Chapter 17 Human Mate Choice and Parenting.ppt

Chapter 17: Human Mate Choice and Parenting Mate Choice (already covered) Child Abuse and Infanticide Focus of lecture materials Child spacing !Kung demands of motherhood Kin-Selection and Child Abuse/Infanticide Kin-Selection: is this child mine? For women, (apart from adoption) a child is always related to her by .5 For men, a child is also related by .5 if he has high paternal certainty Prediction: biological parents are more likely to feel more motivation to care for their children that will stepparents or other substitute caregivers. ? Figures in Homicide pgs 86 87 Ibid pgs 90, 91 92 ? Who does the killing? Webster’s unabridged dictionary defines “stepmother” as: The wife of one’s father by a subsequent marriage. One that fails to give proper care or attention. ? Sex differences in infanticide and age of child ? Ibid 81 ? Evolutionary theory predicts that among biological parents, infanticide is more likely to be committed by young unmarried women when the baby is in the first year of life. Children sleeping in parents bed Postpartum depression Kinship and Adoption in Oceania Child Spacing Optimizing logic Lack’s optimal clutch size !Kung Mothers space their children according to their work loads !Kung Mother’s work load Work Load by IBI (child spacing) * Optimal IBI is 4 years and the average actual IBI is 4 years *