Assessment Questions 6.4

1. What benefits do statistics suggest come from the presence of grandparents in a household, according to the passage?

Statistics indicate that the presence of grandparents in a household provides tangible and intangible benefits. In a survey of mortality statistics in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Finland and Canada, the presence of a grandmother was associated with an increase in both the number of children born to her children and the survival rate of those grandchildren. This suggests that grandparents contribute significantly to the reproductive success of their children and the longevity of their grandchildren.

2. What is the "grandmother effect," and when does the passage suggest it may have originated in human evolution?

The "grandmother effect" refers to the impact of grandmothers on the survival and thriving of their grandchildren. According to the passage, this effect may be traced back to around 30,000 years ago. Caspari and Lee's assessment of ancient hominins' age at death revealed a significant leap in longevity during the Upper Paleolithic, indicating a shift where there were more older adults than younger adults among hominins for the first time.

3. How do the authors describe grandparents, and what role do they attribute to grandparents in the transmission of cultural memories and knowledge?

The authors describe grandparents as doting, generous, helpful, and knowledgeable. They highlight that grandparents, as an older generation with experiences and memories reaching back to a previous time, act as a living library. The presence of grandparents is suggested to have had a significant impact on the transmission of cultural memories and knowledge, contributing to the richness of human cultural heritage.