All posts; Tags Include "Evolutionary Psychology"
- October 23, 2012
- 02:21 AM
- 1,424 views
Race, penis size, and pseudoscience
by Scott McGreal in Eye on Psych
A soon to be published study by Richard Lynn claims to have found scientific evidence that there are substantial differences in the average penis length of men from different races. These claims are in line with vulgar racial stereotypes and are part of a larger research agenda based on a belief in ‘race realism’. Lynn’s theories about race rest on shaky foundations and the data sources he uses as evidence for his claims about penis sizes are untrustworthy. For these reasons, his claims sh........ Read more »
Lynn, R. (2012) Rushton’s r–K life history theory of race differences in penis length and circumference examined in 113 populations. Personality and Individual Differences. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2012.02.016
Rushton, J., & Bogaert, A. (1987) Race differences in sexual behavior: Testing an evolutionary hypothesis. Journal of Research in Personality, 21(4), 529-551. DOI: 10.1016/0092-6566(87)90038-9
Weizmann, F., Wiener, N., Wiesenthal, D., & Ziegler, M. (1991) Eggs, eggplants and eggheads: A rejoinder to Rushton. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie canadienne, 32(1), 43-50. DOI: 10.1037/h0078958
- October 17, 2012
- 06:01 PM
- 497 views
No, Really; Domain General Mechanisms Don’t Work (Either)
by Jesse Marczyk in Pop Psychology
Let’s entertain a hypothetical situation in which your life path had led you down the road to becoming a plumber. Being a plumber, your livelihood depends on both knowing how to fix certain plumbing-related problems and having the right tools for … Continue reading →... Read more »
Chiappe, D., & MacDonald, K. (2005) The Evolution of Domain-General Mechanisms in Intelligence and Learning. The Journal of General Psychology, 132(1), 5-40. DOI: 10.3200/GENP.132.1.5-40
- October 10, 2012
- 11:14 AM
- 477 views
No, Really; Group Selection Still Doesn’t Work
by Jesse Marczyk in Pop Psychology
Back in May, I posed a question concerning why an organism would want to be a member of group: on the one hand, an organism might want to join a group because, ultimately, that organism calculates that joining a group … Continue reading →... Read more »
Krasnow, M.M., Cosmides, L., Pederson, E.J., & Tooby, J. (2012) What are punishment and reputation for?. PLOS ONE. info:/
- October 5, 2012
- 10:52 AM
- 596 views
The Psychology of that one line in Call Me Maybe
by Jon Wilkins in Lost in Transcription
So, like, I heard this song the other day. It was by this indie band called "Carly Rae Jepsen." You've probably never heard of them.
Actually *removes hipster glasses* while most of the appeal of "Call Me Maybe," the song that dominated the summer of 2012, comes from its earnest simplicity, there is one line in the lyrics that has some real texture to it:
Before you came into my life, I missed you so bad
This line captures something universal and not at all trivial, the way that our memories o........ Read more »
Meyvis, T., Ratner, R. K., & Levav, J. (2010) Why Don't We Learn to Accurately Forecast Feelings? How Misremembering Our Predictions Blinds us to Past Forecasting Errors. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 139(4), 579-589. info:/10.1037/a0020285
- October 5, 2012
- 04:58 AM
- 664 views
Why do we play? And why it is sexy?!
by Farid Pazhoohi in Epistemophil
Question of the origin of play and playfulness has been one of concerns of Garry Chick, Professor at the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Management, Penn State University. From an evolutionary perspective, Professor Chick has developed a theory in which he explains adult play and playfulness. It is now known why children and offspring [...]... Read more »
Garry Chick, Careen Yarnal, and Andrew Purrington. (2012) Play and Mate Preference Testing the Signal Theory of Adult Playfulness. American Journal of Play, 4(4). info:/
- October 5, 2012
- 04:58 AM
- 147 views
Why do we play? And why it is attractive?!
by Farid Pazhoohi in Epistemophil
Question of the origin of play and playfulness has been one concern of Garry Chick, Professor at the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Management, Penn State University. From an evolutionary perspective, Professor Chick has developed a theory in which he explains adult play and playfulness. It is now known why children and offspring play […]... Read more »
Garry Chick, Careen Yarnal, and Andrew Purrington. (2012) Play and Mate Preference Testing the Signal Theory of Adult Playfulness. American Journal of Play, 4(4). info:/
- October 3, 2012
- 05:43 AM
- 682 views
Does attractiveness predict reproductive success?
