Terms

Question 1

Imprinting

Answer 1

A rapid learning process that occurs during a specific, critical period early in an animal’s life. During this time, the young animal forms a strong attachment to the first moving object it sees, usually its parent.

Question 2

Sociobiology controversy

Answer 2

use some of the same theories that we
apply to nonhuman animals and apply them to understanding
human social behavior as well.

Question 3

“Instinct”

Answer 3

William James concept – biologically determined patterns of behavior that are essential for an organism’s survival and adaptation. Natural, automatic, and present from birth, not learned through experience

Question 4

Subconscious

Answer 4

Sigmund Freud concept–refers to the part of the mind
that operates outside of conscious awareness, containing desires,
memories, and impulses that are inaccessible to conscious thought,
but that can still influence behavior and mental processes

Question 5

Behaviorism

Answer 5

Study of observable behavior + reject role of unobservable mutual processes/thoughts or emotions

Question 6

Attachment Theory

Answer 6

A framework for understanding the evolved emotional bond between infants and their caregiver

Question 7

Prepared Learning

Answer 7

Animals + Humans are predisposed to develop strong + selective associations between certain types of stimuli and neg/pos outcomes

Question 8

Proximate Expectation

Answer 8

“How” of a behavior: causation, development, traditional psychology

Question 9

Ultimate Expectation

Answer 9

“Why” of a behavior: function, evolution, evolutionary psychology

Question 10

Tinbergen’s 4 Questions

Answer 10

Framework for understanding animal behavior:
1) causation – how behavior works
2) development – how behavior develops over time
3) function – how behavior contributes to survival
4) evolution – how behavior evolved over time

Question 11

Blank State Concept

Answer 11

Concepts that individuals are born w/ empty minds, devoid of pre-existing ideas/knowledge

Question 12

Evolutionary Psychology

Answer 12

Evolutionary psychology attempts to explain why humans think and act the way they do by considering the adaptive problems our ancestors faced and how natural selection shaped our minds to solve them.

Question 13

Environment of Evolutionary Adaptiveness (EEA)

Answer 13

A set of selection pressures that shaped the adaptations of a species/ Environment(s) in which humankind evolved to their present form

Question 14

Evolved Motivational System (EMS)

Answer 14

Behaviors + motivations in animals + humans that have evolved to help survive + reproduce

Question 15

Valence

Answer 15

the positive or negative value of experiences, with basic animal motivations being to approach positive, fitness-enhancing opportunities (e.g., food, mates) and avoid negative threats (e.g., predators, spoiled food).

Question 16

Instinct Blindness

Answer 16

Our inability to recognize the complexity of evolved learning processes because they feel effortless and automatic, like vision or cooperation, leading us to underestimate their difficulty.

Question 17

Cognitive Impenetrability

Answer 17

Many mental processes (ex: vision, attraction) operate automatically and are beyond deliberate control, unaffected by conscious thoughts

Question 18

Biological Determinism

Answer 18

Misconception that evolutionary theory reduces human behavior to genetics, leaving no room for environmental, cultural or social influences

Question 19

How natural selection creates specialization

Answer 19

1) narrows inputs to respond to only those triggers needed to solve a problem

2) preparation: connecting inputs to certain pathways

3) Motivation: creates motivation to act on specific problem

Question 20

For EMS:
1) Defining Features
2) Developing Features

Answer 20

1) Drives behavior towards reproductive goals
2) Environmental/internal cues that trigger motivation system