History & Chapter 1 class notes (exam1) Flashcards
Comparative Psychology HOW definition
Comparative psychology involves the analysis of the behavior of organisms, including man, using the comparative method.
Comparative Psychology WHY definition
The search for general principles of behavior
Aristotle
A) Animal kingdom could be ordered from __
B) Suggested the beginning of ___
C) Postulated ___ development and ____ across species (i.e. that ___ organisms ___ from ____ ___)
A) Animal kingdom could be ordered from simple to complex on a ladder of nature (scala naturae), with humans on top.
B) Suggested the beginning of our current classification system, grouping similar animals by genus and species for unique properties.
C) Postulated phylogenic development and continuity across species. i.e. that more complex organisms developed from simple ones.
- Aristotle’s Ladder of Nature
Descartes
A) Separated …
B) Mind / body
A) Separated animals (mechanical function) and man (rational function), eventually allowing study of animals.
B) Mind is separate from body
Linnaeus
A) Who was?
A) Swedish botanist created current biological classification system
Definition of Species
groups that can and do naturally interbreed
Linnaeus’s classification
a) k
b) p
c) c
d) o
e) f
f) g
g) s
h) v
a) Kingdom
b) Phylum
c) Class
d) Order
e) Family
f) Genus
g) Species
h) Variety
Darwin’s grandpa proposed
First proposed evolution in book of poetry
Lamarck (Jean Pierre Antione de Monet de Lamarck) 1) created first... 2) said current species... Proposed ideas of: 3) \_\_ and \_\_\_ 4) \_\_\_ of A\_\_ T\_\_\_
1) First systematic theory of animal evolution, now called the Doctrine of Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics.
2) Said current species developed from older species, more complex animals from simpler, by inheriting characteristics ancestors acquired by experience. Proposed ideas of:
3) Use and disuse. Individuals lose characteristics they don’t require and develop those that are useful.
4) Inheritance of Acquired Traits
Thomas Malthus said…
animals exist in greater numbers than can survive and reproduce
Charles Lyell was
Darwin’s geologist friend who observed succession of fossils in rock strata
Charles Darwin
Proposed current theory of evolution. Physical and mental characteristics are based on a continuity of process across species.
Pangenisis Hypothesis proposed by _(1)__
2) describe
3) problems with it
1) Darwin
2) Cells produce gemmules that gather in germ cells and pass on newly acquired traits. This hypothesis did not last long.
3) circumcision: they someday shouldn’t need to do it. 2nd reason: blood from different colors of rabbits transfused - offspring didn’t change color.
Wallace
proposed…
- proposed a theory similar to Darwin’s
- proposed ice ages
got the shaft (no credit)
Romanes A) what did he do? B) What method did he use? C) what did he believe? D) what was his error?
A) formalized use of comparative method to study Animal Behavior and thus understand humans
B) Anecdotal Method: early method collected instances of animal intelligence
C) believed animals just as smart as human beings. (had a horse named HANS.)
D) Anthropomorphism: (projection of your behavior and feelings to animals)
C.C. Lloyd Morgan
A) Used what law to do what?
B) What led him to that?
A) Law of Parsimony to restrict anthropomorphism. “in no case may we interpret and action as the outcome of the exercise of a higher psychical faculty, if it can be interpreted as the outcome of one which stands lower in the psychological scale.”
B) watching his dog escape his picket fence
Law of Parsimony
a principle according to which an explanation of a thing or event is made with the fewest possible assumptions.
Who did early comparative psychology?
Nobles and church people would go study insects.
Who proposed theory of learning?
Thorndike
What happened when Pavlov’s works were translated to English?
Everyone got revved up about learning
Areas contributing to Comparative Psychology
1
2
3
- Animal Behavior
- General experimental psychology (i.e. biologists listening to catfish sounds)
- The Comparative Method
What interest in Animal Behaviors contribute to comparative psychology? 1 2 3 4
- interest in the animal itself
- interest in the animal as an economic element - making money off of buying/selling
- interest in the relation of behavior to evolution (what were the steps along the way? they got started back into studying animal behavior in the 50s and 60s)
- interest in a species as a model (using same learning mechanisms regardless of complexity of species. could be used as a model - i.e. drug testing)
What are Ratner’s two uses of the comparative method?
1
2
- quantitative psychology
2. zoological comparative
Quantitative Psychology (Ratner)
1) applies..
2) used to…
3) does not…
1) applies special methods to psychological subject matter
2) used to analyze and understand behavior and its diversity (when does behavior occur, what influences it)
3) does not emphasize evolution
Zoological Comparative: A) emphasizes ... B) Includes.. \_\_\_ogy (4) and \_\_ \_\_ C) two types of comparison... (1) (2)
A) Behavioral evolution
B) ethology, psychobiology, biopsychology, behavior ecology, and animal behavior
C) (1) across different species in similar environments - i.e. what species to compare to humans? wolfs
(2) across species related by evolutionary descent - i.e. bonobo chimp - more similarities to humans than chimps
Ethology
the study of animal behavior with emphasis on the behavioral patterns that occur in natural environments
Psychobiology / biopsychology
application of the principles of biology to the study of physiological, genetic, and developmental mechanisms of behavior in humans and other animals.
behavioral ecology
the study of the evolutionary basis for animal behavior due to ecological pressures
social biology
biologists dealing with animals’ social behavior – moved in direction of behavioral ecology now
Contributing to comparative psychology - interest in the animal as an economic element - what instances contributed?
