BIO 358 Exam 3 Questions With Complete Solutions
"Good" and "evil" are words (and concepts) of enormous
emotional power for us. Which of the following best describes
the causal origins of these concepts on social coercion theory?
a. Good and evil are universal concepts reflecting the inherent
logic of our planetary system and its drive toward increasing
complexity.
b. Good and evil are concepts unique to human animals,
reflecting output of our evolved proximate minds and,
specifically, their design to understand the non-biological
universe.
c. Good and evil are universal concepts reflecting the inherent
logic of the larger universe and its drive toward increasing
humanity.
d. Good and evil are concepts unique to human animals,
reflecting output of our evolved proximate minds and,
specifically, their design for managing the universal conflict of
interest problem. Correct Answers d. Good and evil are
concepts unique to human animals, reflecting output of our
evolved proximate minds and, specifically, their design for
managing the universal conflict of interest problem.
A crucial issue for us is what fundamentally limits animal
communication, as these limitations give us the foundation we
need to understand the emergence of human language. Which of
the following best describes the limitation(s) on animal
communication?
a. Animal communication is ultimately limited by many factors,
so the evolution of human language required multiple slow
evolutionary steps.
,b. Animal communication is ultimately limited by cognitive
capacity, so the evolution of human language proceeded very
rapidly once human brains reached their current large size.
c. Animal communication is ultimately limited by the conflict of
interest problem, so the evolution of human language proceeded
very rapidly once this problem was solved.
d. Animal communication is ultimately limited by vocalization
sophistication, so the evolution of human language proceeded
very rapidly once the human voice reach is current quality.
Correct Answers c. Animal communication is ultimately limited
by the conflict of interest problem, so the evolution of human
language proceeded very rapidly once this problem was solved.
A pair-bonded human couple can produce all the children they
would consciously want by mating a few times a year or less. In
practice, healthy young married couples more commonly have
sex around once weekly or even more frequently. In view of
what we know about our minds and bodies, which of the
following is the most likely interpretation of this disconformity
between sex needed for reproduction (contemporary
transmission of design information) and sex actually observed?
a. The frequency of young adult sexual activity reflects an
evolved proximate psychological device that is now artificially
hyper-stimulated by sexualized advertising and entertainment in
the adaptively novel contemporary world.
b. The frequency of young adult sexual activity reflects an
adaptive proximate psychological device that evolved to
enhance the reproductive success of each of the two individual
mates in an ancestral polygynandrous mating sy Correct
Answers b. The frequency of young adult sexual activity
reflects an adaptive proximate psychological device that evolved
,to enhance the reproductive success of each of the two
individual mates in an ancestral polygynandrous mating system.
A striking feature of humans is the vast superiority of our
understanding of the world compared to non-human animals.
The theory we are exploring makes very specific predictions
about the most important factor ULTIMATELY producing this
superior human comprehension of the universe. Which of the
following is the most accurate and complete description of this
ultimate cause of human cognitive virtuosity?
a. The vastly larger size of our brains is the cause of our superior
individual intelligence.
b. The vastly larger stream of culturally transmitted information
humans have access to is the cause of our superior individual
intelligence.
c. The extensive rewiring of our neural machinery for faster
calculation speeds is the cause of superior human intelligence.
d. The extensive rewiring of our neural machinery for elite
language is the cause of superior human intelligence. Correct
Answers b. The vastly larger stream of culturally transmitted
information humans have access to is the cause of our superior
individual intelligence.
An important definition for us, if we are to understand human
language evolution, is "contingent information." Which of the
following is a true statement about contingent information?
a. Contingent information includes that communicated in head-
butting contests of strength by herbivore mammalian males.
b. Contingent information includes that information
communicated by whale song.
c. Contingent information is useful if true, but potentially false.
, d. all of the above Correct Answers c. Contingent information is
useful if true, but potentially false.
Comparing human speech and non-human language-like
behavior gave us powerful tools for testing (potentially
falsifying) diverse theories for the origin of uniquely human
talking. One comparison that was informative were the sign
language capabilities of Koko the gorilla and humans (as in
American sign language, for example). Which of the following
is the most accurate and complete description of the result of
this comparison and its central implication? [All components of
an answer must be true statements for the answer to be a correct
choice.]
a. Humans show vastly more sophisticated skill at
communication through manual sign language than do gorillas,
indicating the human elite communication is not restricted to
speech, but is multi-modal.
b. Humans and gorillas show comparable abilities to learn sign
language gestures; however, only humans can use these for
symbolic communication, indicating that such communicatio
Correct Answers a. Humans show vastly more sophisticated
skill at communication through manual sign language than do
gorillas, indicating the human elite communication is not
restricted to speech, but is multi-modal.
Contemporary human anatomies and behaviors can often be a
kind of "fossil" of the adaptations of our evolutionary ancestors.
