan Perry oAnalyzed how individuals form coalitions during fights oOverlord position: Characteristic coalition stance of capuchins where two monkeys threaten a third with their mouths wide open and stares and one leaning on top of the other oOpponent thus faces an intimidating display of two monkeys wrapped into one oCapuchins preferentially recruit friends who are dominant over their opponent oThey seem to realize that there is no point is appealing to their opponent's friends. oThis requires triadic awareness. oHeadflagging: Capuchins solicit support by jerking head back and forth between opponent and potential supporter •Also used against danger, such as snakes •Can also be used to manipulate attention -Guapo the monkey was being chased by other monkeys •He used the snake warning call and bird warning call to divert the attention of the other monkeys •They stopped chasing for a moment then resumed and finally stopped letting Guapo finish foraging for insects. oMore evidence that primates know one another's relationships comes from the way they calssify others based on family membership •Tendency to redirect aggression -Macaques are prime example -When one macaque is threatened or chased, it will threat or chase another lower macaque and usually from the family of the original aggressor •This redirection is almost a form of revenge oCategorizing others into families may be a case of stimulus equivalence. •Ronald Schusterman oHad pinneped named Rio oRio could extrapolate information and make association between A, B, and C. oRio applied this logic to combinations that he had never encountered before. oRon used this info as a prototype of how animals may mentally group individuals together, such as families or cliques. oEquivalence learning makes for quick and efficient categorization. oRon also described how angry chimps will attack the nest of the other chimp when it is away •The nest of the enemy is the next best target •This shows connection and stimulus equivalence •Experiments at Georgia state showed that monkeys have a concept of rank and are quick to evaluate the status of unknown individuals on the basis of how they interact with others. •Ravens may show similar understanding oRavens recognize vocalizations and calls of other ravens and can distinguish between dominant and submissive ravens oConcluded that ravens have a concept of status that goes beyond their own position and they know how others typically interact and are alarmed by deviations from this pattern. •*One of the best examples of triadic awareness is when two males get in a fight and wont reconcile and the alpha female or a high ranking female has to come over and make the males or encourage them to reconcile.*
Dispersal/philopatry
One method of incest avoidance (another method is kin recognition) •*Dispersal*: the tendency of a organism to move away from its birth site (natal dispersal) or breeding site (breeding dispersal). oWidespread among birds and mammals •Also shown to occur in fish, amphibians, reptiles, and insects •In all primate species, individuals disperse away from the group in which they were born and emigrate to another group to breed. o*Dispersal generates out breeding and prevents inbreeding* o*Dispersal evolved as a response to inbreeding.* •*Inbreeding avoidance is the main function of dispersal* •Ultimately dispersal patterns depend on relative costs and benefits of dispersal oFemales generally suffer higher costs from inbreeding depression than males because of their large investment in offspring and limited breeding potential oFemales and offspring benefit from staying in their home area because they need to be familiar with the area for resources and food purposes. •*Philopatry*: the tendency of individuals, usually females, to return or stay in their home area (male birds and female mammals tend to be more philopatric than the opposite sexes respectively). -In most monkey species, males emigrate.
Human male and female mating/marriage preferences and supporting data
Overall: Men want beauty because it is a good sign of health, fertility, and youth Women want successful and attractive men because these indicate ample resources and good genes. *What men want* -Physical attractiveness is used as a suitable fitness indicator by males for females oMales cannot see age, hormonal status, health, etc directly •Overall, femininity is strongly attractive and may signal fertility •Fertility •Male preferences for female beauty are also part of a cultural heritage oStandards for female beauty are subject to cultural conventions and influence. Men prefer women with low waist-hip ratio •Another feature of female attractiveness which reliably signals women's reproductive value is the sexually dimorphic fat distribution of female body •Selection would favor female that has signals that promise high reproductive potential and that males can easily access oMost men want a female with low waist-hip ratio •Small waist, big hips is good •Circumference of waist / circumference of hips •It was shown that a low WHR was related to lower risk of disease and greater success in pregnancy as well as better health •WHR is positively correlated with BMI *To summarize what men want*: oWHR around 0.7 oFacial features indicating sexual maturity but relative youth oSymmetric body and face oProportionately longer legs oLarger than average and symmetrical breasts oSmall abdomen and waist oYouth *What women want* -Traits that improve the threatening an fighting ability of men are probably not generally preferred by women and are better designed for male-male competitions that for the attraction of mates oThere are circumstances where women would choose more aggressive or formidable male •Usually more violent environment and she seeks protection •As rape decreases a woman's fitness, women would prefer men who could provide protections -Competition between females is usually more subtle than male-male competition oThere is greater risk for injury or reproductive harm or death oUsually women fight by verbal abuse or spreading lies or they more strongly advertise the qualities men are looking for •Buss and Shackleford study: -Women prefer men that indicate command over more reproductively useful resources -Women with high mate value are expected to impose higher standards for desirable characteristics including indicators for: •Good genes •Good investment •Good parenting •Good partner Women near ovulation prefer more attractive men •Women's ratings of men's attractiveness change when they approach the 6 day window of high fertility oGeary 2010 study showed that ovulating women find certain sexy qualities about a man more attractive during this period •Taller than average but not too tall •WHR of .8-.9 •Masculine face •Scent of men who are socially dominant or intrasexually competitive •Men who have relatively symmetrical bodies and features •Muscular bodies •Deep voices •Talent as opposed to wealth •Prominent cheek bones and chin -A sign of high testosterone and only sustainable by healthier men oLong term mating for male with high parental investment oShort term mating for masculine featured male with good genes -males showed preference for youth, beauty, fertility, but females showed preference for wealth, resources etc.
Hunter-gatherer vs Western marriage types
Parents can increase their genetic interests by improving the fitness of their children through influencing their mate choice. For example, Menelaos Apostolou analysed marriage types across hunter-gatherer societies - the earliest human societies and still persisting to some extent in remote regions - and classified them in *four categories* on the basis of who made the mating decision: -parental arrangement, -kin arrangement (e.g. brother, uncle), -courtship with parental approval -courtship (daughters find their own marriage partner). *Results* show that parents arrange most of the marriages while free choice (courtship) was the primary marriage type in only 4 per cent of the societies •Parent-offspring conflicts about marriage partners are more apparent in societies with more material resources such as agricultural societies oMen in agricultural societies have more decision making power over marriage arrangements •The reason is that inheritance and land is passed from father to son and if a son doesn't comply he risks losing his resources. •Studies were done to show how parents and offspring differed in what they thought was ideal mate for their children and themselves respectively. oParents considered three things to be most unacceptable: •Having different ethnic background or religious beliefs •Being poor •Being divorced oChildren considered three things to be most unacceptable: •Lacking exciting personality •Lacking sense of humor •Being unattractive
Wason Selection Task
Selection task developed by -------. An example of this task is the drinking problem in which participants are told to imagine that they are police officers observing people drinking in a bar to make sure that they comply with the following rule: 'if a per son is drinking in a bar, then s/he must be over 16 years of age'. They are also told that each card represents a drinker, having on one side the kind of drink and on the other side the age of the person. The visible sides of the four cards show: COKE BEER 16 21 Subjects need to check that the 16 year old is not drinking beer and to check the age of the beer drinker. They are instructed to choose those cards showing that the rule is being violated. The correct choice is 'drinking beer' and '16 years of age', which most subjects choose. The other two cards don't matter because any one can drink coke and 21yearolds can drink what they like. This deontic selection task has been used to demonstrate that humans have a specialized capacity for reasoning about social exchange leading to cheater detection.
Genomics
The genome, nervous system, and culture as solutions to evolutionary adaptive problems •Genome: the total genetic material within the cell of an organism •Three adaptive systems: genome, Nervous system, and culture •Genome knows how to build a body •Nervous system knows how to respond rapidly to changing environment •Culture knows all the things an individual could ever learn by itself. •Evolved one after the other •Plants only need a genome but animals need all three *genomics*: the branch of genetics concerned with the study of the genomes *The genomic system*: •Two distinct parts: oNuclear genome: •The total genetic material within the cell, containing 25,000 genes oMitochondrial genome: •An energy-generating organelle in each cell containing 37 genes •Every somatic cell of the human body has a genome of each parent •Every reproductive cell in the human body has the genome just one genome •Genomics is the branch of genetics concerned with the study of genomes •Germ line: Germ cells convey heritable information from generation to the next •Soma: somatic cells which are used to build the body •Weissman barrier: the principle that information moves only from germ line to soma and never backwards. •Gene pool: the sum total of all genes in an interbreeding population at a particular time that can be described by the frequencies of different genes it contains. oEach individual's genome is a sample from the gene pool •Greg Gibson: argued that recent human evolution has changed and disrupted our genetic make-up that evolved oCompares humans with adolescents •We are constantly growing up and trying to come to terms with a changing world. We'll get to a comfortable genetic place but not for a few 100,000 generations •Human genome cannot keep up with fast moving species like humans •This can be seen in our increased susceptibility to disease. Genomics has collected and analyzed genomes from thousands of organisms and is compiling them in the Human Genome Project -the role of the HGP was to further understanding of human genetics and our understanding of health and disease Several distinct but overlapping areas of genomics: -structural genomics: about mapping genome of any organism -Functional genomics: deals with how gene functions change under different conditions such as disease states -Comparative genomics: identifies similarities between genomes of different species -Phylogenomics: field of bioinformatics that integrates knowledge about evolutionary history of organisms (phylogeny) with analysis of their genomes (genomics) and proteins (proteomics) -Human genomics: reflects history of human gene set since early life (still very incomplete) Problems with genomics: 1.) The first issue is that early genomics shared the reductionist aspirations of genetics which led to the mistaken belief of genetic determinism. This belief considers causation in life to be entirely oneway: the genes cause the proteins, the proteins cause the cells, and so on. 2.) The second issue is about the decline of hypothesis driven research in biology and the growing influence of the data-driven approach of genomics. The answer to these issues would come from the emerging, postgenomic science of systems biology which aims to obtain a fundamental, comprehensive and systematic understanding of life. *Upward and downward causation*: -upward: genes control proteins which control pathways....... which control organs and then organisms -downward regualtions: upward regulation pathway but also involves high level triggers of pathway controlling the lower levels (Higher level triggers cell signaling and higher level controls of gene expression and also protein machinery reading the gene precursors.)
Social, genetic, serial, and sexual monogamy
examples: gibbons, swallows, swans, humans Social monogamy: -refers to a male and female's social living arrangement (e.g. shared use of a territory, shared care of offspring). This arrangement does not imply that male and female have an exclusive sexual and reproductive relationship. In humans, social monogamy is mostly identical with monogamous marriage. In many cultures, most human sexual relationships are socially monogamous. Genetic monogamy: is used when DNA analyses can confirm that a male-female pair reproduce exclusively with each other. All offspring produced are from the pair. Serial monogamy: refers to pairs that mate and raise offspring cooperatively, but then choose to mate with new partners. Sexual monogamy: refers to an exclusive sexual relationship between a male and a female. Monogamous mating system: is synonymous with sexual and genetic relationships, whereas 'monogamous social system' is a synonym for social monogamy.
Four types of competition underlying virtually all of human behavior and Evolutionary Psychology
mates status resources social control (power) all animals have to find resources, mates, shelters, so where evolution will have most impact will be on *recurrent evolution demands*
Red Queen hypothesis
o*Basically an evolutionary arms race* -*one consequence of selection* When the environment changes rapidly over time, genetic associations built up by past selection can become disadvantageous. In this case, sexual recombination can break apart these associations, improving the fitness of offspring. A highly likely mechanism promoting rapid changes in the fitness of gene associations is interactions between hosts and parasites oHighly likely mechanism that can be displayed in hosts and parasites oWith the rearrangement of the genome from generation to the next, organisms attempt to remain one step ahead of their adversaries •Selection also varies among individuals •So the answer to why so many species choose sexual reproduction is that it may have reintroduced variations, also may have evolved to eliminate genetic associations that are disadvantageous due to changing environment.
