PSYC104 Exam 1 Study Guide: Evolutionary Psychology, Research Methods, and the Self

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering research ethics, evolutionary psychology, experimental methodology, behavioral genetics, and self-concept theories from PSYC104 Exam 1.

Belmont Report

A foundational document that identified three basic ethical principles (respect for persons, beneficence, and justice) forming the basis of modern practice in protecting human research subjects.

Respect for Persons

The ethical principle from the Belmont Report requiring informed consent, privacy and confidentiality, careful consideration of deception, and debriefing.

Beneficence

The ethical principle from the Belmont Report focused on maximizing potential benefits while minimizing potential risks to research participants.

Justice

The ethical principle from the Belmont Report stating that the benefits and burdens of research must be equitable across the population, prohibiting the exploitation of vulnerable groups (such as the poor, imprisoned, or cognitively impaired).

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

Committees that review researchers' experimental plans in light of basic ethical principles to facilitate ethical research in accordance with federal and board requirements.

Conditions for Natural Selection

The three requirements for natural selection: Variation (differences exist among organisms, such as green and brown beetles), Genetic Heredity (genes passed from one generation to the next), and Differential Reproduction (environmental forces selecting specific traits).

Sociability

An evolved adaptation shaped by natural selection where individuals rely on one another to solve ancestral survival problems, specifically finding a mate and obtaining help finding food.

Positivism

A philosophical system founded by sociologist Auguste Comte, which orders scientific disciplines hierarchically to reach the study of human behavior.

Auguste Comte's Hierarchy of Sciences

The sequential order of disciplines proposed by Auguste Comte that one walks up to reach 'Moral' (Psychology): mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, sociology, and moral (psychology).

Relative Testes Size Inference

A physiological metric used to infer animal mating systems: male bodies that devote more tissue to testes are more likely to have mating systems centered on having as much sex as possible with as many potential mates as possible.

Monogamy

A mating system in which, during a single breeding season, one male mates exclusively with one female, and vice versa.

Polygyny

A mating system where a single male mates with and attempts to impregnate multiple different females.

Multimale-Multifemale Mating System

A mating system characterized by promiscuous mating involving many males and many females, characteristic of chimpanzees as indicated by their large relative testes size.

Monogamish

A term describing the human mating system on the boundary between monogamy and polygyny, where males are largely monogamous but keep an eye out for potential additional mates.

Controlled Fertility Society

A modern society in which individuals regulate their reproduction using artificial birth control, resulting on average in far fewer offspring than ancestral populations.

Natural Fertility Society

A population lacking access to modern artificial birth control, where adults have an average of approximately $6$ offspring.

Reproductive Window

The $35\text{-year}$ span in human females, typically ranging from age $15$ to $50$, during which they are physiologically capable of reproduction.

Menopause

The physiological phase occurring after the reproductive window during which human females are no longer capable of producing offspring.

Grandmother Hypothesis

An evolutionary explanation proposing that post-menopausal survival allows grandmothers to assist with offspring care, shortening interbirth intervals and reducing parental burden so mothers can bear more children.

Bands

Kinship-based ancestral living groups averaging about $19$ people in multi-band dwellings formed for cooperative living, occupied for a mean duration of about $8\text{ days}$.

Evolutionary Mismatch

A condition in which a trait that was advantageous in an ancestral environment suddenly becomes maladaptive due to environmental changes.

IAATOPE

An acronym representing methods of knowledge acquisition: Intuition, Anecdote, Authority, Tradition, Observation, Prediction, and Experimentation.

Intuition (IAATOPE)

A method of knowing based on gut feeling, confidence, or what subjectively feels true without systematic evidence.

Anecdote (IAATOPE)

A way of knowing that relies on personal stories or isolated testimonials rather than systematic data (e.g., arguing tire quality based on a friend's crash).

Authority (IAATOPE)

Accepting claims based on the prestige, expertise, or status of figures such as professors, doctors, or politicians.

Tradition (IAATOPE)

Relying on long-standing cultural beliefs or customs because 'things have always been done this way' (e.g., ancestral use of tree bark tea leading to aspirin).

Observation (IAATOPE)

The systematic counting and describing of natural phenomena (e.g., recording that $6\text{--}13\%$ of people in Scotland have red hair compared to $1\text{--}2\%$ worldwide).

Lab Experiment

An experimental technique characterized by researcher-controlled random assignment, high control over the independent variable (IV), and high control over the dependent variable (DV).

Field Experiment

An experimental technique involving researcher-controlled random assignment, some control over the independent variable, and some control over the dependent variable within a naturalistic setting.

Natural (Quasi-) Experiment

A study design where random assignment occurs naturally through environmental factors rather than a researcher, with zero experimental control over independent or dependent variables.

Quasi-Experiment

A correlational or observational design that lacks random assignment and provides no experimental control over the independent or dependent variables.

Random Assignment

The procedure of assigning participants to treatment or control conditions entirely by chance, ensuring both groups are identical in every respect except for the manipulation of the independent variable.

Validity

The extent to which a scientific claim is justified on the basis of evidence and reasoning, applicable to independent variables, dependent variables, and their relationships.

Four Laws of Behavioral Genetics

1) All human behavioral traits are heritable; 2) The effect of being raised in the same family is smaller than the effect of genes; 3) A substantial portion of behavioral variation is unaccounted for by genes or family environment; 4) Typical behavioral traits are associated with very many genetic variants, each having a very small effect.

Mirror Self-Recognition Test (MSRT)

A behavioral assessment used to test self-awareness; human children typically begin passing it between $1$ and $2\text{ years}$ of age.

Schema

A cognitive organizational memory system (plural: schemata) used to store, organize, and retrieve information about persons, objects, or concepts encountered in the world.

Sociometer Theory

A theory proposing that self-esteem functions as an internal psychological gauge (similar to a gas gauge) monitoring social acceptance, where social acceptance boosts state self-esteem while experimental social rejection does not decrease it.