Psychology 456/556

Questions to Ponder, March 12, 2001

Buss

1. Why is "survival of the fittest" not quite the same thing as natural selection? Can an organism be "fit" and still not pass along its genes? Can it be "un-fit" and still pass along genes? Try to think of examples.

2. How do traits get passed along (and potentially exaggerated) via sexual selection?

3. What is parental investment theory? What predictions can be derived from it? What predictions does parental investment theory make for humans?

4. What distinction is made among adaptions, byproducts, and noise?

5. Why does Buss think behavior is sometimes a misleading measure of what has evolved in terms of sexual desire?

6. Buss talks about shortterm and longterm sexual strategies - what's the difference? What are the problems that Buss says each sex must solve for shortterm mating? For longterm mating? Which sex shows greater similarity for short and longterm mating strategies?

7. How does evolutionary theory explain sex differences in romantic jealousy?

8. What are the sources of sexual conflict, according to evolutionary theory?

9. Do evolutionary psychologists hope to find the same results across different cultures, or different results? Why? Why is cross-cultural research important for evolutionary models?

10. How might evolutionary psychology explain:

- Why is physical appearance so important in choosing sexual partners

- What is commonly seen as males' reluctance to commit in romantic relationships