The Psychometrics and Behavioral Genetics of Life History Strategy

This symposium includes four talks on the psychometrics and behavioral genetics of life history strategy. The first talk extends the study of the K-Factor into the realm of behavioral genetics. The other talks validate a short-form measure of life history strategy, called the Mini-K, and test hypotheses to provide greater construct validation of the K-Factor. The second talk addresses constructive replication of findings from the MIDUS survey using alternative measures, including the Mini-K. The third talk addresses the predictive validity of the Mini-K by exploring empirical associations of life history strategy suggesting that it has a major role in differentially inhibiting risky and socially problematic behaviors. The fourth talk tests fitness indicator theory as an alternative hypothesis to life history theory in the prediction of general intelligence and contributes to validation of the Mini-K by comparing the short form with a multivariate battery of measures.

Sex Differences: Political, Cultural and Policy Implications

Evolutionary research and other studies rooted in biology often find sex differences in sexuality, cognition, aggression, the desire to nurture children and the quest for high occupational status. Sex differences have recently been in the news because of the controversy that ensued in the wake of Harvard President Larry Summers’ comments about women in science. In this symposium Steven Pinker (The Blank Slate), Deborah Blum (Sex on the Brain), and Steven Rhoads (Taking Sex Differences Seriously) will explore the broader implications of what we know (and don’t know) about sex differences.

Sensational interests as a signal of mating effort in delinquents.

Sensational interests reflect an interest in violence and power. Such interests are noted in the histories of offenders, although an interest in information about aggression or sex has a broader concern (see the symposium on Gossip, this conference). Mating effort has been found to be a reliable predictor of sensational interests, and mating effort is higher in offenders; however, mating effort is a predictor of many other behaviours. The current symposium presents research arguing for the universality of this phenomena (Egan).It continues with a study of the concurrent influences of sensational interests, personality, mating effort and mental health to predict delinquency in normal adolescents (Charles), the use of sensational interests as an intra- and inter-sexual display (Vasquez); and finally, the possibility that sensational interests reflect another means for assortative pairing (Wolf).

Commentaries on the life's work of Napoleon Chagnon

Napoleon Chagnon's work among the Yanomamo stands as one of the most extraordinary ethnographic studies ever conducted. Our understanding of human relationships -- alliances, marriages, family and kin networks, group fission and fusion, reciprocity and exchange, religious beliefs, laughter, love, war, and tears -- has been immeasurably enriched by his brilliant descriptions of life in the tribal world. This series of symposia brings together a few out of the millions of people that have been touched by Nap's irreplaceable gifts to humanity. This informal session allows both for broad discussion of effects of the Yanomamo ethnography on anthropology, biology, and psychology as well as personal anecdotes and humor. 

Sperm Competition in Humans

This symposium will address current theoretical and empirical work on sperm competition (SC) in humans. SC is a unique selection pressure that has the potential to build unique adaptations in both sexes. SC has been studied in nonhuman animals since the 1970s and has recently been applied to human sexual behavior by a number of researchers. In this symposium, Goetz and Shackelford will discuss the possibility of wife rape as a SC tactic. Klusmann will discuss SC as an explanation for constant male sexual motivation in a long term partnership. LaMunyon et al. will discuss how sex differences in men's and women's sexual psychology produce sex-similar preferences for a short-term mate. Shackelford et al. will discuss whether mate retention and copulatory frequency are competing or complementary anti-cuckoldry tactics in humans. Pound will offer brief discussion on each of the presentations and suggest relevant future directions for work on human SC.

Experimental Studies of Cultural Evolution

In the early years following the initial development of cultural evolutionary theory, the question of how to develop an associated empirical research program remained largely unaddressed. Recently, however, a fruitful union with experimental economics has yielded several studies in controlled settings relevant to cultural evolutionary theory. This symposium presents four such studies. Together, they present experimental results that document the macroevolutionary consequences of cultural transmission, the evolution of social institutions in the laboratory, and the microevolutionary processes that structure social learning.