by Farid Pazhoohi in Epistemophil
Thanks to the scientific investigations, now we know physical attractiveness would boost one’s social and sexual success. Attractive females would have more chances of being hired, and having attract/sustain men with more resources. It is hypothesized that female physical attractiveness is the signal for her fertility; i.e. men prefer attractive women because they are more [...]... Read more »
Lena S. Pflüger, Elisabeth Oberzaucher, Stanislav Katina, Iris J. Holzleitner,, & Karl Grammer. (2012) Cues to fertility: perceived attractiveness and facial shape predict reproductive success. Evolution . DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2012.05.005
- October 2, 2012
- 11:40 PM
- 505 views
Another "Extreme Female Brain" Sighting
by Lindsay in Autist's Corner
A new study attempts to prove that disordered eating is correlated with both high empathizing and low systemizing ability, making it perhaps indicative of an "extreme female brain" as autism is thought (by a few) to indicate an "extreme male brain". ... Read more »
Bremser JA, & Gallup GG Jr. (2012) From one extreme to the other: Negative evaluation anxiety and disordered eating as candidates for the extreme female brain. Evolutionary psychology : an international journal of evolutionary approaches to psychology and behavior, 10(3), 457-86. PMID: 22947672
- October 1, 2012
- 11:43 PM
- 655 views
Altruism Is Not The Basis Of Morality
by Jesse Marczyk in Pop Psychology
“Biologists call this behavior altruism, when we help someone else at some cost to ourselves. If you think about it, altruism is the basis of all morality. So the larger question is, Why are we moral?” - John Horgan [emphasis … Continue reading →... Read more »
DeScioli, P., Christner, J., & Kurzban, R. (2011) The omission strategy. Psychological Science, 442-446. DOI: 10.1177/0956797611400616
- September 14, 2012
- 03:24 PM
- 492 views
Your Mama’s So Fat…
by Jesse Marczyk in Pop Psychology
Recently, there’s been a (free) paper going around the various psychology blogging sites by Swami & Tovee (2012) that deals with how stress appears to affect men’s ratings of women’s attractiveness by body type. The study purports to find that … Continue reading →... Read more »
Swami V, & Tovée MJ. (2012) The Impact of Psychological Stress on Men's Judgements of Female Body Size. PloS one, 7(8). PMID: 22905153
- September 13, 2012
- 01:41 PM
- 848 views
The science of the chubby chaser.
Before I go anywhere with this post, is the term “chubby chaser” offensive? If it is, you have my apologies, but I’m from Generation Y, and I think we view “chubby chaser” as something of a technical term for a person of any gender or sexual leaning who romantically prefers individuals with some extra meat on his or her bones. Y’know: thick, bootylicious, more to love, junk in the trunk…don’t act like you’re not familiar with these concepts......... Read more »
Swami V, & Tovée MJ. (2012) The Impact of Psychological Stress on Men's Judgements of Female Body Size. PloS one, 7(8). PMID: 22905153
- September 7, 2012
- 04:06 PM
- 461 views
Mate Choices Can Be Complex, But Are They Oedipal Complex?
by Jesse Marczyk in Pop Psychology
Theory is arguably the most important part of research. A good theory helps researchers formulate better research questions as well as understand the results that their research projects end up producing.I’ve said this so often that expressing the idea is … Continue reading →... Read more »
Marcinkowska, U.M., & Rantala, M.J. (2012) Sexual Imprinting on Facial Traits of Opposite-Sex Parents in Humans. Evolutionary Psychology, 621-630. info:/
- August 28, 2012
- 02:39 PM
- 488 views
Just A Little Off The Top
by Jesse Marczyk in Pop Psychology
In my last post I suggested that humans likely possess a series of modules designed to assess victim characteristics when it comes to assessing their associated victimhood claims. Simply put, there are some people who make better social investments than … Continue reading →... Read more »
DeScioli, P., & Kurzban, R. (2009) Mysteries of Morality. Cognition , 281-299. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2009.05.008
- August 21, 2012
- 06:12 PM
- 675 views
No, Really; What About The Men?
