PSY230 discussion quiz: Human Sociobiology

Sociobiology

The scientific study of the factors driving the evolution of social behaviors.

• ex) adaptive, evolved physical trait

  • Thick fur in animals living in cold regions

• ex) adaptive evolved social behaviors

  • Mothers protective of their offspring

  • Altruism

  • Killing lion cubs by newly dominant male

  • Aggression

What did Dmitri Belyaev’s fox breeding experiment (for behavioral traits) tell us about the evolution of behavior?

• Belyaev bred foxes to study domestication and behavior.

• Selectively bred foxes for low fear and high friendliness toward humans.

  • By the 4th generation, foxes showed physical changes of domestication (floppy ears, white spots).

• Suggests behavioral and physical traits are genetically linked.

• Shows domestication can rapidly affect both behavior and appearance

What is the significance of having universal basic human facial expressions?

• Basic facial expressions universal in humans → 6 main expressions

  • Disgust, fear, joy, surprise, sadness, anger

• Facial expressions must be biologically universal (& evolved), ppl from different parts of the world can understand one another/how others feel through facial expressions.

• Facial expressions may be functional

  • Bitter food/bad smells

  • Disgust leads to avoidance of harmful material → work to remove the harmful item from mouth

  • Facial expressions communicate danger/safety

E. O. Wilson’s contribution to sociobiology

Argues we should analyze social behaviors (eg. altruism, aggression) through an evolutionary lens – animals behave in ways that maximize reproductive fitness. 

• coined sociobiology – no longer treated human social behavior and animal biology as different subjects. Studied humans in a very experimental way, similar to animals.

Evolutionary psychology

Focuses on psychological processes- attempt to identify evolved, underlying psychological mechanisms that influence behavior

• Humans have emotional, motivational, and cognitive adaptations that generally increased fitness in the past. ex) protection of offspring/relatives, altruism, division of labor

Why are some evolved behaviors currently maladaptive (not appropriate adjustment to environment)?

motivation for high sugar/high fat foods may have helped our ancestors finding high quality foods and survive

• Causes heath issues when food is abundant

• b/c some behavior is natural, evolved & has genetic basis, doesn’t mean its morally right

Interaction of nature and nurture to shape human behavior

• Social, cultural (nurture), & biological (nature) factors change human behavior

• Humans have the ability to change their behavior to fit in with socially acceptable ways.

  • Phineas Gage’s socially inappropriate behavior after frontal lobe damage supports this idea. Proves specific brain regions (frontal lobe) are critical for socially adaptive behavior.

• “Nurture” (environment) can change how our genes are expressed

Three basic tenets of human sociobiology research

1. The human mind & human behavior are shaped by natural selection

2. The human mind uses heuristics (strategies) to increase the likelihood of solving problems our ancestors routinely faced

3. There is a shared, and more or less universal, core human nature

The Cinderella effect

(1. The human mind & human behavior are shaped by natural selection).

• related to kin selection – favors the reproductive success of one's own relatives (even at a cost to the organism's own survival/reproduction) – essentially altruism

  • Evolution favors survival & reproduction of genetically related offspring (Inclusive Fitness)

  • The phenomenon of favoritism for genetically related children & higher incidence of mistreatment by stepparents than by biological parents

Wason task

(2. The human mind uses heuristics (strategies) to increase the likelihood of solving problems our ancestors routinely faced)

• Cheat detection. A puzzle posed in an asocial context is difficult to solve. When the same puzzle is worded in a social manner (that is evolutionary relevant), the puzzle …

  • It’s a reasoning test involving 4 cards to evaluate logical rule-checking.

  • Ex rule: “If a card is red on one side, it has a 3 on the other.”

  • Cards: 3, 8, red, orange → You should flip red and 8 to test the rule. (1/4 ppl get this.)

  • When test is structured in a social context, it makes more sense – ex: Pick only cards you definitely need to turn over to see if any of these ppl are breaking the law and need to be thrown out. (3/4 get it right)

Summary: Tasks were logically identical, but ppl did better on socially framed one. Suggests humans may have a cheater detection module which benefits ppl in environments where cooperation and reciprocity were important → make sure everyone does their fair share, no one gets a free pass.

Importance of cheater detection

to punish people who cheat. To support cooperation, use this to punish others who neglect to punish cheaters. 

• If you don’t punish cheaters, cooperation doesn’t happen in large groups

Examples of shared, core human nature

• Mate age preference by sex – 

  • Women – older men: more resources, ensure offspring survival

  • Men – younger women: fertility, more offspring

    • Consistent across different cultures → suggests a common evolved human trait

• Facial symmetry is attractive

Controversies and criticisms of human sociobiology

Naturalistic fallacy, Biological determinism, ‘Just so’ stories (unverifiable narrative explanations), Little is known about humans in ancient times

Biological Determinism

Belief that behavior is innate & entirely shaped by genetics, brain size, or biology, w/ little influence from culture or environment.

• Objections to Sociobiology: Ignores environmental factors. Heavy reliance on genes — humans aren't pre-programmed robots.

• Scientific Response: Most scientists support gene-environment interactions for complex traits. Genes are turned on & off constantly; expression isn’t status, even within an individual

• we are influenced by society, not just by genes

“Just so” Stories

an untestable narrative explanation for a cultural practice, a biological trait, or behavior of humans or other animals. we should not use stories when we don’t have sufficient evidence

• Some scientists have been/are guilty of “adaptive storytelling” to explain why some traits/behaviors were adapted in humans → problem: they’re difficult to test & prove, & you can’t really disprove them either.

• We don’t know enough about what humans did back in the day

The Naturalistic Fallacy

Assumption: bc a trait/behavior evolved, it must be advantageous (what is found in nature is good).

• Evolutionary psychology & sociobiology aim to explain why problematic human behaviors may have evolved. Understanding evolutionary roots of behaviors can → change or manage them today.

• ex) distrust of ppl who look different than you may have been necessary for hunter-gatherers competing for limited resources like food.

Not all of our traits/behaviors are good