Kin selection and altruism

What percent of life experience is owed to co-operation?

99.9%

Over time, non-cooperative strategies benefit over time. True or false?

False; cooperative ones do.

Define inclusive fitness.

It includes the number of offspring equivalents an individual rears, rescues or supports through its behaviour (the sum of the direct and indirect effect of an individual on the reproductive success of their own and other's offspring).

Give an example of altruism directed towards non-kin.

Koalas accepting water from humans during a heatwave.

Explain the relationship between the amount of genes you carry and the distance between you and a family member.

The relationship is proportionate; you share more genes with those closest to you e.g. siblings rather than cousins.

Increasing the amount of children you have can increase the amount of your genes in the environment to a level above what they originally were for you. True or false?

True.

What is the key feature of reciprocal altruism/social contract theory?

Trust.

Define reciprocal altruism. What does this lead to?

Understanding that if you help someone they will help you back in return. This leads to gain of trade.

What factors determine whether reciprocal altruism evolves?

Whether or not a cheater can be detected and avoided.

What values are used to quantify the kin selection advantage? How are these values arranged to favour altruism?

benefit to recipient (B) cost of altruist (C) coefficient of relatedness (r) Altruism is favoured when rB > C

Define altruism

helping others even when there is no benefit to yourself

Selection favours evolution of the mechanisms to help which relatives first?

Those closest.

Females are closer to paternal grandmother. True or false?

False; they are closer to maternal grandmothers.

Which sex has a greater consciousness about who their relatives are than the other?

Females

With regards to wealth inheritance what are the gender differences?

Men are more trusting of women then the other way around. 40% of women with children will leave money to their husband and instead distribute it more widely than men will.

Hamilton's rule of kin selection states what?

That you can increase fitness by producing your own offspring as well as helping genetic relatives survive and reproduce.

What is the best biological example of reciprocal altruism?

Vampire bats: regurgitate blood meals to those closely related to them and those who they frequently roost with. 75% of regurgitation occurs from mother to child.

What are the requirements for the social contract theory?

- ability to recognise different humans and remember the history of your interactions with them - ability to communicate values to one another - ability to model values onto each other - ability to represent cost and benefits

State the benefits of social organisation within the community.

- less predator pressure - improved foraging ability - improved protection of limited resources - improved care of offspring