Disney and Darwin ~ Quiz 4

Progressive juvenilization as an evolutionary phenomenon is called neoteny.

accurate

"Children, compared with adults, have larger heads and eyes, smaller jaws, a more prominent, bulging cranium, and smaller pudgier legs and feet. Adult heads are altogether more apish." Mickey, however, has traveled this ontogenetic pathway in reverse during his [90+] years among us"

accurate

Gould claims that "babyish features tend to elicit strong feelings of affection in adult humans, whether the biological basis be direct programming or the capacity to learn and fixed upon signals"

accurate

Gould submits "that Mickey Mouse's evolutionary road down the course of his own growth in reverse reflects the unconscious discovery of the biological principle by Disney and his artists. In fact, emotional status of most Disney characters rests on the same set of distinctions. To this extent, the magic kingdom trades on a biological illusion - our ability to abstract and our propensity to transfer inappropriately to other animals the fitting responses we make to changing form in the growth of our own bodies."

accurate

"Donald Duck also adopts more juvenile features through time. His elongated beak recedes and his eyes enlarge; he converges on Huey, Louie, and Dewey as surely as Mickey Mouse approaches Morty. But Donald, having inherited the mantle of Mickey's original misbehavior, remains more adult in form with his projecting beak and more sloping forehead."

accurate

"Mouse villains or sharpies, contrasted with Mickey, are always more adult in appearance, although they often share Mickey's chronological age"

accurate (more adult in appearance)

"And as the second, serious biological comment on Mickey's Odyssey in form, I [Gould] note that his path to eternal youth repeats, in epitome, our own evolutionary story. For humans are neotenic. We have evolved by retaining to adulthood the originally juvenile features of our ancestors. Our australopithecine forbearers, like Mickey in Steamboat Willie, have projecting jaws and low vaulted craniums"

accurate

The two major factors in Gould's argument are "babyish features" and "affection in adult humans"

accurate

It's a scientific fact that “It’s a Small World” attraction facilitates happiness in people.

inaccurate

As “X” increases so does happiness. What can you say:

X is correlated with happiness

With regard to the previous item, how would you design an experiment to show causation?

E. all of the previous

(A- randomly assign ~2,000 people into two groups;

B- have a control and treatment group;

C- create a treatment;

D- after the treatment X, determine if there is a statistically significant difference between a treatment and control groups)

Correlation….

all A, B, & C

(A-is not necessarily causation, B- allows prediction, C- is a relationship)

In Disneyland, as ice cream sales increase, so do short tempers. Thus,

B- there is a third factor, C- heat is the causal factor

The 2008 National Medal of Arts was awarded to the Sherman Brothers for creating music that "has helped bring joy to millions.” This is not a scientific statement.

accurate

According to Jeff Kurtti, why did the world cry when Walt Disney died?

Walt’s creations touched to hearts of the world’s people