ESS Values Research Articles

"Motority" in three functional domains of word meaning.

This article deals with relations between "mental motor" evoking capacity ("motority," Putnoky, 1975a, b) and the sensory and affective connotations, as well as certain denotations, of words. Sensory connotation is indexed by degree of visual, auditory, and tactual imagery, as assessed on a 7-point scale, while affective connotation is indexed by the usual three factors tapped by the semantic differential. The aspect of denotation used here is the abstractness value of words, also based on rating by scales. The general conclusions about motority are as follows: (1) the finding that its sensory connotations are mainly via the auditory modality of imagery, and especially in correlation with abstract words, suggests that it has a specific function that may have originated in the processing of heard language; (2) it correlates with the potency and activity factors of affective connation, which suggests the existence of a nonspecific function or component in it; (3) correlations with abstractness reflect that motority must have a denotative function or component, especially in case of abstract verbal stimuli. On the basis of the results, motority is supposed to play a regulative role at higher levels of the organization of word meaning in particular.

Models of parent-offspring conflict. II. Promiscuity

The population genetics of Trivers (1974) concept of parent-offspring is examined for species in which the effects of the conflict are felt by future half-sibs, as in promiscuous mating systems in which the male shows no parental care. Whether or not a rare conflictor gene will spread in a non-conflictor population depends on ƒ(m) > (m + 1) (0.5m + 1.5) for a dominant gene, and on ƒ(m) > 1 4 (m + 3) for a recessive gene; f( m) is the fitness gained by a conflictor relative to a non-conflictor offspring [ ƒ(m) >1], and m is the amount of parental investment taken by a conflictor relative to m = 1 for a non-conflictor. The ESS value for conflict ( m o) in promiscuous species with zero male parental care has m o = ƒ(m o ) 4[ dƒ(m o ) dm o ] . However, where the male maintains the same harem for several breeding seasons, or where there is promiscuity but both sexes contribute equally to parental care, conditions for conflict are equivalent to monogamy.