ANT 345 QUIZ QUESTIONS WITH VERIFIED
ACCURATE ANSWERS
Which of the following are concepts associated with the field that has come to be known
as human behavioral ecology (HBE) ? - Answers - HBE integrates theory about the
mechanisms for behavior and the processes that drive behavioral decision-making
HBE applies theory and methods developed for the study of non-human animals to
human behavior
HBE is both ecological and evolutionary
Given the definition of Human Behavioral Ecology given in Lecture 1, which of the
following statements do you expect to true or correct? - Answers - Human behavioral
ecology considers most behaviors to be influenced by natural selection
Human behavioral ecology is a holistic science that takes into consideration context,
environment and interactions
Human behavioral ecology has tools for studying both learned and innate behaviors
Human behavioral ecologists study the economics of hunter-gatherers
Which of the following are important factors in determining human behavior? - Answers
- The costs and benefits of a behavioral strategy
Fitness effects of alternative behavioral strategies
The environment in which the behavior is performed
Proximate cues that trigger the behavior
The social context in which the behavior is perfofmed
Which of the following are critiques of human behavioral ecology that have some
validity? - Answers - HBE assumes too often that natural selection is the primary force
driving human behavior
HBE cannot explain all behavior on the basis of "optimality" considerations
From the overview provided in Lecture 1, which of the following do you expect to be true
or correct about human foraging? - Answers - Foraging surpluses allow food-sharing
and cooperative breeding
Foraging is important for fitness because of nutritional effects on survival and fertility
Foraging shifts in early human ancestors may have driven many aspects of human
evolution
Foraging is often performed differently by individuals of different ages and genders
A complex structure like the eye would be unlikely to emerge from a single large-scale
mutation. How does gradualism help evolutionists address the evolution of complex
adaptations, such as the eye? - Answers - Because there are extant lineages that
evolved eyespots and rudimentary eyes
,Why does Fisher's microscope analogy predict small changes over evolutionary time? -
Answers - Because small mutations are more likely to be beneficial than large mutations
Because small changes can add up to large changes over evolutionary time
Why is Uniformitarianism an important concept for human evolution? - Answers -
Because it allows us to assume that evolutionary processes are similar for humans,
plants and animals
Because it requires us to derive theory for why things are the way we see them today
based on observations we make across different time frames
Because it allows us to consider how a trait may have been adaptive for extinct species
Which of the following explains why it is useful to view natural selection as a filter for
organisms? - Answers - Because natural selection acts by limiting the reproductive
success of some individuals
Because natural selection sorts individuals based on their phenotypes
Because natural selection leads to greater adaptation in a population
Which of the following is true about selection on beak size among Galapagos Finches?
- Answers - During a severe drought, only large seeds were available, so beak size
increased
Finches with large beaks suffer an energetic cost of growing large beaks
During a severe drought, finches with large beaks suffered high juvenile mortality
Finches with small beaks are better at eating small seeds
Which of the following would you expect when niche partitioning drives character
displacement? - Answers - There is strong competition among individuals
Character displacement decreases competition
Which of the following would you expect under stabilizing selection on human birth
weight? - Answers - The largest babies are less likely to survive
The smallest babies are less likely to survive
Instinct - Answers - Genetically programmed behavioral responses
Evolutionary Psychology - Answers - Genetic evolution of the neurological bases of
behavior
cultural evolution - Answers - The study of social influences on genetic evolution
Sociobiology - Answers - The systematic study of the biological basis of behavior
Imprinting - Answers - Strong bonds derived from critical stimulus during sensitive
period of development
Behavioral Ecology - Answers - Evolutionary analysis of the fitness consequences of
behavioral strategies
, Tinbergen's Four Questions - Answers - Explanations relying on the function, origin,
mechanism and developmental aspects of behavior
collective Action - Answers - nurture
genetic adaptation - Answers - nature
free will - Answers - nurture
neural circuits - Answers - nature
innate behaviors - Answers - nature
programmed responses - Answers - nature
social reciprocity - Answers - nurture
cultural transmission - Answers - nurture
allele frequencies - Answers - nature
learned responses - Answers - nurture
instincts - Answers - nature
cultural traditions - Answers - nurture
Long intervals between births - Answers - slow
mouse - Answers - slow
highannual fertility - Answers - fast
post reproductive lifespan - Answers - slow
rapid growth of juveniles - Answers - fast
early maturity - Answers - fast
elephant - Answers - slow
high adult mortality - Answers - fast
chimpanzee compared to squirrel monkey - Answers - slow
