Nancy K. Dess: Occidental CollegeGlimpses at our primate relatives and diverse human cultures provide prima facie evidence that as a species, we are capable of far more benevolent, just, and healthful living than exists in many places. Illuminating human nature through evolutionary reasoning has great potential to make public policy more effective and more humane. […]
Stephen Stich: Rutgers Dept. of PhilosophyThe talk has three parts: In Part I, I will sketch a hotly debated question in moral philosophy. Roughly stated, the issue in dispute is whether moral disagreement is fundamental or superficial; disagreement is fundamental if it would persist even under “idealized†circumstances in which the parties to the dispute […]
Christine Harris: UC San Diego Dept. of PsychologyThe specific innate modular theory of jealousy (JSIM) hypothesizes that men are innately prone to upset over a mate’s sexual infidelity and women, over a mate’s emotional infidelity. This view claims that natural selection has shaped sexual jealousy as a mechanism to prevent cuckoldry and emotional jealousy as […]
Michael Gurven: UCSB AnthropologyThis paper lays the groundwork for a theory of time allocation across the life course. It first develops a parametric model of rates of return on time allocated to productive activities as a function of age. The model is based on the idea that strength and skill vary as a function of […]
Shelly Gable: UCLA Dept. of PsychologySocial bonds are potent sources of both pleasure and pain; yet despite the precarious balance of interpersonal incentives and threats, across the life span people are tenaciously motivated to form and maintain strong and stable social bonds. Although myriad evidence supports the existence of a need for relationships, proportionately little […]
Lynn Fairbanks: UCLA Neuropsychiatric InstituteAdolescence is characterized by behavioral and physiological changes that prepare individuals for the transition to adulthood. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of behavioral, morphological, neurobiological and developmental characteristics of adolescent male vervets in predicting later dominance attainment. The results indicated that males that were high in […]
Laura Baker: USC Dept. of PsychologyHuman aggression and antisocial behavior are known to be the product of both social and biological risk factors. What is not yet understood is how environment and genetic factors may mediate the interrelationships among these risk factors and antisocial outcomes. A study of twins and their families provides the ideal […]
David Funder: UC Riverside Dept. of PsychologyThe Realistic Accuracy Model (RAM) describes the four stage, social-behavioral process necessary for the achievement of accuracy in personality judgment. A judgmental target must emit (1) relevant information in a context where it is (2) available to the judge, who must then (3) detect and correctly (4) utilize this […]
Martie Haselton: UCLA Department of Communication StudiesOvulatory cycle research reveals a hidden side of female desire. Near ovulation, women feel increased attraction to extra-pair mates, and they place a premium on "sexy" characteristics in men. Their primary mates respond with increased jealousy. Ovulatory shifts in women's desires are expressed conditionally--for example, they are stronger in […]
Ted Bergstrom: UCSB Department of EconomicsAbout 80% of all societies recorded by anthropologists are polygynous (men have many wives). Even our own society is less monogamous than claimed. This paper attempts to explain such mysteries as why bride prices and dowries are not ``opposites'', why polygamous societies are usually characterized by positive bride prices and […]
