Deck 14: Evolution of the Brain and Behavior

Question 1

The "typical" human brain has a volume of __________.

A)500cc
B)380cc
C)1500cc
D)1350cc

Answer 1

1350cc

Question 2

Which of the following has a higher cranial capacity?

A)gorillas
B)H.habilis
C)H.sapiens
D)Neandertals

Answer 2

Neandertals

Question 3

Encephalization quotient is a measure of __________.

A)brain weight
B)brain size in inches
C)the ratio of actual brain size to the expected size
D)the weight of the brain divided by the brain's size in inches

Answer 3

the ratio of actual brain size to the expected size

Question 4

Anthropoids have olfactory bulbs that are __________ for their overall brain size.

A)of the expected size
B)small
C)large
D)none of these

Question 5

Compared to the brains of our closest relatives,the human brain __________.

A)is made of different types of cells
B)is smaller
C)has differences in its functional organization
D)has a completely different organization

Question 6

Damage to the right hemisphere may result in an inability to perform or comprehend __________.

A)speech in general
B)certain words
C)sentences
D)prosody

Question 7

In most people's brains,the language centers appear __________.

A)on the right hemisphere
B)in the occipital lobe
C)in the motor cortex
D)on the left hemisphere

Question 8

Modern humans exhibit a decline in brain size compared with Neandertals.

Question 9

Studies of child language acquisition indicate __________.

A)that children are not genetically specialized to learn language
B)that language is not at all instinctual
C)the presence of a subconscious ability to assimilate grammar
D)little evidence for the existence of deep structure

Question 10

Humans use only 10% of their brains.

Question 11

Which of the following is not caused by a lesion in Wernicke's area?

A)disruption in the production of speech yet comprehension remains intact
B)fluent but nonsensical speech
C)substituting one word for another
D)incomprehensible strings of words

Question 12

The cerebellum is important in the control of __________.

A)digestion
B)breathing
C)voluntary movements
D)sleep

Question 13

Neurons can have many axons but only one dendrite.

Question 14

All languages have a grammar.

Question 15

Much of what makes human behavior more complex than the behavior of other animals depends on our possession of __________.

A)spoken language
B)a calcarine sulcus
C)sociality
D)a frontal lobe

Question 16

We are anatomically specialized both to produce language and process language-oriented sounds.

Question 17

Which of the following is not true of the cerebrum?

A)The cerebrum is crisscrossed with a series of sulci
B)The cerebrum is divided into two hemispheres
C)The cerebrum has undergone the least obvious changes over the course of human evolution
D)The cerebrum's outer surface is known as the cerebral cortex

Question 18

The human brain accounts for about 2% of the body mass but uses about __________% of the total energy and oxygen consumed by the body.

A)10-15
B)16-20
C)18-30
D)50-74

Question 19

The cerebral cortex is mostly made up of __________.

A)bones and ligaments
B)fatty tissue
C)dendrites
D)cell bodies of neurons

Question 20

Ultimately,our complex social behavior can be attributed to __________.

A)tool use
B)language
C)bipedalism
D)the fact that we are mammals

Question 21

Gottfried Schlaug has found that the __________ is bigger in musicians who began musical training before the age of 7 years as compared to those who started at a later age.

A)corpus callosum
B)frontal lobe
C)hyoid bone
D)Wernicke's area

Question 22

Stephen Jay Gould feared that sociobiology was too susceptible to political misapplication.

Question 23

Evolutionary ecologists found that,among small-scale societies,wealth __________.

A)has a positive effect on a man's reproductive success
B)has a negative effect on a man's reproductive success
C)has a negative effect on a woman's reproductive success
D)is not at all related to an individual's reproductive success

Question 24

The three main principles of evolutionary psychology include the idea that __________.

A)human behavior is produced by a mind that is a flexible,general purpose device
B)behaviors cannot be understood as adaptations
C)culture is more important than biology when trying to understand human behavior
D)human behavior evolved in the context of relatively small groups

Question 25

Modern human throat anatomy is associated with a great risk of choking.

Question 26

Which of the following best describes the 'environment of evolutionary adaptedness'?

A)large agricultural societies
B)urban societies dependent on industrialized agriculture
C)small groups of hunter-gatherers
D)none of these

Question 27

Cross-cultural universals include __________.

A)language
B)a system of kinship
C)the organization of society along sex and gender lines
D)all of these

Question 28

Researchers found that the timing of progesterone production __________.

A)varies from culture to culture
B)is much slower in smaller societies
C)is dependent on nutrition
D)none of these

Question 29

The position of the Neandertal __________ possibly indicates speech.

A)basiocranial flexion
B)Wernicke's area
C)hyoid bone
D)prefrontal lobe

Question 30

The rearrangement of throat anatomy for language purposes has __________.

A)improved breathing overall
B)introduced new risks in everyday life
C)had no effect on other throat functions
D)improved our ability to swallow hard foods

Question 31

William Calvin speculates that language developed __________.

A)along with throwing behavior ability
B)as a replacement for grooming
C)in order to maintain exclusive sexual relations
D)initially as sign language

Question 32

Which of the following is an example of biocultural approach to understanding human behavior?

A)studying human behaviors as the result of direct evolutionary pressures
B)charting the relationship between agricultural practices and the evolution of the sickle cell polymorphism
C)hypothesizing about the cultural abilities of ancient hominins by comparing them to living non-human primates
D)focusing on the ecological factors that influence present-day hunter-gatherer societies

Question 33

Endocasts may reveal asymmetries in __________.