Selfish gene theory
proposed by Dawkins argued that focus in evolution should be on the gene and changing gene frequencies.
Modular approach
------- evolutionary approach to psychology oConsiders mental modules for the evolved solutions to problems •Human characteristics indicate problems oProblem of altruism oProblem of incest-avoidance oProblem of social exchange If people in current societies suffer from phobias of snakes (or strange food, strangers, heights), these automatic responses are exaggerated forms of fear that would otherwise be adaptive. Such responses reveal information about ancestral problems.
Westermarck effect
-Don't want to marry a relative, and there is a psychological effect to not wanting to marry a relative. -being raised as a sibling deters sexual attractiveness. -Wrote around 100 or so years ago about marriage and sexual selection in man, etc. -Incest taboos are not ironclad even though they may have evolutionary basis Hypothesis that familiarity in childhood weakens sexual attraction in adulthood. Evidence shown in Taiwan marriage study of Arthur Wolf
Coefficient of relatedness
-Number of genes shared by relatives due to common descent (parent-offspring = 1/2 and first cousins = 1/8) first degree relatives - parents = 50% and full siblings = 50% on average second degree relatives - grandparents, grandchildren, uncles, aunts, etc. = 25% third degree - first cousins = 12.5%
Puberty, adrenarche, gonadarche
-One idea that has gained increasing support and attention over the past several decades is that paternal investment early in life may influence the timing of sexual maturity in children, as well as their adult reproductive strategies. -A large number of studies have examined the relationship between father absence in childhood and earlier sexual maturity. -If fathers have poor relationships with their daughters, this may accelerate their sexual maturity *Puberty*: the physiological and mental transition from juvenility to adolescence, lasting about four years and involving the development of the secondary sexual characteristics and adolescent growth spurt. *Adrenarche*: refers to the beginning of the developmental phase known as adrenal puberty. Adrenal androgens are hormones which are secreted in the bloodstream at about 6 years of age. They can drive development along sex-specific pathways. -Recent findings show that less marital conflict, as reported by fathers, predicts later adrenarche, that is, the onset of adrenal puberty. -Adrenarche is 'the awakening of the adrenal glands' •Gonadarche: the earliest changes in puberty in which the ovaries of the girls and the testes of boys begin to grow and increase the production of sex steroids especially estradiol and testosterone -greater supportiveness of the mother predicts later development of secondary sexual characteristics. This corresponds with the second phase of pubertal development, called gonadarche, at about 9 or 10 years of age, triggering pubertal events such as maturation of primary sexual characteristics (ovaries) and full development of secondary sexual characteristics (pubic hair, breasts and genitals).
Grandparent effect
where mom's parents try to ensure that father accepts child as his own ex.) "wow, he has your eyes and nose!"
Describe the cooperative pulling paradigm and why is it important.
•Apes have a solid understanding of advantages of cooperation •Bula and Bimba oChimps that worked together even after one was full to pull a rope and hoist a box of food into their reach. oThis showed reciprocity •Cooperative pulling paradigm oDemonstrated by the chimps Bula and Bimba oPulling is less successful when the chimps are prevented from seeing each other so this is true condition dependent. •Human cooperation represents a huge anomaly on the natural realm •Captive studies have shown that even strangers can be enticed to share food or exchange favors. *An experimental paradigm in which two or more individuals pull rewards toward themselves via an apparatus that they cannot successfully operate alone* -monkeys -hyenas -parrots -rooks -elephants etc Primates will prefer partners that cooperate and are tolerant enough to share the prize -capuchins will work together and then share food
Darwin's methods for studying emotions
•His interest in studying emotions began when he started to make notes of his first child, William, and his other children. •Darwin emphasized the evolutionary continuity between animal and human emotions. •To reveal cross-species similarities, he compared and analyzed countless sketches and photographs of humans and other animals in different emotional states. •Darwin emphasized two important points. oThe first point was that emotions in humans and other animals have an adaptive function. oHis second point was that a limited repertoire of basic emotions is present across species as well as across cultures. •He read books on moral philosophy and natural theology. oOne of his conclusions from studying these works was that all actions are determined by habits, by hereditary character, by education or by chance. •he shifted the focus away from the experience of the individual to the individual's ancestors oHe reasoned that if emotions were innate in lower animals, one could assume that they were also innate in humans. oDarwin did not believe that the primary function of expression was to communicate the inner feelings •He explained these movements as inherited habits that in the past were connected with emotions but now regarded as 'expressions'. -He was mainly interested in the physiology and expressions associated with emotions. •Darwin denied that expressions had any use at all. He regarded them as habits that were once useful but were rendered useless by changing environmental conditions. •Darwin proposed three explanatory principles 1.) The principle of serviceable associated habits: •This principle holds that expressions begin as voluntary responses, become habitual, and as a result of their adaptive utility, are passed on to the next generation. •For example, the bare-teeth expression of an animal, used to threaten an opponent, was originally a part of the action of biting another animal. The facial expression that humans make to express disgust was originally associated with the action of actually spitting out harmful food. 2.) The principle of antithesis: •This principle implies that when one emotion is the opposite of another emotion that has an associated expression, the first emotion can lead to an opposite expression. •For example, feelings of indignation cause us to move our arms forwards as if to attack somebody. The opposite feelings of apology lead us to retract our arms and hunch our shoulders. 3.) The principle of direct action of the nervous system: •This principle stipulates that certain expressions result from an excess of nervous energy, spilling over into other pathways. •An example would be the trembling produced by fear. -ex.) hair stands up on neck in animals •Darwin emphasized the universality and implied innateness of emotional expressions in humans and other animals. *Ultimately, Darwin lists six ways to study emotion:* 1.) observations of human infants -infants are less inhibited than cultural norms 2.) observation of the insane -presumably had less frontal lobe control of emotions so would be more rapid or intense in emotions 3.) electric galvanizing of facial muscles -one could stimulate the "expressions" not the "feelings" of emotions/expressions 4.) study of masterworks of paintings and sculptures -artists should be able to display emotion in art and art is easy to study 5.) surveys of modes of expression in non europeans -darwin realized that people in different societies have different expressions because of what was learned in their respective cultures -resembles ekman's studies on South Fore tribe in New Guinea to identify and compare facial expressions and how they were very similar across cultures. 6.) observations of non-human animals -most famous method he used to study emotions
We have looked at many research studies (EP and DW books; the DAB video series). Be able to fill the figure below with at least two examples for each of the 9 options
•Today, there is again a much closer relationship between researchers from biology and psychology, who have an increasing appreciation of the value of the methods and approaches of each field. *Psychologists*: •typically studied mechanisms and ontogeny of behavior •typically studied a small range of species in captivity using carefully controlled experiments •more interest in general learning processes •adopted the view that humans shared motivations or drives but not instincts with nonhumans. •Environment, rearing history, and culture were thus considered much more potent factors in understanding psychology than was genetic inheritance •even some of the early comparative psychologists such as J. B. Watson, Karl Lashley, and C. R. Carpenter engaged in field studies into the 1930s *Biologists/zoologists*: •primarily studied phylogeny, adaptation, and physiology. •typically studied animals in the wild using naturalistic observations and the occasional natural experiment •study phylogeny and adaptation TWO CONTINUA OF RESEARCH APPROACHES: •In reality, there are not two distinct categories of research approaches and settings. Rather, there are two continua: 1.) continua of captivity - One ranging from highly constrained captive environments, to semi-naturalistic captive environments, to zoos and sanctuaries, to wild populations 2.) continua of control - Another ranging from purely observational methods, to hypothesis testing without manipulation, to highly controlled experiments •Researchers need to carefully consider where they study animals and under what conditions -which range from the wild to small, highly simplified isolation cubicles *controlled deprivation:* •The more one moves to small, highly simplified isolation cubicles, the more one needs to consider how, what, and why one is depriving animals of environmental factors present in the natural habitats in which they evolved or currently live, and what impact this has on the behavioral phenomena being studied. Naturalistic captive environment may be the best setting EXAMPLES: 1.) bird songs 2.) whale phrases or songs -basically same as the bird song experiment but different settings 3.) orcas and how they cooperatively hunt (probably could make this work) 4.) melqui's bat study (captive or wild: a study on bats avoiding danger 5.) monkeys and their idea of fairness: in semi-natural can enter and leave and participate as much or little as they want -in lab the researcher can perform the experiment as well and control anything they want 6.) effects of predation on Tadpoles -observe them in natural environment -observe them in semi-nat -observe them in lab environment *7.)* Sensitive Periods and Song Learning in Birds - Thorpe - ontogeny of bird song
Sarah Hrdy
"Kinship promotes social behavior" - Hamilton's view -confirmed by langur monkeys She studied langurs and reproductive success discovered battle of the sexes each group has one stud male that is a guarder of territory but he is outside the group -Tenure usually lasts for 2 years it is common for the new male that takes over to kill the infants so he can breed with the females females must produce as many babies as possible Play occurs in langurs and is crucial to success in survival and reproduction Infanticide was viewed as having evolutionary roots and was adaptive (result of ------- study)
Be able to describe the value and limitations of naturalistic field studies and laboratory experimentation. What do the bird song learning studies, going back to DAB and William Thorpe, tell us?
*Five values of naturalistic observation* 1.) observe what the animal does (most important) -helps to design experiments or hypotheses 2.) important for captivity research programs 3.) add substance to previous findings 4.) understand which behaviors are important for different functions in the wild 5.) test hypothesis that could not be tested in captivity oA significant concern with the use of naturalistic methods is the potential for observer bias. *Value of experimentation*: 1.) lab research allows one to do experiments that could not be done in the field (control for light or temp or social interaction) 2.) development of methods that can be exported to the field 3.) Avoid observer bias -in captivity it is easier to avoid observer bias -not everyone likes working in the field so there will be more people recording data in the lab William Thorpe: (bird song learning) ethologist by training tried to relate findings for animals to humans wanted to see how much of a finches song was learned and what was innate in its genes. used new born chicks that haven't heard songs. -kept them scheduled and recorded songs and compared with other birds that weren't captured. patterns greatly resembled then played recordings of natural birds and the young birds learned the songs. Early experience as well as genes could effect behavior.
Inclusive fitness theory/Hamilton's theory
*Hamilton's theory also known as the Inclusive fitness theory*: a combination of individuals' reproductive fitness measures of both self and relatives (those that share genes with you) -measured in genes you are passing on -much more difficult to calculate -Hamilton brought this theory to light -Hamilton's theory explained kin altruism (alloparenting, or care for offspring by any member of the group other than genetic parents who help rear the young) by arguing that that individuals contribute genetically to future generations in two ways: direct and indirect. -A measure that combines an individual's *direct* genetic contribution to future generations through its own offspring, with the *indirect* contribution made by aiding the reproduction of relatives (*Sum of direct and indirect fitness*) Coefficient of relatedness: number of genes shared by relatives due to common descent (parent-offspring = 1/2 and first cousins = 1/8)
Two forms of sexual selection
*Intrasexual*: meaning that males compete with one another for a mate. •Driven by competition within same sex *Intersexual*: implies that females choose members of the opposite sex •Driven by female choice of suitable mating partners Examples: Intrasexual= male deer fighting to establish dominance and rights to mate with females, also female chickens fighting to establish dominance hierarchy Intersexual= male peacock with best feathers is chosen or favored by females *Sex-role reversal*: a form of animal behavior in which each sex behaves in a manner typical of the other sex. oEx. Some fish and insect species do this •The males take full responsibility for care of the young. Theories by Darwin on this intra vs intersexual selection didn't get accepted until almost a century later for two reasons: Critics accepted the male-male competition but not the female choice because they couldn't understand the competition through feathers and colors Another reason was that Victorian England held the belief that women were always passive and therefore couldn't choose.
