PSYC 3420 Chapter Notes - Chapter 7: Parental Investment, Stepfamily, Opportunity Cost
16 Apr 2014
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Document Summary
There are many adaptations of parental care found in species such as: mexican free- tailed bats (sacrifice mental and physical state to feed pups) and nesting birds (remove shells of babies to prevent predation). In both animal and human kind, females are far more likely to care for their offspring than males. Hypotheses to explain this phenomenon are: (1) paternity uncertainty hypothesis (2) mating opportunity costs hypothesis (1) the paternity uncertainty hypothesis: From the males perspective, there can always be some probability that another male has fertilized the female"s eggs therefore no passing on of their genetics. Females are 100% sure their genes get passed on because they are physically giving birth. Strongest in species with internal female fertilization: insects, humans, primates and mammals. Can explain one viable cause as to why females invest more into offspring opposed to males. (2) the mating opportunity hypothesis:
