PSYC 460 Exam 3

Why is the ability to think abstractly about social exchange important in engaging in reciprocal altruism?

lets us move beyond kind-kind exchanges.

Adaptation in friendship vs exchange

-Monitor all kinds of returns in friendships (not just material) -Respond to signs of waning affection

3 things to consider when requesting favors from friends

1. Emphasize role of "equals" 2. Not exploiting the friend 3. Want to maintain relationship

Information about Mating Domain

1. Gender cues (for the purposes of successful reproduction, important to be able to identify person of the opposite sex). 2. Relatedness cues (for quality of offspring, should avoid sexual contact with close kin) 3. Attractiveness (as cue to reproductive value and health) 4. Accessibility (before devoting time/energy to court someone, should know whether or not they are accessible for you) 5. Cues to potential parental investment

Social-emotional responses of the Mating Domain

1. If high value and accessible potential mate then you should feel attraction and pursue them as a mate. 2. If related then you should feel disgust at sex/attraction and avoid sexual relations. 3. If bond with mate then you should feel love/infatuation/attraction and want to maintain relationship. 4. If threat from rival then you should feel jealous and activate mate retention behaviors

Social-emotional responses in Reciprocity Domain

1. If reciprocity history (or potential), then you should provide matched affect and support. 2. If self cheats, then you should feel guilty and try to repair the friendship. 3. If other cheats, then you should feel anger, annoyance, and betrayed. You should try to fix the relationship and find out what happened. If misunderstanding, friendship can be repaired. If not, you tell others they cannot be relied on. 4. If conflict, then you feel hurt, try to compromise and if compromise doesn't work then you seek retribution. Negotiation would go along with compromise.

Information about the Reciprocity Domain

1. Investment potential (want people to invest in us even tho we not related) 2. Continuous update of reciprocity history (if I do something for you, will you do the same for me?) 3. Cheater detection (Pretend to be your friend and then at the end of the day they not there for you. Someone who takes the benefit without paying the cost)

solutions to adaptive problem

1. Make yourself unique 2. Know your own individuality and how it sets you apart 3. Be motivated to develop skills that make you irreplaceable 4. Need others to recognize those skills about us 5. Avoid social groups where your skills are easy to get from other people there 6. Jealousy should be activated when someone comes in that is too similar

Neurohormonal regulators of the Mating Domain

1. Opioids decrease with separation from mate and increase with contact/proximity. 2. Oxytocin is released with skin-to-skin contact and orgasm, helps bond partners to one another. 3. Androgens and estrogens regulate sex drive and production of gametes.

Why is tit for tat (TFT) an evolutionarily stable strategy?

1. Punishes defection (if you defect on me, i defect on you) 2. Rewards cooperation (never the 1st to defect and continues to cooperate as long as the partner is cooperating) 3. Forgiving (if you cooperate, they will cooperate with you. Does not hold grudge)

Neurohormonal regulators of the Reciprocity domain

1. Serotonin (when S increases, we see more affiliation-type behavior/people seek out friends. Also linked to a reduction in neg emotions like anger, aggression, and sadness. If S decreases, people get less social, tend to withdraw and see more negative affect and aggression being expressed)

Features of a cheater detection system

1. Shouldn't need to be familiar with the content. 2. Should use the rules of adaptive logic, but not necessarily formal logic. 3. Should be sensitive to perspective. 4.Should show neural specialization

What characteristics would predict accrual, defense and control of resources?

1. Status/Power- Access to economic and social resources. 2. Strength- Ability to defend resources. Protection of self and kids. 3. Ambition- desire to obtain resources 4. Skills- that lead to economic and social resources as well as parenting skills.

What design features are necessary for engaging in reciprocal altruism?

1. The ability to recognize different individuals. 2. The ability to remember interaction history. 3. The ability to communicate one's values/needs. 4. The ability to understand other's values/needs. 5. The ability to think abstractly in terms of social exchange items.

Who gets a friendship (association) niche depends on

1. We could have adaptation that complete this for us. If we have a high number then we need to start being a little more discriminative. If the number is low and you're not certain of the commitment then you should be on the look out for people to fill those spots. If you have all the slots filled with good friends, then you won't be on the lookout. 2. Positive externalities: who has behaviors that are not intentionally altruistic, they have side effects that are beneficial to you? Ex: Knowing a neighboring dialect. For a friend we want more positive externalities. 3. ToM. Dyads that are better at communicating with each other, have a stronger friendship. For a good friend, we want someone who understands what we're thinking and is on the same page. 4. We're gonna give away a slot to someone who thinks we are irreplaceable. The person that find you difficult to replace is more committed to your welfare and wellbeing. 5. A person that values the same things you do, is going to behave in ways that changes the world around you to reflect those things.

Evolutionarily Stable Strategy (ESS)

A behavioral strategy that cannot be displaced by alternative strategies that tries to invade the population.

Predictor of fertility even though it is not a visual array

Age

Cues to status

Age: skill, status, strength etc. typically peak in men's 30's. status is correlated with age

Universal altruist

Always gives without getting in return

Predictions about asymmetry and attitudes toward engaging in casual sex?