1) making money off of buying/selling
2) getting animals to reproduce (if male had been eating garbage and female had grain, they wouldn’t want to mate)
3) taking care of their babies
Ratner's 6 stages of comparative analysis 1 2 3 4 5 6
- collection of background information (he thought anthropologists the gold standard bc they looked at cultures). accumulate basic info from all available sources
- classification of behavior (create behavioral taxonomy based on broad characteristics of behavior. instincts)
- developing research preparations (find species and test situations that demonstrate stage 2 classes. (find species that’s an example of behavior you want to study)
- identification of variables associated with behavioral class
- making comparisons (compare behaviors w/in and between stages 1-4)
- identification of general mechanisms (when this produces understanding of relationships among classes, a general theory results)
Ratner’s stage 1: collection of background information
accumulate basic information from all available sources
Ratner’s stage 2: classification of behavior
create behavioral taxonomy based on broad characteristics of behavior
- instincts - 3 things going off. structure of instincts
Ratner’s stage 3: developing research preparations
find species and test situations that demonstrate Stage 2 classes
- find species that’s an example of behavior you want to study
Ratner’s stage 4: identification of ___
variables associated with behavioral class
Ratner’s stage 5: making comparisons
compare behaviors within and between stages 1-4
Ratner’s stage 6: identification of general mechanisms
- when stage 5 comparisons produce understanding of relationships among classes, a general theory results
True or False
For Ratner’s 6 stages of comparative analysis, stages are sequential and mutually supportive
true
Ratner’s Functional Behavioral Categories
11 categories based on function Resting exploring eliminating drinking feeding care of body surface predator defense fighting sexual behavior nesting care of young
Naturalistic Observation
A) strengths (3)
B) weaknesses (3)
A) (1) natural behaviors.
(2) natural (real) variables
(3) good hypothesis
B) (1) no history on subjects (don’t know if anything in previous history is influencing current behavior - i.e. rat hoarding when they experienced scarcity as pups)
(2) no control of variables (not sure what variable is causing behavior)
(3) poor hypothesis testing
Experimental Method
A) Strengths (3)
B) Weaknesses (3)
A) 1) good history on subjects
2) good control of variables
3) good hypothesis testing
B) 1) unnatural behaviors - i.e. animals pacing back/forth in zoos
2) strange variables (leading to
studies on scar tissue in brain, etc.)
3) unnatural hypothesis
"Experimental" approaches to studying animal behavior A) Comparative Psychology B) Evolutionary Psychology C) Ethology D) Sociobiology E) Behavioral Ecology
A) makes comparison across species to develop general principles of animal behavior
B) applies evolutionary thinking to psychological topics
C) studies the functional significance and evolution of behavior (3 people)
D) applies principles of evolutionary biology to study animal social behavior
E) studies the relationship between an organism, its environment, and the survival value of behavior
Comparative Psychology “Experimental” approaches to studying animal behavior
makes comparison across species to develop general principles of animal behavior
Evolutionary Psychology “Experimental” approaches to studying animal behavior
applies evolutionary thinking to psychological topics
Ethology “Experimental” approaches to studying animal behavior
and 3 people
studies the functional significance and evolution of behavior
- Karl von Frisch (1886-1982)
- Konrad Lorenz (1903-1989)
- Nikolaas Timbergen (1907-1988)
Sociobiology “Experimental” approaches to studying animal behavior
applies principles of evolutionary biology to study animal social behavior
Behavioral Ecology “Experimental” approaches to studying animal behavior
studies the relationship between an organism, its environment, and the survival value of behavior
theories about the origins of life
1.
2.
3.
- creationism/intelligent design (can’t test this. data from geology indicates origin story is incorrect)
- seeding from Outer Space (aliens came down and altered characteristics of apes and did other things too)
- Evolution
historical mechanisms of inheritance
- spontaneous generation
- ovism
- spermism
spontaneous generation mechanism of inheritance
- Life arose from combinations of things in the environment.
- An early attempt to explain the origin of life
- The concept that living things come from nonliving things
- People believed that toads came from mud, flies came from the rotting bodies of animals, and mice came from cheese.
- Recipes.
ovism
each egg contains a complete homunculus. Sperm triggers growth. Homunculus would need eggs with homunculus inside for all later generations.
spermism
homunculus in sperm. Church worried about unbaptized homunculus in sperm at ejaculation, unfertilized eggs.
what’s a homunculus?
a representation of a small human being
Historical mechanisms of inheritance
- M__ I___
- L___
- P___
- M___ G___
1) maternal impressions - pregnant woman’s experience influences fetus. (see blind person - blindness. pee in churchyard = bed wetter)
2) lamark: Offspring inherited parental changes due to their experience (epigenetics is proving this)
3) pangenesis: gemmules arise from tissue, gather in reproductive organs
4) mendalian genetics: Genes pass characteristics across generations
natural selection
..and Thomas Huzley’s response
the differential reproductive success of individuals within a population that occurs because of hereditary differences among them
“how extremely stupid not to have thought of that!”
intrasexual
Males compete for opportunity. Is when members of the same sex (within a species) compete with each other in order to gain opportunities to mate with others, e.g. the male against male competition for females. Because ____ selection often involves fighting, species or individuals well adapt for this kind of selection will have developed better armourments (weapons) than their competition.
