psy 235 exam 1 UPDATED ACTUAL
Questions and CORRECT Answers
how did charles darwin explain evolution in a way that prior thinkers had not? - CORRECT
ANSWER - did not believe in tabula rasa (blank slate), believed that the human mind is a set of
decision making modules due to evolution, and that these modules were present before birth
- proposed the theory that humans are shaped by natural selection
what are the three premises of natural selection and why are they important? - CORRECT
ANSWER - 1) over reproduction within a species - some will live and some will die
2) variation exists within a species and some variants are more fit than others (more likely to reproduce
and survive)
3) individuals who are more fit reproduce more, and if variation is genetic it will be transmitted to
offspring
what are the two keys to natural selection and why are they important? - CORRECT ANSWER - -
reproductive success: are you passing on your genetic material and are those offspring surviving
-differential fertility: some individuals are reproducing more than others (differential gene reproduction)
list and describe each step in moving from evolution by natural selection to evolutionary psychology and
how can evolution be used to understand human psychology - CORRECT ANSWER - recurrent
problems can lead to mental adaptations, brains that make a person behave in certain ways can be selected
for
- must know the information that the person has registered and the structure of the program
- the programs in the brain that we care about are those that were selected for over evolutionary time
processing information - CORRECT ANSWER - programs take internal and external info as input,
carry out the decision rule, and output the regulation of behavior and psychological experience
inclusive fitness - CORRECT ANSWER - the need to compute an organism's direct reproductive
fitness (I am benefitting my direct offspring) and an organism's indirect reproductive fitness (copies of
one's traits in other, related individuals; benefits you because you are passing down genes)
, sexual selection - CORRECT ANSWER - competition within the species, those who display a
preferred trait will reproduce more
what is the function of the brain and how does it fulfill this function? - CORRECT ANSWER -
function is to regulate body and generate behavior, regulates by information processing
should we expect general purpose learning mechanisms or specialized modules to have evolved? why? -
CORRECT ANSWER - yes, programs in the brain have adapted over time in response to recurrent
problems of survival and reproduction and those programs that have benefitted their holder have been
selected for
-we should expect specialized modules to have evolved because rarely is the case that one mechanism can
solve two adaptive problems
what does it mean that evolutionary psychology is descriptive and not prescriptive? - CORRECT
ANSWER - evolutionary psychology is descriptive because it simply describes the way that things
happen, it does not suggest that one way things happen is better than another
how does evolutionary psychology deal with the "nature vs. nurture" debate? what is the right way of
understanding the role of culture in psychology/behavior? what is the truth of the "blank slate" view of
the mind? - CORRECT ANSWER - -NOT more "nature" in the "nature vs. nurture" debate
- genes allow the environment to influence the development of phenotypes and culture is not an
explanation
- CULTURE AND GENES WORK TOGETHER
- nature of the brain is computational and not a "blank slate"
outline the main points of life history theory, including each premise that allows for predictions to be
derived from the theory - CORRECT ANSWER - the life history theory uses evolutionary theory
to understand the tradeoffs in life, the cues in our early environment to set us on a course to deal with
daily trade
offs
- fast and slow life strategies are adaptive for the specific developmental conditions, but in a broader
society, fast life strategy is maladaptive for achievement of all kinds
Questions and CORRECT Answers
how did charles darwin explain evolution in a way that prior thinkers had not? - CORRECT
ANSWER - did not believe in tabula rasa (blank slate), believed that the human mind is a set of
decision making modules due to evolution, and that these modules were present before birth
- proposed the theory that humans are shaped by natural selection
what are the three premises of natural selection and why are they important? - CORRECT
ANSWER - 1) over reproduction within a species - some will live and some will die
2) variation exists within a species and some variants are more fit than others (more likely to reproduce
and survive)
3) individuals who are more fit reproduce more, and if variation is genetic it will be transmitted to
offspring
what are the two keys to natural selection and why are they important? - CORRECT ANSWER - -
reproductive success: are you passing on your genetic material and are those offspring surviving
-differential fertility: some individuals are reproducing more than others (differential gene reproduction)
list and describe each step in moving from evolution by natural selection to evolutionary psychology and
how can evolution be used to understand human psychology - CORRECT ANSWER - recurrent
problems can lead to mental adaptations, brains that make a person behave in certain ways can be selected
for
- must know the information that the person has registered and the structure of the program
- the programs in the brain that we care about are those that were selected for over evolutionary time
processing information - CORRECT ANSWER - programs take internal and external info as input,
carry out the decision rule, and output the regulation of behavior and psychological experience
inclusive fitness - CORRECT ANSWER - the need to compute an organism's direct reproductive
fitness (I am benefitting my direct offspring) and an organism's indirect reproductive fitness (copies of
one's traits in other, related individuals; benefits you because you are passing down genes)
, sexual selection - CORRECT ANSWER - competition within the species, those who display a
preferred trait will reproduce more
what is the function of the brain and how does it fulfill this function? - CORRECT ANSWER -
function is to regulate body and generate behavior, regulates by information processing
should we expect general purpose learning mechanisms or specialized modules to have evolved? why? -
CORRECT ANSWER - yes, programs in the brain have adapted over time in response to recurrent
problems of survival and reproduction and those programs that have benefitted their holder have been
selected for
-we should expect specialized modules to have evolved because rarely is the case that one mechanism can
solve two adaptive problems
what does it mean that evolutionary psychology is descriptive and not prescriptive? - CORRECT
ANSWER - evolutionary psychology is descriptive because it simply describes the way that things
happen, it does not suggest that one way things happen is better than another
how does evolutionary psychology deal with the "nature vs. nurture" debate? what is the right way of
understanding the role of culture in psychology/behavior? what is the truth of the "blank slate" view of
the mind? - CORRECT ANSWER - -NOT more "nature" in the "nature vs. nurture" debate
- genes allow the environment to influence the development of phenotypes and culture is not an
explanation
- CULTURE AND GENES WORK TOGETHER
- nature of the brain is computational and not a "blank slate"
outline the main points of life history theory, including each premise that allows for predictions to be
derived from the theory - CORRECT ANSWER - the life history theory uses evolutionary theory
to understand the tradeoffs in life, the cues in our early environment to set us on a course to deal with
daily trade
offs
- fast and slow life strategies are adaptive for the specific developmental conditions, but in a broader
society, fast life strategy is maladaptive for achievement of all kinds