Asymmetrical men have less desire to engage in short-term sex

The banker's paradox

Bankers have a limited amount of money and must choose who to invest in. The people who need the most money more desperately tend to be the worst credit risk and therefore, tend to be least likely to be selected for a loan.

Communal vs Exchange Relationships

Communal: real friendship Exchange: Acquaintance

Most profitable mating strategy for typical man?

Conditional strategy

The Prisoner's Dilemma: If you will see your partner again after this, what are you most likely to do?

Cooperate

Predictions about factors influencing value of men's genetic quality?

Cross-culturally, greater preference for physical attractiveness n environments with more pathogen threat. Cross-culturally, in areas with higher prevalence of pathogens, women are more likely to trade-off genetic quality for parental investment

The Prisoner's Dilemma: If you are not sure if you'll see your partner again after this, what are you most likely to do?

Defect

The Prisoner's Dilemma: if you are never going to see your partner again, what are you most likely to do?

Defect

What is the evolved mate preference for selecting a mate who will show good parenting skills

Dependable, knowledgeable, emotionally stable, kind

What is the evolved mate preference for selecting a mate who is willing to invest?

Dependable, stable, cues to love and commitment to spouse and own children

Signs of genetic quality

Developmental Stability, Symmetry, Absence of visible mutations, "Normal" behavior, Pathogen Resistance, Unblemished skin

Lack of clarifying events

Even when people are surrounded by supposed friends and large social groups, people report to still being lonely and more lonely today than in our past

Scope Hypothesis

Evidence that we store person-specific memories. Have episodic and semantic memories

Which females should a male be looking for

Females at the peak of their fertility

trade-offs between parenting effort and mating effort

Females should place more effort in parenting compared to males. Males should devote more time to mating because it will increase their reproductive success.

What is the minimum obligatory PI for males?

Few grams of semen and an opportunity cost of a few minutes

Basic idea of reciprocal altruism

Friendship is a two-way street. "I will help you now and later, when i need help, you will help me"

Classical definition of reciprocal altruism

Helping behavior in which a person has to incur a cost to deliver a benefit

Key difference between communal and exchange relationships

How we give and receive benefits

Example of cheating from an evolutionary perspective in the Reciprocal domain

I took you to the airport, a month later, I ask you for a favor and you say no.

Wason Selection Task

If P, then Q. P is some kind of premise, Q is some kind of conclusion.

Implications for mate preferences

In our species, males compete for access to females. Males reproductive success is limited to the amount of partners he can get. Females should be more choosy when selecting their mates. Males should be receptive to sexual offers more so than females.

Development/Timing of Mating Domain

Initial response to cues for mate selection at first few months of life (infants look at more attractive faces). Incest aversion to those had close association with in first 4-6yrs of life. Women prefer more feminine faced men except during ovulation.

Conditional strategies

Involve different behavioral tactics. Difference between choosing long term vs short term are influenced by environment. Ex: A man's status will influence if he will pursue a long or short term strategy

How does your environment play a role in which tactic is best for you?

It influences how much time and effort you put into mating

Mismatch with modern environment

Look for situations in which other people are willing to help when that help is of great value to you and not necessarily highly costly to them. Level of commitment that person has to you can be seen through how much cost they're willing to return.

What is the problem with reciprocal altruism

Making sure that they're really gonna help you later (there is a delay in time)

Which sex tends to have more extra-marital affairs

Men

What did the Clark & Hatfield study show in terms of willingness to copulate?

Men are more willing to have casual sex than females even if its with a virtual stranger. Women are choosier.

How does the number of sexual partners desired differ between males and females?

Men are much more willing to have sex with someone that they just met. Men want more partners over their lifetime than women do.

Discrepancy in reproductive capacity

Minimal obligatory parental investment- minimal amount of parental effort required to produce offspring

Predictions about asymmetry and investment in single, exclusive long-term relationships?

More symmetrical men provided less investment. More symmetrical men were particularly less honest with their partners, sexualized other women more, and spent less time with their partners.

What is the minimum obligatory PI for females?

Need to produce eggs, have nine months of gestation and 2+ years of lactation

Adaptive problem of the mating domain

Optimal selection, retention, and protection of access to high value mate and bonding in interest of raising shared offspring. For males it is finding fertile mate, ensuring any offspring is theirs. For females it is finding mate to invest in her and offspring.

When given the option to choose between a more attractive but less reliable man and a less attractive but more reliable man, who do short and long-term mating women choose?

Short term women: the more attractive man Long term women: the more reliable man

Niche specialization

The banker's paradox. People trying to make themselves unique or irreplaceable.

Why is ability to communicate your values and needs important in engaging in reciprocal altruism?

Pointing directs attention/can identify something you value/need. Expressions/emotions can tell you how someone feels. Eye-gaze communicated your wants, needs, or desires.

