Human Behavior Biology: Lecture # 8. Recognition of relatives [Robert Sapolsky, 2010. Stanford]

We present you the eighth lecture of the course “ Biology of Human Behavior ” by Robert Sapolsky about the recognition of relatives.



In it, you will learn about the different ways of recognizing relatives in animals and people with the help of special proteins, smell, or cognitive efforts and sensory information. You will also learn what an important role this ability plays in various aspects of the life of living beings.

You will find the entire list of lectures already translated to date under the cut.



List of lectures already translated:



Lecture 1 : Introductory lecture on the main directions of the course and why it is dangerous to think in categories.

Lecture 2 : Evolution of behavior, I. In this lecture, the professor explains the evolution of behavior, using illustrative examples, including the well-known “prisoner's dilemma”.

Lecture 3 : Behavior Evolution, II. Continued explanation of the evolution of behavior.

Lecture 4 : Molecular genetics, I. It describes the connection of protein synthesis and point mutations with microevolutionary changes, and discusses the theories of gradualism and intermittent equilibrium with each other, as well as the phenomenon of epigenetics.

Lecture 5 : Molecular Genetics, II. It describes the different mutations in the components of natural selection at the molecular level, and the theories of gradualism and intermittent equilibrium are reduced to a general model of development.

Lecture 6 : Genetics of Behavior, I. The lecture covers the classic approaches to the genetics of behavior, their shortcomings, the influence of environmental factors, the non-genetic heritability of certain features and epigenetics.

Lecture 7 : Behavioral Genetics, II. The lecture highlights the main difficulties associated with isolating individual genes, understanding variability and heritability, and also explains why genes and the environment are inextricably linked, although the role of the latter is often underestimated.

Lecture 8 : Recognition of relatives. This lecture is devoted to different ways of recognizing relatives in animals and people, using special proteins, smell, or cognitive effort and sensory information. It also discusses the important role played by this ability in various aspects of the life of living beings.



There are 25 lectures in total, gradually we will translate them all.