Study Guide: ANTH268 Exam 3 - Key Concepts

Biocultural Approach

Human behavior results from the interaction between biology (evolved predispositions and genetic factors) and culture (social norms and beliefs).

Life History Theory

Explores how natural selection allocates an organism's limited time and energy across growth, maintenance, and reproduction.

Extrinsic Mortality

Death from external factors (predation, disease, famine) that drives life history strategies.

Age-Specific Reproductive Success (RSₓ)

Calculated as RSₓ = lₓ × mₓ, where lₓ is the survival probability to age x and mₓ is the number of offspring at age x.

Lifetime Reproductive Success (RS₀)

The total reproductive success summed across all ages, maximizing natural selection.

Skill-Intensive Foraging Niche

Humans’ focus on acquiring nutritionally dense foods that require knowledge and skill.

Embodied Capital

The sum of skills, knowledge, health, and strength enhancing productivity, developed during the long juvenile period.

Cooperative Breeding

A system where the survival of offspring relies on care provided by individuals beyond the biological mother.

Inclusive Fitness

A measure combining direct fitness (personal reproduction) with indirect fitness (aiding relatives' reproduction).

Hamilton's Rule

A gene for altruism spreads when the benefits to the recipient, weighted by relatedness, exceed the costs to the actor (rB > C).

Demographic Transition

The historical shift from high fertility and mortality to low fertility and mortality in populations.

Mortality Decline Stage

Characterized by falling death rates due to improvements in health and nutrition, while fertility remains high for a time.

Fertility Decline Stage

A phase driven by urbanization and economic changes, where investing in fewer but healthier children becomes more valuable.

Grandmother Hypothesis

Postulates that post-menopausal women enhance their inclusive fitness by aiding in the reproduction of their daughters.

Kinship Bridge Model

A model explaining how pair bonding creates affinal ties, allowing cooperation to extend beyond genetic relatives.