1. What is economic defensibility of territory and how is it related to agriculture and social stratitification? How does social stratification affect male and female reproductive strategies?
2. What are some of the differences between hunter-gatherers and tribal horticulturalists and pastoralists in mating and marriage?
3. What are hyperyny and dowry? How are they related? What is the primary difference between brideprice and dowry?
4. What is female claustration and incapacitation? Under what conditions does it occur? What are some forms of female claustration that are found in different parts of the world? How does incapacitation relate to social stratification
5. What were the effects of land limitation on inheritance patterns and parental investment strategies in medieval Europe? What is primogeniture? Under what conditions does it emerge? What kinds of behavior and strategies do later born children engage in? How did those strategies affect world history?
6. What two features of modern fertility are inconsistent with fitness maximization?
7. What is Caldwell’s wealth flows theory of fertility
8. What results did Kaplan present to refute the theory?
9. What characteristics of modern economies does Kaplan use to explain the above two features of modern fertility?
10. What is some of the evidence derived from the Albuquerque men study that supports Kaplan’s theory?
11. How might we explain variation in investment in education in modern society?
12. What is below replacement fertility?
13. What is the relationship between education and below replacement fertility?
14. Why might there be sectors of American society where fertility and family formation are delayed and sectors of the society in which fertility occurs early in the life course?
15. What are recent trends in teen pregnancy in the US?
16. What is Geronimus’ theory of high rates of teen pregnancy among lower income minority populations?
17. What is the total fertility rate?
18. What are some of the major findings of Waynforth and Dunbar’s study of romantic classifieds. How do men and women adjust their requirements in potential mates in relation to their own status in the mating market.
19. What is the debate about male investment in children with respect to parenting versus mating effort?
20. What are the four classes of relationship between men and children that K.G. Anderson defined in order to shed light on the above debate
21. What were Anderson, Kaplan and Lancaster’s principle findings in the Abq men and the Cape Town research. In what ways were the findings the same and in what ways were they different?
Sample Essay Questions
1. What is the demographic transition? In what ways is it similar and different from differential inheritance in pretranisition Europe? What is Caldwell’s theory of demographic transition and how does it compare to Kaplan’s theory? What are some of the evolved proximate mechanisms governing fertility? How do they operate in traditional subsistence societies? What has changed in modern society that produces family planning and low fertility?
2. What is below replacement fertility? What are the basic trends in fertility behavior that occurred in American society during the 20th century? How does these trends relate to changes in the economy? What is the relationship between education and below replacement fertility? Why might there be sectors of American society where fertility and family formation are delayed and sectors of the society in which fertility occurs early in the life course?