Finding a Place to Live and Emotions Evolutionary Psychology Spring 2019 Dr Chapman

1. Finding a Place to Live and Emotions Evolutionary Psychology Spring 2019 Dr Chapman

2. Landscape Preference and the Savanna Hypothesis • What determines choice of ecosystem? • Preferred landscape of modern humans (across continents) • Prefer savanna trees with moderate density • prefer natural to constructed "human built" environments • Prefer constructed environments with vegetation • Across continents, cultures, education, & age (30 studies) • Natural scenes reduce physiological stress (see restorative nature below) • Landscape examples from research by Erich Synek and Karl Grammer • see • Visual Complexity and the Development of Human Landscape Preferences

3. Landscape Preference and the Savanna Hypothesis • Savanna Hypothesis (Orians 1980, 1986) • Two versions of the savanna hypothesis • 1. Evolution of hominins was strongly influenced by moving out of the forests and onto the grasslands • Changes in the climatic conditions of eastern Africa from 5 MYA to 1 MYA • From rain forest to savanna like conditions • see: How Climate Change May Have Shaped Human Evolution • The influence of living on the savanna with regard to the early evolution bipedalism is overstated because early hominids, A. Africanus 3.5 MYA, lived in forested areas • Later evolution of bipedalism (H. habilis, H. erectus) producing efficient running as part of hunting would fit better with savanna landscape. • Savanna ecosystem is more important for hunting but only after hominins have excellent bipedalism and tools for hunting

4. Landscape Preference and the Savanna Hypothesis • Savanna Hypothesis • Two versions of the savanna hypothesis • 2. “of habitat preference” • "Selection has favored preferences, motivations and decision rules to explore and settle in environments abundant with resources needed to sustain life simultaneously avoiding environments lacking resources and posing risks to survival." Buss p.84 • This is true for animals in general • More important for animals that move across large areas • The focus is on evolution of cognitive functions • High density of game in savanna ecosystem • Trees for refuge and sun protection • Bipedalism and the savanna ecosystem.

5. Landscape Preference and the Savanna Hypothesis • Three stages of habitat selection (Orians, 1992) • Stage 1. selection; • initial responses are emotional • decide to stay or leave • Stage 2. information gathering • explore the area • search for resources • check for dangers • places to hide • routes of escape • stage 3. exploitation • staying in the area to exploit resources • Flowers as a sign of fruit • Speed recovery of patients in the hospital • (see restorative nature below) • requires cognitive processing of long-term benefits

6. Landscape Preference and the Savanna Hypothesis • The biophilia hypothesis Edward O. Wilson "Biophilia" (1984) • there is an instinctive bond between human beings and other living systems • biophilia: "the urge to affiliate with other forms of life" • the attractions and positive feelings that people have toward certain habitats, activities, and objects in their natural surroundings.

7. Landscape Preference and the Savanna Hypothesis • Restorative nature • experience in nature environment • i.e. not human built "urban" environment • nature scenes evoke positive emotions, feelings of relaxation and tranquility • improves cognitive functioning such as memory related to attention • Kaplan’s Attention Restoration Theory (ART) (1995) • comprised of four main factors: being away, extent, compatibility, and fascination • see: The Cognitive Benefits of Interacting With Nature • Health benefits • Stress Restoration Theory (SRT) stress reduction • Stress recovery during exposure to natural and urban environments. Ulrich 1991 • recovery of the capacity to focus attention • recovery from directed attention fatigue • produced by sustained mental effort • long periods of directed attention • long-term exposure to urban environment • recovery from mental illness such as depression and anxiety

8. Children's Anti-predator Adaptations • Similar to the topic on Folk Biology • Avoiding dangerous predators • large carnivores, lions, tigers and bears • fossil evidence from puncture marks on skulls • Hunter gatherers mortality: 6% from Jaguars • snakes • Hunter gatherers mortality: 12% from snake bite • cognitive skills to avoid predators • understanding of predator-prey encounters by the age of three • category formation • motivation of predators • understanding of death • prepared social learning related to dangerous animals

9. Cognitive Bias that can Influence Survival • Cognitive biases in processing information are common • explained by error management • make fewer costly errors • i.e. risk avoidant behavior • Biases are in the direction of avoiding danger • examples • avoiding snakelike objects • perception of looming auditory motion • approaching sounds are perceived as louder • starting and stopping closer • dissent illusion: judge vertical distance as greater when looking down then when looking up • Evolved Navigation Theory • human foraging behavior • food resources distributed as patches in the environment • when searching for food biased towards aggregate patches

10. Emotions • Darwin (1872) 'The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals‘ • Similarity of emotions across animal species • chickens • dogs • primates • humans • Emotions as a variation on three variables: • hedonic valence (positive or negative) • degree of arousal (from low up to high) • tendency to approach versus avoid (move toward or away)

11. Emotions • Three components of emotions • Emotional expression: Body language such as posture and facial expression • Physiological response: Autonomic arousal • Subjective feelings for setting valence (good or bad) on • events • objects • other individuals • self regulation • Emotions are “superordinate mechanisms” which coordinate cognitive and behavioral output

12. Emotions • Functional Aspects of Emotions • Even negative emotional feelings such as anger or jealousy are functional • Emotions influence social behavior by: • communicating danger with distinct facial expression “fear” “disgust” • encourage long-term relationships • increasing cooperation - reciprocal altruism “love” “happy” • reducing cheating in sexual relationships “sexual jealousy” “anger” • maintain cultural norms “guilt and shame” • Improving decision making by: • setting subjective value on possible outcomes • Where, when and how to find food • Which individuals to trust in a relationship • limiting the number of possible outcomes to consider by coordinating output