From DW be able to compare the studies of Kohts, Alex, Kanzi, and dogs on "language" and cognition
*Nadia Kohts*: •Russian scientist •Had to hide her work at risk of being killed or imprisoned •Trofim Lysenko - Russian geneticist that said animals pass on traits gained during their lifetime •Kohts studied ape facial expressions •She wrote a book that compared emotional; life and intelligence of a young chimp, Joni, to her own little boy, Roody. •She was on the same track as Kohler as fasr as evolutionary cognitive studies but was possibly downplayed because of her gender or language. •She invented the Matching-to-sample (MTS) paradigm oThis is a staple of modern cognitive neuroscience oApplied to both humans and animals in the lab oKohts would hold up an object for a chimp to view. •Then the object would be placed out of view in a sack with a variety of other objects. •The animal would then have to find the original object •This involved two modalities -Vision -Touch •Also involved that the chimp make a choice based on memory. •Kohts also worked with parrots (macaws) to study animal cognition. *Alex the Parrot*: •African gray parrot owned by Irene Pepperberg •African Gray's brain can be quite sizable •DW studied jackdaws, part of the corvid family oThey showed object permanence •The understanding that an object continues to exist even after it has disappeared from view. •Alex the parrot learned labels for items such as keys, triangles, and squares. oThis was at first considered language learning. •Linguists once defined language in this way as symbolic communication. oLater it changed so that it was not considered language learning •Linguists raised the bar for what is language and added refinements such as the requirement of syntax and recursivity •All questions about animal intelligence had to pass a sort of Turing Test: oCan we humans hold a sensible conversation with them? *Kanzi*: •Sue Savage-Rumbaugh: oWorked with Kanzi, the bonobo who could communicate by pressing symbols on a keyboard •When asked about intelligence and language, Sue replied: -There is a difference between intelligence and language but language skills can help elaborate and refine cognitive skills, though. -Kanzi could solve three piece puzzles and then when given a fourth piece to an unrelated puzzle and he tried to make it fit, Sue would say, "Kanzi were not making the bunny puzzle, put Sue's face together" •Kanzi would listen and understand and then put together the puzzle. •Kanzi could understand commands pretty well •Kanzi's passive comprehension is greatly helped by his familiarity with a large number of items and words. -Alex the parrot, Washoe (chimp pioneer of animal communication that labeled a swan as a water bird), and Kanzi helped put animal cognition on the map *Dogs*: •If animals haven't grown up around humans they have no clue what our commands mean and don't pay attention to us like we want oThey remain wild and hard to engage oIn most cases this is impossible to get meaningful results oWe just need to learn how to test semiwild or wild animals •We can however use the one animal that is intentionally bred to interact with us: the dog oInvestigators don't face usual problems with dogs that are found in other animals •Dogs eagerly pay attention and need little encouragement to work on tasks •"Dognition" ofMri scans are used to see the human brain and show basically a neurogeography (where) things occur in the brain but rarely do we get an explanation of what this means or why it occur. oHow to gather this same information in animals has plagued scientists. •Cannot get voluntary, fully conscious participation. •Gregory Berns oWorked with DW and two dogs, Eli and Callie. oTrained the dogs to lay their head on a chin rest and they were also trained to be used to the buzzing noise of the fMRI machine oThey laid motionless long enough for scans to be performed oThey found that prospect of food activates the caudate nucleus in the canine brain, the same area that is activated in a businessman when he suspects a monetary reward. oWealth of neural homologies occurred. oShowed a lot of shared evolutionary background to mental processes and offers powerful argument against animal-human dualism.
Robert Trivers
*Parental Investment theory* (1-3): -Any investment by a parent in an individual offspring that increases the offspring's chance to survive but imposes a cost in terms of the parents ability to invest in other offspring. *1*.) PIT starts with the fact that males and females differ in level of investment they put into offspring, and *2*.) leads to differential allocation of resources to males and females. -males have generally been favored -since females reproduce they are at higher risks for death so why invest in females if she may die -males can have more offspring or get really fertile wives and pass on resources -males can contribute more to next generation's gene pool than females •Male reproductive success depends on how many females he can mate with •Female reproductive success depends on how many offspring she can produce oThought about evolutionary consequences in parental care oSometimes male is absent after copulation and female has to raise the young oHe proposed the parental investment theory. oHe argued that sexual selection is driven by the relative investment of the sexes •*Sex with highest investment will be selective about whom they accept as a mate (choose)* •*Sex with least investment will compete among themselves for a mate (competition)* *Trivers-Willard hypothesis*: -If you are well-off family, you have resources to give male son a good head start. Female offspring, not so much For High class family: -If you are wealthy, females are discouraged from marrying down -*Difference in investment as a function of social status* -female cannot inherit resources and there may not be enough other high class males to marry For poorer families: -*Hypergamy*= females can move up more easily than males -If you are a poor family, females have better opportunity to marry up -If you are poor and have sons, it will be much harder to move up -poor people should put resources into females so they can be attractive to males of higher status *3*.) Parent-offspring conflict -weening conflicts - parents kick kids out to ween them and so they could have more kids but offspring wants to keep feeding.
Parental care/parental effort/reproductive effort
*Parental care*: -refers commonly to any form of parental behaviour that is likely to increase the fitness of a parent's offspring. -In a broad sense, and applied to humans, this care includes buying or renting a house, producing eggs and sperm, feeding milk, providing school materials, and so on. *Parental investment*: -implications about costs in terms of required energy or missed mating opportunities. -any characteristics or actions of parents that increase the fitness of their offspring at the cost of the parent's ability to invest in other offspring -usually refers to parental care of individual offspring *parental Effort*: -care for progeny *reproductive effort*: -Parental effort plus mating effort -In general, males are focused on mating effort, females on parental effort. *somatic effort*: -the resources (e.g. calories) devoted to physical growth and to maintenance of the physical system during childhood and adulthood.
Temporal discounting
---------means that animals depreciate future rewards which results in a preference for small and immediate benefits rather than large and delayed benefits. If a monkey, for example, finds unripe fruit, it may wait for it to ripen. Although waiting may provide a larger benefit, it runs the risk that another monkey will eat the ripe fruit. This kind of uncertainty has favoured a strong selection pressure for discounting future benefits. Temporal discounting may be the rule among animals, but it varies across species. As an example, while pigeons and rats devalue future food in a matter of seconds, humans do it on the order of months (view diagram) Ex.) marshmallow problem: -if you give a kid a marshmallow now or tell them you will give them two more in a minute if they wait -all about delayed gratification = good mark of future success in life This is one reason why social exchange is uncommon in non human animals Other reasons consist of: -numerical discrimination •Engagement in these transactions implies that parties are able to quantify whether the exchanged resources and services are equitable. -Experiments demonstrate that animals have a number sense which is composed of two systems: •One system permits animals to count up to about four with precision •The other system enables them to approximate large numbers. -memory decay •If there are long time intervals between cooperative acts, both parties are likely to forget the debts owed and favors given
Parental investment theory/factors influencing parental investment
-Any investment by a parent in an individual offspring that increases the offspring's chance to survive but imposes a cost in terms of the parents ability to invest in other offspring. -Triver's theory *Factors affecting parental investment in offspring*: 1.)*age of the child* •Higher the age of the child, the greater the fitness pay-off from investing in older children •One child must be sacrificed to save others •Youngest is likeliest victim of infanticide 2.) *offspring quality* •Children born with severe physical deformity or illness are at higher risk of being killed •Even when children were not of that poor of a quality at birth, it has been proposed that the parents pursue an adaptive strategy in eliminating infants who are poor vehicles for parental investment. 3.) *Preference for boys or girls* •Across cultures, especially in China, there has been a long bias for boys •People reason that daughters depart at the age of marriage, making resources devoted to rearing girls a waste of parental effort. •Trivers and Willard Hypothesis 4.) *Degree of genetic relatedness* •One can predict that parents are sensitive to whether or not a child is their genetic child which may influence the amount of investment. oMother with children from previous and current marriage will treat them equally but a step father is more likely to treat them separately. •The less genetically the parent is related to offspring, the lower the likely investment. 5.) *Mate preferences* •Mate choice may be heavily influenced by parents, having different preferences than their children •Mate preferences may differ because parents and offspring are genetically related by 50% and thus do not always have identical genetic interests •Parents can increase their genetic interests by improving the fitness of their children through influencing their mate choice
Trivers and Willard Hypothesis
-If you are well-off family, you have resources to give male son a good head start. Female offspring, not so much oAttempts to explain the sex bias oNatural selection will favor sex-biases in parental investment, deviating from the normal ratio, when an individual's capacity to raise offspring depends on its physical condition and/or access to resources •They propose that if different preferences for male or female offspring are likely to evolve then: A.) one sex has greater variance in lifetime reproductive success than the other sex B.) parents vary in their physical condition and/or access to resources. •In humans, studies have been done comparing gypsies to Hungarians oGypsies aare low in social class and basically invest more in their daughters because the daughters have more likelihood of marrying up in society to males of Hungarian lineage and higher status. •Gypsy women that marry up out reproduce gypsy women that marry within the gypsy culture, and they have healthier babies.
Some sex differences between males and females
-Males and females have different characteristics which are directly involved in reproduction (penis and testes in males, vagina and ovaries in females). -Other characteristics (e.g. body size, body hair, body shape, face) also differ between the sexes but tend to be differences of degree rather than of kind. *Sexual dimorphism*- males and females have different phenotypes Darwin proposed that sexual dimorphism arose through sexual selection (the component or subset of natural selection that is associated with mating) *Males* -greater tendency for males to have or engage in: -superior long distance spatial navigation ability (may have evolved because males had to go hunt over long distances and come back and in turn developed better nav. ability) -physical fighting and rough and tumble play -competitiveness for social status and high dominance rank -risky adolescent and young adult behavior -more frequent and superficial sexual relationships -intense jealousy over sexual infidelity -abandonment or insufficient provision of offspring *Females* -greater tendency for females to have or engage in: -superior location memory in restricted spaces (finding things in the fridge example) -better defined motor skills involving fine motor control -verbal negotiation of conflicts (females are more verbal earlier in life than males, and females are more likely to use verbal abuse than physical confrontation) -competition for physical attractiveness amongst themselves (men compete for physical abilities) -more aversion to taking physical or resource risk (reproductive fitness at work) -fewer but more serious sexual relationships -anger of emotional infidelity (seems to be less of a problem when relationship is just physical instead of emotional) -close bonding with young offspring Monogamy serves to reduce male variance in reproductive success, enhance male parental investment, and generally reduce the extent of the expression of many of these differences
sexual dimorphism
-different phenotypes of males and females -Differences between males and females - in body size, body form, beauty, voice, and so on - are a matter of --------- Paradise birds, peacocks and song birds may impress the females with their ornaments, but they are at the same time an easy target for predators. For example, in some species, including many mammals, the male is larger than the female. In others, such as some spiders, the female is larger than the male. Other sex-specific differences include color (most birds), song in birds, size or presence of parts of the body used in struggles for dominance, such as horns, antlers, and tusks In humans, ------ is generally of degree and not so much kind (facial hair, pitch of voice, variance in fat distribution) Kind -------- is also present such as with reproductive organs,etc. In humans and other monogamous primates, body size is almost equal -body muscle is a dimorphic difference in humans -men are also on average taller than women _each human sexual dimorphic difference is an indicator that our ancestors were polygonous.
