Category Archives: Adaptation

Is Cunnilingus an Adaptation to Increase Intercourse Length & Increase the Probability of Fertilization?

Several years ago a student of mine (Christy McGee) in my “Anthropology of Sex” class was studying highly promiscuous women with the hypothesis that they would be averse to cunnilingus. She suggested that cunnilingus was a male means of detecting infidelity. … Continue reading

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Posted in Adaptation, Anthropology, Biological Anthropology, Hypotheses, Mating and Sexuality | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Fireside Trance drives Selection for Enhanced Attention & Working Memory via Baldwin Effect

Fireside hypnotizability Following up on a previous post tracking down the original sources for the December Smithsonian piece about hearth fires & cognitive evolution, evolutionary psychologist Matt Rossano’s “Did Meditating Make Us Human?” spins out a model similar to & … Continue reading

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Posted in Adaptation, Biological Anthropology, Cultural Evolution, Hypotheses | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Cosmetics Enhance Appearance of Femininity, Lack of Cosmetics Increases Appearance of Masculinity

Research by neuroscientist Richard Russell of the Gettysburgh Perception Lab suggests that sexual dimorphic differences between male and female faces, especially under circumstances of minimal sexual dimorphism, is all about contrast. Males have darker skin except for eyes and lips. … Continue reading

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Posted in Adaptation, Mating and Sexuality | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

The Psychophysiology of Fireside Relaxation

Following is a draft of the abstract I am working on for a poster I will propose to present at the 2013 Human Biology Association meeting in Knoxville, TN (yay, I can drive there!).  Feedback is welcome. The psychophysiology of … Continue reading

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Posted in Adaptation, Biological Anthropology, Evolution by Natural Selection | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

The Adaptiveness of Gossip re HIV in Africa

I was listening to an old This American Life podcast from 2011 the other day & heard a great piece about the work of sociologist Susan Watkins. Watkins runs the Malawi Journals Project, thru which she has been studying gossip … Continue reading

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HBES 2012 Roundup 4: Father’s Day & the Parasite-Driven Wedge

So I blew Father’s Day. Totally didn’t realize I’d booked myself to go to HBES on Father’s Day. And much as I love my dad, it wasn’t because I wasn’t going to be with him. It was because my wife … Continue reading

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Posted in Adaptation, Cultural Evolution, Evolution and Psychology, Hypotheses | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

HBES 2012 Roundup 1: Joint Day with the Animal Behavior Society

The Human Behavior & Evolution Society (HBES) 2012 Annual Meetings took place this past weekend in Albuquerque, NM, in conjunction with the Animal Behavior Society, hosted by Steve Gangestad & others. I’ve only been to HBES one other time & … Continue reading

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Posted in Adaptation, Cultural Evolution, Hypotheses | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Religious Ecology Study (in Costa Rica & Tuscaloosa)

In a few weeks I’ll be heading to Limón province in Costa Rica to begin the first phase of what I hope will be a multi-site study of religious ecology. We (my students in the Human Behavioral Ecology Research Group [HBERG] … Continue reading

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Posted in Adaptation, Anthropology, Cultural Evolution | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Penis Diversity is our Business

Actually, penis diversity is not our business. In fact, one of the student evaluations for the Anthropology of Sex course I taught this past semester said I talked too much about animal diversity & not enough about humans. I’m not sure … Continue reading

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Posted in Adaptation, Anthropology, Biological Anthropology, Evolution in the Classroom, Mating and Sexuality, Primates | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Towards a Bottom-Up Approach to Self-Deception

As I read John Hartung’s 1988 chapter on “self-deceiving down,” I am further convinced of the nonsense of arguing about theoretical distinctions & that we are considering the issue at too high a conceptual level to understand the influence of … Continue reading

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