TOPIC 1 - The Evolutionary Perspective Flashcards
is the evolutionary process by which those individuals of a species that are best adapted are the ones that survive and leave the most fit offspring. (E.g. Darwin’s Evolution Theory
Natural selection
is behavior that promotes an organism’s survival in its natural habitat
Adaptive behavior
For example, attachment between a caregiver and a baby ensures the infant’s closeness to a caregiver for feeding and protection from danger, thus increasing the infant’s chances of survival
Adaptive behavior
introduced the theory of evolution by natural selection in 1859, his ideas only recently have become a popular framework for explaining behavior (Frankenhuis & Tiokhin, 2018; Raichlen & Alexander, 2017; Whiten, 2017)
Charles Darwin
emphasizes the importance of adaptation, reproduction, and “survival of the fittest” in shaping behavior (Bjorklund, 2018; Legare, Clegg, & Wen, 2018; Lewis & others, 2017
Evolutionary psychology
in this sense refers to the ability to bear offspring that survive long enough to bear offspring of their own. In this view, natural selection favors behaviors that increase reproductive success-the ability to pass your genes to the next generation (Russell, Hertz, & McMillan, 2017).
“Fit”
has been especially influential in stimulating new interest in how evolution can explain human behavior. He reasons that just as evolution has contributed to our physical features such as body shape and height, it also pervasively influences our psychological makeup, such as how we make decisions, how aggressive we are, our fears, and our mating patterns.
David Buss
what matters is that individuals live long enough to reproduce and pass on their characteristics (Starr, Evers, & Starr, 2018).
evolutionary theory
According to him, the benefits conferred by evolutionary selection decrease with age. Natural selection has not weeded out many harmful conditions and nonadaptive characteristics that appear among older adults.
Paul Baltes (2003)
acknowledges the important influence of evolution on human adaptation. However, he rejects what he calls “one-sided evolutionism,” which sees social behavior as strictly the product of evolved biology.
Albert Bandura (1998)
in which environmental and biological conditions influence each other. In this view, evolutionary pressures created changes in biological structures. In turn, environmental innovations produced new selection pressures that led to the evolution of specialized biological systems for consciousness, thought, and language
bidirectional view
are not always adaptive in contemporary society.
Evolved mechanisms
evolution does not dictate _____.
behavior
Among the criticisms of evolutionary psychology are that it is:
one-sided,
not adequately valuing social/environmental factors;
that it relies on after-the-fact explanations; and that it cannot be tested scientifically.
He concluded, in most domains of human functioning, biology allows a broad range of cultural possibilities.
Stephen Jay Gould (1981)
Many of our evolved psychological mechanisms are ______.
domain-specific
the mechanisms apply only to a specific aspect of a person’s psychological makeup.
domain-specific
