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PART II: Psychological traits as adaptations What does that mean? Broad or narrow function?

PART II: Psychological traits as adaptations What does that mean? Broad or narrow function? How formed? Good for?. PART II: Psychological traits as adaptations What does that mean? Trait preserved by selection because of its contribution to fitness in ancestral environments.

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PART II: Psychological traits as adaptations What does that mean? Broad or narrow function?

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  1. PART II: Psychological traits as adaptations What does that mean? Broad or narrow function? How formed? Good for?

  2. PART II: Psychological traits as adaptations What does that mean? Trait preserved by selection because of its contribution to fitness in ancestral environments. Broad or narrow function? How formed? Good for?

  3. PART II: Psychological traits as adaptations What does that mean? Trait preserved by selection because of its contribution to fitness in ancestral environments. Broad or narrow function? Specialized, domain- specific. How formed? Good for?

  4. PART II: Psychological traits as adaptations What does that mean? Trait preserved by selection because of its contribution to fitness in ancestral environments. Broad or narrow function? Specialized, domain- specific. How formed? Selective retention of favorable mutations. Good for?

  5. PART II: Psychological traits as adaptations What does that mean? Trait preserved by selection because of its contribution to fitness in ancestral environments. Broad or narrow function? Specialized, domain- specific. How formed? Selective retention of favorable mutations. Good for? The transmission of the underlying genes.

  6. PART II: Psychological traits as adaptations Psychological adaptations are costly. Not necessarily conscious. Seem “effortless” (phoneme perception; vision). Cognitively impenetrable.

  7. Sensation and Perception Poster children for domain-specific adaptations. Each sense specialized to handle particular kinds of input. For the most part processing is localized to particular brain areas (but not a logical requirement of modularity).

  8. Two views of perception: Provides knowledge Guides action: respond to risk and opportunities. distance judgments looming

  9. Sensory ecology: What kind of reliable, behavior-guiding cues are out there in the world? Senses have evolved to exploit different categories of cues. Vision: narrow portion of electromagnetic spectrum.

  10. http://www.karger.com/gazette/64/fernald/

  11. Sensory ecology: What kind of reliable, behavior-guiding cues are out there in the world? Hearing: Pressure waves in air (water, etc.) produced by movement. Can hear in the dark. Sound travels around corners. Frequencies produced proportionate to size. Distance issues. Frequencies heard proportionate to needs. (sex differences?)

  12. Sensory ecology: What kind of reliable, behavior-guiding cues are out there in the world? Chemical senses: taste and smell. distance/contact dimensionality taste: salty, sour, sweet, bitter, umami

  13. Sensory ecology: What kind of reliable, behavior-guiding cues are out there in the world? Touch is several senses: pressure, temperature, tickle, itch, pain.

  14. Sensory adaptation: Loss of sensation to a steady stimulus. Attend to changes. Also involves range-shifting. Increased sensitivity to the changes that do occur.

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