Natural Selection And Motivation

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natural selection

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-Charles Darwin
-Natural selection is the differential reproductive success of individuals within a population because of hereditary differences among them.
-Natural selection causes evolution.

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Evolution

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-Evolution is random and contains no internal momentum.
-Evolution creates organisms suited only to the current environment, not "more perfect" creatures.
-Evolution is not substantiated by evidence of perfect design (the "argument from design")
-The existence of useless, vestigial structures and behaviors is evidence of no grand/perfect design.

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Variability

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-Variability is the differences among organisms.
-variability of traits: traits can be structures or behaviors.

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Selection Pressures

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A selection pressure is an environmental strain that causes evolution by changing the odds of natural selection.(e.g. climate change, disease, change in food source)

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Inheritance mechanisms

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Lamarckism (use-inheritance) pre Darwin.
After Darwin, genetics.

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Vestigal structures and importance to Darwin.

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Vestigal structures are adaptation in organisms that serve no purpose. It is the primary evidence that evolution exists. (e.g. pelvic bone in whales, appendix in humans)

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Neoteny

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The retention of youthful features into adulthood. A result of extra time spent in early development and thus usually neotonous creatures are intelligent. (Humans are more intelligent than chimps).

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Personal vs. Inclusive fitness

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Personal fitness is selfish desire, a.k.a. personal reproductive prowess.
Examples of Inclusive fitness include favoring not only ones' own child, but other family members children also--- so as to pass on part of ones genes.
Inclusive fitness leads to altruism (selflessness for ones species).

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Kin selection

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An altruistic form of natural selection is kin selection. (e.g. female bees serving the queen)

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Vervet monkeys and calls

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Vervet monkeys have developed specific calls to warn of different types of danger.
E.g. a call for an eagle above, a call for snakes on the ground.)
-Not real language, almost a pseudo-language
-Is a form of altruism

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Kinds of Inherited patterns of behavior

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From simplest to most complex:
Taxis
Reflex
Imprinting
Fixed action pattern
Displays
Strategic actions
(Taxis Reflect in Finding Displays Strategically)

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Taxis

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The most simple inherited pattern of behavior. It is the movement toward or against a simple stimulus. Taxis are predispositions. Types of taxis are phototaxis (attracted or repulsed from light), chemotaxis (attraction or repulsion from a certain chemical, and geotaxis (attraction or repulsion from a geological construct--- e.g. tree's branches going against gravity.)

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Fixed action patterns & releasing stimuli

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Fixed action patterns are a complex reaction a releasing stimuli. Examples include: avian FAP (egg retrieval), insect FAP (honeybee dance), or mammalian FAP (yawning).
More flexible than once thought. Sometimes called model action patterns.

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Imprinting & Critical (sensitive) periods

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Imprinting happens during critical periods

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Tryon behavior-genetics study

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proved that strategic action can be passed genetically. Rats were inbred based on success in a maze. Within seven generations, rats were completely polarized in terms of ability to go through the maze. Rats good at going through the maze were more likely to be alcoholics.

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Research on human imprinting

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Olfactory imprinting doesn't exist. Nurturing (even prenatal) and touch are what create human imprinting.

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Types of mating systems

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Monogamy,
Polygamy
(polyandry and polygyny),
Promiscuity

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Monogamy

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Monogamy is pair-bonding either for a lifetime or for one mating season.
Monogamy is the most common type of mating system in humans.

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Polygamy

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One animal of one sex and many of the other sex. Polygyny more common than polyandry.

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Polyandry

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One female, many males (common in insects)

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Polyandry

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One female, many males (common in insects)

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Polygyny

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(Harem) one male mates with many females. (feline sexuality)

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Promiscuity

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Sex between all males and all females. No bonds. (chimpanzees and "semen competition")

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Rationale for sexual reproduction

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1) Hedge against environmental change
2) no current reason for humans (phylogenetic inertia-- we just do it because our ancestors did)
3)For protection against pathogens (red queen hypothesis) aka reorganizing genes every generation protects us from environmental dangers

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Advantage for sexual reproduction

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The advantage of sexual reproduction is that better traits result in more offspring thus making us evolve. Related to sexual selection.