Types of mate competition
1.) *Scramble competition* -Search and find mating style where being the first to find a mate matters -Important when females are receptive to reproduction for only brief periods -Large features such as eyes are sometimes important here 2.) *Endurance competition* -May favor ability to be reproductive during major part of the season -Need endurance to stay longer at breeding site and mate with females that would otherwise mate with other males -Larger dominant male usually wins out on mating rights and mating success 3.) *Contest competition* -Rivals display to each other or they fight each other and the winner is able to mate 4.) *Sperm competition* -Occurs in species where females mate with multiple males -Competing by means of sperm favors: -Mate guarding -Frequent copulation -Production of mating plugs -Removal of rival sperm -Production of abundant sperm 5.) *Mate choice competition* -When females choose their mate -Does not require rivals come in contact -May select based on physiological traits such as size, or may select based on resources, or mates with good genes, or forced copulation
Three important concepts: some consequences of selection
1.) Arms race= when escalating offensive and defensive characteristics evolve -can occur within and between sexes and species -ex.) antlers, larger size, secondary sexual characteristics (bright color, good plumage, big ornaments) -inter and intrasexual selection -Women are more likely to delay mating and extract more resources from a male as proof of his commitment (back and forth arms race between the sexes.) -Makeup can even be used as a sign for youthful appearance to attract males. 2.) Runaway selection: when sexual selection leads to evolution of extravagant characteristics they may oppose survival selection -Irish elks = giant horns used to attract females and fight males but they were disadvantageous because they were costly and made animal vulnerable to predation -good for sexual selection but bad for natural selection 3.) handicap principle: Zahavi - when one sex advertises to opposite sex by conspicuous displays that may be seen to put advertiser at risk, but may also indicate advertiser's ability to survive such risks -heavy drinking and showing you can still drive home, staying out in cold weather, extreme sports, fighting -"Things that put you at higher risk, if you survive them, may put you at higher strength or cache for mating" -If you survive the risks you may raise your status and can increase risks in society
Be able to connect any type of study to the appropriate ethological aim and try to view connections among these terms and topics
1.) Development (ontogeny) patterns and processes in behavior change throughout an individual's lifetime 2.) Control (causation, mechanism) Internal and external factors underlying behavioral performance 3.) Adaptiveness (function and survivial) Contributions of behavior patterns to individual, group, reproductive, and inclusive fitness 4.) Evolution (phylogeny, genetic and cultural inheritance) Historical patterns and processes in behavioral change across generations and taxa (how many times did something evolve) 5.) Private experience (Personal or Phenomenal World, Emotions, Hetero-phenomenology) Patterns and processes in life as experienced (Does dopamine affect the reward structure of play for an individual?)
Ritualization and communication
Communication serves as a vehicle to convey information and express what has been perceived to others •Signal: any act or feature that coevolved between sender and receiver -Signals are thought to have evolved from animal traits or actions that begin as cues for certain states of the animal -Animal signals, such as alarm calls, evolved to serve fixed functions •These fixed function signals cannot be used to serve other functions •In most animals, signal and function are coupled in a one-to-one mapping which is why they are considered as fixed signals •Ritualization: the process by which certain behaviors acquire new communicative functions. -ex: the facial expression of disgust oriented from rejection of bad-tasting food to protect the body. -Ex.) courtship feeding of mates is from feeding young, signaling the readiness to breed. ex.) play bows in dogs: now it means "let us play" but it originated under different conditions in the past
Mating intelligence
Construct that refers to the capacity to understand the beliefs and desires of opposite sex partners as well as same sex rivals •Mate choice is one of the most important decision-making tasks that humans face oHas affinity to: •Social intelligence •Emotional intelligence oImportant because it may improve stable relationships that are needed for successful parenting oImportant for evolutionary psychology because it may be considered an evolved cognitive capacity that helps humans to solve problems •These problems include: Need to acquire and retain a mate Anticipate a mate's dissatisfaction and infidelity Assess ones own attractiveness and commitment Read one another's mind oImportant from psychometric standpoint because, like general intelligence, mating intelligence may display heritable differences between individuals •Without differences in individuals there would be nothing to be selected for in evolution
William Hamilton
Died of malaria His work lead to *self gene theory* ------ said that colonies are all important unit of social insects Proved social behavior was actually form of selfishness studied honey bees in his garden in England Attacking bees killed themselves -How could suicidal habits develop -He collected butterflies and moths at army firing range Also observed caterpillars -he thought that when bird sees caterpillars for the first time it will kill it but reject it and avoid senobar caterpillar the next time -Also suspected close relatives lived together and showed social behavior Worked on *Kinship theory* he was a naturalist - observed animals in their natural environment He did not just observe animals, but he also used calculus to workout how strong their relationship was He said that no creature can escape death What survives are copies of their genes in relatives and descendants he suggested that genes are selected that contribute to fitness and relatives work to prolong these close relatives work as a team and sometimes suicide makes sense in effort to preserve genes In honey bees, workers are all sisters individuals share a proportion of similar genes helping relatives occurs. Paperwasps -sisters are more closely related than they are to offspring -these insects helped each other Bulldog ants lay artificial eggs as food source ------- calculations showed calculated selfishness ------inspired the study of alloparental care by suggesting that individuals may engage in seemingly unselfish behaviour because they can gain fitness benefits by helping kin. -Hamilton predicted that the likelihood of helping others should correspond to the degree to which individuals are related.
Negativity bias
From an evolutionary point of view, individuals should have invested more in defensive, negative responses than in appetitive, positive responses. The bottom-line is that individuals who are unable to deal with life-threatening situations, run the risk not to survive and reproduce. Because it is more difficult to reverse the consequences of dangerous events than those of missed opportunities, it is likely that the process of natural selection has resulted in our propensity to act more strongly to negative than to positive information *This heightened sensitivity to information about things that may have a negative impact on survival and reproduction, is called the negativity bias*. This bias is also present in emotions. Negative emotions such as fear and anger are more powerful than positive emotions like joy or pride because they are crucial in life-threatening situations. Negative emotions which refer to diverse forms of threat, or obstruction of a goal, include anger, fright-anxiety, guilt-shame, sadness, envy-jealousy and disgust. Positive emotions which refer to diverse forms of goal attainment or the movement towards it, include happiness/joy, love/affection, pride and relief -Ex.) The negativity bias has been demonstrated in experiments. Our senses may have been selected to be especially sensitive to stimuli that represent potential threats to our survival and reproductive success.
Gestation, lactation (costs), and weaning
Gestation period, the period of sexual maturity, or the period of infant dependency, decreases reproductive potential. oMust be balanced by compensatory increase in lifetime. oHumans achieve higher reproductive capacity mainly by decreasing the birth interval from 5-6 years (chimps) to 2-3 years (typical in humans). •Early humans solved the reproductive problem of great apes by having babies every 2-3 years. •Earlier weaning (the process of reducing offspring's dependence on mother or perents, particularly with respect to feeding) reduces chances of child survival and makes young less able to compete with other chimps. •Big difference is that the human mother weans child from breast milk much earlier. oEarly weaning - when accommodated by more nutritious adult food - was vital to the development of larger brains in humans. •Three things that helped with earlier weening: oKiss feeding (chewing food before hand) oAvailability of cow's milk oControl of fire so people could cook •When human mother had weaned her child, she gave birth to another •In short, chimp foraging practices don't provide mothers with abundant food, making early weaning not an option. Weaning is the breaking of an offspring's dependence on its mother or parents, particularly with respect to feeding. In mammals, lactation is an energetically expensive form of parental care. For primate females, energy requirements are raised somewhere between 20 to 50 per cent during lactation. Nursing is one of the clearest forms of parental investment, as defined by Trivers because it increases the chance of the offspring's survival and decreases the parent's ability to produce and care for future offspring. It often occurs that the young persist in attempting to be get fed when the parent begins to hold back.
Parent-offspring conflict/weaning (and influencing factors)
In evolutionary biology, the weaning conflict is an example of the parent-offspring conflict which holds that there is a confrontation between the interests of young animals and their parent(s). The young are supposed to obtain the greatest possible parental investment while the parent must restrict such investment in order to maximise further reproductive effort. Thus, maternal rejection and weaning conflict are directly related to mating opportunities and the timing of the mother's next conception. Factors affecting parental investment and the parent-offspring conflict: Age of the child Offspring quality Preference for boys or girls Degree of genetic relatedness Mate preferences Based on the inclusive fitness theory and parental investment theory, parents are expected to continue investment in their young up to the point at which the cost, in terms of reproductive success, outweighs the benefits of increased survival for the current offspring
Female choice and choosiness
In general, it is the amount of parental investment that causes choosiness and competitiveness over mates. -monogamy is another factor, preceding paternal investment, which has an influence on male choosiness and female attractiveness. As females are the limiting reproductive resource, the theory of sexual selection predicts that males should compete over access to females. That is why males need to attract females by means of their sexy ornaments and why females are unattractive because they don't need to compete for males and can afford to be choosy. However, humans are an exception to this evolutionary rule, females are more beautiful According to Trivers' parental investment theory, the most investing sex is more selective (choosy) about a mate, and the least investing sex more competitive with one another over a mate. Following this theory, it has been argued that humans may be considered as a partially sex-role reversed species. Recall, sex-role reversal is a form of animal behaviour in which each sex behaves in a manner typical of the other sex. In many partially reversed species - mainly fish, insects and other invertebrates - males discriminate mainly on physical attractiveness, while females compete aggressively with one another for the best male. However, it is not realistic to say that humans are partially sex-role reversed since men are still larger and more aggressive, and women are more involved in child care. We are partially biparental rather than partially sex-role reversed.
Fear of snakes by primates - experimental issues
In history, the viper has been taken by many as an image of malice or cruelty and in reality is guilty of no such thing Snakes can become invasive to native species and habitat destruction, overcorrecting, pollution, invasive species, and climate change are driving factors for this too many fear snakes and kill them children appear to love snakes usually until puberty and then there is a change fear of snakes can lead to bad things for people -guy that kicked a snake into the baby carriage -Oklahoma police that shot at a snake and killed a child But do primates, including humans, have an instinctive fear of snakes? -wild caught vs captive born monkeys used. -only wild caught had fear of snakes showing that fear of snakes is not innate -captive born monkey responded fearfully when a video was shown depicting another monkey or parent being afraid of snakes -This showed that the fear is not innate but it can be learned. Can be hard to study snake fear in children and humans because this can be unethical and possibly dangerous Perceptual issues: In the experiment on the touch screen, monkeys recognized snakes among flowers as a visual stimuli more rapidly than stimuli such as flower among snakes -captive monkey even responded the fastest in the same conditions showing some innateness of perceptual issues or perceptual recognition and visual search emotional issues: problems with prior experiments -The researchers compared naïve young captive monkeys with wild snake-fearful adult monkeys, assuming that the wild-caught monkeys had previously learned to fear snakes. -study also did not use a native snake to the monkeys -They did not use venomous snakes that could actually pose a danger to monkeys -Only a few trials were run on any given animal -Trials were not video recorded. -Behavioral measures were not explicit or quantified, especially in pre- and post-snake trial tests.
Kin selection/reciprocal altruism/Hamilton's rule
Kin selection was one major idea but reciprocity (tit-for-tat) was another *Kin selection*: one of the mechanisms that is used to calculate inclusive fitness -fitness is transmitted through your offspring (direct) and through helping other relatives (indirect) -natural selection in favor of behavior by individuals that may decrease their chance of survival but increases that of their kin (who share a proportion of their genes) *Nepotism*= favoring of family members; bad on genetics and social basis *Reciprocal altruism*: In social species, individuals often provide resources or services to unrelated individuals who return the benefit at some later point in time. -proposed by Trivers -has to do with *reciprocity*: a form of cooperation in which benefits are deferred -Example: vampire bats exchanging blood (bad suck blood and regurgitate the blood to others in the colony who have helped them before or given them blood in the past) -Example: allogrooming where animals groom each other *Hamilton's rule*: rB>C •r= the degree of relatedness between agent and recipient •B= benefit or improvement of individual fitness of recipient caused by the behavior •C= cost to the agent's individual fitness as a result of the behavior -Altruistic helping will evolve whenever the cost to the helper is less than the fitness benefits of the one who receives the help. •We may expect that close relatives are more prone to giving mothers help -*Helpers might help for opportunities to mate or possibly territorial inheritance*.
