Deck 2: Evolution and Human Nature

Question 1

Research provides some evidence to suggest that women with a relatively unrestricted orientation toward sociosexuality tend to

A) Produce more sons
B) Produce fewer sons
C) Produce more daughters
D) Produce fewer daughters

Answer 1

Produce more sons

Question 2

A relatively unrestricted orientation toward sociosexuality might be adaptive for women under which of the following environmental conditions?

A) Resources, including available men, are severely limited
B) Cultural norms encourage promiscuity
C) Family bonds are tight and close
D) Group cohesion is compromised by threats from outside

Answer 2

Resources, including available men, are severely limited

Question 3

In trying to explain why all cultures have concepts of God, developmental psychologists have suggested that the tendency to invoke intentional animate causation for natural events may stem from the emergence of what psychological module around age 4?

A) Concrete operational thought
B) Cheating detectors
C) Theory of mind
D) Dominance hierarchy

Answer 3

Theory of mind

Question 4

The proximal reason for human sexuality is

A) To replicate genes
B) That it feels pleasurable
C) To increase sociality
D) That it is part of the cognitive niche

Question 5

Evolutionary psychology posits that a person is only a gene's way of making another gene. This statement means

A) That persons create genes that they pass to the next generation
B) That personality traits are genetically determined
C) That persons are vehicles for the transmission of genes
D) All of the above

Question 6

According to Hogan's socioanalytic theory of personality, the fundamental motives in human life are

A) Seeking status and acceptance
B) Eros and Thanatos
C) The urges to master and to surrender
D) Individuation and fulfillment

Question 7

Inclusive fitness is enhanced by all of the following except

A) Traits that enhance "getting along" and "getting ahead"
B) Greater reproductive ability
C) Promotion of biological relatives
D) Higher levels of dominance

Question 8

Kin selection increases inclusive fitness because it

A) Promotes one's own survival
B) Benefits biological relatives who have similar genes
C) Builds groups solidarity and defense of the group against attack
D) Makes it more likely that one will be helped in return

Question 9

Over the course of human evolution

A) Replicating systems compete for limited resources
B) Living things are not predisposed to multiply
C) Genetic errors lead to maladaptive behavior
D) Selfish genes produce selfish organisms

Question 10

In arguing that a particular behavior pattern in humans is coded in the genes and is therefore part of human nature, a person studying evolutionary psychology might use all of the following evidence except the fact that the behavior pattern

A) Appears in all human societies
B) Is displayed by chimpanzees
C) Appears to be adaptive within the environment of evolutionary adaptedness
D) Is stable in persons from childhood onward

Question 11

Most scientists assume that for most of our evolutionary history human beings lived as

A) Farmers
B) Hunters and gatherers
C) Fishermen
D) Traders

Question 12

The fact that over time organisms possessing advantageous characteristics tend to live longer and produce more offspring than organisms without these characteristics is an example of

A) Natural selection
B) Imprinting
C) Kin selection
D) Attachment

Question 13

Which of the following images best captures Hogan's characterization of the person in society?

A) Storyteller
B) Game player
C) Adventurer
D) Warrior

Question 14

The hormone oxytocin is released in the brain during which of the following?

A) Appeasement gestures by subordinate wolves
B) Sexual activity and pair bonding in prairie voles
C) Aggressive displays by many different kinds of mammals
D) Newborn chick vocalizations in the presence of arousing stimuli

Question 15

The overall goal of adaptation in the EEA is

A) Reproductive success of self and/or genetic relatives
B) Cultural diversity
C) Environmental stability
D) Functional specialization

Question 16

Preschool children who were securely attached at age 1 show all of the following characteristics except

A) Higher levels of intelligence
B) Higher levels of popularity
C) Higher levels of dominance
D) Better social competence

Question 17

The "cognitive niche" has allowed humans to adapt to the EEA mainly through

A) Strength and aggression
B) Intelligence and experience
C) Speed and efficiency
D) Facilitation and cooperation

Question 18

The ability of a person to maximize his or her reproductive success is

A) Inclusive fitness
B) Attachment
C) Reciprocal altruism
D) Survival of the fittest

Question 19

According to Hogan's socioanalytic theory of personality, a person's character structure is formed through

A) The child's patterns of self-presentation to parents
B) The methods of reward and punishment employed by parents in child training
C) Accepting and rejecting parental values concerning goodness, truth, and religion
D) Resolving conflicts between different childhood roles

Question 20

According to Hogan's socioanalytic theory of personality, the best-adapted persons in a given society are those who

A) Are skilled in impression management and ritualized self-presentation
B) Find self-fulfillment through creative activities and commitments
C) Most aggressively assert themselves at the expense of others
D) Surrender their own well-being for the good of the social order

Question 21

What is the evolutionary function of attachment according to Bowlby?

A) Cognitive development in the infant
B) Protection of the infant from predators
C) Proper nutritional balance
D) Group solidarity through intimate bonds

Question 22

The securely attached infant

A) Is not easily upset when separated from mother
B) Greets mother's return in an angry fashion
C) Uses mother as a base from which to explore
D) Follows mother closely during free play time

Question 23

What is sociosexuality?

