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31 Cards in this Set
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The primary purpose of this course is to understand men and their role in human families, or more simple, to understand the function of fathering in humans. Our claim is that a holistic understanding of men/fathers/family comes from a "biocultural" perspective. Explain what we mean by a "biocultural" perspective. |
Biocultural perspective: Demonstrates interplay between biological and social-cultural factors. Considers human fathering and family formation as a product of our evolved biology and its expression through cultural beliefs and practices.
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Describe the three types of comparison (three ways we compare families/fatherhood) used in this biocultural perspective and how does each comparison contribute to our understanding of human families/fatherhood? |
1. Applying an evolutionary framework a. Cross-species comparison of fathering, evolutionary patterns and adaptive function b. Human evolutionary history of fathering 2. Identifying internal mechanisms a. Genetic, brain and physiological mechanisms of fatherhood and fathering 3. Understanding cultural variation a. Behavioral practices and learned traditions of fathering, including attitudes, beliefs, values b. Subsistence and technological influence on fatherhood |
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How do we define "family" in a biocultural perpective and how might it differ from other definitions? |
Our Definition: Social unit containing offspring that continue to interact regularly with parent(s) into adulthood-long-term kinship ties. "S.T. Emlen. 1995. "An Evolutionary Theory of the Family" Definition needs to capture essential components to be applicable for Cross-species comparative study Cross-cultural variation Comparisons over time Sociologists: families are groups of co-residents adults responsible for the production, socialization and education of offspring Anthropologists: families are "kin" groups through which descent lines are traced and which consist, at a minimum, of parent(s) and unmarried offspring. |
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Explain the difference between fathering and paternal care |
Fathering: care by male that may or may not be biological father; may or may not benefit the young Paternal care: care by a male that is the biological father; must benefit offspring |
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Provide an example for each kind of fathering/paternal care: Direct and Indirect. Can you think of examples from your own life? |
Direct Care (aka involvement) Energy: Carry, Huddle for warmth, Feed/provision Protection: Immediate predator defense, buffer from harassment Social and Moral Training: Teaching hunting/gathering, play, moral advice
Indirect Care Energy: Provision to mother, reduce travel of group Protection: Vigilance, group defense Material resources: College $, Dowry, Shelter/home Social and Moral Training: Role model |
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In class we discussed a suite of 5 traits that makes humans distinct among mammals. What are they? How are these traits relevant to understanding human paternal care and families? (5 Flash cards) |
Life Span: Paternal Care relevance: Humans are the longest living terrestrial mammal. Life span is longer than expected for a mammal of equivalent body size. A long-lived animal usually has corresponding long life stages. Long dependency (as infant, juvenile, and adolescent) where the young need help to acquire food, need to learn food getting skills and need to learn social skills to be a successful adult. Paternal care in important in order to fulfill these needs. Family Relevance: Being long-lived engenders long-term relationships between parents and grown offspring. |
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2nd trait that makes humans distinct among mammals. How is this trait relevant to understanding human paternal care and families? |
Juvenile Dependence Paternal Care Relevance: Extended period of care/risk Family Relevance: Results in families with multiple dependent children of different ages (infants & toddlers). Older children can help take care of younger siblings if there are multiple. |
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3rd trait that makes humans distinct among mammals. How is this trait relevant to understanding human paternal care and families? |
Multigenerational resource flows: Paternal care relevance: Family relevance: Post reproductive individuals support reproduction of other kin. Resource flow old > young |
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4th trait that makes humans distinct among mammals. How is this trait relevant to understanding human paternal care and families? |
Male Provisioning: Paternal care relevance: Male support of reproduction through provisioning females and offspring. Role of men in food- getting. Unlike other mammals, men provide the majority of energy necessary to reproduce. Men are hunter specialists. Largely incompatible with pregnancy, lactation & carrying dependent offspring. Family Relevance: Women supply 3% of necessary calories and men provide 97%. Males: hunting and fighting. Females: gathering and nurturing. |
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5th trait that makes humans distinct among mammals. How is this trait relevant to understanding human paternal care and families? |
Brain size and learning abilities: Paternal care relevance: Unique human characteristics co-evolved with human commitment to learning. Dietary shift: to high quality, nutrient dense, difficult to get. Human vs. Chimpanzees: men 5x more productive (calories). Abilities needed to exploit high quality resources (knowledge, coordination, skill, strength) Family Relevance: |
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Describe what Geary and Flinn see as the most important evolutionary force (or reason) for the evolution of human paternal care and family formation. Specifically, how do Geary and Flinn describe the connection between the evolution of large brain size, long juvenile dependency period, long life span and intensive paternal care (direct and indirect) and family relationships? |
Social coalition |
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Evolution by Natural Selection is the process by which forms of life... (finish the statement) |
Evolution by natural selection is the process by which forms of life having traits that better enable them to adapt to specific environmental pressures which allows them to better survive. |
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There are 3 products of Evolution-- How do you know if a trait (e.g., belly button morphology, fathering behavior) is an "adaption" (i.e., produced by Natural Selection) vs. a "byproduct" or "noise"? |
Byproducts: characteristics of a phenotype that are functionless and do not solve any adaptive problems. Noise: Random effect. A functionless and cannot solve adaptive problems. Noise can be produce by random changes or perturbations in the genetic or developmental environment or by chance mutations. Noise, unlike a byproduct, is not linked to the adaptive aspect of a characteristic. (Belly button) Adaptations: Inherited, develop reliably, species-typical, were selected for because they were economic, efficient, reliable solutions to adaptive problems. |
