Biology and Psychology in the 19th Century

Question 1

who was Erasmus Darwin?

Answer 1

• Grandfather of Charles Darwin
• formed a botanical society

Question 2

what is Anaximander’s theory of evolution?

Answer 2

• thought all life began from one common ancestor
• all life begins in ocean

Question 3

who was Lamarck?

Answer 3

• advocate for the idea that animals develop via 2 forces:
  1. complexifying force: strive for better organisation
  2. adapting force: change according to circumstance
• Animal characteristics are inherited based upon usefulness.
  E.g. Giraffes long necks to reach leaves at tops of trees

Question 4

Who is Charles Darwin?

Answer 4

• founder of theory of evolution
• studied the galapagos islands, noticed difference in birds across the island (e.g. feathers, beaks, behaviours)

Question 5

what are the 4 principles of Darwinian evolution?

Answer 5

1. Organisms differ, due to inheritance and random changes
2. The environment & resources change, too (earthquakes, competition).
   3.More organisms are born than there are resources to survive (cf Malthus).
   4.Those which are more adapted to the conditions will reproduce.

Question 6

all animals have a common ancestor accept which animal?

Answer 6

octopuses

Question 7

what are Tinbergen’s four questions?

Answer 7

1. Function (adaptation): How does this increase the animals ‘fitness’?
2. Evolution (phylogeny): How does this behaviour come about?
3. Causation (mechanism): what provokes this behaviour?
4. Development (ontogeny): How does this behaviour change over the creatures lifespan?

Question 8

who was Lonrenz famous for?

Answer 8

• founder of biological preparedness
• imprinting with geese

Question 9

what were Von Frisch’s Bees?

Answer 9

• measured bee’s smell, taste, and vision
• found that bees communicate to other bees using the waggle dance
• studied pheromones, social interaction, and sexual attraction

Question 10

what is Darwinian Psychology?what is ‘Origin of the Species’?

Answer 10

book written by Charles Darwin containing the theory of evolution

Question 11

what was Darwins view on language?

Answer 11

if the language was attractive/useful, it would be passed on. Endangered languages such as Cornish

Question 12

what is inter-sexual selection?

Answer 12

competition between sexes

Question 13

what is intra-sexual selection?

Answer 13

competition within sexes

Question 14

what are the features of facial expressions? (Ekman,1973, 2006)

Answer 14

• universal and innate
• not cultural
• learned

Question 15

what was Galton famous for?

Answer 15

• Coined the phrase ‘nature vs nurture’
• Darwin’s cousin
• Eugenicist
• polymath: Photography, meterology, Forensics, Statistics

Question 16

what was James famous for?

Answer 16

• He focused on the function on consciousness, not the contents
• focused on the idea of free will

Question 17

what theories did Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection inspire?

Answer 17

• Galton on the inheritance of intelligence
• James on the physiology of the emotions.
• Ekman & Mead on the expression of emotions

Question 18

what did Galton conclude about the mismeasure of man?

Answer 18

• the bodily and mental characteristics were largely inherited

Question 19

how did the IQ test develop?

Answer 19

• development of IQ tests, bought in from Binet (France) as a result of industrial revolution when we machanise cities
• Binet test = 2 hour test of frenchman asking questions about inteligence

Question 20

what are Freud’s Psychodynamic theory basic concepts?

Answer 20

• defence mechanisms
• psychosexual development
• Freudian personality theory
• Scientific and conceptual criticisms of psychodynamic theory

Question 21

what are the hysteria symptoms according to Freud?

Answer 21

• anxiety
• breathlessness
• irritability
• sexual promiscuity(lots of sexual partners)
• muscle spasms

Question 22

what are the 3 levels of consciousness according to Freud?

Answer 22

• consciousness
• preconscious
• unconscious

Question 23

what are the 2 basic drives in psychodynamic theory?

Answer 23

• Eros (life drives)- procreation, social cooperation, survival
• Thanos (death drives) - aggression, risky behaviour, reliving trauma

Question 24

what are the components of personality according to Freud?

Answer 24

• Superego (morality principle): societal pressures
• Ego (negotiator): driven by the reality principle
• Id (selfish, animalistic): driven by the pleasure principal
  The struggle between these forces = psychodynamics

Question 25

what are Freud’s stages of psychosexual development?

Answer 25

• Oral (weaning): fixation = neuroses, compulsive behaviours, smoking, chewing gum, eating/drinking disorders
• Anal (toilet training): Fixation = retentive (fastidious, stingy, clean) & expulsive behaviours (Over sharing, messy, disorganised, inconsiderate)
• Phallic (parents, 3-6 years): Fixation= extremes of dominant and submissive behaviour fixations can be averted by using defence mechanisms
• Latency (until puberty).
• Genital (puberty until adulthood).
  *If the stage-dependent needs aren’t met, child could become fixated.

Question 26

What are Freud’s defence mechanisms?

Answer 26

• Reaction formation.
• Rationalization.
• Displacement.
• Identification.
• Repression.
• Regression.
• Projection.
• Denial.

Question 27

what is the oedipus complex?

Answer 27

• Boys develop sexual feelings for the mother.
• Jealousy & resentment towards the father.
• Fearing the father, boys develop castration anxiety.

Question 28

what is the electra complex?

Answer 28

• Girls develop sexual feelings for the father, jealousy & resentment towards the mother.
• due to not having the ‘correct’ anatomy, girls develop penis envy.

Question 29

what is psychoanalysis?

Answer 29

• The aim is to release the force of unconscious conflicts by making them conscious (abreaction).
• Analyse slips of the tongue, free association, & the contents of dreams.
• Patients on a couch enter a semi-hypnotic state, & reveal their traumas.

Question 30

what did Karl Popper say about science?

Answer 30

• Scientific theories must be falsifiable.
• Freud full of unsubstantiated assertions, ‘case studies’, and unpublished ‘evidence’.