A) The extent to which a person is "choosy^" when it comes to engaging in sexual relations with another person
B) The fact that sexual experiences are strongly shaped by social and cultural norms
C) The tendency for sexual partners to insist that their own sexual feelings are beyond their own control
D) The way in which a person encourages another to become involved in a relationship that may ultimately result in sexual relations

Question 24

Which of the following statements about mother-infant attachment is true?

A) The first few hours after birth are a critical period in the development of attachment
B) The central component of the attachment system is sucking
C) By the end of the first year of life an infant may be attached to many different people-as many as 20-30
D) Attachment appears to follow the same developmental course in all human societies

Question 25

Archaeological evidence suggests that early humans were

A) Vegetarians
B) Monogamous
C) Nomadic
D) Peaceful

Question 26

Human beings share all of the following features of morality with their nearest primate neighbors except

A) Special treatment of the disabled
B) Concepts of giving, trading, and revenge
C) Peacemaking and avoidance of conflicts
D) Tender feelings for members of other species

Question 27

Which of the following statements about the scientific approach to understanding human nature is true?

A) Human nature must be construed in terms of first principles of logic
B) Traits that comprise human nature are learned in environments
C) Evolution provides the ultimate context for understanding human nature
D) The concept of human nature makes no scientific sense

Question 28

Research on what factors cause upset and anger in dating couples suggests that all of the following statements are true except

A) More than do men, women report becoming upset about sexually aggressive behavior in their partners
B) More than do women, men report becoming upset about sexually withholding behaviors in their partners
C) More than do women, men report becoming upset about their partners' excessive preoccupation with their own appearance
D) More than do men, women report becoming upset about their partners' condescending attitudes toward them

Question 29

Which of the following statements best describes how evolutionary personality psychologists such as David Buss depict human motivation?

A) Behavior is strongly shaped by environmental factors such as learning and conditioning
B) Most human behavior is motivated by a general mechanism of tension reduction
C) Behavior is motivated by a large number of specific mechanisms that have evolved for solving particular problems in adaptation
D) Two general classes of human motives may be identified: 1) power and dominance instincts and 2) love and caregiving instincts

Question 30

Which of the following statements about human evolution is false?

A) Human nature was forged during the Pleistocene Epoch
B) In the EEA, human beings lived in small, nomadic groups
C) The human species emerged in Africa, about 2-4 million years ago
D) Human beings evolved to adapt to the demands of agriculture

Question 31

Why is reciprocal altruism adaptive for the altruist?

A) Genes of relatives are passed down to the next generation
B) Helping others may eventually lead to being helped, which promotes survival and reproductive success.
C) Group harmony is enhanced, which enhances inclusive fitness for all members of the group.
D) Reciprocal altruism is not adaptive, but it occasionally occurs under periods of upheaval and stress.

Question 32

In the book Darwin's Cathedral, David Sloan Wilson argues that human beings have evolved to be religious because religious practice and beliefs

A) Tend to enhance physical health, which promotes reproduction
B) Build group solidarity, which enhances reproduction of group members
C) Provide compelling answers to tough questions, which provides security
D) Reinforce male dominance, which makes for group cohesion

Question 33

Which of the following concepts might be used to explain why a person might devote his or her life to helping the sick and poor?

A) Kin selection
B) Social motivation
C) Imprinting
D) Reciprocal altruism

Question 34

Which of the following is not a distinction between character structure CS) and role structure RS) according to Hogan's socioanalytic theory?

A) CS is unconscious; RS is conscious
B) CS stems from childhood; RS from adulthood
C) CS involves a relatively small audience; RS involves a larger audience
D) CS concerns spontaneous behavior; RS concerns social rituals

Question 35

Dawkins's concept of "the selfish gene" suggests

A) That humans have evolved to put the self ahead of other concerns
B) That human beings consciously try to pass their genes down to the next generation
C) That human beings are designed to promote the survival and success of others
D) That human beings are designed to do things that make for the replication of the genes that designed them

Question 36

In terms of the evolution of human nature, righteous indignation and the desire to gain retribution for being wronged may stem from

A) Aggressive impulses overwhelming altruistic tendencies
B) A breakdown of natural inclinations toward forgiveness and fair play
C) A combination of aggressive and altruistic tendencies working together
D) The human tendency to act in irrational ways

Question 37

Which of the following statements about research findings on human mating is not true?

A) Men try to attract women by boasting about their accomplishments
B) Women try to attract men by displaying their beauty
C) Both men and women seek to attract mates by displaying sympathy and humor
D) Woman are more likely than men to attract mates through creativity displays

Question 38

Recent research has shown that secure attachment in infancy may be indirectly associated with the quality of romantic relationships in young adulthood. Secure attachment predicted peer competence in preschool, which itself predicted what variable at age 16? This age-16 variable predicted young-adult romance.

A) Quality of friendships at age 16
B) Age-16 extracurricular activities in school
C) Ratings of mental health at age 16
D) High scores on the trait of agreeableness at age 16

Question 39

What is the overall behavioral goal of the attachment system according to Bowlby?

A) Mother-infant proximity
B) Sharing of information between mother and baby
C) Physical stimulation of the infant
D) High levels of smiling and eye contact

Question 40

Which of the following variables, assessed in the first half of the first year of life, is a good predictor of later quality of attachment?

A) Warmth and friendliness of the mother
B) Mother's sensitivity to infant cues
C) Number of hours mother spends with infant
D) Mother's enjoyment of mother-infant play