PSYCH 1XX3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Sexual Selection, Parental Investment, Semen Quality
10 Jun 2016
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Document Summary
Sexual selection the evolution of characteristics not because of survival advantage, but because of mating advantage. Intrasexual competition: members of the same sex compete with each other, and the winners gain mating access to the opposite sex. Intersexual competition: members of one sex prefer certain qualities in mates. Male voice pitch is related to attractiveness ratings from females: females tend to rate males with lower voice pitch as more attractive. The lower pitched voice a male has, the more offspring he leaves behind in the next generation. Voice pitch is a heritable trait primarily developed by testosterone levels, which is genetic. Biological cost to low voice pitch: high testosterone = weakens immune system and correlates with lower semen quality. Key assumptions: behaviour = result of psychological mechanisms and input from the environment, evolved psychological mechanisms are coded in the brain, evolved psychological mechanisms can be described as information processing devices to solve adaptive problems.
