What makes us HUMAN? When you work on a definition question, explain the concept and examples do not...
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What makes us HUMAN? When you work on a definition question, explain the concept and examples do not hurt. When you answer a significance question, you
What makes us HUMAN? When you work on a definition question,
explain the concept and examples do not hurt. When you answer a
significance question, you must think on why this this concept is
important (e.g. missing heritability is important because knowing
all genomic associations do not clarify the link between phenotype
and genotype).
Slide 2
Figure 4.1: Simplified hominin phylogeny. After Lewin and Foley
(2004) p. 17 What characteristics set homo sapiens apart from other
primates?
Slide 3
Calendar of Hominin Evolution 10 - 5 mya Cooler climate in
Africa replacing tropical forests with open habitats ~ 5-7 mya
Hominini separated from Panini 4.4- 1.1 myaAustralopithecus species
2.4 - 1.5 myaHomo habilis 1.9 - 0.3 myaHomo erectus 800 - 50
kyaArchaic Homo sapiens (Homo heidelbergensis) 300 - 30 kyaHomo
neanderthalensis 200kya - pres.Modern Homo sapiens 10kya -
pres.Agriculture
Slide 4
Slide 5
Check out eSkeletons to compare extant primate
species!eSkeletons
Slide 6
Figure 5.10: Muscles that move the human thumb. From Sussman R.
(1994) Science 265: 1570-1573 Muscles unique to humans are in
color. Kalthoff 2010
Slide 7
~3.4Ma
Slide 8
Slide 9
Human brain anatomy Cerebral cortex Neocortex Sensory
perception Motor commands Spatial reasoning Consciousness Language
Allocortex Hippocampus Spatial navigation Consolidation of short
and long term memory Amygdala Emotional memory Long term memory
consolidation Corpus callosum Connects left & right hemisphere
Cerebellum Motor control Cerebellum http://www.brain-map.org/
Slide 10
Human brain anatomy
Slide 11
Slide 12
Somatosensory representation of the human body in the
cortex
Slide 13
Why do humans have large brains? Allometric hypothesis
Non-adaptive Allometric hypothesis: large brains are a consequence
of having a larger body size Adaptive Ecological Brain Hypotheses
1.Resource dispersion 2.Mental maps 3.Extractive foraging Social
Brain Hypotheses 1.Individual recognition 2.Relationship memory
3.Emotional competence 4.Relationship management
Slide 14
Could you explain the encephalization quotient from the 'brain
evolution' lecture? Is the human brain special? Humans dont have
the largest brain among mammals Encephalization quotient: brain
mass corrected for body mass Does a small brained animal with a
large EQ have greater cognitive ability than a large brained animal
with a small EQ? Neuron number does not always correlate with brain
mass Herculano-Houzel 2009 Front Hum Neurosci Brain mass (g) &
Neuron number (M)
Slide 15
Herculano-Houzel PNAS 2012;109:10661-10668 2012 by National
Academy of Sciences Is the human brain special? The total number of
neurons in the human brain is actually what you would predict for
our body size a 75 kg primate would be expected to have 78 billion
neurons Humans have 86 billion, within 10% of the expected from
body mass The relative number of neurons in the cerebral cortex is
similar to other primates 82% of brain mass, but only 19% of the
neurons! The energetic cost per neuron is not unusual 6 kCal per
billion neurons per day Humans have a very large brain, but its
just a scaled up version of the typical primate brain Caveat: the
relative size of functional cortical areas, the volume of
prefrontal white matter or the size of specific portions of the
cerebellum may impact human cognition
Slide 16
Herculano-Houzel PNAS 2012;109:10661-10668 2012 by National
Academy of Sciences Is the human brain special? The total number of
neurons in the human brain is actually what you would predict for
our body size a 75 kg primate would be expected to have 78 billion
neurons Humans have 86 billion, within 10% of the expected from
body mass The relative number of neurons in the cerebral cortex is
similar to other primates 82% of brain mass, but only 19% of the
neurons The energetic cost per neuron is not unusual 6 kCal per
billion neurons per day Humans have a very large brain, but its
just a scaled up version of the typical primate brain Caveat: the
relative size of functional cortical areas, the volume of white
matter or the size of specific portions of the cerebellum may
impact human cognition
Slide 17
Ecological Brain Resource Dispersion Hypothesis Hypothesis:
Temporally or spatially ephemeral resources select for greater
cognitive function Prediction: Primates with more frugivorous
(fruit eating) diets should have a larger neocortex ratio than
folivorous (leaf eating) primates Dunbar 1998 -> A larger
neocortex is associated with more parvocellular cells (color
processing region of the cortex) In the 'brain evolution' lecture,
it is mentioned that a larger neocortex is associated with more
parvocellular cells. Does this support the hypothesis that primates
with more frugivorous diets have a larger neocortex ratio than
folivorous primates?
