Psychology 3228A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Common Chimpanzee, Bonobo, Eastern Gorilla

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 3228A/B
• Professor: K. MacPherson

Document Summary

3228- lecture 4: the evolution of human mate choice. Ecological and social pressures of the past are responsible for the evolution of human nature (pinker, 2002) Then mate preferences today may reflect decisions of our ancestors: bad mate choices result in not passing on genes. Compare ourselves to primate relatives: whom we share common ancestor. Examine the degree to which responses are common to different human cultures: more similarities= possibly product of evolution. Share 98% of their genes w us: evidence suggests that we shared common ancestor 6-7 years ago, highly social, live in groups of 20-100. Frequently divide up into smaller groups while foraging then recombine when a large food source is discovered: pant-hoot calls. To bring others from far: male dominated society, hierarchical. Females often leave to join new troops when mature: dominant males engage in aggressive acts, form coalition.