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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. What does Wynne-Edwards believe about birth rates?

2. What does Wynne-Edwards teach?

3. According to the relatedness calculations in the book, how much more closely related is a child to a sibling than a half-sibling?

4. What is difficult to explain about honeybees, according to Dawkins' theory?

5. According to Dawkins, how common is it for males to help raise the young?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What is the result of Dawkins' game theory analysis of male and female sexual and childrearing behaviors?

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

4. What possible explanation for viruses does Dawkins give?

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

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

7. When and why are gulls' offspring in danger?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the distinctions between humanity and other species in Dawkins' work.

1) In Dawkins' book, how does he treat humanity similarly to and differently from other species?

2) What does Dawkins believe makes humanity unique? How does this relate to Dawkins' theory of the selfish gene?

3) What implications does Dawkins' theory have for human beings?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss hive behavior in Dawkins' book.

1) How does Dawkins' idea of the selfish gene explain the behavior of hives and of sterile individuals in a species?

2) Why does Dawkins discuss hive behavior and the behavior of insects? Why does he only devote a part of a chapter to this discussion?

3) How much variation is there in insect behavior? How much variation is there between insect behavior and other types of animal organisms? How does this variation affect Dawkins' ideas?

Essay Topic 3

The opposite of selfishness is altruism, and Dawkins argues that many seemingly altruistic behaviors actually originate with the selfishness of genes. Discuss altruism in Dawkins' book.

1) What altruistic behaviors does Dawkins attribute to selfish genes? How convincing are his arguments?

2) What is "altruism"? Is there such a thing as true "altruism?"

3) How can altruism function for the good of the individual or for the good of the individual's genes?

(see the answer keys)

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