Development/Timing of the Reciprocity Domain

Reciprocal mother-child interaction in early life. Reciprocal voice activity at 3-4 months old (baby cooing and mom talks back)

What is the evolved mate preference for selecting a mate who is compatible?

Similar values, age, and personality

Why is ability to remember interaction history important in engaging in reciprocal altruism?

So you remember the reputation of that person, whether you've cheated that person, and likelihood of meeting that person again. If you will see that person again, you are more likely to give them more benefit of the doubt.

What did the most attractive traits ranked show us?

That universally, males and females want someone who is kind and understanding and intelligent

Voluntary contract of friendship:

The label implies some kind of reciprocal relation

Which sex is the limiting resource

The sex whose minimum obligatory PI is greater (females)

What is the correlation between testicle size and competition for mates

There is a positive correlation. As testicle size increases, so does competition for mates because bigger testicles = more sperm = more likely to impregnate

Friendship slots/niches

Time is a finite resource. The decision to spend time with some individuals is a decision to not spend time with other individuals

True or False: Communication between friends is always indirectly persuasive.

True

True or False: Younger adults today are focused on finding short term mating.

True. After 25 years, more focused on finding long term mates.

Physiological evidence of short-term mating strategies in males

Variations in sperm insemination depended on how much time he spent with his mate. The longer he spent with her the less sperm ejaculated in comparison to if he had spent less time with her.

Sibling rivalry:

Want to be the same in terms of attention and resources but want to be recognized for their uniqueness as well

Adaptive Problem of Reciprocity Domain

Want to maximize joint outcomes for people of equal status. Want to make sure both benefits and costs are equal.

How does the banker's paradox apply to everyday life in terms of reciprocal altruism?

We all make decision about who we help. The people most in need are also the people that are most likely to not be able to pay you back.

Why is aggression more common in the biological world than altruism?

We have evolved mechanisms that allow us to be aggressive and harm those around us

Purpose of jealousy

Work harder to make your skills irreplaceable and do something to get rid of other person in group or make your skills more valuable.

Tracking intentions

You can assume what will happen based on interactions in the past. Looking for cues that you can rely on them in the future.

Female mate value is linked to

age, health, fertility, physical attractiveness, fidelity/chastity (for paternity certainty)

Universal cheater

always takes and never gives

Adaptive problem in the banker's paradox

attracting assistance when one is in dire need

Success of male short-term mating strategies dependent on...?

attracting females who are willing to short-term mate with them and they had to measure up to females' more stringent preferences for short-term mates

Mixed strategies

best of both worlds. someone in long term relationship and devoting a lot of time and effort into offspring from that relationship but still open to short-term opportunities that arise

how do biologists identify the male and the female of a species?

by the gamete size. For females it would be ova/eggs and for males it would be sperm. The larger gamete = female. The smaller gamete = male

Examples of exchange relationships

classmates, coworkers, acquaintances, business partners, strangers

Male mate value is linked to

genetic and phenotypic quality and ability/willingness to invest in mate and offspring

Adaptive problem of friendship mimicry

discriminating true friends from fair weather friends

how is female short-term mating influenced by menstrual cycle

during fertile window, more likely to engage in EPC, greater preference for physical attractiveness, symmetrical men, masculine faces, and scents of more symmetrical men

What is the evolved mate preference of selecting a mate who is able to invest?

financial prospects, social status, age, ambition, physical size, strength, skill

Unspoken rules of friendship

i'm there for you, you're there for m

Kind-Kind exchange

if i give you a pen, i will only accept a pen back from you (found in vampire bats but not humans)

Social contract of adaptive logic

if you take the benefit (P), then you pay the cost (Q)

Each person's talents and shortcomings will be different due to things such as?

individual differences that come from your environment, life history, and genes

Why is ability to understand others' values/needs important in engaging in reciprocal altruism?

it provides theory of mind which is your ability to predict what someone will do based on their beliefs and desires.

Modern vs ancestral environment

modern environment is much safer (ex: medical help). ancestral environment is old so we dont rely on others for our survival now; we dont have those cues anymore

Examples of communal relationships

no expectation for direct and specific rewards. (spouses, close friends, family, siblings)

What is the evolved mate preference for selecting a mate who is healthy?

physically attractive, symmetry, health, athletic ability

Sexual strategies: short-term vs long-term

short term: selecting mates , finding mates, and mating. long-term: more focused on bigger picture and parenting in the end.

Reciprocal altruism

similar to prisoner dilemma. non-kin

What is the evolved mate preference to selecting a mate who is able to physically protect self and kids

size, strength, bravery, athletic ability

Adaptive logic violation is when someone:

takes the benefit and does not pay the cost (P but not Q)

Spontaneous liking

the 4 associations should be processed to lead to this phenomenon

An individual's reproductive success is limited by...

the amount of parental investment necessary to produce viable offspring

Kin selection

we evolved this altruistic behavior to help people that share genes with us. Being altruistic towards kin or close genetic relatives for the purpose of passing down common genes.

For something to be considered altruistic...

you have to incur some kind cost