PSYCH 109: EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY

Homology

Shared inherited structures

Analogy

Convergent evolution of same structure on independent lineages

Natural selection

Variation, heritability, differential fitness

Tool use

Homologous with primates, analogous with birds

Genotype

What’s inherited genetically, particular to specific traits

Phenotype

Physical expression of a gene, physiology, anatomy, behaviour

Locus

Position of gene on chromosome

Polygenic inheritance

Trait whose phenotypic expression is influenced by multiple genes

MAOA ‘warrior gene’

Mix of genes and environment; maltreatment and low MAOA gene were linked to antisocial behaviour

Heritability

Proportion of variation in a specific population attributable to its differences

Flynn effect

Significant long term increase in IQ scores, indicates environmental change

Lewontin

Different causes of within and between-group differences

Bernstein and Murrays

Ethnic group and class IQ variability, genetic, cannot and should not be changed

Dictator game

Individual willingness to evenly split reward with another

WEIRD

Western, educated, industrialised, rich, democratic

Cultural differences

Information transmitted through social learning

Over-imitation

Copying superfluous or apparently redundant behaviour of demonstrator

Conformist bias

Following the majority or most common behaviours

Prestige bias

Copying the successful, even if success is from a different field

Darwinising language

Homologous words due to common ancestors’ language descent

Cultural selection

Variation, heritability, differential fitness

Cultural evolution and religion

Co-existence with same principles to higher power, social control

Lorenz’s psycho-hydraulic model

Agression builds up overtime until it needs to be released, periodic

Richard Wrangham

Humans evolved to be violent, chimp intergroup violence

Steven Pinker

Proportionally modern-day violence and death rates are far lower

Ultimatum game

Player two can reject player one’s offer

Primate ultimatum game

More equitable when cooperation was required, lacks human sense of fairness

Criticising hydraulic model

Not evolutionarily strategic for aggression to be periodic

Phylogenetic/historical constraints

Evolution produces solutions from pre-existing features

Trade-offs

Fitness benefit in one area produces a cost in another

Adaptive lag/phylogenetic inertia

Environment changes faster than evolutionary solutions can develop

Conjunction fallacy

P(A) > P(A&B)

Confirmation bias

Looking for things that confirm a rule rather than what proves them wrong

Solving conjunction fallacies

Framing question in terms of probabilities/frequencies

Pitfalls of the Mismatch argument

Simplistic, lack evidence, difficult to test

Supernormal stimuli

Stimulus an organism is evolved to respond to, using it to its extreme