PSY 216 Assignment: Psychology of Ageing

PSY 216 Assignment: Psychology of Ageing

PSY 216 Assignment: Psychology of Ageing

Questions:

1. a) According to Kirkwood and Austad, why is it better for humans to have babies earlier inlife?
b) Is ageing related to the capacity for sexual (as opposed to asexual) reproduction? Provide one example to support your response to Part
  1. According to Kirkwood and Austad, which of the following is evidence for life- history tradeoffs?
    a. Delaying reproduction reduces longevity,
    b. Delaying reproduction increases longevity?
  2. According to Kirkwood and Austad, which of the following statements captures ageing from an evolutionary perspective:

    a.Ageing is caused by mutations in a specificgene
    b.Ageing is caused by an accumulation of mutations in germcells
    c.Ageing is caused by an accumulation of mutations in somaticcells
    d.Ageing occurs because of the operation of natural

  3. Read the article by De Grey and answer the following: Is ageing a disease?
  4. If there are no “non-ageing animals” currently, does it make sense to try and find a cure for age?

Sample Solutions:

1 a).  During the early stages of human development, senescence which is a condition that threatens reproduction that needs to get checked. Fecundity and a stable survival rate isalso present during this age. The disposable soma theory suggests that there is a drastic reduction of reproduction at later stages hence natural selection favors early reproduction.

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b).  Yes, aging is directly related to sexual reproduction in humans.  According to the genetic theory, there is antagonistic pleiotropy which might become a negative correlation in genes. The condition leads to high early fecundity and lower later survival probabilities (Kowald & Kirkwood, 2015). Thus, selection favors those in the early reproduction than those in later years. For instance, the early reproduction does not produce the same quality of offspring as compared to later reproduction.

Incomplete Solutions …