Slide 18
Ecological Brain Mental Maps Hypothesis Hypothesis: Spatial
learning selects for greater cognitive function Prediction:
Primates with larger home ranges should have a larger neocortex
ratio Dunbar 1998 -> Range size does correlate with hippocampus
size -> Migrating animals (birds, butterflies) have small
brains
Slide 19
Remember, to answer: Why do humans have large brains? There are
these hypotheses Non-adaptive Allometric hypothesis: large brains
are a consequence of having a larger body size Adaptive Ecological
Brain Hypotheses 1.Resource dispersion 2.Mental maps 3.Extractive
foraging Social Brain Hypotheses 1.Individual recognition
2.Relationship memory 3.Emotional competence 4.Relationship
management
Slide 20
HCF have argued that most if not all of FLB is shared with
other species While FLN may be unique to humans (This represents a
hypothesis in need of further empirical investigation) FLN evolved
for reasons other than language, the comparative analysis should
demonstrate this What is the faculty of language?
Slide 21
Hypotheses For Human Language Evolution Hypothesis 1: FLB
(including FLN) is strictly homologous to animal communication.
Hypothesis 2: FLB is a derived, uniquely human adaptation for
language. Hypothesis 3: Only FLN is uniquely human. Hauser et al
2002
Slide 22
To understand the evolution of language we are not interested
in the language per se but the ability to use it. FLB includes FLN
plus two other components, the sensory motor aspects and the
conceptual intentional aspects. Sensorimotor = capacity to perceive
and produce sound Conceptual-intentional = mental representations
of an idea Hauser et al 2002 What are the differences between the
broad and narrow sense of the faculty of language? FLB includes a
sensory-motor system, a conceptual-intentional system, and the
computational mechanisms for recursion, providing the capacity to
generate an infinite range of expressions from a finite set of
elements. We hypothesize that FLN only includes recursion and is
the only uniquely human component of the faculty of language Hauser
et al 2002 4. What does "FLN generates internal representations and
maps them onto sensory motor and conceptual-intention interface"
mean? (language ppt #12)
Slide 23
So.. What is recursion? Wikipedia: Recursion is the process of
repeating items in a self-similar way. For instance, when the
surfaces of two mirrors are exactly parallel with each other, the
nested images that occur are a form of infinite recursion.
Slide 24
Recursion in R language and programing!
Slide 25
Slide 26
The abstract [Hauser et al 2002] makes the very strong proposal
that the narrow language faculty only includes recursion and is the
only uniquely human component of the faculty of language. Recursion
refers to a procedure that calls itself, or to a constituent that
contains a constituent of the same kind. The authors suggest that
most, if not all, of FLB is based on mechanisms shared with
non-human animals.. In contrast, we suggest that FLNthe
computational mechanism of recursionis recently evolved and unique
to our species We propose in this hypothesis that FLN comprises
only the core computational mechanisms of recursion as they appear
in narrow syntax and the mappings to the interfaces (i.e. the
interfaces with mechanisms of speech perception, speech production,
conceptual knowledge, and intentions). The authors go on to
speculate that the recursion mechanism, defining what is special
about language, may not even have evolved for language itself but
for other cognitive abilities such as navigation, number, or social
relationships. Steven Pinker
Slide 27
FLB = Faculty of Language (Broad sense) FLN = Faculty of
Language (Narrow sense) Hauser et al 2002
Slide 28
Can you go over the different parts of the brain and the
associated function of each? Campbells monkeys also produce alarm
calls in response to predators and other disturbances. Six
different alarm calls types Call given in different contexts.
Adding an oo unit to hok indicated that the male was aggressively
motivated
Slide 29
Fig. 2. Composition of call sequences in different behavioral
contexts. Alarm indicates leopard or eagle alarm calls given by
sympatric Diana monkeys.
