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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to the relatedness calculations in the book, how related is a person to him- or herself?

2. In the behavior called stotting, where do Thompson gazelles jump?

3. To what does Dawkins attribute a male backing down from a powerful rival over territory?

4. What reason does Dawkins give that animal populations are about 50-50 male and female?

5. What does Dawkins believe about human population growth?

Short Essay Questions

1. According to Dawkins, what selfish behavior might birds that have fewer eggs because of overpopulation exhibit?

2. What does higher PI mean, in R.L. Trivers' ideas?

3. How do Trivers and Dawkins differ in their interpretation of males investing energy into offspring before mating?

4. What examples does Dawkins give of male animals resisting raising offspring that's not their own?

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

6. What theory about parental suffering for children's success does Dawkins describe?

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

8. What factors does Dawkins mention that weigh into caring for older versus younger offspring?

9. What possible explanation for viruses does Dawkins give?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss sexual reproduction in The Selfish Gene.

1) How does Dawkins characterize male and female reproductive cells? What is the relationship between this characterization and Dawkins' theory of the selfish gene?

2) How does sexual reproduction affect the ability of genes to survive? Why should sexual reproduction exist at all?

3) What implications do Dawkins' ideas about sexual reproduction have for the male and the female of a species?

Essay Topic 2

One of Dawkins' primary premises is that the good of the individual is what organisms strive for, not the good of the species. Discuss the conflict between the individual and the species in The Selfish Gene.

1) Why are individuals representative of their genes?

2) What is Dawkins' central argument for selfishness of individuals within a species? Why does the selfishness of genes translate to the selfishness of individuals?

3) What are the arguments that other scientists pose for individuals acting for the good of the species, and how does Dawkins counter those arguments?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the role of game theory in Dawkins' book.

1) What is game theory? How does it allow scientists to look at systems in the natural world?

2) Why does Dawkins use game theory to support his arguments about the selfish gene? How convincing is the support that Dawkins provides using game theory?

3) What are the limitations of game theory in analyzing natural systems?

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