Chapter 7 Quiz: Evolutionary Psychology and Mate Selection

Instructions: Answer all 12 questions. For multiple-choice questions, select the single best answer. For short-answer questions, aim for 2–4 sentences. This quiz covers Darwin's frameworks, parental investment theory, cross-cultural research, good-genes hypotheses, feminist critiques, and the just-so story problem.

Section A: Multiple Choice (Questions 1–9)

1. Darwin distinguished between natural selection and sexual selection. Which of the following correctly describes sexual selection?

a) The process by which organisms adapt to survive predation and disease b) The differential survival of organisms based on physical strength c) The differential reproductive success of organisms based on traits that affect mating d) The process by which populations diverge into separate species

2. Robert Trivers' parental investment theory predicts that the higher-investing sex will be:

a) More competitive with same-sex rivals and less selective about mates b) Less interested in reproduction overall c) More selective about mate quality and less competitive with same-sex rivals d) Equally selective as the lower-investing sex, but for different traits

3. The "honest signal" concept in evolutionary biology refers to:

a) Any verbal communication made during courtship b) A trait whose production cost makes it a reliable indicator of underlying quality c) A preference that is culturally consistent across all societies d) The tendency for animals to accurately report their genetic fitness to potential mates

4. David Buss's 1989 study of mate preferences across 37 cultures found, among other patterns, that:

a) Men and women showed no significant differences in any preference category b) Women universally preferred physically dominant men above all other traits c) Men placed greater emphasis on physical attractiveness and youth; women placed greater emphasis on resource potential d) Cultural factors entirely accounted for observed sex differences in mate preferences

5. Eagly and Wood (1999) reanalyzed Buss's cross-cultural data and found that:

a) Sex differences in mate preferences were larger in societies with greater gender equality b) Sex differences in mate preferences were smaller in societies with greater gender equality c) Gender equality was unrelated to the magnitude of sex differences in mate preferences d) Women consistently preferred younger partners in societies with greater gender equality

6. The "WEIRD" acronym, used to critique the sampling practices of much behavioral science research, stands for:

a) Willing, Educated, Independent, Responsive, and Developed b) Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic c) White, Employed, Intelligent, Reproductive, and Documented d) Western, Ethnically Identified, Rational, Replicable, and Digitally recruited

7. Sarah Blaffer Hrdy's research on cooperative breeding suggests which of the following revisions to the standard evolutionary mating narrative?

a) Female primates are uniformly monogamous when studied in naturalistic conditions b) Human pair bonding is more ancient than previously recognized c) Female mating strategies are more complex and politically active than the standard model assumes, and human motherhood depended on cooperative social networks d) Male parental investment is the primary driver of human cognitive evolution

8. The term "just-so story," as applied to evolutionary psychology, refers to:

a) A finding that has replicated consistently across multiple cultures b) A post-hoc narrative that is internally plausible but lacks falsifiable predictions c) Research that has been conducted on children to test developmental hypotheses d) An evolutionary explanation that was accurate during the EEA but is no longer applicable

9. The Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness (EEA) is best defined as:

a) A specific geographical region in which Homo sapiens first evolved b) The optimal modern environment for human psychological functioning c) The range of ancestral environments in which current human psychological mechanisms were shaped by selection d) The set of evolutionary pressures that will shape future human psychology

Section B: Short Answer (Questions 10–12)

10. Explain the logic of the immunocompetence handicap hypothesis as applied to masculine facial features. Why would testosterone-related traits function as honest signals under this framework?

Your answer (2–4 sentences):

11. Cordelia Fine argues in Testosterone Rex that testosterone's role in shaping sex differences in behavior is more complex and context-dependent than is commonly believed. Based on what you read in this chapter, give ONE specific reason why testosterone cannot serve as a simple biological explanation for sex differences in mating behavior.

Your answer (2–4 sentences):

12. Gould and Lewontin (1979) warned against the "Panglossian adaptationist program." Briefly explain what this means and give ONE example of how this warning applies to evolutionary psychology of mate selection specifically.

Your answer (3–5 sentences):

Answer Key (Instructor Use)

  1. c
  2. c
  3. b
  4. c
  5. b
  6. b
  7. c
  8. b
  9. c
  10. Key points: testosterone is mildly immunosuppressive; males with strong enough immune systems can tolerate high testosterone without increased disease susceptibility; facial masculinity therefore signals both immune competence and developmental health; costly to fake because only genuinely healthy males sustain high testosterone without health costs.
  11. Acceptable answers include: testosterone levels are highly context-sensitive (rise in response to competition, fall in caregiving contexts); the correlation between testosterone levels and specific behaviors is weaker and more variable than popular accounts suggest; the relationship is bidirectional, not unidirectional; testosterone's effects are mediated by receptor sensitivity, not simply level.
  12. Key points: Panglossian adaptionism = assuming every trait is an optimal adaptation to some selection pressure; in evo psych of mating, this appears as assuming that every consistent sex difference in preference must reflect a specific evolved mechanism, without considering alternative explanations like developmental constraint, byproduct effects, genetic drift, or social learning.

Quiz covers Chapter 7 learning objectives: parental investment theory, cross-cultural evidence, just-so story critique, feminist evolutionary critique, mismatch hypothesis.