Task 4 - God, Nature, Time

Question 1

Before Darwin

Answer 1

Before Darwin, Lamarck developed a comprehensive theory of evolution, which stated that new varieties come into existence because organisms are actively and purposefully striving to better themselves.

Question 2

Principle of use and disuse

Answer 2

If you do not use it, you lose it.

Question 3

Principle of inheritance of acquired characteristics

Answer 3

During life acquired characteristics are passed on to offspring.

Question 4

Charles Darwin

Answer 4

1809-1882
Owned several greenhouses in England, in which exotic and continuously evolving plants were cultivated.
His first observation was that plants that were capable of self-fertilization avoided it. Furthermore, if it happened, the offspring were on average less healthy.
• Cross-fertilization produced variation in the offspring that was more vital and sometimes led to the creation of a new type of flower. Later he realized that the process of natural selection is responsible for the fact that some variants have an advantage over others and outgrew them.

Question 5

Natural selection

Answer 5

A process in Darwin’s evolutionary theory by which the environment causes the continuation & replication of organisms with certain genetic features (favorable features) and hinders the reproduction of organisms with other genetic features (unfavorable features).

Question 6

Survival of the fittest

Answer 6

The outcome of natural selection.
Only organisms that fit within the environment and can produce viable offspring survive.
(Darwin)

Question 7

The origin of species

Answer 7

The book containing Darwin’s theory, published in 1859.

Question 8

Darwins theory is based on 3 fundamental ideas:

Answer 8

INHERITANCE: when individuals in a population reproduce, the new generation resemble their parents.
VARIATION: the similarities between generations is close, but not perfect, so that each generation includes new variations in traits. SELECTION: there is a link between the new variations and the chances that an individual will be better able to survive & reproduce.

Question 9

Dilution problem

Answer 9

It was initially thought that in the process of mating characteristics get averaged (e.g. a tall person will have an average-height child with a short person), which would eventually lead to all people becoming clones of each other.

This problem was resolved when it became known that inheritance includes copying genes, which can produce random changes in the DNA information (mutations) and eventually lead to variation in the population.

Question 10

Neo-Darwinism

Answer 10

The addition of genetics to Darwinism.

Question 11

Intelligent Design

Answer 11

Intelligent design (ID) is a view that originated in the late 1700s, conceived by William Paley, who stated that the complex adaptations & functions of organisms imply a divine Creator.
Even though this is not a philosophically robust argument, it was influential in its day.

Question 12

Irreducible complexity

Answer 12

A view of the ID framework, which states that removing one part of a complex structure that leads to malfunction in the structure is proof that the structure and its function could not have evolved by natural means.
There is counterevidence in evolution as well in fossil records against this view.

Question 13

Specified complexity

Answer 13

an attempt to quantify the unlikelihood of irreducible complexity. Uses probability theory to rule out the possibility that a structure evolved either by natural processes or chance.
The attempt is mathematically flawed.

Question 14

Micro evolution

Answer 14

Change within populations.

Question 15

Macroevolution

Answer 15

The origin of major groups and new adaptations.

Question 16

Social Darwinism

Answer 16

The practice of misapplying evolutionary theory to politics, economy & the society. Darwinism was used as a justification for laissez- faire, colonialism and women’s place being in home and not at work/school.

Question 17

Galton

Answer 17

Argued that human intellectual, moral and personality traits were transmitted from parents to offspring.
He did archival research and showed that men who were successful in various fields were more likely to have had close male relatives who were themselves distinguished (and downplayed the role of social advantage within families).
He also stated that unintelligent people spread more and natural selection would lead to a world with more stupid people, “spoiling instead of improving our breed”.

Coined the word EUGENICS.

Question 18

Neo-Lamarckians

Answer 18

People who believed that organisms acquire new traits as a result of a process of active adaptation to their environments.
Herbert Spencer (who shared these views) argued that competition functioned to make animals/humans work harder, and thus improve their traits/bodies (unlike Darwin, who thought that competition works mainly to spread minority traits throughout a population).
Spencer believed that in the end the evolutionary process would produce a perfect society characterized by stability, harmony, peace, altruism & cooperation. The government would disappear.

Question 19

Comparative psychology

Answer 19

A field studying animals in order to learn about human behavior.

Question 20

Structuralism

Answer 20

The first major school of thought in psychology. It utilized introspection to break down mental processes into the most basic components, but its results had low reliability.

Question 21

Wilhelm Wundt

Answer 21

1832-1920
Considered to be the founder of experimental psychology.
Published The principles of physiological psychology, in which he sets out to establish psychology as a science.
In 1879 he begins the first laboratory in the world for the study of experimental psychology at the University of Leipzig - considered as the starting date of experimental psychology.

Question 22

Immediate experience (Wundt)

Answer 22

The content of psychological experience in its immediate nature, unmodified by abstraction and reflection (e.g. characteristics of having a toothache)

Wundt was interested in immediate experiences, as they provided raw psychological data. That is why the main method he taught was introspection.

Question 23

Mediate experience (Wundt)

Answer 23

Conceptions, memories of experiences (e.g. saying I have a headache)

Question 24

Experimental Introspection (Wundt)

Answer 24

Extracting immediate experiences by careful examination of one’s conscious mind rather than one’s memory (they thought people could do that after training)

Question 25

Stimulus Error (Wundt)

Answer 25

Reporting perceptions (mediate experiences) rather than sensation (immediate experience) from introspection.

Question 26

Functionalism

Answer 26

The first uniquely American system of psychology that focuses on understanding the function of an organism in it’s environment.

It focused on discovering the function of consciousness rather than the structure of consciousness.
It was offered as a replacement of structuralism, not as an alternative.

Question 27

William James

Answer 27

1842-1910

Proposed studying the functional utility of consciousness which enables us to adapt to our environment by making choices.
The methods of functionalism are introspection, experimentation, comparison (discovering meaningful variations in behavior by studying animals and children).

Question 28

James-Lange Theory

Answer 28

Hw hypothesized that a physical response precedes the appearance of emotion (e.g. see bear, run, get frightened rather than see bear, get frightened, run).