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Evolutionary Psychology

Evolutionary Psychology. Introduction. What is Evolutionary Psychology?.

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Evolutionary Psychology

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  1. Evolutionary Psychology Introduction

  2. What is Evolutionary Psychology? • Evolutionary psychology is the scientific study of human nature based on understanding the psychological adaptations humans evolved to cope with the survival and reproductive challenges faced over the long expanse of our evolutionary history. • Evolutionary psychology is not a specialized area in psychology, but a way of thinking in all areas of the field

  3. Key Questions in Evolutionary Psychology • Why is the mind designed the way it is? -what causal processes shaped the mind? • How is the human mind designed? -what is the structure of the mind? • What are the functions of the mind? -what is the mind designed to do? • How does the design of the mind interact with the environment to produce behavior?

  4. The History of Evolutionary Thinking • Evolution: changes over time in a living structure • Monet de Lamarck (1744-1829): • Believed species progressed to a higher form • Believed that acquired characteristics are inherited

  5. Lamarckian Notions • Why do giraffe’s have long necks?

  6. Curiosities of Nature • Similarities of features across species • Fossil record reveals changes within species • Similarity in embryonic development across species • Component parts often have obvious function _______________________________________ Life is dynamic and purposive, but why?

  7. Darwin’s Contributions

  8. Key Ideas in The Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection • Variation: the raw material for evolution • Inheritance: only inherited traits matter in evolution • Selection: some traits are selected because they confer survival benefits

  9. The Importance of Differential Reproductive Success • The characteristics of organisms that reproduce more than others are passed to future generations at a greater frequency • Malthus (1798): organisms exist in numbers greater than can survive and reproduce, resulting in a struggle for existence.

  10. Darwin’s Theory of Sexual Selection

  11. Component 1: Intrasexual Competition

  12. Component 2: Intersexual Selection:Preferential Mate Choice

  13. Genetic Drift Some genetic changes are not due to natural or sexual selection • Mutations • Founder effects • Bottlenecks

  14. What the Theory Tells Us… • Evolution is not intentional • Evolution is gradual • Natural selection explains modification • Natural selection explains “design” • Natural selection unites species into a tree of descent • Natural selection located humans on the tree of descent

  15. Objections to the Theory of Natural Selection • Darwin did not explain genetic inheritance • The “argument from personal incredulity” • Creationist objections • Resistance to being considered animals subject to the same laws as other species

  16. Important Milestones in the Development of the Theory • The Modern Synthesis (Mendel and Darwin) • Ethology: the adaptive nature of animal behavior (Lorenz) • Inclusive Fitness Theory (Hamilton, Williams)- gene’s eye thinking • Trivers: parental investment, reciprocal altruism, parent offspring conflict • E.O. Wilson: Sociobiology

  17. Common Misunderstandings What are some challenges to each of the following claims? • Human behavior is genetically determined • If it’s evolutionary, it can’t be changed • Current mechanisms are optimally designed

  18. “Deep Time” • 15 billion years ago: birth of the universe • 3.7 billion years ago: first life forms • 250 million years ago: first mammals • 85 million years ago: first primates • 35 million years ago: first apes • 4.4 million years ago: bipedalism • 2.5 million years ago: first stone tools • 200 thousand years ago: Neanderthals • 100 thousand years ago: modern humans

  19. Important Moments in Psychology • Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory • Williams James and the Functionalist School • Behaviorism • The lure of cultural variability • Harlow’s attachment studies • The Garcia Effect • Prepared fears • The cognitive revolution

  20. Cognitive Mechanisms • We have developed specialized information processing mechanisms to solve problems • The problem of combinatorial explosion

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