by Jesse Marczyk in Pop Psychology
If you’re the kind of person who has frequented internet discussion boards, you’ll know that debates over sexism can get a bit heated. You might also have noticed that many problems men faced are not infrequently dismissed on the grounds … Continue reading →... Read more »
Mustard, D. B. (2001) Racial, ethnic, and gender disparities in sentencing: Evidence from the U.S. federal courts. Journal of Law and Economics, 285-314. DOI: 10.1086/320276
- August 17, 2012
- 05:00 PM
- 544 views
How Epigenetics Gives Darwin the Finger
by Katie Bainbridge in WhatAreTheseIdeas.com
Can “nurture” be turned into “nature?” How epigenetics fundamentally changes everything you thought you knew about genetics.... Read more »
G. Kaati, L. O. Bygren, & S. Edvinsson. (2002) Cardiovascular and diabetes mortality determined by nutrition during parents' and grandparents' slow growth period. European Journal of Human Genetics, 682-688. DOI: 10.1038/sj.ejhg.5200859
- August 17, 2012
- 12:59 PM
- 470 views
No Pain, No Gain: Victimhood And Selfishness
by Jesse Marczyk in Pop Psychology
If you’re the kind of person who has an active social life, including things like friends and intimate sexual relationships, then you’re probably the type of person who has something better to do than read this page. In the event … Continue reading →... Read more »
Zitek EM, Jordan AH, Monin B, & Leach FR. (2010) Victim entitlement to behave selfishly. Journal of personality and social psychology, 98(2), 245-55. PMID: 20085398
- August 8, 2012
- 03:54 AM
- 1,020 views
What does a General Factor of Personality really represent?
by Scott McGreal in Eye on Psych
Some researchers have argued that their is a General Factor of Personality at the apex of the hierarchy of personality traits. Critics argue that the GFP is a statistical artifact. The GFP might best be understood as a fortunate combination of socially desirable traits associated with well-being rather than a substantive trait in its own right. ... Read more »
Ashton, M. C., Lee, K., Goldberg, L. R., . (2009) Higher Order Factors of Personality: Do They Exist? . Personality and Social Psychology Review, 13(2), 79-91. DOI: 10.1177/1088868309338467
de Vries, R. E. (2011) No evidence for a General Factor of Personality in the HEXACO Personality Inventory. . Journal of Research in Personality, 45(2), 229-232. DOI: 10.1016/j.jrp.2010.12.002
Muncer, S. J. (2011) The general factor of personality: Evaluating the evidence from meta-analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and evolutionary theory. Personality and Individual Differences, 51(6), 775-778. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2011.06.029
Musek, Janet. (2007) A general factor of personality: Evidence for the Big One in the five-factor model. Journal of Research in Personality, 41(6), 1213-1233. DOI: 10.1016/j.jrp.2007.02.003
- August 4, 2012
- 07:53 PM
- 587 views
Why All The Fuss About Equality?
by Jesse Marczyk in Pop Psychology
In my last post, I discussed why the term “inequality aversion” is a rather inelegant way to express certain human motivations. A desire to not be personally disadvantaged is not the same thing as a desire for equity, more generally. … Continue reading →... Read more »
Raihani NJ, & McAuliffe K. (2012) Human punishment is motivated by inequity aversion, not a desire for reciprocity. Biology letters. PMID: 22809719
Xiao, E., & Houser, D. (2010) When equality trumps reciprocity. Journal of Economic Psychology, 456-470. DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2010.02.001
- August 4, 2012
- 12:47 AM
- 1,034 views
Problems with the Cold Winters theory of intelligence
by Scott McGreal in Eye on Psych
There is continuing controversy about inter-ethnic differences in IQ and why these might exist. Richard Lynn (Kanazawa, 2012; Richard Lynn, 1987) proposed that Europeans and Asians are more intelligent than Africans because during their evolutionary history they faced the challenge of surviving in environments featuring extremely cold winters. He claimed that survival in cold conditions would have created selection pressures for greater intelligence. Africans on the other hand live in tropical c........ Read more »
Kanazawa, Satoshi. (2012) The evolution of general intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 53(2), 90-93. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2011.05.015
Ulric Neisser et al. (1996) Intelligence: Knowns and Unknowns . American Psychologist, 51(2), 77-101. DOI: 10.1037//0003-066X.51.2.77
- August 3, 2012
- 05:37 PM
- 919 views
The effect of familiar male voices on neurons
by TheCellularScale in The Cellular Scale
male zebra finch trying to impress female (Max-Planck)Zebra finches are a popular model for language learning because unlike most research animals which may have instinctual vocalizations, zebra finches (the male ones at least) learn their signature song from experience.The importance of social experience in male song learning is clear, but what about the effect of social experience on the female response to the male voice? Menardy et al., 2012 (figure 2C)Menardy et al., (2012) have re........ Read more »
Menardy F, Touiki K, Dutrieux G, Bozon B, Vignal C, Mathevon N, & Del Negro C. (2012) Social experience affects neuronal responses to male calls in adult female zebra finches. The European journal of neuroscience, 35(8), 1322-36. PMID: 22512260
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