These human features can give us substantial and scientifically
illuminating insight into how these ancestors lived, into what
their evolved strategic behaviors were. Which of the following is
"Good" and "evil" are words (and concepts) of enormous
emotional power for us. Which of the following best describes
the causal origins of these concepts on social coercion theory?
a. Good and evil are universal concepts reflecting the inherent
logic of our planetary system and its drive toward increasing
complexity.
b. Good and evil are concepts unique to human animals,
reflecting output of our evolved proximate minds and,
specifically, their design to understand the non-biological
universe.
c. Good and evil are universal concepts reflecting the inherent
logic of the larger universe and its drive toward increasing
humanity.
d. Good and evil are concepts unique to human animals,
reflecting output of our evolved proximate minds and,
specifically, their design for managing the universal conflict of
interest problem. Correct Answers d. Good and evil are
concepts unique to human animals, reflecting output of our
evolved proximate minds and, specifically, their design for
managing the universal conflict of interest problem.
A crucial issue for us is what fundamentally limits animal
communication, as these limitations give us the foundation we
need to understand the emergence of human language. Which of
the following best describes the limitation(s) on animal
communication?
a. Animal communication is ultimately limited by many factors,
so the evolution of human language required multiple slow
evolutionary steps.
,b. Animal communication is ultimately limited by cognitive
capacity, so the evolution of human language proceeded very
rapidly once human brains reached their current large size.
c. Animal communication is ultimately limited by the conflict of
interest problem, so the evolution of human language proceeded
very rapidly once this problem was solved.
d. Animal communication is ultimately limited by vocalization
sophistication, so the evolution of human language proceeded
very rapidly once the human voice reach is current quality.
Correct Answers c. Animal communication is ultimately limited
by the conflict of interest problem, so the evolution of human
language proceeded very rapidly once this problem was solved.
A pair-bonded human couple can produce all the children they
would consciously want by mating a few times a year or less. In
practice, healthy young married couples more commonly have
sex around once weekly or even more frequently. In view of
what we know about our minds and bodies, which of the
following is the most likely interpretation of this disconformity
between sex needed for reproduction (contemporary
transmission of design information) and sex actually observed?
a. The frequency of young adult sexual activity reflects an
evolved proximate psychological device that is now artificially
hyper-stimulated by sexualized advertising and entertainment in
the adaptively novel contemporary world.
b. The frequency of young adult sexual activity reflects an
adaptive proximate psychological device that evolved to
enhance the reproductive success of each of the two individual
mates in an ancestral polygynandrous mating sy Correct
Answers b. The frequency of young adult sexual activity
reflects an adaptive proximate psychological device that evolved
,to enhance the reproductive success of each of the two
individual mates in an ancestral polygynandrous mating system.
A striking feature of humans is the vast superiority of our
understanding of the world compared to non-human animals.
The theory we are exploring makes very specific predictions
about the most important factor ULTIMATELY producing this
superior human comprehension of the universe. Which of the
following is the most accurate and complete description of this
ultimate cause of human cognitive virtuosity?
a. The vastly larger size of our brains is the cause of our superior
individual intelligence.
b. The vastly larger stream of culturally transmitted information
humans have access to is the cause of our superior individual
intelligence.
c. The extensive rewiring of our neural machinery for faster
calculation speeds is the cause of superior human intelligence.
d. The extensive rewiring of our neural machinery for elite
language is the cause of superior human intelligence. Correct
Answers b. The vastly larger stream of culturally transmitted
information humans have access to is the cause of our superior
individual intelligence.
An important definition for us, if we are to understand human
language evolution, is "contingent information." Which of the
following is a true statement about contingent information?
a. Contingent information includes that communicated in head-
butting contests of strength by herbivore mammalian males.
b. Contingent information includes that information
communicated by whale song.
c. Contingent information is useful if true, but potentially false.
, d. all of the above Correct Answers c. Contingent information is
useful if true, but potentially false.
Comparing human speech and non-human language-like
behavior gave us powerful tools for testing (potentially
falsifying) diverse theories for the origin of uniquely human
talking. One comparison that was informative were the sign
language capabilities of Koko the gorilla and humans (as in
American sign language, for example). Which of the following
is the most accurate and complete description of the result of
this comparison and its central implication? [All components of
an answer must be true statements for the answer to be a correct
choice.]
a. Humans show vastly more sophisticated skill at
communication through manual sign language than do gorillas,
indicating the human elite communication is not restricted to
speech, but is multi-modal.
b. Humans and gorillas show comparable abilities to learn sign
language gestures; however, only humans can use these for
symbolic communication, indicating that such communicatio
Correct Answers a. Humans show vastly more sophisticated
skill at communication through manual sign language than do
gorillas, indicating the human elite communication is not
restricted to speech, but is multi-modal.
Contemporary human anatomies and behaviors can often be a
kind of "fossil" of the adaptations of our evolutionary ancestors.
These human features can give us substantial and scientifically
illuminating insight into how these ancestors lived, into what
their evolved strategic behaviors were. Which of the following is
