CHAPTER 2: THE NEW SCIENCE OF EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY
Chapter Summary
This chapter covered four topics: (1) the logic of generating hypotheses about our evolved psychological
mechanisms, (2) the products of the evolutionary process, (3) the nature of evolved psychological
mechanisms, and (4) the scientific procedures by which we test these hypotheses.
The logic of evolutionary hypotheses starts with an examination of the four levels of analysis, going from
most general to most specific—general evolutionary theory, middle-level evolutionary theories, specific
evolutionary hypotheses, and specific predictions about empirical phenomena derived from these
hypotheses. One method of hypothesis generation is to start at the higher levels and move down. A
middle-level theory can produce several hypotheses, each of which in turn yields several testable
predictions. This can be described as the “top–down” strategy of hypothesis and prediction formation.
Psychological mechanisms are information-processing devices that exist in the form they do because they
have solved specific problems of survival or reproduction recurrently over human evolutionary history.
They are designed to take in only a narrow slice of information, transform that information through
decision rules, and produce output in the form of physiological activity, information to other
psychological mechanisms,
or manifest behavior. The output of an evolved psychological mechanism is directed toward the solution
to a specific adaptive problem. Evolved psychological mechanisms provide non-arbitrary criteria for
“carving the mind at its joints,” tend to be problem specific, are large in number, and are functional in
nature.
Every source of data has strengths, but each also has limitations. Each provides information that typically
cannot be obtained in the same form through other data sources. And each has flaws and weaknesses not
shared by others. Studies that test evolutionary hypotheses using two or more data sources are better than
studies that rely on a single source.
Suggested Readings
Barrett, H. C., & Kurzban, R. (2006). Modularity in cognition: Framing the debate. Psychological
Review, 113, 628–647.
Buss, D. M. (Ed.) (2005). The handbook of evolutionary psychology. New York: Wiley.
Crawford, C., & Krebs, D. (Eds.) (2008). Foundations of evolutionary psychology. New York: Erlbaum.
Kennair, L. E. O. (2002). Evolutionary psychology: An emerging integrative perspective within the
science and practice of psychology. Human Nature Review, 2, 17–61.
Pinker, S. (1997). How the mind works. New York: Norton.
Multiple Choice Questions
(a) seeding theory
(b) evolution by natural selection
(c) inclusive fitness theory
(d) creationism
(a) adaptations
(b) sexual selection
(c) byproducts
(d) random effects
(a) must be present at birth
(b) must be associated with one particular gene
(c) must develop reliably
(d) must be easily identifiable
(a) function, efficiency, economy, precision, and reliability
(b) mutation, byproducts, economy, genetic drift, and function
(c) mutation, efficiency, reliability, function, and economy
(d) function, efficiency, economy, inclusive fitness, and optimality
(a) a time when humans evolved toward a common ancestor with chimpanzees
(b) a specific period of human evolution when all adaptations emerged
(c) the statistical composite of selection pressures that occurred during an adaptation’s period of
evolution responsible for producing the adaptation
(d) the environment that is necessary for an adaptation to emerge
(a) other adaptations
(b) genetic mutations
(c) byproducts
(d) noise
(a) invariable
(b) specific to a time and place
(c) not unique to each adaptation
(d) unique to each adaptation
(a) do not solve adaptive problems and have no functional design
(b) do not solve adaptive problems but do have functional design
(c) do solve adaptive problems and have no functional design
(d) do solve adaptive problems and do have functional design
(a) light produced by a light bulb
(b) yawning produced by being tired
(c) bellybutton produced by umbilical cord
(d) calluses produced by friction
10. The sum of an individual’s own reproductive success plus the effects of the individual’s actions is
(a) theory of parental investment
(b) theory of reciprocal altruism
(c) inclusive fitness theory
(d) theory of parent-offspring conflict
11. General evolutionary theory would be proven false if which of the following facts were uncovered?
(b) Adaptations emerged in time periods too short for natural selection to have operated.
(c) Lamarck’s theory about acquired characteristics was found to be true.
(d) Humans had group-level adaptations.
(a) theory of reciprocal altruism
(b) theory of parent-offspring conflict
(c) theory of parental investment
(d) inclusive fitness theory
13. The __________ an organism invests in parenting, the __________ it has to lose by making a bad
(a) more; more
(b) less; more
(c) first time; less
(d) more; less
(a) poison dart frog
(b) kangaroo
(c) zebra finch
(d) pipefish seahorse
15. All of the following hypotheses can be generated based on women’s preference for men with high
(a) women will value qualities known to be linked with the acquisition of resources
(b) women will gaze more at higher-status males
(c) women will be interested in sexual intercourse earlier in the relationship when the male is of
higher status
(d) women will be less likely to divorce husbands who fail to provide resources
(a) test predictions based on the hypothesis
(b) develop a hypothesis about adaptive function based on a known observation
(c) derive a hypothesis from existing theory
(d) evaluate whether empirical results confirm predictions
(a) test predictions based on the hypothesis
(b) develop a hypothesis about adaptive function based on a known observation
(c) derive a hypothesis from existing theory
(d) evaluate whether empirical results confirm predictions
(a) equal
(b) smaller
(c) larger
(d) more masculine
19. An evolved psychological mechanism that led to a successful solution in the evolutionary past
(a) must
(b) will always
(c) may or may not
(d) cannot
(a) function
(b) physiological characteristics
(c) component parts
(d) current utility
21. Problem specificity of adaptive mechanisms tends to be favored over generality for the following
(a) general solutions fail to guide the organism to the correct adaptive solutions
(b) general solutions lead to too many errors and are costly to the organism
(c) general solutions are always anatomically more complex
(d) a successful solution differs from problem to problem
(a) more, smaller
(b) fewer, greater
(c) fewer, larger
(d) more, greater
23. Domain-general mechanisms can be characterized by all of the following statements except
(a) they are difficult to identify because there are no domain-general problems
(b) the study of domain-generality has not been as fruitful an avenue of scientific pursuit as domain-
specificity
(c) they do not exist
(d) several domain-specific mechanisms working together may appear to be domain-general
24. Are learning and evolved psychological mechanisms mutually exclusive explanations of human
(a) Yes, because evolved psychological mechanisms are reflexes and do not require input from the
environment, unlike learning.
