Transcript Man Seeking Woman

Parental Care I
Overview of the Day
Parental Care
Who provides it and why
Relatedness, offspring
fitness, resources
Who Provides it and Why?
Do all species provide parental care?
Higher in species with internal gestation
Benefits of parental care
better chance of offspring surviving and
reproducing
Costs of
resource monopolization
less mating opportunity
Some Questions
How does parental care increase survival
and reproduction of offspring in humans?
protection, skill training, character
development
There is very little psychological research
on parental care and motivation for
parental care. Why do you think this is?
Who provides the most parental
care, Mom or Dad?
Mothers
4 times as much direct care
90% of single parents are mothers
Mating vs. parenting effort
high status fathers: less time in
parenting effort and more in mating
effort
Theories of Maternal Care
Paternal uncertainty
mothers are more certain the baby is theirs
Abandonability
males are more likely to leave first, leaving
mothers no choice but to care for young
Mating opportunity costs from parental
care are higher for males
Some possible biological
mechanisms
fosB gene
Female mice with a fosB deficiency did not
nurture their pups, and their pups died
fosB controls neuronal circuit in
hypothalamus area of brain
What activates fosB? (smell of new pups?)
Reductions in testosterone in new
mothers and fathers
Postpartum depression
Relationships between PPD and:
lack of paternal care
social support
infant health and development problems
PPD may inform mothers of a fitness cost
PPD may help mothers negotiate greater
parental assistance from others
Parental Care and
Relatedness
Genetic parents vs stepparents
GP: greater feelings of love
SP: greater liklihood of child abuse
40% greater risk of abuse when there is at least
one stepparent
“evil” step mother in children’s literature
SP: 40-100 times more infanticide
Healthcare
Wearing car seat belts
BM, BF 74%; SF, BM 63%; BF, SM 52%
Yearly medical checkup
BM, BF 61%; BF,SM 46%
BM dead, 35%
Paying for College
BF 5.5 times more likely; $15,000 more
Low parental uncertainty 13% less likely,
$28,400 less
Father invests more in children of current
mate
How do we determine
genetic relatedness
Visual cues
mothers are more likely to say that baby
looks like the father
independent raters see no greater likeness
accuracy of matching new babies to parents
is low (possible reasons, issue of interracial
marriages)
Olfactory cues (mothers can recognize sent of
their new babies)
Parental care and offspring
fitness
More neglect and abuse of children with
disabilities
Better maternal care of “healthy” babies
Less infanticide as children get older
A conjecture: personality, attractiveness,
and other characteristics that relate to
fitness may affect parental care
Parental Care and
Resources
Mother’s age
Mother’s marital status
Summary
Parental Care
Who provides it and why
Relatedness
Offspring fitness
Resources
For Next Time
Lykken (2000) in reserve room
Harris, chapters 5-6, in reserve room
Quiz 3 on Thursday, October 12