Notes on sex differences in mating
Males can have lots of offspring -isogmay and anisogamy allows males to have more offspring Cultural differences occur -polygyny is more common than polyandry but both occur -sometimes in polyandry, females are larger and compete with other females for access to males (reverse sexual dimorphism) -males = usually short term interest -females = usually long term interest in mating (female has larger risk if she gets pregnant because it is more costly) Buss Studied mate preferences: -two pictures shown of same person -each with different clothes -females preferred males in suit rather than burger king uniform -males showed preference for youth, beauty, fertility, but females showed preference for wealth, resources etc. Casual Sex: -females prefer more masculine faces and features -advantage for possibility of getting pregnant by stronger, feral male and when other male returns, female will still raise child with more committed male rather than feral male. -Age and reproduction for females are on a curve that peaks around their 20's but this curve is shifting to include wider range of females.
mole rat
Mammal that lives like social animal is naked mole rat -mole rat society has caste system, each caste with its own job -workers dig tunnels -non workers are protectors/guards for colony and young -queen = single breeding female -she controls drones, as only mating males -prevents other from breeding by peeing -can give birth to 30 babies at a time but feeds babies in rotation -non workers leave fecal droppings for food and then fecal microbes help with digestion -most food is consumed by queen, lovers, guards Each colony lives separately -*cooperation rather than competition governs life*.
Darwin on pros and cons of marriage (think generally, beyond Darwin)
Marry: -Children - Constant companion (& friend in old age) who will feel interested in one - object to be loved & played with - Home & someone to take care of house - Charms of music & female chit-chat -also reduced the competition between men but created a problem of female competition for desirable bachelors Don't Marry: -Freedom to go where one liked - Conversation of clever men at clubs - not forced to visit relatives & to bend in every trifle - to have the expense & anxiety of children - perhaps quarrelling - Loss of time - cannot read in the evenings - fatness & idleness - Anxiety & responsibility - less money for books &c - if many children forced to gain one's bread - (But then it is very bad for one's health to work too much) -restriction to one wife (may explain why men became choosy as to which wife to choose for purposes of parenting care and marriage) oPros •Children •Constant companion •Home and someone to take care of the house etc pg 103 oCons •You have more freedom when you're not married •Gentlemen activities •Loss of time
Ways of viewing obesity
Obesity can be viewed as a mismatch, a low income problem, or a social learning problem Obesity: nutritional disorder developing chronically when energy intake exceeds energy expenditure -*Obesity as a mismatch*: •The modularity approach in evolutionary psychology would argue that there is a mismatch between ancient modules in our minds and the contemporary environment •Brain metabolism at rest accounts for 20-25% of energy needs oIn other primates this is only 8-10% •Large human brains could not be achieved without shift to high-quality diet. •Preference for fat food was adaptive in past environments, but has now become maladaptive in the modern world because wealth may lead to overconsumption. •Mismatch between evolved modules and the modern world -Modules in our mind are no more in tune with modern environment •As a result, people eat more •Arcuate Nucleus: (ARC) a small region of the brain that plays a central role in energy regulation oRegion of the thalamus oPlays a central role in energy regulation •Leptin: a critical protein that regulates how much energy is stored oProduced by fat cells oProduces a hormonal signal that reflects cells energy state oWhen leptin is absent, the body will be stimulated and hunger will occur and energy storage will occur -*Obesity as a low income problem*: •Human behavioral ecology says that obesity is a function of income •The lower the income, the higher the obesity rate. •When people are poor they can only get their food from cheaper sources such as sweets and fats oThey cannot afford meats and fruits. •High fats and sweets might have been adaptive in past environments but not in current ones where it causes health problems •Obesity as a mismatch and a low-income issue are both based on the assumption that humans evolved in times of food shortage oObserving modern hunter-gatherer societies can lead to insight •Modern hunter-gatherers eat 2580 per day •average US person eat 2248 per day • higher activity lifestyle cancels out higher level of caloric intake •Treating some foods as rare items results into a wrong perception of a food's marginal utility -*Obesity as a social learning problem*: •Gene-culture coevolution argues that obesity is a learning problem •Not everyone is susceptible to obesity oCultural influences are at play •People learn from parents and peers initially what to eat
Subitizing and unnamed numbers
Otto koehler - subitizing - he called it "unnamed numbers" -squirrels could relate to objects and numbers -we can estimate by seeing an object or image very quickly (when we were shown flashcards in class and asked how many objects were on each) -this process is called -------, which is where animals can keep track of numbers -usually 7 is the limit
Be able to distinguish and characterize the triune brain and Panksepp's 7 basic emotions
Paul MacLean integrated the ideas of Papez and others into an influential, evolutionary theory of emotion (bad idea). •He argued for a triune model of the brain which consisted of three gross layers, corresponding with the emergence of three groups of animals in successive evolutionary periods: oThe reptilian brain •*reptilian layer (brainstem)* tends to use instincts and drives and controls survival functions in humans oThe old mammalian brain •*paleo-mammalian layer (limbic system)* and plays a role in adaptaptive problems such as threats from predators oThe new mammalian or primate brain •*neo-mammalian or primate layer (neocortex)* is the sopurce of our cognitive, linguistic and cultural capacities. •Also modulates expression of emotions and affords flexibility in thinking and planning -------developed an evolutionary theory of emotions which emphasizes several points. 1.) emotions are older than cognitions, with the implication that much of the human mind was laid down in ancient emotions that we share with many other animals. 2.) although emotions and cognitions interact, they should be distinguished. •For example, emotions have intrinsic valence, meaning that they are characterized by negative or positive feelings that do not accompany pure cognitions. •Furthermore, emotions generate spontaneous facial and bodily expressions which cognitions do not. 3.) discrete emotions are part of emotional systems in the brain that organize motor programs and autonomic as well as hormonal changes to respond to adaptive problems faced by animals. •Seven emotional systems in animal brains have been identified by evoking emotional responses through localised electrical stimulation of the brain. •The first four systems are pre-mammalian since they are present in all vertebrates: oThe systems of FEAR, RAGE, SEEKING and LUST appear shortly after vertebrates are born •Fear: this system deals with responses to painful and threatening events, resulting in flight, fight or freeze behaviour. •Rage: this system deals with anger as it may be aroused by frustration, bodily irritation or restrained movement. •Seeking: this system makes mammals curious about their world and stimulates behaviour towards food, shelter and sex. •Lust: this system coordinates sexual behaviour and feelings. oWhen mammals arrived in the world, the emotional brain expanded because offspring needed sustained parental care. oThree additional systems emerged: CARE, PANIC and PLAY •Care: this system in mothers and fathers promotes caregiving behaviors as well as social bonding. •Panic: this system responds to separation of young mammals from their (allo-) parents by activating crying and separation calls. •Play: this system organizes rough-and-tumble play as it spontaneously occurs in young mammals; it supports laughter as well and may be the neural basis of joy. •What is known about emotional systems, comes mainly from studies of nonhuman mammals such as rats oThis is mainly due to ethical constraints *Panksepp said that there are seven basic emotions (primary) and secondary emotions are derived from these and tertiary emotions from secondary ones. -non specific energy enters the system and gets directed by this hierarchy of emotions.* Congenitally blind children can show similar emotions even though they have never seen them -this negated idea that we learn all of our emotions and expressions
Polygamy, polyandry, polygyny, monogamy, polygynandry, polygynamy
Polygamy: mating system where one male mates with multiple females Polyandry: refers to the mating system where multiple males mate with a single female ex.) rare among mammals but occurs in people in Northern India and tamarins primates Polygyny: refers to one meal and multiple female mating system ex.) baboons, gorillas, orangutans Monogamy: mating between one male and one female ex: lemurs, marmosets, humans serial monogamy: mate in successive order Polygynandry: refers to mating system where there are multiple male and multiple females ex.) macaques, baboons and chimpanzees Polygynamy: mating system where the home range of one male overlaps those of several females •As humans are primates, we assume that primate models provide important insights about the origins of human sexuality oFocus on phylogeny of humans and other primates to get insight •Polygyny probably formed when a male monopolized a few females •At first groups were probably multi male and multi female •Transaction from polygynous to monogamous pairs would require reduced number of females associated with each male and gradually replace the prevailing mating system of polygyny.
Belsky (not Belski) study on girls and fathers
Puberty research focused then on the effects of father absence on the age at menarche - i.e. the first incidence of menstruation in a female, marking the onset of puberty - although the original idea was that children should be sensitive to more than just a present or absent father. Later studies on puberty timing in both sexes show that stressful and negative family relationships tend to accelerate the onset of puberty in girls only, and to predispose to earlier initiation of sexual activity. Other findings demonstrate that girls with early menarche had greater preferences for infants than girls with late menarche. Early menarche was found to be significantly associated with father absence from home during childhood and adolescence. The implication is that development in these girls accelerates towards reproduction, and that an early interest in infants may help to acquire parenting skills
Standard social science model
SSSM Idea that there is human nature we all share as being humans How do we explain differences between people 1.) nature and culture are two distinct phenomenal realms 2.) nature manifests itself in instincts (fixed action patterns) and culture manifests itself in learned behavior -culture needs learning 3.) because human nature is the same everywhere, it is culture that explains differences between human populations 4.) human universals are likely to reflect human nature 5.) except for its extraordinary capacity to absorb culture, the human mind is largely a blank slate 6.) Culture (because of 3 and 5) is the most important determinant of human affairs 7.) explaining what people do in biological terms (in terms of nature instead of culture) is a reductionist fallacy (in extreme forms, explaining human affairs in terms other than culture itself is a reductionist fallacy) -though occam's razor and theory of parsimony is valuable, it is not be all end all 8.) being autonomous, culture has an arbitrary and highly variable character 9.) Human universals (because of 5 and 8) are few and unimportant
Costs of sexual reproduction
Sexual reproduction is more costly because each sex contributes only half of its genetic material to the new individual. -sexual organisms need to produce twice as many per individual, otherwise they suffer from a transmission disadvantage. Sexual reproduction is more complicated because an asexual organism can reproduce by itself while a sexual organism has to find a partner to mate. -This can be a big problem Given the costs of sex and the widespread potential for asexual reproduction, why do so many species reproduce sexually? This question has been called the *paradox of sex*
Frank Fraser Darling and wife
Studied atlantic gray seal Described how social patterns in seals change daily surveys revealed details about seal habits seals were quarrelsome and had no respect for each other's pups By fighting, bulls commandeered best places to mate -strongest bulls were the fittest ------- knew the seals personally by name and could track movements, activities, and friendships, etc ------- was a naturalist ------- Argued that you had to experience an animals habitats in all its moves and then you could understand their problems Pondered on the value of social habit He said *flocking* is very useful habit for birds -many eyes are good when predators are around Social living helps with hunting, foraging, protecting groups from predators Stimulation from penguins singing cases stimulation and synchronization so most penguins mate within a few days -*Synchronization* is of great benefit because it allows for more protection in breeding. -makes hunting difficult for predators -thousands of eggs are laid and a few are lost but sufficient amount remain for population to survive.
Explain with an example the basic principle of "strength is weakness" paradox.
The paradox of strength and weakness as we see it is that those who put the most effort into appearing strong, who refuse to ask for help even though they really need it, are the ones to whom the word 'weakness' is most applicable whereas those who have the courage to ask for help may appear weak but they're the ones to whom the word 'strength' is most applicable. ex.) "The most powerful player is often the least attractive political ally because this player doesn't really need others, hence takes them for granted and treats them like dirt." (DW) Yeroen choosing the young upstart instead of the established Alpha because it would allow him special privileges as kingmaker. Many people who decide to seek outside help for life problems are plagued by negative feelings about themselves for doing so. In a word they feel weak. They feel like seeking help is an admission of incompetence, proof that they're unable to manage their lives the way everyone else seems to be able to. But there is nothing weak about having the courage to say "I need help right now." And there's certainly nothing weak about having the courage to stick with the therapeutic process, with all of its painful revelations, all of its attacks on the fragile ego, all of its emotional and intellectual hurdles.