ACCURATE ANSWERS
Which of the following are concepts associated with the field that has come to be known
as human behavioral ecology (HBE) ? - Answers - HBE integrates theory about the
mechanisms for behavior and the processes that drive behavioral decision-making
HBE applies theory and methods developed for the study of non-human animals to
human behavior
HBE is both ecological and evolutionary
Given the definition of Human Behavioral Ecology given in Lecture 1, which of the
following statements do you expect to true or correct? - Answers - Human behavioral
ecology considers most behaviors to be influenced by natural selection
Human behavioral ecology is a holistic science that takes into consideration context,
environment and interactions
Human behavioral ecology has tools for studying both learned and innate behaviors
Human behavioral ecologists study the economics of hunter-gatherers
Which of the following are important factors in determining human behavior? - Answers
- The costs and benefits of a behavioral strategy
Fitness effects of alternative behavioral strategies
The environment in which the behavior is performed
Proximate cues that trigger the behavior
The social context in which the behavior is perfofmed
Which of the following are critiques of human behavioral ecology that have some
validity? - Answers - HBE assumes too often that natural selection is the primary force
driving human behavior
HBE cannot explain all behavior on the basis of "optimality" considerations
From the overview provided in Lecture 1, which of the following do you expect to be true
or correct about human foraging? - Answers - Foraging surpluses allow food-sharing
and cooperative breeding
Foraging is important for fitness because of nutritional effects on survival and fertility
Foraging shifts in early human ancestors may have driven many aspects of human
evolution
Foraging is often performed differently by individuals of different ages and genders
A complex structure like the eye would be unlikely to emerge from a single large-scale
mutation. How does gradualism help evolutionists address the evolution of complex
adaptations, such as the eye? - Answers - Because there are extant lineages that
evolved eyespots and rudimentary eyes
,Why does Fisher's microscope analogy predict small changes over evolutionary time? -
Answers - Because small mutations are more likely to be beneficial than large mutations
Because small changes can add up to large changes over evolutionary time
Why is Uniformitarianism an important concept for human evolution? - Answers -
Because it allows us to assume that evolutionary processes are similar for humans,
plants and animals
Because it requires us to derive theory for why things are the way we see them today
based on observations we make across different time frames
Because it allows us to consider how a trait may have been adaptive for extinct species
Which of the following explains why it is useful to view natural selection as a filter for
organisms? - Answers - Because natural selection acts by limiting the reproductive
success of some individuals
Because natural selection sorts individuals based on their phenotypes
Because natural selection leads to greater adaptation in a population
Which of the following is true about selection on beak size among Galapagos Finches?
- Answers - During a severe drought, only large seeds were available, so beak size
increased
Finches with large beaks suffer an energetic cost of growing large beaks
During a severe drought, finches with large beaks suffered high juvenile mortality
Finches with small beaks are better at eating small seeds
Which of the following would you expect when niche partitioning drives character
displacement? - Answers - There is strong competition among individuals
Character displacement decreases competition
Which of the following would you expect under stabilizing selection on human birth
weight? - Answers - The largest babies are less likely to survive
The smallest babies are less likely to survive
Instinct - Answers - Genetically programmed behavioral responses
Evolutionary Psychology - Answers - Genetic evolution of the neurological bases of
behavior
cultural evolution - Answers - The study of social influences on genetic evolution
Sociobiology - Answers - The systematic study of the biological basis of behavior
Imprinting - Answers - Strong bonds derived from critical stimulus during sensitive
period of development
Behavioral Ecology - Answers - Evolutionary analysis of the fitness consequences of
behavioral strategies
, Tinbergen's Four Questions - Answers - Explanations relying on the function, origin,
mechanism and developmental aspects of behavior
collective Action - Answers - nurture
genetic adaptation - Answers - nature
free will - Answers - nurture
neural circuits - Answers - nature
innate behaviors - Answers - nature
programmed responses - Answers - nature
social reciprocity - Answers - nurture
cultural transmission - Answers - nurture
allele frequencies - Answers - nature
learned responses - Answers - nurture
instincts - Answers - nature
cultural traditions - Answers - nurture
Long intervals between births - Answers - slow
mouse - Answers - slow
highannual fertility - Answers - fast
post reproductive lifespan - Answers - slow
rapid growth of juveniles - Answers - fast
early maturity - Answers - fast
elephant - Answers - slow
high adult mortality - Answers - fast
chimpanzee compared to squirrel monkey - Answers - slow
