Psychology 463

Glenn Weisfeld, Evolutionary Principles of Human Adolescence

p. 4: Ultimate cause versus proximate cause.

p. 5: evolved behaviors = adaptation as I used the term; you should know what an adaptation is and be able to give an example.
polygeny, pleiotropy and heritability should be familiar.

p. 6. Weisfeld says that genes that genes influence beahvior in adolescence as much as in infancy. Actually heritability increases with age. (Remember the twin study and adoption study data I presented earlier in the course.) Note that genes may be turned on or off at any stage of the lifespan. Huntingdon's chorea is a good example.

p. 9: Notice that the basic method is to control for environmental variation and see if the behavior occurs anyway. If it does, the environmental variation can't be the cause. There are 7 techniques for doing this. Know two. pp. 12-13: Know definitions of homology, fixed action pattern, releaser.

p. 17: Know what individual selection and group selection are. Why is selection thought to act most strongly at the individual level? Know what kin altruism and inclusive fitness are.

Chapter 2: Motives
p. 19ff: Be able to discuss the central role of motives for Weisfeld compared to cognition and learning. Motives are served by learning and cognition, not the other way around (see the following figure for an example).


Level 1 EVOLVED MOTIVE DISPOSITIONS
(Domain-Specific Mechanisms)

Level 2 PERSONAL STRIVINGS
(Direct Psychological Effects of Domain-Specific Mechanisms)

Level 3 CONCERNS, PROJECTS, TASKS
(Utilize Domain-General Mechanisms)

Level 4 SPECIFIC ACTION UNITS
(Utilize Domain-General Mechanisms)
 

EXAMPLE:

Evolved Motive Disposition INTIMACY
 

Personal Striving INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WITH A PARTICULAR PERSON
 

Concern, Project, Task Arrange Meeting Improve appearance Get promotion
 

Action Units Find phone number Begin dieting Work on weekends
 

Figure 2. Hierarchical model of motivation showing relationships between domain-specific and domain-general mechanisms (after Emmons, 1989).

p. 20: Weisfeld argues that all motives are innate. What is his argument and what do you think of his argument? p. 22: Motive is equated with emotion; both have affects'pleasant or unpleasant feelings, but notice that emotional expression, behavior, and autonomic arousal are not critical. Notice the central place for affect in Figure 2.1. p. 25: the different motives have different affects. The list of affects is on p. 26. Don't memorize it; the generalization for most is that they all refer to 'immediate tissue needs' (p. 27), but he also talks about aesthetic affects.

p. 31: Know definitions for imaginary audience and personal fable.

Chapter 3: Social motivation
p. 34: universals of sexual behavior: flirtation expressions, sexually attractive features (waist/hip ratio, square jaw), incest avoidance, and elements of the sexual act.

p. 35: Notice that all the different close relationships are said to be similar; this fits well with the idea that the affectional system is an adaptation underlying all close relationships. Nevertheless, he lists several different types of social relationships, and not all of these involve affection or love: (1) gregariousness (presumably linked to behavioral approach/extraversion); (2) attraction to kin and similar others (similarity discrimination mechanisms); (3) coalitions (similarity discrimination, affectional system [for close friends] but also attraction to people like leaders or warriors with valued resources or abilities); (4) pair bonding (the affectional system); (5) parent-offspring bond (affectional system. pp. 36-37: Notice the universality of romantic love; however, contrary to his implication, romantic love is more important in Western societies since the Middle Ages than elsewhere. p. 39: note physiological evidence on pair bonding.
p. 41: "sick infants are at risk for abuse"; note the transactional model: healthy infants are rewarding and elicit high-quality care, unhealthy infants are more likely to be mistreated or abandoned. As an ethologist, Weisfeld sees this as resulting from evolved systems.
p. 43: "if parents are nurturant, children are more likely to be influenced by them." Recall the analysis in class of love and internalization.

Chapter 4: Pride and Shame
p. 52ff: What are W.'s arguments for status seeking as an evolved tendency? Ans.: Phylogenetic continuity of behavior and displays; neural mechanisms; developmental patterns; universality
pp. 56-58: What is Trivers' theory of reciprocal "altruism". What's the theoretical problem of altruism? Reciprocity doesn't violate any evolutionary laws. How does Trivers explain the evolution of emotions of shame and moralistic anger?
p. 59: W. suggests that pride and shame are the common ingredient of theories of group behavior (dominance theory, Trivers' theory of reciprocal altruism, social exchange theory). This is because the emotions motivate people to attain dominance.