Role of female ovulation on female preferences
Women near ovulation prefer more attractive men •Women's ratings of men's attractiveness change when they approach the 6 day window of high fertility oGeary 2010 study showed that ovulating women find certain sexy qualities about a man more attractive during this period •Taller than average but not too tall •WHR of .8-.9 •Masculine face •Scent of men who are socially dominant or intrasexually competitive •Men who have relatively symmetrical bodies and features •Muscular bodies •Deep voices •Talent as opposed to wealth •Prominent cheek bones and chin -A sign of high testosterone and only sustainable by healthier men •*Ovulatory shift hypothesis* oAncestral women benefited from mating with multiple men to obtain good genes •This explains why preferences of women near ovulation shift to sexy features in potential partners •During window of high fertility, women engage in more self grooming, self ornamentation, more revealing clothing, etc •Once thought that there was a dual mating strategy oLong term mating for male with high parental investment oShort term mating for masculine featured male with good genes oThis strategy was criticized for four reasons: 1.) (not all women want an affair, and risk losing what they have) 2.) (one night stands were not really studied or found to be consistent in ancestors) 3.) (women may not be as designed for infidelity but more designed to allocate their attention to mate value and choosing mates) 4.) (suggested we can only reproduce at certain times)
Adaptive problems
a problem recurrently faced by our ancestors which had an impact on their reproductive success -problems of survival (finding food, place to live, avoiding predators) -mating (finding and retaining a mate) -parenting problems (helping offspring to survive and reproduce) -kinship problems (helping offspring of genetic relatives) -group living problems (detecting cheaters, negotiating social hierarchies)
Bateman Principle
drosophila experiments females almost always reproduce if they are healthy, but male success in reproduction can vary more -where there is more variance there is more competition (explains why males compete) (If you are strongest and most competitive, you get to mate with best or most females) o*Males increase their reproductive success more with each additional partner than females*. •*Bateman studied fruit flies in the lab and found three important sexual differences with regard to mating*: 1.) Male reproductive success varies much more widely than it does with females. •Males = less successful 2.) Female reproductive success was not limited by ability to attract mates 3.) Females reproductive success hardly increased after first copulation •Bateman said these results could be explained by referring to the energy investment of each sex in their sex cells oMales invest very little oFemales invest a lot oMales are not limited by ability to produce sex cells but by the ability to fertilize eggs oFemales are not limited by ability to be fertilized but by ability to produce sex cells •*Sexual selection solved problem of the limiting female resource* oThis limiting resource is the *driving force behind male-male competition and female choice*.
Consequences of the focus on ancient (EEA and earlier) versus recent/current adaptation
historical models: -*EEA* = environment that our traits were shaped and took form over many thousands of years -environment of evolutionary adaptation -refers to living conditions of our hunter-gatherer ancestors -since technology, birth control and medical care is so advanced now, it is impossible to test hypothesis from the EEA so we have to make speculations -I think this is also called Juke box theory - a mix of genes and learning present in many people across the environment and what responses occur are triggered by the environment. -Individual differences viewed as largely environmental -culture effects many aspects of evolution even how we view the world, so we need critical anthropomorphism to see the world as another individual would current models: processes of selection and adaptation operating on behavior and psychology now or in the recent past -individual differences viewed as a dynamic product of genetic diversity and environmental conditions -ex. birds living in a forest vs birds living in a field - they worry about other predators and prey and foraging techniques, shelters, and mating habits. These are all differences between birds and their environments that have evolved and changed. Also communication - sounds will travel differently in forest than a field.
A. Zahavi
known more for handicap principle Arabian brown babbler -lives in groups up to 20 -said that kinship is at root of much social behavior -had to establish who was related to whom -kept track of relationships -saw each of the babbler clans are extended family with their own territory -saw that color coded rings showed relationship -helpers are present and assist raising birds Spend much time grooming which is a behavior that strengthens social bonds just as it does in primates clan warfare occurred and all members are mobilized to chase them off the babblers are not like bees, and will not fight to the death because unlike sterile bees, babblers have capacity to breed themselves Selfishness rules the roost
Leks
oCommunal mating areas for birds such as peacocks, bowerbirds and wild turkeys within which males hold small territories, used solely for courtship and copulation. oFemales are attracted to Leks by the display of males and then choosing mating partners from among them. example: The peacock is the classic, textbook example of an extravagant male characteristic that is thought to be sexually selected. Darwin (1871) suggested that the evolution of such elaborate plumage in polygynous avian species was a result of female choice. -Data supported Darwin's hypothesis that the peacock's train has evolved, at least in part, as a result of a female preference.
De Waal describes a study made by a Japanese team of researchers in the Mahale Mountains National Park in Tanzania. One of the behaviors the team observes is "allegiance fickleness." Explain their observations.
oKalunade was a chimp in Mahale Mountains in Tanzania that was a former alpha male that was dethroned but made a sort of comeback •He did not claim top spot for himself but acted as power behind the scences. -Kalunade would switch camps between alpha and beta male which appeared to the researchers that he was "trying to decide which side he wanted to be on." •He would groom the alpha then would switch and groom the beta male later as if he was trying to decide who to side with •This was a perfect illustration of a tactic dubed by Toshi as allegiance fickleness.
What do paternal mice bonds and oxytocin tell us? (pp 354-357 in Behavior Systems for these two)
oMore recently, an explicit behavior systems approach has been developed for the neural organization of fear, primarily in rats oYoung and his colleagues have studied the role of oxytocin and other chemicals involved in social bonding in prairie voles in which males stay with the female and help rear the litter •in contrast, in closely related meadow voles males leave after mating and have no paternal behavior •Experimental evidence has shown, not only does pair bonding occur in prairie voles, but it has emotional properties akin to loss, depression, consolation, and other phenomena occurring under similar chemical and neural control as in humans -a single gene may underlie these emotional responses, and the level of binding in the brain can explain individual differences in both people and voles -*Oxytocin also plays a large role in maternal and paternal behavior toward offspring as well as being prominent during mating* oThese types of recent studies indicate that understanding emotions as systems, not just isolated feelings, states, or responses, will become important in affective neuroscience oAlso indicates that the control influences may not be as complex and experience dependent as would have been thought plausible in decades past.
Schjelderup-Ebbe
pecking order dominance hierarchy studied chickens despotism- the exercise of absolute power, especially in a cruel and oppressive way. vacationed in Oslo, Norway closely watched how chickens behaved, and learned how to recognize one from the other. He discovered hierarchies, and he began tracking their patterns of behavior. Chickens rank themselves in predictable ways. The rankings emerge from squabbles over food, and when a chicken finds itself defeated in a dispute, it will forever submit to the winner. Each member of the flock understands who ranks above and below it, and ------- called the highest-ranking chicken the "despot." Dominant chickens remind their subordinates of their relative social status with a painful peck. He believed that this acceptance of hierarchy is inherited, not learned. From this avian system of hierarchy, we get the term "pecking order," which -------- coined He fed chickens and observed them in peaceful manners when he introduced a new chicken into the run, quarreling would occur and one chicken would dominate the other the number of pecks were systematically organized the chickens could remember who was dominant to them an who they could dominate By accepting low status, birds at the bottom of the pecking order had some chance of mating
Allogrooming
refers to picking parasites or dirt from the fur as a reward through activation of endogenous opioids in the recipient. Example of reciprocity examples: impalas where it has the function of reducing parasites on body areas an animal cannot reach with its own mouth
Zuckerman
studied primate behavior "Social life of monkeys and apes" but was originally "social life of primates" Thought sex was basis for reasons to live in a group observed baboons Males position in hierarchy governed the number of females he could secure There was also rank among females but this changed with mating abilities -she was most important when she was most fertile -much mating had social purpose and not just for reproduction -------Thought fascination for fur kept groups together but sex kept groups together more Too much emphasis on sex and dominance though Fuller understanding came in the wild. He opposed the view of Konrad Lorenz and Robert Ardrey that man's aggressiveness is instinctive, a position that formed the basis for many of his scientific articles and books.
C. R. Carpenter
studied primate behavior famous figure in the field of primatology american psychologist studied gibbons in thailand Recognized 21 different groups of gibbons recognized gibbon sounds found that each group/family had its own area that it defended by singing they live in monogamous relationships men and females were equal in status according to --------- studied monkeys and apes for the clues they gave to human behavior He studied gibbons in Siam from the aspect of the evolutionary background of human society.
Know the five major brain structures involved in emotion, especially the amygdala
•*Amygdala*: -Plays a major role in the processing of fear -Studies demonstrate that in humans, amygdala lesions can selectively impair the ability to recognise fear. -Neuroimaging studies (fMRI) support the involvement of the amygdala in the processing of facial expression. -two pathways are engaged in the processing of fear: -The first one is a fast but crude pathway - the thalamo-amygdala route -Other one is a slow but accurate pathway - the thalamo-cortico-amygdala route -Also involved in anger *Prefrontal cortex:* -is involved in learning the emotional and motivational value of stimuli, such as food, drink and sex. -It is supposed that the prefrontal cortex works together with the amygdala. •The right-sided PFC is specialised in negative emotions which are triggered by threatening or goal obstructing events. •The left-sided PFC is specialised in positive emotions which are triggered by attractive, rewarding goals. -The most forward part of the frontal lobe of each cerebral hemisphere, involved in high order functions in cognition such as judgement, prediction, planning, moderating correct social behaviour, and integrating information from outside the body with that from within (e.g. the limbic system). *Anterior cingulate gyrus:* -area where visceral, attentional and emotional information are integrated for the regulation of emotions. -This area is thought to monitor conflicts between the actual state of the organism and new information that may have emotional or motivational consequences. *Insula:* -Small brain area receiving homoeostatic and emotional information that originates within the body, as well as olfactory and gustatory information (smell and taste). -Related to disgust *Hypothalamus:* -involved in the processing of rewarding stimuli. -It seems to be part of an extensive reward network -has an important role in motivations such as hunger and sex.
