SOP 3004 Study Guide Human Evolution Ecological Dominance theory Nicholas Humphrey First Our ancestors became ecologically dominant and death rates were high Second This created social competition pressures that resulted in uniquely human traits we got smarter Evolution Charles Darwin Evolution by Natural selection 1 organisms vary 2 Organisms replicate 3 Organisms compete for limited resources Some survive and reproduce better than others Richard Dawkins created The Selfish Gene and said we should make a distinction between vehicles and replicators The gene is selfish if a behavior allows it to propagare better than other genes Organisms vehicles Genes replicators Prosocial Behavior Trivers Mutualism it is mutually beneficial to cooperate for both parties Reciprocal Altruism Give me a dollar and I ll give you a dollar Punch me and I will punch you tit for tat trivers Hamilton Hamilton s rule you would do more for people youre related to created Kin selection and enclusive fitness fitness of an organism measures in terms of survival Kin selection We are more likely to share alleles by common descent with its relatives Conformity is a type of social influence involving change of belief or behavior to fit with the norms of a group Normative conformity Conforming because a person is afraid of getting rejected or insulted by a group I support the Iraq war because one is afraid of hostility even if one does not actually support it Informational conformity Looking to group for information or using group beliefs and behavior to guide one s own behavior Often occurs when one lacks relevant information or is in an ambiguous or confusing situation Ingratiation conformity Conforming to impress people or gain favor Related to normative but about obtaining status or favors from group You drink vodka to impress people Compliance Obedience conformity Publically changing beliefs or behaviors because of group pressure or orders of authority figure Experiments with conformity Sherif Asch and Milgrim First experiment on conformity beans A Jenness She had people guess the number of beans in a jar alone then in a group and people changed their answer to fit the group s answer Sherif s candle light experiment autokinetic effect people changed their answers Asch conformity studies people had to pick which line matched the line on the left people are more likely to answer for what their group says and let other opinions change their answers Milgram memory shocking study 2 3 people gave the shock to the people in the experiment and it resembled the nazi control that good people go bad when they obey authority Criticism by Gina Perry no not right they were told that no permanent harm would happen to the people Nazis wanted to kill and hurt Male Behavior Precarious Manhood researchers have argued that manhood in general is a precarious status that must be earned and can be lost The study was the participants were assigned to braid rope or a doll and then do a puzzle or punching bag men who felt their masculinity challenged picked the punching bag Culture of honor In each of the experiments the participant had to walk somewhere and was bumped by a confederate not to be confused with a Southern army member The confederate called the participant an asshole Some divided between public and private In public other people saw the insult Those raised in South had higher cortisol levels and testosterone than those in North Female Behavior Sexual Economics Sex differences Indirect Relational Aggression is a type of aggression in which harm is caused through damage to one s relationships or social status EXCLUSION For example not inviting to a party REPUTATIONAL DAMAGE For example telling others bad things about the target of aggression WITHDRAW ATTENTION AND SUPPORT For example not providing emotional support for a friend Morality the differentiation of intentions actions and behaviors into those that are good and those that are bad and about thinking about problems and deciding the best course of action Peter Singer Singer s book The Expanding Circle he defends moral progress and attempts to reconcile morality with the new science of sociobiology evolutionary psychology three themes and we have a moral circle of sympathy that s expanding Kohlberg developed a stage theory of morality he emphasized moral reasoning example Eating human flesh is bad because people would punish you Stages of Moral Development LEVEL 1 Pre conventional self interest eating flesh is bad because people wont like you and being not liked sucks LEVEL 2 Conventional law and order eating flesh is bad because it is illegal LEVEL 3 Post conventional human rights eating flesh is wrong because it s a human right not to be eaten after death Joshua Greene s book Moral Tribes is a fascinating exploration of morality that directly confronts Haidt s moral intuititionism Three major themes 1 We have an automatic and a manual moral setting 2 Automatic setting works well within a moral tribe but not among moral tribes 3 We should shift to manual when we create moral systems for multiple tribal groups Utilitarianism The best most moral behavior in any situation is the behavior that most increases or less decreases the average happiness of all people Very minimal moral system concerned only with consequences They don t care about moral as long as it brings happiness UTILITARIANISM is concerned with the outcome of an action It is therefore a form of CONSEQUENTIALISM Deontological morality Deontological morality is a fancy word for a moral that does not depend upon consequences According to a deontological perspective some actions are simply wrong regardless of the consequences DEONTOLOGICAL MORALITY is concerned with the action itself Some actions are wrong or right regardless of consequences MORALISTIC FALLACY THE ARGUMENT THAT BECAUSE SOMETHING WOULD BE TERRIBLE IF IT WERE TRUE THEN IT MUST NOT BE TRUE CONFIRMATION BIAS THE TENDENCY OF PEOPLE TO FAVOR INFORMATION THAT CONFIRMS THEIR BELIEFS OR HYPOTHESES Coresspondance bias Humans generally believe that other humans behave as they do because of internal causes the fundamental attribution error Types of Questions EAMS Existential Philosophical What is the meaning of life The purpose of life is to be kind and charitable Aesthetic What is better a burrito or a taco salad A walk to remember is much better than Citizen Kane Moral Should I steal bread to feed my family The death penalty is morally justified
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