Chapter 5: Sex Differences in Reproductive Behavior
p. 64-69: Know Trivers' theory of sex, including all the bold-faced terms (especially reproductive value, mating effort, partenting effort). Understand how it predicts greater male aggression and female discrimination of mates. According to the theory, what criteria do females use to discriminate mates? When are males expected to be discriminating maters? What are the expected differences between male and female sexual jealousy?
p. 69-73: Be able to name at least 3 of the sex differences mentioned here and how they make sense in terms of the theory described above.
p. 73: What motivational changes are there at adolescence? Notice he emphasizes pride and shame because they are central to his analysis of dominance. He discusses increased competitiveness, especially among males, and the importance of mate value for self-esteem. How are these changes expected on theoretical grounds?

Chapter 6: The Social Context of Adolescence
p. 77: What percentage of human evolution was spent as hunter-gatherers? W. concludes that "our motives are basically those of the hunter-gatherers or foragers."
p. 79: Notice how long the juvenile stage lasts in chimpanzees: daughters staying with mother until age 13 and sons
p. 80: Notice that hunting in our evolutionary past is indicated by the nature of our digestive system.
p. 81: Why are human infants born "prematurely by simian standards"?
p. 82-83: Note the scenario for the evolution of pair bonding states that males provide females with resources. How does this fit with the evolutionary theory of sex? W. suggests that pair bonding had the advantage of a division of labor, including preferred diet.
p. 83: Human female is continuously sexually receptive. What does W. say is the function?
p. 85: The material on child rearing is an attempt to understand the evolved patterns of parenting. Note that Western middle class parenting deviates from the general pattern of high contact and close proximity. The suggestion from the !Kung data is that harsh parenting is not really part of the human EEA. hmmmm.
p. 87: Note monogamous nuclear families are typical of only 1/4 of human cultures. The great majority live in extended family groupings.
p. 87-90: Sexual division of labor is universal. Note the generalizations on p. 89-90.
p. 90: Male domination universal. Why does it follow from the evolutionary theory of sex? Can this be changed by culture? How? Note that foraging societies are relatively egalitarian. With increased economic production, human societies get less egalitarian and wealthy, powerful males become polygynous as expected given the evolutionary theory of sex.
p. 91: Note that miscreants are expelled in some tribes. This means that human groups are able to enforce high levels of cooperation and get around some of the theoretical problems of group selection. In other words, groups can enforce cooperation and even altruism because people who don't go along with the program simply are expelled.
p. 92: Note the claim that the privacy of contemporary Western societies may encourage child abuse and other "private crimes." Privacy is an aspect of individualism, as opposed to the collectivism typical of most human societies. There are several other points where Western societies are different from the general trends he finds.
My view is that the contrast between the West and most other cultures derives from a different evolutionary past, as seen in this Table:


CONTRASTS BETWEEN NORTHERN FORAGER AND
OLD WORLD PASTORALIST CULTURAL FORMS.

Northern Hunter-Gatherers Middle Old World
Pastoralists (Herders)

Kinship System Bilateral; Unilineal
Weakly Patricentric Strongly Patricentric

Family System Simple Household; Extended Family;
Joint Household;

Marriage Practices Exogamous Endogamous,
Consanguineous
Monogamous Polygynous

Marriage Psychology Companionate; Utilitarian; Based on Family
Based on Mutual Consent Strategizing and Control of
and Affection Kinship Group

Position of Women Relatively High Relatively Low

Social Structure Individualistic Collectivistic

Ethnocentrism Relatively Low Relatively High;

Xenophobia Relatively Low Relatively High

Socialization Stresses Independence, Stresses Ingroup
Self-Reliance Identification and
Obligations to Kinship Group

Moral Stance Moral Universalism: Moral Particularism;
Morality Independent Ingroup/Outgroup
of Group Affiliation Morality

In other words, different human groups have different EEAs whereas Weisfeld tends to suppose we all have the same EEA.
p. 95: Identity seeking is a big deal in Erikson's theory, but note that it may not be a cross-cultural universal.
p. 96ff: What is the economic explanation for why adolescents in some cultures do not work? In our society, "adolescents are economic liabilities." Is working during adolescence advantageous? What are the correlates of adolescent working?
 
 

From Chapter 13: Sexual Relations
p. 267: Characteristics of unmarried teenage mothers
p. 274: "Many U.S. adolescents want to get pregnant." What are their characteristics?
p. 275: Weisfeld presents findings on African-American teenage mothers, and suggests it is a rational response to their situation. However, he also cites data consistent with the theories of Belsky and/or Surbey (what's the difference?), but these studies don't control for genetic influences.