Epigamic
females choose partners. males look pretty to attract them
{Darwinian or Evolutionary Theory}
Define:
1) Variation
2) Heredity
3) Differential Reproduction1) exists in traits of species members
2) some of this variation is heritable
3) because of heritable differences, some individuals leave more offspring than others
Variation (darwinian)
exists in traits of species members
heredity
some of this variation is heritable
differential reproduction
because of heritable differences, some individuals leave more offspring than others
{Darwinian or Evolutionary Theory} we observe
Define:
1) Genetic Variation
2) Heredity
3) Differential Reproduction1) alleles produce different forms of the same protein
2) alleles can be transmitted to offspring
3) some alleles cause more reproductive success
{Darwinian or Evolutionary Theory} we deduce
Define:
1) Variation
2) Heredity
3) Differential Reproduction1) genes compete for spaces in gene pool
2) existing species contain successful alleles
3) characteristics controlled by genes aid gene survival
Darwinian
facts about populations
Fact 1 Populations have the potential to increase exponentially.
Fact 2 many populations are at equilibrium size
Fact 3 resources are limited
= Inference 1: Struggle for existence among individuals
Fact 4 Individuals are unique
Fact 5 individual variation is often heritable
= Inference 2 Differential survival/reproduction/natural selection
= Inference 3 Through many generations, evolution
Whether a trait has adaptive value and is favored in evolution depends on whether
the benefits to overall fitness exceed the costs.
Bigger difference = more desirable.
Cost too great – not as beneficial
Genes replicate themselves, organisms
do not
True/False
Evolution is natural selection
False
Evolution and Natural selection
Evolution involves..
Natural selection is…
Evolution involves a change in gene frequencies,
Natural selection is only one of the factors influencing it.
Evolution is not natural selection.
evolution is not ____ by anything or ____ toward ____
guided by anything
directed toward any goal
personal fitness
number of surviving and reproducing offspring
inclusive fitness
number of reproducing offspring of self and relatives. genetic basis for selfish behavior
abuse occurs more in ___ than ___
stepfathers than fathers
test predictions of only one hypothesis indicate
a weak test of hypothesis
strong test of hypothesis
test (often overlapping) predictions of all available hypothesis
levels of analysis (types of questions about behavior)
What questions
- What are the genetic mechanisms that produce it?
- What are the neural-hormonal mechanisms that control it?
- What is its’ evolutionary history?
- What is its’ adaptive value?
levels of analysis (types of questions about behavior)
how questions
o About proximate (immediate) causes of behavior and directed toward internal mechanisms (how does it do that?).
How do genes influence the development of behavior?
What is the neural or physiological foundation for the behavior?
o How Q. -> Proximate Causes -> Structural Explanations
levels of analysis (types of questions about behavior)
why questions
o Pursue ultimate causes of behavior (why does it do that?)
What is the adaptive (reproductive) value of the behavior?
What is the phylogenetic history of development of the behavior?
o Why Q. -> Ultimate Causes -> Functional Explanations
Using the scientific method to answer proximate or ultimate questions
1) Formulate a question
2) Develop an hypothesis about how or why the behavior is occurring
3) Make predictions about behavior based on the hypothesis
4) Test predictions
5) Draw conclusions about hypothesis accuracy
proximate questions result from… (A)
ultimate questions result from… (B)
A) how questions
B) why questions
adaptationist approach
assumes behavior is adaptive and asks how it improves reproductive success/fitness
adaptation
a heritable characteristic developed through natural selection that has proven or is in the process of proving superior to available alternatives
Weak Test
test predictions from only one hypothesis
strong test
test predictions from more than one hypothesis and discriminates between them
Barn Swallow Mobbing Hypothesis and issues w hypothesis 1) \_\_\_ \_\_\_ (issues with hypothesis) 2) 3)
1) self defense (but they Mob mostly during breeding, so not self defense)
2) Advertising oneself as a mate (mobbers usually have young in nest, so not advertisement)
3) Parental care of nest (mobbers usually have young in nest, so parental care seems correct)
Divergent Evolution
Related species with different structure/behaviors, usually due to different environments. (black headed and kittiwake gulls, kittiwake nests on cliffs, unlike most other gulls)
Convergent Evolution
Unrelated species with similar structure/behaviors due to similar environments. (Black headed gulls and Green Herons – group nesting, Black headed gulls, colonial bank swallows, California ground squirrels – mobbing behavior)
Optimality Theory
Individuals should be maximally efficient at certain activities (like reproduction) and existing behavior may be the best possible difference between benefits and costs