Inbreeding/incest/inbreeding avoidance mechanisms/evidence
•*Inbreeding*: breeding between two close genetic relatives. The fitness of offspring is sometimes reduced by inbreeding depression •*Inbreeding depression*: the phenomenon that descendants of individuals who mated with close relatives tend to have lower fitness due, for example, to lowered genetic variance. •*Incest*: Sexual activity or relationship between first-degree relatives (e.g. brother-sister, parent-child), associated with very high risks of abnormality in offspring. •Some cultures find marrying within the family to be advantageous for social and economic reasons. 1.) *Inbreeding avoidance and dispersal*: •Almost all species vulnerable to inbreeding depression use different ways to avoid incest •*Dispersal*: the tendency of a organism to move away from its birth site (natal dispersal) or breeding site (breeding dispersal). oWidespread among birds and mammals •Also shown to occur in fish, amphibians, reptiles, and insects •In all primate species, individuals disperse away from the group in which they were born and emigrate to another group to breed. o*Dispersal generates out breeding and prevents inbreeding* o*Dispersal evolved as a response to inbreeding.* •*Inbreeding avoidance is the main function of dispersal* •Ultimately dispersal patterns depend on relative costs and benefits of dispersal oFemales generally suffer higher costs from inbreeding depression than males because of their large investment in offspring and limited breeding potential oFemales and offspring benefit from staying in their home area because they need to be familiar with the area for resources and food purposes. •*Philopatry*: the tendency of individuals, usually females, to return or stay in their home area (male birds and female mammals tend to be more philopatric than the opposite sexes respectively). -In most monkey species, males emigrate. 2.) •*Kin recognition* is another way to avoid inbreeding oCan be done by many different mechanisms •Phenotype matching -Individuals match cues such as odor from individuals to cues from themselves or their relatives, using the degree of similarity to determine the degree of kinship •Olfactory cues may be at work in humans as demonstrated by the used tshirt example pg 121 •Association or familiarity in which individuals treat others as relatives with whom they had a close association when they were growing up. -Edward Westermarck proposed to explain incest avoidance by the mechanism of familiarity. *Evidence* •Arthur Wolf study oStudied marriages in Taiwan oTwo major types of marriages that used to occur: •Major marriage: parents of both parties arranged the union and the two did not meet until the day of the marriage •Minor marriage: bride was adopted by groom's family when she was young oWolf found that minor marriages were more unsuccessful than the major marriages. oResults favored Westermarck's hypothesis that familiarity in childhood weakens sexual attraction in adulthood. oHis explanation is that the younger partner form attachments to the family and groom at the same time that she develops anti-sexual feelings towards them. oHe said that aversion and attachment had to evolve together. *Westermarck hypothesis:* -Don't want to marry a relative, and there is a psychological effect to not wanting to marry a relative. -being raised as a sibling deters sexual attractiveness. -Wrote around 100 or so years ago about marriage and sexual selection in man, etc. -Incest taboos are not ironclad even though they may have evolutionary basis
How childhood affects reproduction later in life:
•An extended childhood appears to be useful for acquiring the knowledge and skills that intense social species like humans need for a successful adulthood. •*Attachment* is considered an innate motivation system with the evolved function of protecting the child from danger and stimulating the caregiver to provide care oSecure attachment: •Leads to reproductive strategies based on late maturation and high parental investment. •Caregiver empathizes with the child's needs •Caregiver is stable base when child needs help or comfort. •Focused on future reproduction instead of current reproduction •Tend to invest highly in offspring. •65% oInsecure attachment: •Leads to strategies based on early maturation and low parental investment •Children with rejecting caregiver •Avoid physical contact •Don't ask for help or comfort •Minimizing strategy because any signal of need is just room for more rejection •Focused on current reproduction (teen moms) •25% oAmbivalent attachment: •Caregiver alternates between acceptance and rejection •Easily distressed •May ask strongly for help and comfort but at the same time protest to maintaining a close relationship with caregiver •Adopt maximizing strategy by exaggerating their signals of need, which can be used to control caregiver's behavior. •10% •Children who stay longer with their parents use the family environment as a cue to guide their future decisions regarding reproduction. •Children who grow up in stressful environments don't delay dispersal and reproduction but reproduce early. •Insecure boys were shown to adopt avoidant strategy which is associated with aggression, self-reliance, and inflated self esteem oFavored current reproduction, high risk, and high mating effort •Insecure girls were shown to adopt anxious or ambivalent strategy which is focused on maximizing investment from parents and potential mates. oFavored current reproduction and high mating effort Resembles Belsky's work
Decoupling
•An important theme in the evolutionary study of emotion is that it results from a gradual decoupling of adaptive behaviour from hard-wired reflex actions •In evolution, sensorimotor reflexes were not sufficient for the demands of more complex species like primates. •we still have reflexes such as the papillary reflex and startle reflex •Physiological drives are considered as context-sensitive responses which are more advanced than reflexes. oThey enable animals to meet cyclical homeostatic needs crucial to survival, such as nutrition. •Emotions may be regarded as a further step in the evolution of adaptive responses which in simpler species were accomplished by reflexes and drives. o*In emotion, stimulus and response are decoupled* which has the advantage that some latency time intervenes between stimulus evaluation and response oLatency time allows for evaluation which is the flexibility that is an important advantage over the stimulus-response reflex. oAnother advantage of decoupling is that the action readiness in emotion preserves the necessary speed associated with older, automatic responses. •Cognitions represent a further, evolutionary step in adaptive problem-solving over emotions as they are unspecific with respect to stimuli. •Although stimulus and response are decoupled in emotions, they are still reflex-like as they may lead to more or less automatic actions. •Conclusion: oEvolution reveals different adaptive responses to significant events in the life of animals. oEmotional responses emerged supposedly because new adaptive problems could not be solved by built-in reflexes or drives. oTherefore, adaptive solutions became increasingly dependent on more flexible responses such as emotions, learning processes and cognitions
Cooperative problem solving (DW)
•Apes have a solid understanding of advantages of cooperation •Bula and Bimba oChimps that worked together even after one was full to pull a rope and hoist a box of food into their reach. oThis showed reciprocity •*Cooperative pulling paradigm:* oDemonstrated by the chimps Bula and Bimba oPulling is less successful when the chimps are prevented from seeing each other so this is true condition dependent. •Human cooperation represents a huge anomaly on the natural realm •Captive studies have shown that even strangers can be enticed to share food or exchange favors. •Elephants in Thailand have guides on their back but they really do not guide every movement oTwo elephants pick a up log and carry it in unison. oTraining is important but one cannot train the animals to be so coordinated like this. oThey showed a hallmark of collective action and cooperation which is moving from "I" identity (I did something) to a "we" identity (we did something). •Group hunters show even more cooperation oHumpbacks blow bubbles while another scoops fish and corals them oOrcas push an ice sheet with a lone seal out into open water then orcas line up and act as one giant orca to create a wave and push the seal off into the water. oLions, wolves, Harris's hawks, and capuchin monkeys and wild dogs do group activities and work together too oColobus monkey hunting involves role division and anticipation of prey movement •Only monkeys that participate in the hunt get some of the reward Had to see if cooperation would prevail or competition would when both are present -Only way to see which tendency prevailed is to provide an opportunity for the chimps to express both at the same time: -Apparatus was placed on the chimps cage and all they knew was that it was associated with food -They proved to be very quick learners after having no pre-training -They figures out the two and three way pulling activity very quickly -This study showe that apes could overcome competition and they would cooperate •Bshary studied cleaner fish oCleaner fish has a clientele of fish that need to be cleaned of parasites oThis is a mutualism for the cleaner and the fish being cleaned oCleaner fish will clean roaming fish first since they are moving, and the resident fish has nowhere else to go so they can wait •Shows supply and demand oOccasionally cleaner will cheat and take a bite of healthy skin •Only client that is not cheated is a predator oExcellent understanding of costs and benefits of their actions
Alloparental care/grandmother effect
•As early human mothers could not feed and raise offspring alone, their need for assistance was typically resolved by alternative caregivers •Alloparental care: oA form of assistance in care for offspring by any member of the group, other than the genetic parent(s) who helps rear young. oMostly close relatives but sometimes unrelated oCan be paradoxical •The care of the offspring can be costly -Sterile workers in ants, bees, and wasps •Griffin and West showed that helping is biased towards kin -Analysis of 15 bird species and 3 mammal species showed that helping is biased towards kin: the greater the helping benefit, the greater the kin bias. •Relatedness does not exclude other factors that sustain helping behaviors -Helpers might help for opportunities to mate or possibly territorial inheritance. •Amount of help can also be linked to faster growth in infants. •Sarah Hrdy provides comprehensive view of alloparental care in primates, particularly humans •She says it takes 10-13 million calories to raise a child to adulthood. •Children without alloparents in hunter gatherer societies would be significantly less likely to survive -So alloparents are not helpful; they are essential. *Grandmothers are a special class of alloparents*: oHumans are the only primates where females live for decades after their reproductive years and where grandmothers are engaged in child care oGreat apes show no signs of menopause (progressive failure of the female reproductive organs usually between 45-55 years) •Immediate causes of menopause results from drastic decrease in women's endocrine hormones - oestrogen - correlating with the fact that her ovaries run out of suitable eggs oInclusive fitness theory predicts that grandmothers can gain fitness benefits by helping to raise their daughter's offspring •That still doesn't explain why women were left with a long post-reproductive period.
The emergence of parental child care:
•As long as alloparents were willing to alleviate the burden of mothers, fathers had no incentive to step in oIn most primates, fathers don't provide care or that much care because they have no exclusive, sexual relationships. •They live in multi male and multi female societies and mate promiscuously oMother-offspring recognition is well established oFather-offspring recognition is not and males are not sure of who their offspring really are. oEmergence of male parenting is associated with three factors: •Certainty of paternity •Cost of lost mating opportunities •Benefits of offspring
Know some of Hockett's features of communication
•Charles Hockett = First linguist to suggest that language evolved gradually over time -He composed a list of 16 design features that could be found in every communicative system but only humans have all 16 •Features 7-8 are semanticity and arbitrariness that are relevant for meaning -ex.) -prevarication = it is possible to lie -reflexivity = it is possible to use language to talk about language -learnability = it is possible for a speaker of one language to learn additional languages •*Language*: a socially-based symbolic communication system with a vocabulary of many thousands of words that can be flexibly combined and recombined into sentences and narratives, enabling us to reach other people across time and place. oA flexible communication system in which words are used to express thoughts and shared with other individuals oA system for expressing or communicating thoughts and feelings through speech sounds or written symbols
Universal emotions / Ekman's research
•Ekman and Friesan provided more evidence about the universality of emotional expressions. •This evidence came from cross-cultural studies and the development of an instrument to objectively measure facial expression. oStudied South Fore Tribe in New Guinea •This tribe was isolated from western civilization oThey read stories to members of the tribe, describing emotional events such as the death of a child, the meeting of a friend, or the smelling of rotten food. oThe researchers also showed photographs of the corresponding facial expressions: a frowning face, a smile and a wrinkled nose. oWhen subjects were asked to match each facial expression with a story, they answered in a similar way as Western subjects would do. •Relationship between emotional state and its expression has been hotly debated oOne view suggests that human facial expression reflects the emotional state of the subjects oEkman (2003) tested the influence of display rules and showed that Japanese and Americans had the same facial expressions when watching films of surgery and accidents. oBut when researchers were also present, the Japanese more than the Americans concealed negative expressions with a smile. oThis concealment is supposed to be the result of Japanese culture to control negative emotional expressions in public and promote communal harmony. •The evidence for universal expressions may come from cross-cultural studies but also from objectively measured facial expressions. •That is why Ekman and Friesen developed the Facial Acting Coding System (*FACS*) that identifies specific groups of facial muscles - called Action Units (*AU*) - in emotional expressions. •Descriptions have been made about which facial muscles are involved in expressing the 6 basic emotions fear, anger, surprise, happiness/joy, sadness, and disgust •The musculature for facial expression is present in all vertebrates. •Facial musculature has primarily a function in feeding and respiration. oIt is only in social mammals that facial musculature has taken an additional function in communication. •Sheep are able to recognize facial musculature and faces and discriminate between other sheep species, between sexes, and between humans and sheep •As primates live in complex social networks, they rely on the production and processing of facial expressions to communicate with conspecifics. •Studies of chimpanzees have demonstrated that they are able to recognize the faces of close relatives as well as to accurately classify facial expressions of conspecifics. oThere is evidence that a facial expression like laughing is similar in humans and chimpanzees
Two hypotheses about the emergence of monogamy
•Emergence of monogamous relationships can be explained as a matter of parental cooperation and that polygany was too costly: oBoth sexes form a breeding unit based on sexual division of labor •Parental cooperation hypothesis has two correlates: 1.)First - the costs of maternal care are disproportionately high in human species •After child is weaned in most primates, it is able to forage partially for itself •Human babies grow slowly and need mothers help to survive 2.)Second - helping father reduces maternal costs significantly •Stable breeding bonds between individuals, whether monogamous or polygamous, were first mating arrangements rather than parenting partnerships •Paternal care evolved after pair-bonding's development for most species that mate monogamously An alternative explanation would be that monogamous pairs replaced the prevailing one-male, multi-female mating system because the costs of polygyny became too high. -weapons equalized size differences -costly polygynous relationship hypothesis is more logical -competition was rough for polygynous relationship and social mating systems
Selection and flexible communication
•Griebal and Oller propose that selection pressures for flexibility in communication must have occurred because vocal signals in human communication are decoupled from functions oThese *pressures* would have *favored variable sounds* rather than fixed vocal signals •*Two forms of flexibility in communication*: -When animals are able to increase repertoire of sounds -When the signals acquire more functions •Production of more signals was thought to have evolved first. •The only case in which both signal and functional flexibility appear to be highly developed is in humans -We use large numbers of words and sentences for many functions (Teaching, explanation, advertising, criticism, persuasion, denial, affirmation, acknowledgment etc.) •Important pressures that favor flexible communication: -Sexual selection -Social cohesion •Sexual selection can have a variety of signals and lead to intersexual or intrasexual selection -Intersexual - various signals are used to impress opposite sex in courtship -Intrasexual - various signals to intimidate a rival from same sex. •Another important selection pressure for flexible communication is social cohesion -Signals may sometimes emerge which serve to keep groups of individuals all together, demarcate boundaries between groups or strengthen bonds between parents and offspring •Killer whales •Dolphins •Primates oGroups of animals may have some various sounds in common but each group has its own, identifiable repertoire.
