Deck 2: Evolution of Emotions

Question 1

Which of the following is true about pair-bonding?

A) Pair-bonding is common amongst all primates.
B) A pair-bonded male and female maintain a lasting sexual interest in each other.
C) Pair-bonding is observed more often in urban as opposed to rural human communities.
D) Pair-bonding is observed between romantic partners and between platonic friends.

Answer 1

A pair-bonded male and female maintain a lasting sexual interest in each other.

Question 2

Robin Dunbar argues that conversational language emerged in human beings because:

A) Human groups became too large for grooming to be a practical way of maintaining social bonds; therefore, conversation developed as a necessary replacement for grooming.
B) Human beings naturally imitated noises in their environment, and these noises became words.
C) Humans developed tongue movements to mimic manual gestures, something that helped with the acquisition of increasingly sophisticated manual habits.
D) Humans needed words to help mediate conflicts within the group.

Answer 2

Human groups became too large for grooming to be a practical way of maintaining social bonds; therefore, conversation developed as a necessary replacement for grooming.

Question 3

Which one of the following is an adaptation that has evolved to help humans find a fertile mate?

A) The perception that facial symmetry is beautiful.
B) A preference for males with status and resources.
C) A preference for a mate with a youthful appearance.
D) Both b & c

Answer 3

A preference for a mate with a youthful appearance.

Question 4

According to Charles Darwin, selection refers to the fact that:

A) offspring are somewhat different from others and differences are passed on by heredity.
B) organisms choose to cooperate more often than they choose to compete.
C) organisms are more likely to consume low-energy foods associated with a low level of risk compared to high-energy foods associated with a high level of risk.
D) characteristics that allow better adaptation to the environment are selected because they enable survival, and hence are passed on.

Question 5

High-status male chimpanzees:

A) maintain their status by monopolizing food.
B) are the largest animals within their group.
C) spend a good part of their time breaking up the conflicts of lower-status chimps.
D) avoid reconciliation following conflict with others in their group.

Question 6

Feeling jealous when we find ourselves threatened by an interloper is linked with which of the following motivations?

A) attachment
B) affiliation
C) assertion
D) non-social goals

Question 7

Which one of the following behaviors illustrates an exaptation?

A) A dog that avoids consuming bitter foods.
B) A brief raising of the eyebrows, lasting a fraction of a second, when people approach one another during greeting.
C) An adult human who laughs and feels happy when observing a baby who is cooing and laughing.
D) All of the above.

Question 8

Many systems such as our preferences for sweet foods and aversion to bitter foods developed in response to:

A) selection pressures.
B) social demands.
C) environmental load.
D) intersexual competition.

Question 9

The making of tools, the making of fire to prepare food, the use of language, and the making of art are human universals (Brown, 1991) that are similar because they:

A) are innovations that distinguish humans from other living primates.
B) are social.
C) have emotional aspects.
D) all of the above.

Question 10

The loss or absence of an attachment figure inspires:

A) anxiety
B) sadness
C) anger
D) surprise

Question 11

The varying environments of evolutionary adaptedness were primarily defined by their:

A) climate
B) terrain
C) social characteristics
D) all of the above

Question 12

Feeling interested and surprised when we find ourselves exploring a novel environment is linked with which of the following motivations?

A) attachment
B) affiliation
C) assertion
D) non-social goals

Question 13

Affiliation is:

A) what encourages mothers to protect their offspring.
B) what inspires warmth and affection in human relationships.
C) more associated with the system of smell than the system of touch.
D) all of the above.

Question 14

Which one of the following is an adaptation that has evolved to help humans find a healthy mate?

A) The perception that facial symmetry is beautiful.
B) A preference for males with status and resources.
C) A preference for a mate with a youthful appearance.
D) Both b & c

Question 15

Stags lock horns and engage in battles that are at times violent to find who is dominant and who therefore has access to mates. This is an example of:

A) dominance
B) implicit aggression
C) intrasexual competition
D) intersexual competition

Question 16

According to the textbook's authors, our biggest handicap as a social species is the fact that:
a. we tend to compete with others.
b. we tend to territorial.
d. we feel emotions like contempt and social disgust.
d. we tend to be highly emotional.

Question 17

Assertion is:

A) an antisocial motivation.
B) likely to inspire behaviors such as differential smiling and exploration away from the mother as a secure base in human infants.
C) associated with the social emotion of shame when one's social status is diminished.
D) both a &

Question 18

Charles Darwin described evolution in terms of all but which one of the following processes?

A) superabundance
B) variation
C) adaptation
D) selection

Question 19

Working from the assumption that genes need the body of a plant or animal to contain them and enable them to reproduce, emotions play what role in animals?

A) Emotions help to ensure that genes will be protected and reproduced.
B) Emotions make us selfish and discourage altruistic actions that could compromise our genes.
C) Genes program our emotions so that all our actions are reflex-driven and none of our actions derive from attractions and urges that our culture can modify.
D) All of the above.

Question 20

Attachment is:

A) a human form of imprinting.
B) a social motivation.
C) an adaptation that has been selected for during evolution.
D) all of the above.