Slide 30
Could you give us examples of the four types of operant
conditioning. (Behavior ppt #13)
Slide 31
PRINCIPLES OF THE STANDARD SOCIAL SCIENCES MODEL Learning is
the mechanism generating fidelity within and differences between
cultures in human behavior. Behaviorism Humans are learning
machines Any behavior can be learned through reward and punishment
Skinners operant conditioning: Behaviors not followed by
reinforcement (or punishment) are not repeated. Culture is thus
free to vary in any direction. Operant conditioning Look at this
video if you can: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt4N9GSBoMI
Slide 32
Positive Reinforcement Positive reinforcement is giving
something pleasant after a behavior. This increases the probability
that the behavior will continue. Examples are: Having a job and
going to work every day to receive a paycheck. Receiving praise
after a musical performance would increase the amount that you
perform. A teacher complimenting students when they answer
correctly will increase that behavior. At a gym, customers receive
a discount if they work out a certain number of times and eat
healthy. In the Skinner Box experiment, a rat got food as a reward
for acceptable behavior, such as pressing a lever. Negative
Reinforcement Negative reinforcement is taking away something
unpleasant as a result of the behavior that is acceptable. This is
also meant to increase the behavior. Examples are: It is very noisy
outside so you turn on the television to mask the noise. Turning on
the radio decreased the unpleasant noise. A teacher exempts student
from the final test if they have perfect attendance. So, the
teacher is taking away something unpleasant to increase behavior.
At a store, a child throws a tantrum because he did not get a candy
bar. Dad finally gets him one. He stopped the tantrum so he took
away something unpleasant and Dads behavior of getting candy bars
will increase. In the Skinner box experiment, a loud noise
continuously sounded inside the cage until the rat did what Skinner
wanted him to do. When he did, the noise stopped, so the unpleasant
noise was taken away. In a biology class, students who made an "A"
on the test did not have to dissect a frog. Positive Punishment
Positive punishment is used to decrease a behavior and is
presenting something unpleasant after the behavior. Examples are:
An employee exhibits bad behavior at work and the boss criticizes
him. The behavior will decrease because of the bosss criticism.
When a student misbehaves in class, she receives a time out. A
child gets a spanking when he puts his hand in the cookie jar. When
a child does not out his clothes in the hamper, he has to do ten
extra minutes of chores. In an experiment, the subject received a
slight electric shock when they got an answer wrong. Negative
Punishment Negative punishment is also used to decrease a behavior
and is removing something pleasant after the behavior. Examples
are: An employee is habitually late for work so begins losing the
privilege of listening to music while working. The behavior will
decrease because of losing a privilege. A child doesnt put his bike
away so the parents lock it up for a certain time. The parents took
away something pleasant to decrease behavior. Ted gets a $500 fine
and suspension of his driving license for driving under the
influence. Money and his license were removed to decrease behavior.
A family has a "swear jar." Every time someone swears, they have to
put a dollar in the jar. This is taking away money, which is
something pleasant, and decreases the behavior of swearing. Kevin
trashes his sisters room and Mom told him he could not go camping
with his friends. Taken from
http://examples.yourdictionary.com/operant-conditioning-examples.html
Slide 33
When talking about evolutionary psychology, what is genetic
determinism in the strict sense? (Behavior ppt #13) PRINCIPLES OF
EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY The brain is an information processing
device A physical system that can be studied, not a black box
Receives inputs, enacts a decision rule and outputs
behavior/emotions/physiological responses. Does not assume genetic
determinism of behavior in the strict sense Output is dependent
upon specific environmental contingencies. If E1 occurs, do x; if
E2 occurs, do y, if E1 & E2 occurs, do z. Darwinian algorithms:
the mind has evolved to process many different environmental
contingencies and produce an adaptive response. Algorithms can be
modified by the environment, but this is also an evolved capacity
constrained by the pre-existing algorithms. Inputs Decision Rules
Outputs
Slide 34
What does it mean when it says that humans and dolphins can
imitate in > 1 sensory modality and do dolphins and songbirds
just regurgitate the imitated sounds without them having any
meaning? Imitation: The sensory-motor system Imitation is a
precondition for FLB to evolve Imitation not unique to humans
Highly developed in songbirds and dolphins. But virtually absent in
apes and monkeys can learn several hundred hand signs but requires
years of training Only humans and dolphins can imitate in >1
sensory modality
Slide 35
On slide #12 of the "bipedalism and tool making" powerpoint, it
states that male have a preference for high waist to hip ratio.
However, from the mate choice lecture, we learned that the
preference is for lower waist/hip ratio. What is the reason for
this discrepancy? It depends on the point of view.. Lower than.65
has lower preferences
Slide 36
Directed reciprocation Byproduct cooperation Cooperation Kin
Selection Indirect reciprocity There were not questions on this..
If I get more before Monday I will update this ppt