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(BU) AN263 Behavioral Biology Midterm Exam 2024

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Course
Psychology

Institution
Boston University

(BU) AN263 Behavioral Biology Midterm Exam 2024(BU) AN263 Behavioral Biology Midterm Exam 2024(BU) AN263 Behavioral Biology Midterm Exam 2024

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bu an263 behavioral biology midterm exam 2024

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AN263
Behavioral Biology
Midterm Exam
2024
Misconceptions About the Interaction Between Behavior and Biology
1. 1-on-1 relationship between genes and behavior
a. EXAMPLE: there is one gene that controls for aggression
2. If something is “natural” or biological, it is right or justified (naturalistic fallacy)
a. EXAMPLE: male aggression against women (“boys will be boys”)
3. Behavior is either nature or nurture
4. If something has a biological basis, it can’t be changed (biophobia)
**These aren’t the approaches used to study human behavior**

Biological Anthropology Approach to Studying Human Behavior
 Focus on humans as a species and what’s in common (behaviors) across cultures
 Explore reasons for why human cultures may differ

MODEL 1: Biology and Behavior Behave in a Facultative Manner
 Behavior and biology interact with another in response to change (facultative
manner)
 Biologically based behaviors are not necessarily less alterable than
culturally constructed behaviors – even biologically based behaviors can
respond to change

EXAMPLE OF MODEL 1: Differential Investment in Offspring
 Differential investment in offspring depends on the situation change the
situation, change the pattern of investment (reflecting what we would predict in
biology, but involves a cultural layer too)
o Triver’s Willard Hypothesis: Natural selection should favor biased
investment in offspring according to anticipated future reproductive
success
 Mother in good condition should favor sex with greatest
variance in reproductive success (son, if males can have lots
of offspring)
 Mother in poor condition should favor sex with least variance
in reproductive success (daughter, if females can have few
offspring)
o Biologically Based Motivational System: Parents evolved to respond to a
wide range of social and environmental cues relevant to productive and
reproductive contributions of offspring
 Bias against daughters in China: wealth is passed down through
males and wealthy men have more than one wife (sons lead to
higher parental reproductive success)
 Bias against sons in Yaaku of Mukogodo: daughters marry higher

, status males in nearby communities and sons rarely
marry/reproduce (daughters lead to higher parental reproductive
success)

MODEL 2: Tinbergen’s Explanations of Behavior
 Phylogeny (Evolutionary History): Looking at the evolutionary history of “the
behavior”
through closely related species

, o Intra-sexual competition in non-human primates can help
phylogenetically explain aggressive behaviors in humans
 Adaptation (Ultimate Function): Looking at the relationship between “the behavior”
and
survival/reproductive success
o Aggressive behaviors can help survival in times of war and in times
when you need to physically defend yourself
 Mechanism (Proximate Function): Looking at the hormonal, neurobiological, and
psychological causes related to “the behavior”
o Fight-or-flight (hormonal/cognitive) physiological response can trigger
aggressive behaviors
 Ontogeny (Development): Looking at the genetic, environmental, and accidental
contributions to “the behavior” across the lifespan
o Physical abuse experienced during childhood might contribute
to the development of aggressive behaviors later as an adult

MODEL 3: Proximate Versus Ultimate Approaches
 Proximate Approach: how things happen, physiology, immediate causation
 Ultimate Approach: why things happen, evolutionary explanation, adaptive
significance

MODEL 4: The Life History Approach
 The relationship between culture and biology changes across the lifespan

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