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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Dawkins describe some female birds demanding from males?
(a) They demand males fight off predators.
(b) They demand males walk or fly close behind them.
(c) They demand males feed them.
(d) They demand males fight off other birds.

2. What four categories does Dawkins have in his game theory analysis of male and female sexual and childrearing behaviors?
(a) Coy females, philandering females, demanding males, and unreliable males.
(b) Faithful females, faithless females, faithful males, and faithless males.
(c) Accepting females, rejecting females, cooperative males, and uncooperative males.
(d) Coy females, fast females, faithful males, and philandering males.

3. What bee eggs get fertilized?
(a) No eggs.
(b) Eggs that will become males.
(c) All eggs.
(d) Eggs that will become female workers.

4. What does Dawkins believe about the tension between survival of different generations?
(a) Children begin at a disadvantage, at the mercy of parents, and later begin to control the resources.
(b) The parents are the primary benefactor because they control resources, and children only get the minimum of what they need.
(c) A compromise evolves where different generations get reasonable amounts of resources.
(d) The children are always benefited, even at costs to older generations.

5. Do gulls recognize their own eggs and chicks?
(a) Gulls recognize neither their chicks nor their eggs.
(b) Gulls recognize their chicks but not their eggs.
(c) Gulls recognize their chicks and eggs.
(d) Gulls recognize their eggs but not their chicks.

Short Answer Questions

1. In Dawkins' example, why might a child try to get extra food, to the detriment of brothers and sisters?

2. What does Dawkins mean by a "selfish gene?"

3. According to the relatedness calculations in the book, how closely related is an individual to a cousin?

4. How does a mother protecting a child promote the selfish gene theory?

5. In the example Dawkins gives, why do some ants grow a plant?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the conflict between Wynne-Edwards and Dawkins over territory behavior.

2. Does Dawkins agree or disagree with the theory about parental suffering for children's success, and why?

3. What factors does Dawkins mention that affect the human birthrate and population?

4. Describe Trivers' observations of striped cleaner fish.

5. Why does Dawkins say mothers are more altruistic to their children than fathers?

6. What does Dawkins substitute for survival of a species?

7. Does Dawkins put forth any ideas by Wynne-Edwards that he agrees with?

8. How does Dawkins describe female cells versus male cells?

9. What may happen to guillemot eggs, and what is the adaptation of guillemots to deal with this?

10. Explain Dawkins' interpretation of the affects of overpopulation on female mice.

(see the answer keys)

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