There is a widespread assumption that language is at the root of human thought. Do you agree or disagree with this assumption? Explain your answer.
•It is now widely accepted that even though language assists human thinking by providing categories and concepts, it is NOT the stuff of thought. -*We do not actually need language in order to think* according to Malcolm •Jean Piaget said that *preverbal children can think* -*This showed that language is not necessary to think* •Alex the parrot could see two keys or a tray of items and answer questions about them. oWhich is different or which is bigger? oAlso could answer questions without seeing item •What color is corn? •Skeptics tried to ascribe Alex's skills to rote learning oBut since the stimuli changed all the time and the questions asked did as well, it was simpler to assume that he had a few acquired basic concepts and combined them than assuming he memorized all of the answers -though he didn't have language by definition, he could think •One of Alex's biggest claims to fame was his ability to count and do math especially without having to see the stimulus. oHe was shown three cups with small amounts of items in each, then the cups would cover up the items, and Alex could correctly answer how many were in each of the three added together. oHe did all of this in his head showing that birds are smarter than we think.
Great ape problem and human solution
•Most primate mothers produce just one child at a time •The child is completely dependent on mother for first 4-5 years of life •Characteristic birth interval of chimps is 5-6 years •Combination of low reproductive rates, long birth interval, and a long childhood puts them at a reproductive disadvantage compared to other mammals. oAs chimp's lifetime reproductive success is constrained, only solution that remains is offspring survival. •Explains why they are very choosy as far as mate choices go. •Lengthening the interval between births, the Gestation period, the period of sexual maturity, or the period of infant dependency, decreases reproductive potential. oMust be balanced by compensatory increase in lifetime. oHumans achieve higher reproductive capacity mainly by decreasing the birth interval from 5-6 years (chimps) to 2-3 years (typical in humans). •Early *humans solved* the reproductive problem of great apes by having babies every 2-3 years. •Earlier weaning (the process of reducing offspring's dependence on mother or perents, particularly with respect to feeding) reduces chances of child survival and makes young less able to compete with other chimps. •Big difference is that the human mother weans child from breast milk much earlier. oEarly weaning - when accommodated by more nutritious adult food - was vital to the development of larger brains in humans. •Three things that helped with earlier weening: oKiss feeding (chewing food before hand) oAvailability of cow's milk oControl of fire so people could cook •When human mother had weaned her child, she gave birth to another •In short, chimp foraging practices don't provide mothers with abundant food, making early weaning not an option.
Paternal certainty
•Most reliable way to get paternal care is when males are confident about their paternity •Certainty may be acquired through pair-bonding (evolved before paternal care) or monogamy oMonogamy overlaps woth paternal care and is a mating system that offers high paternity certainty •Pair-bonding emerged first then provided paternity certainty oOriginated as a mating strategy to monopolize one female. •If pair bonding evolved a a way to monopolize one female, what was in it for the female? *Use gorillas as an example* •Gorilla males monopolize a few females and the females remain fairly exculsive to the one male •Long term breeding bonds enable father-offpspring recognition and favour the evolution of paternal care. •To avoid infanticide by strange males, females for a lasting bond with a powerful male with whome they reproduce. •Father-offspring recognition is evident oDefense from predators oProtection against males oRemarkable tolerance oInterventions in infant quarrels. oInfanticide: the killing of young by conspecifics (members of the same species). This practice occurs mainly in two situations. •In adverse environmental conditions the perpetrators may be the parents •In non human primates, infanticide may create breeding opportunities for males that have limited access to fertile females.
mutualism
•Mutualism is a mode of cooperation between members of different species (interspecific mutualism) or between unrelated members of one species (conspecific mutualism) that provides immediate benefits for the partners involved. oMutualism differs from reciprocity where benefits are deferred. •An example of interspecific mutualism is the cleaning of client fish by cleaner fish who remove and eat parasites. oBoth parties benefit oAnother example of interspecific mutualism refers to ravens that lead wolves to an elk carcass. oThe wolves tear the carcass apart, a job that ravens are unable to do themselves, so that both parties have a meal. •Conspecific mutualism may be seen in cooperative hunting where each hunter can gain more by acting together than hunting alone. •Mutualism is vulnerable to free riding, where group members can harvest benefits without sharing the costs.
Mating opportunity costs
•Paternity certainty is not sufficient to explain the evolution of men's parental investment •Men reduce their mating effort in favor of parenting effort •Organism's reproductive effort consists of two parts: oMating effort oParenting effort •On average emen prefer more sex partners and women have an aversion to casual sex oThus more paternal effort devoted to offspring implies higher mating opportunity costs, that is, missed additional mating for men •Consider kissing -Females consider kissing to asses whether or not mate will be suitable long term partner -Males use kissing to increase likelihood of sex. •Reduced mating opportunities ultimately arises from women's aversion to casual sex
US Human mating systems and same sex marriage attitudes (added reading)
•Political divide over same-sex marriage represents a deeper divide between conflicting mating strategies. -we propose that opposition to same-sex marriage can be explained in terms of: (a) individual differences in short-term mating orientation (b) mental associations between homosexuality and sexual promiscuity. •Opposition to same-sex marriage arises primarily from sexually restricted individuals who believe, either implicitly or explicitly, that gay men and women are sexually promiscuous. -These individuals oppose same-sex marriage out of fear that it will corrupt the institution of marriage. Relative to social liberals, social conservatives have more negative attitudes toward casual sex •Women who depend on male breadwinners incur higher costs of abandonment •male breadwinners incur higher costs of cuckoldry oMen and women in these unions may therefore feel particularly threatened by sexual promiscuity, which increases the risks of both cuckoldry and abandonment. oFor people pursuing the mating strategies more typical of social liberals, by contrast, widespread sexual promiscuity poses less of a threat. •women with fewer children and greater economic power are better equipped to abandon philandering husbands—or even to pursue extramarital sexual opportunities of their own •Researchers hypothesized that *diverging concerns about sexual promiscuity* might also underlie the left-right divide over same-sex marriage. •If same-sex relationships are mentally associated with promiscuity, then same-sex marriage could be seen as incompatible with the goals of marriage—or perhaps even as a threat to the institution itself. -promiscuous relationships could weaken the link between marriage and monogamy. Researchers used implicit and explicit association tests to reveal results about individuals •The results provide support for the hypothesis that opposition to same-sex marriage is related to individual differences in mating strategies interacting with mental associations between homosexuality and promiscuity.
Infanticide/evolutionary aspects of
•Reasons for killing infants include: oLack of parental care oInadequate resources oGender bias oDeath of mother •Evolutionary explanations of infanticide focus on chances of surviving to reproductive maturity oParents want to maximize reproductive success and minimize wasted parental effort •May explain why poor quality infants are killed. oInfanticide: the killing of young by conspecifics (members of the same species). This practice occurs mainly in two situations. •In adverse environmental conditions the perpetrators may be the parents •In non human primates, infanticide may create breeding opportunities for males that have limited access to fertile females.
Families/formation/delayed reproduction
•Stephen Emlen defines families as those cases where offspring continue to interact regularly, into adulthood, with their parents. •Typically occurs when offspring delay dispersal and reside with one or both parents after the age of sexual maturity. oSimple family: single female breeds oExtended family: two or more breeding females (aunts, etc) oBiparental: both parents are present and provide care for offspring oMatrilineal: only female is present and provides care for offspring. •Mammal and bird species form best model really for studying familial origins oMammal species that live in families: •Canids •Viverids •Some rodents oSome bird species that live in families: •Jays •Swans •Geese *Delayed reproduction and family formation:* •The key to explaining the origin of families is understanding the causes of delayed dispersal and reproduction. •*Life history theory*: a branch of evolutionary biology dealing with tradeoffs in the allocation of time and resources over the lifespan of an organism. oFamily living occurs more frequently in long lived species. oPredicts long lived species should benefit from a delayed onset of reproduction •Parents face similar trade-offs between quantity and quality or between present and future reproduction. •Some species develop slowly and are long lived while others develop fast and are short lived. •Short lived species: oReproduction starts early in life and offspring disperse quickly to breed independently. •Long lived species: oMay benefit from delaying dispersal and independent reproduction •*Covas and Grieser*: argue that slow life histories predispose animals to family living, given the intrinsic tendency to favor future over present reproduction, and the possibility of long lived parents to prolong investment and care of offspring. •*Two factors that can cause offspring to delay dispersal leading to family formation*: 1.)Delayed onset of independent reproduction combined with extended parental investment can *select for* maintenance of *family living*. 2.)Slow life histories tend to start breeding later in life and can invest more in offspring •Resource availability allows parents to extend their investment in offspring.
Anisogamy and Isogamy
•The evolution of sexual reproduction started when two gametes of equal size evolved into reproductive cells of unequal size •*Isogamy*: original mating type oFusion of gametes that do not differ in size and or motility •*Anisogamy*: latter mating type oFusion of gametes that differ in size and or motility oVirtually universal -Any species that has males and females has anisogamy by definition because females are defined as the sex with the larger gametes. •Having different size of reproductive cells is what makes us male or female •Males make many small gametes •Females make few, large gametes oIt is this difference that is the reason behind the need of males to compete for fertilizing females.
Mismatch Theory
•The modularity approach in evolutionary psychology would argue that there is a mismatch between ancient modules in our minds and the contemporary environment one major idea in evolutionary psychology conflicts between EEA and current environment (ex. fear of snakes: may be a remnant of the past where this adaptive behavior evolved to avoid venom but not so much important anymore. Also, preference for fat foods: increased caloric intake in past for more hunter-gatherer society but now is not as advantageous. Could also think about preference for savanna environment: why we like parks nowadays but could of been more advantageous in the past to induce selection of habits that provided mating and resources readily.) -The reason is that evolution cannot look into the future. -It does not strive towards a goal, but only keeps all the things that in the past have proven to be valuable for reproduction. •Brain metabolism at rest accounts for 20-25% of energy needs -In other primates this is only 8-10% •Large human brains could not be achieved without shift to high-quality diet. •Preference for fat food was adaptive in past environments, but has now become maladaptive in the modern world because wealth may lead to overconsumption. •Mismatch between evolved modules and the modern world oModules in our mind are no more in tune with modern environment •As a result, people eat more and lead to obesity
Explain the importance of field, seminatural and laboratory studies and how they can complement each other. Do these points apply to human behavior studies also?
•examples of how field and laboratory methods complement each other as well as examples in which field and laboratory studies lead to different research results that need to be reconciled. •examples are meant to show the growing pains, as well as the successes, of research in field and laboratory settings—using experimental and descriptive methods—in tackling important topics in animal behavior and comparative psychology. oNevertheless, bringing the phenomenon into the laboratory raised the profile and importance of this research to the broader scientific audience and enhanced ethology as an experimental science within biology as a whole. I believe that these points can partially be applied to human behavior studies but because human infants cannot ethically be reared in isolation, the bird song work provided an indirect test of the relative roles of genes and experience in language learning. experiments such as those by Harlow on rearing monkeys in isolation and the effects of social deprivation attracted much atten- tion and were seen as more relevant for understand- ing human behavior. •Field work and study of captive animals are both needed oFieldwork is systematic and scientific and continuous with the help of new digital and technological upgrades •Essential to understanding the natural social life of any animal. •Shows how and why typical behavior evolved •Rarely allows firm conclusions or insight into cognition oCaptive apes •Allow for study of cognition and measurements from tests •Advantage of providing close up look at naturalistic behavior that one cannot get in the field •Well-lit and usually video taped -These conditions can allow for the study of facial expressions or characteristics alike •Video of facial expression will be slowed down and analyzed something that is very hard to get in the field. •The two areas represent pieces to the same puzzle and an integration between fieldwork and captive study is very necessary •Use evidence from both sources to support cognition theories •Findings in the field and lab inspire studies in one another oNaturalists document geographic variation in behavior of a given species suggesting local origins and transmission but often cannot rule out alternative explanations which is why we need experiments to determine if habits can be spread by one individual watching another. oWe move back and forth between field and lab evidence