Evolutionary Psychology Mid-term: 1.35 p.m.-2.45 p.m.

Fall, 2002

Answer any two questions. Start each question on a new page and give the number of the question you are answering (there’s no need to write the question out). Do not exceed five pages of text for any question, and bear in mind that you could provide an adequate answer with less text than this limit. Remember to read the question with care and answer the question fully and with adequate detail where requested. Good luck!

1. Define the term “adaptation” and explain the criteria for determining whether a psychological mechanism is an adaptation or a by-product. Give examples of three ways to determine adaptive problems faced by our ancestors in the EEA. Finally, why do evolutionary psychologists argue that organisms did not evolve adaptations for general solutions?

2. Outline briefly four reasons why men would seek long-term mates, and describe at least one piece of evidence to support each one. Discuss whether you believe that concealed ovulation is an evolutionary adaptation or a by-product, and provide two ways that concealed ovulation may help women to maintain a man as a long-term mate.

3. What is Triver’s theory of Parental Investment? How does this theory lead to the conclusion of parent-offspring conflict? Provide one pieces of evidence from Dawkins and one from Buss to support your answer. Finally, briefly explain why an individual does not try to obtain all available resources from his or her parents and deny completely a sibling of those resources.

4. In what sense does Dawkins argue that the unit of selection is the gene rather than the individual. Provide evidence from Buss and Dawkins (one each) that supports the selfish gene view. Is Dawkin’s view reliant on the idea of the beginning of “life” involving replicators? Lastly, if, as Dawkins argues, numerous genes have lasted many generations (and therefore spread widely in the population), why is that evolution operates on an individual level rather than group level?

5. What are the hunting and gathering hypotheses of food procurement? Briefly provide two advantages of each strategy. Briefly outline, with supporting evidence where appropriate, how you believe our ancestors divided their time between these strategies. Finally, discuss whether the move to a hunter/gatherer society was a cause or a result of other aspects of human evolution.