PSYCH 1XX3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Altruistic Suicide, Eusociality, Inclusive Fitness
9 Mar 2016
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For the good of the group: foraging for food in a group more efecive, more individuals looking together, yes when you ind, others steal from you, but more oten others ind and you steal from them. Also more together in a group, more eyes looking out for predators, if alone. Altruism would have to check for predators very oten: behavior in which the actor incurs a cost to provide a beneit to a recipient. Not altruism: foraging/vigilance in groups, not altruism, because actor gains directly from behavior, problems with altruism. Idea that lemmings commit suicide when populaion is geing too big, but if there"s an altruisic suicide gene and a selish self-preserving one, the suicide gene will not survive over ime, so it"s a myth. Altruisic behavior does not support survival of the altruisic gene itself. Eusocial hymenoptera: most individuals spend their lives serving the colony without reproducing, includes all ants, some bees and some wasps.