13. Emotions • “superordinate mechanisms” of emotions (Al-Shawafet al. 2015) • Solutions to adaptive problems are complex • May coordinate as many as 14 types of programs (brain circuit systems) • For example predator avoidance • Coordination of several brain circuit systems • High arousal to prepare for flight or fight • Attentional mechanisms sharpen • Motivational systems guiding approach – avoidance • Some are suppressed; eating, sex • Others activated; run away • Cognitive spatial memory engaged • Motor programs for escape are activated • Concatenation: activation of the systems in a specific order • Variability in behavioral response to fit the situation • Sexual jealousy is an interesting example which we will cover later

14. Fears as an example • Functions of Fear (Isaac Marks, 1987) • 1. Avoid threat • 2. Activate physiology for a response • 3. Concentration: increased vigilance • Most common human fears (see table 3.2) • fears of dangers in the ancestral environment such as snakes, spiders, height • Fears/anxiety in social contexts such as separation, stranger, social, mating • appear developmentally when the danger would have been encountered • spider detection mechanism: five months of age • fear of heights: six months of age • fear of strangers: six months of age • separation anxiety: peaks at 9-13 months of age • animal fears: two years old

15. Adaptive Properties of Fear & Anxiety • Six functional defenses against acute attack (see Table 3.1) • Based on Marks (1987), Bracha (2004) • 1. Freezing: increased vigilance and concealment from predators • 2. Fleeing: to put space between you and the danger • 3. Fighting: using physical aggression to ward off the predator • 4. Submission or Appeasement: interspecific submissive greeting to prevent physical attacks • 5. Fright: a response in which the person "plays dead" by becoming immobile • 6. Fainting: adaptive function • losing consciousness to signal to an attacker that one is not a threat • non-combatants (females and prepubertal children) would not be attacked • their genetics for fainting is more likely to survive • Evolve Physiological response • Flight or fight response • Sympathetic nervous system arousal including release of adrenaline

16. Phobias as an example • Phobias: • Fear out of proportion to threat (unrealistic) • Behavioral response of avoidance • Involuntary response to fear situation or object • Most common fears are similar to most common phobias • Phobias can exist without specific traumatic event

17. Anxiety as an example • Different from fear • Fear typically arises in response to a threatening stimulus (grizzly bear) • Anxiety is in response to threat of harm • avoiding forms of physical harm • avoiding contagious disease • maintaining social acceptance and close romantic relationships • navigating status hierarchies • Anxiety includes negative affect, worry, and hyperarousal • Anxiety is associated with a range of cognitive processes • attention to threat • appraisals of uncertainty • pessimistic judgments • risk-avoidant decision making. • Large individual differences related to genetics

18. Disgust as an example • Disgust response to: • bad odors or tastes related to avoiding bad food • generalizes to other dirty objects situations or people • Cockroaches or other disease related things • Moral disgust in response to • Incest • proposing an unfair division of money • they all produce the same facial expression of disgust • Cognitive disgust evaluation system • Psychological contamination refers to beliefs and feelings • thoughts of contamination • contamination is transferred by contact • Disgust output program • emotional expressions, behaviors, and physiological responses such as nausea.

19. Love as an example • Origins of love • mother/infant bond • feelings for family members • romantic feelings as part of sexual reproduction • feelings for friends • Function of love • as a signal of commitment • prevent defection • reduce the temptation of short-term gain (cheating) • See: Evolutionary aspects of love and empathy • See: Secondary emotions in non-primate species

20. Guilt as an example • Experience conflict when • Engaging in behavior (stealing) that conflict with personal belief system “it is wrong to steal” • Function of guilt as an immediate punishment to: • increase reciprocal altruism by reducing cheating • reduce harming others • follow the norms of the culture • Expression of guilt is integrated with culture • does not have a specific facial expression

21. Response to Disease • 1. Fever: • Kills bacteria and viruses • Cold-blooded lizards seek heat when ill • Syphilis rare in areas with malaria • Recovery from Chickenpox 1 day longer when fever was reduced • 2. Iron-Poor Blood: • Nutrient for bacteria • Leukocyte Endogenous Mediator – Reduces serum Iron • Spontaneous Aphagia to Iron-rich food • Reduced Absorption

22. Why Do People Die? • Senescence: • Deterioration of all bodily mechanisms with age • Process of Natural Selection decreases with age so less impact on transmission of genes • Pleiotropic Theory of Senescence • Multiple effects of single gene • Early positive effects outweigh late negative effects • High Testosterone facilitates competition early • Promotes prostate cancer later • Explains why organs wear out at roughly same time • Explains why men die 7 yrs earlier; • Greater expression of selection on men due to greater reproductive variance • Most fertile women reproduce with an upper limit around 12 • Male reproduction varies greatly from none to a few dozen • Predicts greater propensity for pleiotropic genes and organs wearing out at same time

23. The Puzzle of Suicide • Increasing propensity with dramatic decline in ability to contribute to Inclusive Fitness, your family or society • Indicators: • Expectations of poor health • Chronic Infirmity • Disgrace or Failure • Poor prospects for Heterosexual mating • Perception of being a burden to Genetic Kin • An apparent adaptation • Related to mental illness such as depression