Methodological Development(s) in Evolutionary Psychology

Evolutionary Psychology is particularly rich in theory and distal concepts. Problems remain in developing proximal measures to test these theories empirically. The purpose for this symposium is to bring together evolutionary scientists who are “deep in the empirical trenches” to discuss methodology in Evolutionary Psychology. Evolutionary theories must “touch down” to empirical predictions, and one cannot study a theory or phenomenon without reliable and valid measures. The symposium presenters discuss a broad sample of these measures, from human brain imaging in an evolutionary context to questionnaire development and back to manipulation of people’s brain activity with neurotechnology. The focus of this symposium is on how different researchers have approached the problem of using proximal measures to test distal evolutionary concepts in their own research. There is special emphasis on construct validity of measurement.

Evolution of self-awareness and theory of mind.

A lot of controversy exists about the mind-reading abilities of human and non-human primates. A lively debate has been going on for decades about the evolutionary history and possible adaptive functions of these skills on the one hand and the actual capabilities different species possess on the other. Pivotal in the latter debate is the question whether humans possess unique mind-reading abilities. It is generally accepted that non-human great apes do possess mind-reading skills. However, are these similar to the ones found in humans?
It has been postulated that chimpanzee theory of mind skills are adaptations to competitive social life. Most theorizing on human self-awareness and mind-reading has equally placed a premium on the understanding of others, both in terms of competitive and cooperative social interaction. This symposium addresses these issues, providing experimental data on humans, chimpanzees and monkeys.

Interpersonal and Media Gossip in Evolutionary Perspective

This symposium puts forward functional aspects of gossip in both an interpersonal and media context. Gossip evolved as an adaptive strategy in the context of interpersonal interactions. Media gossip mismatches the EEA but triggers our evolved interest in gossip, resulting in both adaptive and non-adaptive outcomes.
It will be shown that we are most interested in gossip about same-sex others, in bad news about rivals and good news about lovers and friends. Making use of easy to access data from television dating shows it will be exposed how interpersonal gossip functions to solve problems of human mating. Next, looking at the gossipers it shows that we share most gossip with close friends, and least with rivals. However, differences occur for shared community and celebrity gossipees. To explain our interest in celebrity gossip across the lifespan two hypotheses are put forward. All research presented in this symposium explores new hypotheses and new research methods to study gossip.

New Perspectives on the Evolutionary Foundations of Religion

This symposium addresses the byproduct hypothesis of religion by pitting it against several novel theoretical models. Most of the presenters argue that aspects of religion were uniquely evolved for life in complex groups. Kirkpatrick reasons that religion simply capitalizes on mundane psychological systems that solved specific adaptive problems. Investigating the adaptive function of religion is likely misguided. Johnson sees the threat of supernatural punishment as solving an adaptive problem specific to human sociality. Such beliefs conferred selective advantages by restraining selfish acts and promoting cooperation. Alcorta proposes that there is an adaptive complex that is unique to religion. She argues that religious rituals communicate information about social relations by broadcasting commitment to group norms. Bering shows that distinct processes underlie beliefs about dead agents’ minds and argues that the illusion of a supernatural morality may be an illusion by design.

No Longer a Cherry But Still a Tomato: Browsing the Salad Bar of Mating

The emphasis of this symposium is on examining how sexual psychology changes after becoming a parent. Past research on this topic has focused on the negative mating consequences (e.g., decreased mate value) for individuals with children compared to individuals without children, a finding to which the researchers in this symposium do not object. The researchers in this symposium offer an empirical enlightenment of some of the sexual psychological intricacies when a child becomes a part in the equation. Weekes-Shackelford et al. will address the possibility of mothers using their daughters to exploit men’s mating preferences. Stone et al. will examine differences in mating preferences between women with children and women without children. Duntley will discuss men’s and women’s mate preferences for mating with single parents. Easton et al. will discuss how the sexes differ in their mate preferences after having children.