Biological approach: KC6 evolutionary psychology

Question 1

environment of evolutionary adaptation (EEA)

Answer 1

when most of human evolution happened. (10,000 years ago)

Question 2

natural selection- survival of the fittest

Answer 2

process that results in the adaptation of an organism to its environment

Question 3

genome

Answer 3

a collection of genes

Question 4

genome lag

Answer 4

human evolution mostly took place in the EEA 10,000 years ago. it takes thousands of years for evolutionary pressures to change the human genome. genome lag occurs because the rate of evolutionary change is slower than the rate of environmental change

Question 5

the fight, flight, freeze response

Answer 5

the sympathetic branch of the ANS is activated when we perceive threat. this creates psychological arousal in the body to prepare us to fight, flight (run away) or freeze (staying still to avoid attention). in the EEA, ancestors who responded to such threats with fight, flight, freeze response were more likely to survive and so lived longer and so were more likely to reproduce, passing down beneficial characteristics

Question 6

sexual selection

Answer 6

any characteristics that evolves which makes the animal or person more attractive which increases reproduction rates

Question 7

name 1 strength of evolutionary psychology

Answer 7

there is research to support the genome lag

the role of women has changed a lot over the last 100 years. women now have a greater role in the workplace and are less financially dependant on men. however, it is still common for women to choose older me (who have more resources) as a partner. this supports genome lag because it shows that despite cultural changes, a behaviour important to survival is still choosing a suitable mate. ie, the genome has hardly changed

Question 8

name 1 limitation of evolutionary psychology

Answer 8

incomplete explanation because of gender bias

fight or flight may explain men’s response to a threat but not women’s. such a response would not have advantaged an ancestor woman because it would have made it harder for her to protect her offspring. a more adaptive response may be ‘tend and befriend’ (Taylor) - a focus on nurturing offspring rather than confrontation and seeking support from social networks. therefore, evolutionary psychology’s explanation of how we respond to threats is limited as it may only explain men’s behaviour

Question 9

survival of the FITTEST (what does ‘fittest’ mean?)

Answer 9

the characteristics that best match (fit) the demands of the environment