Evolutionary psychology has taught us to examine human behavior from

Question

Passage A

Evolutionary psychology has taught us to examine
human behavior from the standpoint of the theory of
evolution—to explain a given type of human behavior
by examining how it contributes to the reproductive
  (5)   success of individuals exhibiting the behavior, and
thereby to the proliferation of the genetic material
responsible for causing that behavior. From an
evolutionary standpoint, the problem of altruism is a
thorny one: what accounts for the evolution of
  (10)   behavior in which an individual expends energy or
other valuable resources promoting the welfare of
another individual?

The answer probably lies in the psychological
experiences of identification and empathy. Such
  (15)   experiences could have initially arisen in response to
cues (like physical resemblance) that indicated the
presence of shared genetic material in human
ancestors. The psychological states provoked by
these cues could have increased the chances of related
  (20)   individuals’ receiving assistance, thereby enhancing
the survival and replication of genes influencing the
capacity for identification and empathy. This would
account, for example, for a mother’s rushing to help
her injured child; genes promoting their own
  (25)   self-propagation may thus operate through instinctive
actions that appear unselfish.

Since human ancestors lived in small, kin-based
groups, the application of altruistic mechanisms to the
entire group would have promoted the propagation of
  (30)   the genes responsible for those mechanisms. Later,
these mechanisms may have come to apply to humans
who are not kin when communities grew larger. In this
way, apparently altruistic mechanisms may have arisen
within a genetically “selfish” system.

Passage B

(35)   Evolutionary psychology is a kind of conspiracy
theory; that is, it explains behavior by imputing an
interest (the proliferation of genes) that the agent of
the behavior does not openly acknowledge, or indeed,
is not even aware of. Thus, what seemed to be your
  (40)   unsurprising interest in your child’s well-being turns
out to be your genes’ conspiracy to propagate
themselves.

Such arguments can appear persuasive on the face
of it. According to some evolutionary psychologists,
  (45)   an interest in the proliferation of genes explains
monogamous families in animals whose offspring
mature slowly. Human offspring mature slowly; and,
at least in numerical terms, our species favors
monogamous families. Evolutionary psychologists
  (50)   take this as evidence that humans form monogamous
families because of our interest in propagating our
genes. Are they right?

Maybe yes, maybe no; this kind of inference
needs to be handled with great care. There are, most
  (55)   often, all sorts of interests that would explain any
given behavior. What is needed to make it decisive
that a particular interest explains a particular behavior
is that the behavior would be reasonable only if one
had that interest. But such cases are vanishingly rare:
  (60)   an interest in Y might explain doing X, but so too
would an interest in doing X. A concern to propagate
one’s genes would explain promoting the welfare of
one’s children; but so too would an interest in the
welfare of one’s children. Not all of one’s motives can
  (65)   be instrumental, after all; there must be some things
that one cares for just for their own sakes.    1 
 1. Which one of the following most accurately states the main point of passage A?

(A) Altruistic behavior is problematic for evolutionary psychology because it tends to diminish the reproductive success of individuals that exhibit it.
(B) New evidence may explain the evolution of altruistic behavior in early humans by showing that genes promote their own self-propagation.
(C) Altruistic behavior originally served evolutionary purposes that it does not serve today because humans no longer live in small, kin-based groups.
(D) Contrary to what critics of evolutionary psychology say, most significant types of human behavior are prompted by genetically selfish motivations.
(E) An evolutionary explanation of altruistic behavior may lie in the psychological states brought about in early humans by cues of kinship or familiarity.

2 
 2. The approaches toward evolutionary psychology exhibited by the two authors differ in which one of the following ways?

(A) The author of passage A is more interested in examining the logical implications of evolutionary psychology than the author of passage B is.
(B) The author of passage A is more committed to the principles of evolutionary psychology than the author of passage B is.
(C) The author of passage A is more willing to consider nonevolutionary explanations for human behavior than the author of passage B is.
(D) The author of passage B is more skeptical of evolutionary theory in general than the author of passage A is.
(E) The author of passage B is more critical of the motives of evolutionary psychologists than the author of passage A is.

3 
 3. According to passage B, which one of the following is an example of a human characteristic for which evolutionary psychologists propose a questionable explanation?

(A) the early human tendency to live in small communities
(B) the slow maturation of human offspring
(C) forming monogamous families
(D) misinterpreting the interests that motivate human actions
(E) caring for some things for their own sakes

4 
 4. According to passage A, certain types of human behavior developed through evolutionary processes because they

(A) helped spread the genes responsible for those same behaviors
(B) prompted individuals to behave unselfishly
(C) improved the physical health of individuals who exhibited the behaviors
(D) made individuals who exhibited the behaviors more adept at finding food
(E) prompted early humans to live in mutually dependent groups

5 
 5. How does the purpose of passage B relate to the content of passage A?