A)Broca's area
B)the occipital lobe
C)the frontal lobe
D)limbic system

Question 34

Primatologist Robin Dunbar posits that language may have evolved to replace __________ in large hominin societies.

A)conflict
B)sex
C)throwing
D)grooming

Question 35

Which of the following is an example of human evolutionary ecology?

A)studying human behaviors as the result of direct evolutionary pressures
B)charting the relationship between agricultural practices and the evolution of the sickle cell polymorphism
C)hypothesizing about the cultural abilities of ancient hominins by comparing them to living non-human primates
D)focusing on the ecological factors that influence present-day hunter-gatherer societies

Question 36

Researchers interested in evolutionary ecology often conduct studies of traditional hunter-gatherer and small agricultural societies because such societies are __________.

A)easier to study than larger societies
B)more common
C)similar to the original human societies
D)the easiest to study using quantitative methods

Question 37

Which of the following is an example of evolutionary psychology?

A)studying human behaviors as the result of direct evolutionary pressures
B)charting the relationship between agricultural practices and the evolution of the sickle cell polymorphism
C)hypothesizing about the cultural abilities of ancient hominins by comparing them to living non-human primates
D)focusing on the ecological factors that influence present-day hunter-gatherer societies

Question 38

Edward O.Wilson defined sociobiology as the science of __________.

A)the biological basis of social behavior
B)the effects of culture on biology
C)the effects of society on culture and biology
D)the sociological basis of biological evolution

Question 39

Evolutionary ecological research mostly relies on qualitative data.

Question 40

Which of the following is an example of paleontological reconstruction of behavior?

A)excavation of a North American Native American archaeological site
B)the anatomy of extinct hominins and,when present,the archaeological remains with which they were associated
C)forensic studies of ancient hominins
D)studies of endocasts for evidence of linguistic abilities

Question 41

Define language.Outline and explain the "critical aspects" that make language a unique form of animal communication.

Question 42

The "Man the Hunter" model of human evolution __________.

A)is still in vogue today
B)affected only cultural anthropology
C)was criticized as sexist
D)all of these

Question 43

Researchers found that children raised in the same kibbutz are more likely to marry later in life.

Question 44

The cooperative provisioning model correlates the evolution of a sexual division of labor with __________.

A)nutritional elements
B)monogamy
C)the changing size of human societies
D)the fact that males have different problems to overcome than females

Question 45

Mammalian female reproductive strategy involves __________.

A)choosing a high quality mate
B)investing little energy into producing offspring
C)mating with as many males as possible
D)monogamy

Question 46

Citing specific examples,explain the three ways in which brain reorganization can occur.

Question 47

The Westermarck hypothesis links brother-sister incest aversion to __________.

A)status
B)culturally sanctioned laws
C)learned behavior
D)children being raised in proximity

Question 48

Explain encephalization and the encephalization quotient.In what way is EQ a measure of intelligence.In what ways is it not?

Question 49

Research on human mate selection indicates that women tend to value __________ in their partners.

A)youth
B)appearance
C)resource-providing abilities
D)all of these

Question 50

Biological theories of inbreeding avoidance focus on __________.

A)social and psychological factors
B)an individual's innate desire to commit incest
C)incest avoidance as an adaptive mechanism
D)laws against incest

Question 51

How might we sturdy the existence of speech in the fossil record? What evidence is there from endocasts? What evidence is there from other anatomical features?

Question 52

Risky behavior among mammalian males may occur because __________.

A)it is fun
B)females are attracted to risky behavior
C)they are socialized to engage in such behaviors
D)none of these

Question 53

Mammalian males __________.

A)are less choosey about their mates
B)invest less energy in producing offspring
C)participate less in the rearing of offspring
D)all of these

Question 54

Explain two of the more speculative explanations for the origins of language.What are some problems associated with these hypotheses?

Question 55

Explain the debate between "sociobiologists" and their opponents.How can we study the evolutionary foundations of contemporary human behavior?

Question 56

In hunter-gatherer societies,men's contribution to subsistence tends to be __________.

A)more predictable
B)smaller foodstuffs
C)more highly prized
D)less available for redistribution

Question 57

Most scientists agree that language is a biological universal in our species.

Question 58

Outline brain evolution from the Australopithecines to Homo sapiens in terms of EQ and fossils.Were Neandertals more encephalized than modern humans?

Question 59

The conflict model correlates the evolution of a sexual division of labor with __________.

A)nutritional elements
B)monogamy
C)the changing size of human societies
D)the fact that males have different problems to overcome than females

Question 60

Male mammals have less energetic investment in producing offspring.

Question 61

Describe the ideas behind the "Man the Hunter" school of thought.What are some common critiques of these ideas?

Question 62

What is the difference between the contributions of men and women in hunter-gatherer societies?

Question 63

Discuss how meat sharing is explained by the tolerated theft model.How does the provisioning model differ from the costly signaling perspective of meat sharing?

Question 64

Compare the four approaches to the evolution of human behavior.

Question 65

Who do evolutionary ecologists tend to study? What are their methods? Citing specific examples,explain the evolutionary ecological perspective on wealth and reproductive success.

Question 66

What is the difference between the contributions of men and women in hunter-gatherer societies?

Question 67

How do male mammals differ from female mammals in terms of reproduction and mate selection? How is this expressed in our species?

Question 68

Explain why,from an evolutionary perspective,it is not likely that we use only 10% of our brains.