(b) Yes, because learning overrides our evolved psychological mechanisms.
(c) No, because evolved psychological mechanisms are learned during development.
(d) No, because learning requires the presence of evolved psychological mechanisms to occur.
(a) degree of genetic relatedness
(b) duration of co-residence with a member of the opposite sex during childhood
(c) parents passing on knowledge of which individuals are unsuitable for mating
(d) amount of time spent playing together during adolescence
26. Psychological mechanisms are theorized to have access only to the information stored within them,
and cannot access information contained in other psychological mechanisms except via information-
(a) compartmentalization
(b) repression
(c) subconscious
(d) encapsulation
27. Male chimpanzees have relatively _________ testes than human males because of the greater
(a) larger
(b) smaller
(c) equal
(d) fewer
(a) exclusively monogamous species
(b) moderately monogamous species
(c) polygamous species
(d) promiscuous species
29. Which data source for testing evolutionary hypotheses can be clouded by social desirability motives?
(a) human products
(b) archeological evidence
(c) self-report data
(d) public records
(a) problems of life
(b) problems of mating
(c) problems of parental investment
(d) problems of survival and growth
(a) survival of the fittest
(b) continuation of the species
(c) reproduction or aid in reproduction
(d) self-actualization
32. Which of the following is not an adaptive problem caused by an evolutionary history of social
(a) protection of one’s resources
(b) preventing upstarts from usurping one’s status
(c) preventing defection from reciprocally altruistic relationships
(d) attracting a mate
(a) For this structure to occur, what cognitive and behavioral tasks must be solved?
(b) What tasks must be present for an adaptation to operate?
(c) Why do certain tasks elicit vastly different behaviors?
(d) What is the general task that all psychological mechanisms serve?
(a) can be cues in the external environment or output from other psychological mechanisms
(b) is transformed through decision rules
(c) is extremely narrow and limited in scope
(d) all of the above
35. Which type of cross-cultural study comparison was necessary to distinguish between the social roles
(a) comparing cultures that vary in average happiness
(b) comparing cultures that vary in gender equality
(c) comparing cultures that vary in parasite load
(d) comparing cultures that vary in reproductive rate
36. Cross-cultural studies can be used to test evolutionary hypotheses in each of the following ways
(a) to determine whether a trait was created by culture or evolution
(b) to test whether ecologically dependent adaptations produce predicted differences across cultures
(c) to compare the explanatory efficacy of competing evolutionary theories for a given phenomenon
(d) to determine whether an adaptation hypothesized to be universal is present in all humans
37. Using physiological measurement techniques, such as hormonal assays, evolutionary psychologists
(a) determine whether a trait or behavior is evolved or not
(b) identify the biological substrates of psychological adaptations
(c) see ultimate causation in action
(d) illustrate the phylogeny of a trait under investigation
38. As predicted from an evolutionary perspective, a study by Flinn and colleagues documented that
children living with a stepparent have _______ levels of _________ than children living with biological
(a) lower; testosterone
(b) higher; testosterone
(c) lower; cortisol
(d) higher; cortisol
39. Which of the following is a limitation of brain imaging techniques for measuring psychological
(a) They currently cannot be used to test predictions from an evolutionary perspective.
(b) They cannot measure differences within participants, only between groups.
(c) Participants must remain immobile when they are exposed to stimuli.
(d) all of the above
40. Behavioral genetics methods can test the evolutionary hypothesis that girls growing up without an
investing father shift to earlier onset of menarche and sexual behavior. Which of the following behavioral
(a) Identical twin sisters raised together enter menarche at the same age, but identical twin sisters
raised apart show less similar onset ages for menarche.
(b) The environmental component of menarche onset is larger than the genetic component.
(c) The genetic component of menarche onset is larger than the environmental component.
(d) Age of onset of menarche is not correlated between girls and their biological mothers.
41. Recent studies in molecular genetics have revealed that the 7R allele of the DRD4 gene has been
linked to extraversion and novelty-seeking. Evolutionary psychologists hypothesized that such traits
would have been adaptive in exploiting novel environments. Which of the following results was
(a) The 7R allele is more common among nomadic populations than sedentary populations.
(b) Easterners are more likely to possess the 7R allele than Westerners.
(c) Women are more likely to possess the 7R allele than men.
(d) The 7R allele is only expressed in childhood but not adulthood.
42. Modern molecular genetics methods have been used to increase our knowledge of recent human
(a) to show that selection in humans has been accelerating over the past 10,000 years
(b) to identify the genes responsible for lactose intolerance
(c) to compare competing theories for the timeline of human origins out of Africa
(d) all of the above