Chapter 1 Flashcards
What is two difference between traditional psychology and EP
Traditional Psychology relies on the SSSM and EP does not
EP looks at psychology as a whole instead of focusing on my subject
Evolutionary Psychology
An approach to psychology that takes seriously the idea that our own species is a product of evolution
Standard Social Science Model
Set of ideas common in psychology according to which causes of behaviour can be divided between nature and nurture
Assumption 1 of SSSM
Blank slate -The human mind is a neutral medium on which expirerencs makes its mark. “Virgin mind”
Assumption 2 of SSSM
The Irrelevance of biology
There are no biological constraints on behaviour.
Assumption 3 of SSSM
General purpose learning Mechanism
Humans have a few variety of inputs dealt with by one mechanism that responds many different ways
Issue with the SSSM- reason 1
The SSSM ignores the fact that development depends on gene-environment interactions
Issue with SSSM - reason 2
The SSSM gives a false division between nature and nurture.
Issue with SSSM - reason 3
General purpose learning mechanism cannot explain the wide array of known environmental effects.
Issue with SSSM - reason 4
The SSSM builds a fake wall between the natural and social sciences
Issues with SSSM - reason 5
The SSSM gives no unifying framework for all of psychology
What Is your skin color the result of ?
Nature (genes) and nurture (environment)
Melanin
Dark pigment in skin
Norm of reaction
A graph that plots how a particular trait change because of environmental change
Facultative trait
Traits that allow individuals to fit into more then one environment
Proximate Questions
How questions
Ultimate Questions
Why questions
Universal People
Behaviour that is common in every human
Genetic Fallacy
The mistaken idea that behaviour is inherited when genes are involved
Naturalistic Fallacy
Confusion of “is” with “ought”
Genotype
The genetic constitution of an individual organism.
Phenotype
The outward appearance of an organism
Tinbergens level of explanation
That all possible explanations are right (robin and best building)
Why is fixed pattern of response no longer used? 3 reasons
Not entirely fixed
Not entirely innate
Not always triggered by stimuli
Example of a fixed action pattern
Yawning
Mating dance in birds
Why does our skin darken in the summer and lights in the winter
We produce a lot of melanin when there is a high levels of uv and disassemble the melanin when uv levels drop