(A) The author of passage B seeks to support the main claims made in passage A by presenting additional arguments in support of those claims.
(B) The author of passage B criticizes the type of argument made in passage A by attempting to create an analogous argument with a conclusion that is clearly false.
(C) The author of passage B argues that the type of evidence used in passage A is often derived from inaccurate observation.
(D) The author of passage B maintains that the claims made in passage A are vacuous because no possible evidence could confirm or disconfirm them.
(E) The author of passage B seeks to undermine the type of argument made in passage A by suggesting that it relies on questionable reasoning.

6 
 6. Which one of the following assertions from passage A most clearly exemplifies what the author of passage B means in calling evolutionary psychology a “conspiracy theory” (lines 35–36)?

(A) Evolutionary psychologists seek to examine human behavior from the point of view of the theory of evolution.
(B) Altruism presents a difficult problem for evolutionary psychology.
(C) An altruistic individual uses valuable resources to promote the well-being of another individual.
(D) Genes may promote their self-propagation through actions that appear unselfish.
(E) Early humans lived in small, kin-based groups.

7 
 7. It can be inferred that the author of passage B would regard which one of the following as a mistaken assumption underlying arguments like that made in passage A?

(A) Most of the physical features characteristic of modern humans developed as the result of evolutionary pressures.
(B) Any action performed by an early human was necessarily orchestrated by that individual’s genes to promote the genes’ self-propagation.
(C) To explain a type of human behavior in evolutionary terms, it is sufficient to show that the behavior would have improved the reproductive success of early humans.
(D) Evolutionary psychology can be used to explain human behavior but not animal behavior, since animal behavior is driven largely by instinct.
(E) Most early human behaviors that significantly hindered reproductive success were eliminated by evolutionary competition.

Ismail12 · Answer

Could someone please explain the answer for Q2?
I was able to cut down the answer choices to B and D, but I chose D because it made more sense. I'm not able to eliminate option D on solid grounds.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

The author of  passage A  thinks that evolutionary psychology is correct  ( lines 1-2  even say that it has  “taught us” ) . The author of  passage B  thinks evolutionary psychology hasn’t proven its case.  Lines 35-36  call it a  “conspiracy theory” , which is not usually language you use for a theory you like.

(B) IS CORRECT.  The author of passage A accepts evolutionary psychology as a correct theory, and he uses it to explain altruism. The author of passage B calls evolutionary psychology a  “conspiracy theory” (lines 1-2) . He doesn’t sound very committed to evolutionary psychology’s principles.

(D) IS INCORRECT:  The author of passage B is skeptical of evolutionary psychology. That’s different from evolutionary theory, which refers to Darwin’s theory of natural selection.

Answer: B

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

7. It can be inferred that the author of passage B would regard which one of the following as a mistaken assumption underlying arguments like that made in passage A?

Explanation

The credited response should be consistent with a point made in passage B. At the same time, the credited response needs to be an assumption that is made in the argument of passage A.

A. No.  Passage B does not argue against evolutionary theory generally.

B. No.  While passage B does argue against using genetic motivation to explain human behavior, “any action” is an extreme statement that is unsupported by either passage.

C.  Yes.   This is a point made in the second paragraph of passage B and is an assumption made in the second paragraph of passage A.

D. No.  Passage B argues that evolutionary psychology should not be used to describe most behaviors generally. It does not differentiate between human and animal behavior.

E. No.  Passage B does not discuss behaviors that hinder reproductive success.

Answer: C

guddo · Answer

6. Which one of the following assertions from passage A most clearly exemplifies what the author of passage B means in calling evolutionary psychology a “conspiracy theory” (lines 35–36)?

Passage B says evolutionary psychology is like a “conspiracy theory” because it explains behavior by claiming that the real motive is hidden: not the person’s conscious concern, but the genes’ interest in reproducing themselves.  So we need the statement from Passage A  that explains apparently unselfish behavior as really serving  genetic self-propagation .

(A) Evolutionary psychologists seek to examine human behavior from the point of view of the theory of evolution.

This is too general. It describes evolutionary psychology, but it does not show the hidden-motive idea behind the “conspiracy theory” criticism.

(B) Altruism presents a difficult problem for evolutionary psychology.

This does not exemplify the “conspiracy theory” idea. It only says altruism is hard to explain from an evolutionary standpoint.

(C) An altruistic individual uses valuable resources to promote the well-being of another individual.

This describes altruism itself, not the hidden genetic explanation of altruism.

(D) Genes may promote their self-propagation through actions that appear unselfish.

This is correct.   It says actions that look unselfish may actually serve the hidden interest of genes. That is exactly what Passage B means by calling evolutionary psychology a “conspiracy theory.”

(E) Early humans lived in small, kin-based groups.

This is background information. It helps Passage A’s explanation, but it does not directly express the hidden genetic motive.

Answer: (D)

Evolutionary psychology has taught us to examine human behavior from

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Evolutionary psychology has taught us to examine human behavior from

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