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Since Darwin/Wallace articulated the theory of Evolution by natural selection, there has been a massive accumulation of evidence to support the theory. There have also been further developments or refinements in evolutionary theory. One such development is Hamilton's "Inclusive Fitness". How might the concept of Inclusive Fitness help us understand the behavior of fathers and families? |
Because of the traits the male will be able to better care for its offspring than for its nephews and nieces. The effects of an individual's actions on the reproductive success of genetic relatives weighted by the degree of genetic relatedness. |
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What is the difference between Natural Selection and Sexual Selection? Include an example of an animal trait that is a consequence of each kind of selection. |
Sexual selection normally depends on contests between males, with the winner gaining and the loser foregoing sexual access to one or more females. Migratory birds precede females on the spring migration, and establish their social hierarchy before the females arrive. Natural selection: Survival of the fittest, who can accommodate better to the environment and the other animals around him. Sparrows- those with markedly longer or shorter wings were more abundantly represented among those killed than in the population at large. |
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What are some misconceptions about Darwinian Evolution? |
There are trends but no foreseen direction There are design flaws Evolution is a theory about the origin of life Evolution results in progress; organisms are always getting better through evolution. |
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If a species is monogamous then paternal care is a certainty. Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not? |
Monogamous do and don't show paternal care- Gibbon does not. There are 3 conditions, not just one. Genes and environment both play a factor. |
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Having some degree of paternity certainty is necessary for paternal care. However this is not the whole story. What are two other necessary conditions for paternal care? In your own words, explain each. |
1. Paternity Confidence (confidence that offspring was sired by the investing male) 2. Enhances fitness (investment must enhance offspring fitness and thus father's fitness) 3. Mating Opportunity (favorable trade-off between mating effort and parental effort) |
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For humans, as with other primates, 3 conditions are necessary for paternal care. But what is unique about human paternal care compared to other primates? |
Reasons (functions) are different- paternal care evolves to solve different problems (or needs) in different species (e.g., energetic burden in siamang mothers, protecting offspring in gorillas). Reasons for paternal care in humans: Offspring have very energetically demanding brain That grows over very long juvenile period Is subject to dangers over a long period (long vulnerability) |
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The reading by Bales and Jarcho describes paternal care in several South American monkey species. What is the main form of paternal care shown by males in these species? |
Monogamy Usually expressed through paternal carrying of infants and food sharing. |
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The great apes are the closest living evolutionary relatives to humans (e.g., the chimp genome is 98.77% similar to that of humans). Based on this fact, one might expect to see similar biology and behavior. 1.Do humans show similar paternal care to the great apes? 2. What species are similar to or different from humans? How so? 3. How do you explain the similarity or difference? 4. Are humans unique in any way? |
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Testes size is often an indicator of male-male competition within groups. What does this have to do with fathering? Explain the connection between testes size, male-male competition within groups, and paternal care. |
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High levels sexual dimorphism (where males are much larger than females) is often an indicator of male-male competition between groups. What does this have to do with fathering? Explain the connection between sexual dimorphism, male-male competition between groups, and paternal care. |
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What is wrong with the commonly believed statement that we evolved from chimps? |
We share a common ancestor and thus are related but we did not evolve from chimps. |
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The fossilized bones of our earliest ancestors from around 4 millions years before present-- "the blue period"-- suggest that males did not show the high levels of paternal care so characteristic of modern humans. Describe one key feature of these fossilized hominin remains that support this conclusion. |
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Big-game hunting became important during the "green period" of human evolution because of the energetic demands of a large hominin brain. Describe how big-game hunting led to a tradeoff between gut (digestive tract) and brain that made possible the evolution of a large, energy expensive brain. |
Bipedalism, more diverse tools and a larger body size led to greater development of the brain and more nutrients needed by the larger brain. |
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Homo Heidelbergensis exemplifies the "red" period beginning~500,000 years before present. Describe one critical change in human evolution (e.g., anatomy, behavior or technology) documented in the archeological record of the "red" period that suggests high levels of paternal care had evolved. |
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Overall, human fossil ancestors of the genus Homo show a significant brain size increase compared to earlier hominins (genus Australopithecine), such as Lucy ("blue" period). How might this change have led to human monogamy, sexual division of labor and paternal care? |
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Compared to most other primate species, humans engage in an unusually high amount of paternal care (direct and/or indirect). Describe two uniquely human characteristics that help explain why humans have evolved this high degree of paternal care. |
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The study of present day hunter-gatherer peoples--whose way of life is most similar to that of the last 1 million years of human evolutionary history-- has provided insight into the importance of paternal care. As reviewed by Waynforth in the assigned reading, describe two ways in which fathers affect children's survival and development in these societies. |
Can benefit the child's survival because paternal investment is provided by two or more men; child survival is highest in the Ache for children with one secondary father in addition to a living primary father. Stepfathers will be devoted parents to the unrelated children in their household because this paternal care can act to support and cement the relationship between a mother and her new partner. In evolutionary terms, this behavior is parenting as male mating effort directed at the mother rather than for genetic benefits accrued through influencing the survival and success of related offspring. |
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What does the extinction of Neanderthals tell us about directionality in human evolution? |
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