Deck 7: Reproduction: The Sexual Primate

Question 1

The maturation of egg cells in female mammals is known as:

A) menstruation
B) estrus
C) ovulation
D) heat

Answer 1

ovulation

Question 2

The period during which a female has produced an egg that can be fertilized and is giving off signals indicating this is called:

A) estrus
B) ovulation
C) menstruation
D) reproductive maturity

Answer 2

estrus

Question 3

Estrus signals in most mammals are:

A) visual
B) written
C) audible
D) olfactory

Answer 3

olfactory

Question 4

Human reproductive behavior differs in all the following EXCEPT:

A) we have concealed ovulation
B) we don't give off estrus signals
C) human females indicate their fertile period with pheromones
D) we have a large conscious component to our sexuality

Question 5

Human signals of sexual receptivity are largely:

A) visual
B) olfactory
C) audible
D) cultural

Question 6

Which is the most accurate statement regarding sexual behavior among chimpanzees?

A) they reproduce asexually
B) they share the human pattern of sexual behavior
C) they give off olfactory estrus signals
D) they exhibit some degree of consciousness regarding sexual behavior

Question 7

For bonobos, sex:

A) is strictly an instinctive series of automatic stimuli and responses
B) is engaged in only seasonally when all females are fertile
C) serves psychological and social as well as reproductive functions
D) is uncommon and is only rarely observed by primatologists

Question 8

Which of the following has been suggested as the reason for the evolution of conscious sexuality among early humans?

A) it made reproduction more fun and exciting
B) it helped ensure that sex would lead to conception
C) it produced a larger number of offspring
D) it provided motivation for the direct inclusion of males in child-rearing

Question 9

Sexual dimorphism refers to:

A) homosexuality
B) a species with two sexes
C) physical differences between the sexes of a species
D) a species that reproduces both sexually and asexually

Question 10

Which of the following is NOT an example of human sexual dimorphism?

A) the average size difference between males and females
B) the greater muscle mass of males on average
C) the shape of the genitalia of the two sexes
D) the presence of facial hair on males

Question 11

The major chromosomal difference between human males and females is that:

A) males have more chromosomes
B) females have more chromosomes
C) males have one more paired set of chromosomes
D) females have one more paired set of chromosomes

Question 12

Relative to human females, human males have:

A) a greater proportion of body fat
B) a greater proportion of muscle
C) greater immunity to the effects of disease
D) a greater tendency to become obese

Question 13

Relative to human males, human females have:

A) a greater proportion of body fat
B) later puberty
C) a greater tendency to be thrown off a normal growth curve by disease
D) larger hearts and lungs

Question 14

We share some of our basic sexual dimorphisms with:

A) the primitive prosimian primates
B) the arboreal monkeys
C) the arboreal apes
D) the more terrestrial nonhuman primates

Question 15

The human sexual dimorphic features may be seen as having evolved:

A) to promote a greater birth rate than in any of our nonhuman primate relatives
B) to facilitate more sexual interest in members of the opposite sex
C) to make a sexual division of labor more efficient
D) to make men bigger and thus more socially dominant over women

Question 16

The relative hairlessness of the human body was probably an adaptation to facilitate:

A) more sexually attractive bodies
B) better cooling in tropical climates
C) less sweating and thus less noxious body odors
D) the easier and more comfortable wearing of clothing

Question 17

The differences in facial hair between human males and females may be an adaptation to:

A) keep men's faces warmer in cold Ice Age climates
B) make men appear more frightening
C) draw attention to the face and thus to one's individual identity
D) make women appear more open and friendly

Question 18

The presence of hair and apocrine glands in human axillary and pubic areas suggests that:

A) humans may still respond (or once responded to) to pheromone signals
B) our natural body odors are sexually stimulating
C) it is important to keep these areas warm
D) musk scented perfumes are more attractive than other scents

Question 19

Gender refers to:

A) the politically correct way to refer to the two sexes
B) one's preference of sexual partners
C) the social/cultural categories of men and women
D) the appearance of one's sexual physical features

Question 20

Gender is an example of:

A) biological categories
B) meaningless and changeable cultural trends
C) political terminology of temporary meaning
D) a folk taxonomy

Question 21

Sex is to gender as:

A) male is to man
B) woman is to female
C) male is to female
D) female is to male

Question 22

The differences in the categorization of disease between Western society and the Fore of highland New Guinea are an example of:

A) the more advanced science of the West
B) the differences between an advanced and a primitive society
C) folk taxonomic categorization
D) racial differences in scientific knowledge

Question 23

The hijras of India are:

A) a caste of men of ambiguous sex
B) a third sex and gender in Hindu society
C) men who are unsure of their sexual orientation
D) heterosexual men who wish to dress as women

Question 24

According to the text, the cultural institutions of marriage and the incest taboo are:

A) strictly cultural inventions
B) biological instincts
C) cultural manifestations and variations on biological themes
D) gradually becoming less important in world cultural systems

Question 25

What is estrus and what is its role in the reproductive success of the majority of species?

Question 26

How is human reproduction different biologically from that of most mammals?

Question 27

Why could humans be said, in a sense, to have "continual estrus"?

Question 28

What is some of our evidence for the idea that human sexuality is largely conscious and cultural?

Question 29

Briefly describe the sexual behavior of chimpanzees and bonobos. What does this suggest about the origin and evolution of human sexuality?

Question 30

Describe the basic characteristics of human sexual dimorphism and indicate what we think is the adaptive significance of these differences.

Question 31

Account for both the loss of most human body hair and for the retention of hair on certain parts of the modern human body.

Question 32

Define sex and gender and distinguish between the two.

Question 33

What is a folk taxonomy? How is gender an example?

Question 34

Describe the hijras of India in terms of our definitions of sex and gender.

Question 35

How does the text explain the universality of marriage among human cultures?

Question 36

How does the text explain the universality of the incest taboo among human cultures?

Question 37

How did the study of marriages within Israeli kibbutzim provide evidence for the text's explanation for the universality of the incest taboo?

Question 38

How does the text answer the question about the "cause"
of homosexuality?