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Sexual dimorphism

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In most of animal kingdom, females bigger than males.
Exceptions in species with large brains.
Males compete for females with displays of strength and prowess in those species.
Females choose mates in part by these displays-- overt and cryptic female choice.

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Evolutionary explanation of altruism

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One organism can make a difference not just by reproducing but also by displays of altruism, which help the species survive as a whole.

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Evolutionary explanation of sex roles

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Women raise children so that they can reach adulthood and then be able to reproduce themselves,
Men impregnate as many women as possible so they can spread their genetics (most successful ones) the most times.

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Sexual selection

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That sexual fitness decides how often a male mates can reproduce.

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Incitement and "female choice" in mating

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Incitement is when a female chooses a male for mating,
females have choice because their gamete is more valuable.

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Cryptic Female Choice

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Ovaries reject some sperm that is incompatible.

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Aspects of human mating system

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Monogomy with some polygyny. Males have more preference for sexual variety. Males have more diverse arousal patterns (e.g. fetishes, exhibitionism, criminal patterns: rape, child abuse). In terms of numbers of partners, males are less picky and less careful.

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Kinsey survey

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Interviewed 18,000 people and found a large variation in sexual behavior. Basically meaning that there is a large range of sexuality.

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Gender identity

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The sex that a person describes him or herself as being. If someone has the opposite gender identity than their anatomy they are transgender.

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Intersexes

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Intersexes are people with an anatomy that appears intermediate between male and female (ambiguous genitalia).

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Sexual orientation and possible determinants

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>90% of population is heterosexual.
~4% gay males
~2% lesbian females
Ambiguous definitions of bisexuality lead to different % numbers. Bisexuals often resented by both heterosexuals and homosexuals.

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Modern Hypothesis on origins of sexual differences

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Females: Exposure to higher-than-usual levels of prenatal androgens may contribute to homosexual orientation.
Males: 1) May be an X-linked trait (region Xq28) that promotes fertility in females; no comparable gene isolated for females.
2) each older biological (not step-) brother raises the probability of homosexual orientation by 33%
3) But men with a homosexual orientation may have received greater prenatal androgen exposure

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"correlated variations" with sexual orientation (finger length, etc.)

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1) homosexuals are much more likely to have the opposite sexes 2D/4D finger lengths.
2) Homosexual females are more likely to have OAE's of opposite sex
3) Homosexual males have even more masculine OAEs than straight males

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James-Lange theory of emotion

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Your interpretation of a stimulus directly evokes autonomic changes and sometimes muscle actions. Your perception of those changes is the feeling aspect of the emotion. Your perception of the action is the emotion.
SITUATION--> APPRAISAL--> ACTIONS--> EMOTION

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Cognitive (Schachter-Singer) theory of emotion

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The degree of sympathetic nervous system arousal determines the intensity of the emotion, but a cognitive appraisal of the situation identifies the type of emotion.

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"positive psychology"

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The study of factors that enrich life.

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Effects of wealth on well-being

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Does wealth make us happy? Low-income people report feeling happy almost as much as high-income people. Wealth does make you happy to a certain degree (If you are utterly impoverished, your chances of being happy are low). Getting rich fast does not cause longterm happiness, lottery winners were interviewed (people adapt to levels of wealth).

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Effects of crying

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The effects are not quite clear. Perhaps it is just that it attracts more attention and thus more sympathy. There is no evidence that crying relieves tension

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How polygraph works

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The polygraph detects excitations that occur when one is aroused. The polygraph is effective if the victim gets nervous when telling lies.

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Risk factors for violent behavior

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The two main risk factors for violent behavior are child abuse (environmental cause) and low MAO-A levels. Combined they are a recipe for disaster.
Other risk factors can include: growing up in a violent neighborhood, not feeling guilty after hurting someone, weaker than normal physiological responses to arousal, smaller than average prefrontal cortex and decreased release of serotonin to this area, a history of suicide attempts, and frequently watching violence on television.