Unit 4 Flashcards
Differences between sociobiology and evolutionary psychology
Sociobiology focuses on how biological and genetic factors influence social behavior across species
- all organisms
Evolutionary psychology focuses on how evolution shaped the human mind – application of evolutionary principles to study the human mind
- primarily studies humans
Sociobiology
how biological effects social behaviors
- genes influence behavior
- brain is domain general
- maximize fitness
- genes/natural selection
- applies to all organisms
Evolutionary Psychology
using evolutionary principles to study the human mind
- solving adaptive problems
- primarily studies humans
- cognitive and psyc mechanisms evolved to handle environmental challenges
- all behavior rooted in our brains
- evolved with need for meta theory
Proximate Causation
direct, immediate causes of behavior with focus on mechanisms that cause behavior. eg. aggression–testosterone levels
Ultimate causation
evolutionary or long term causes. eg aggression evolved from risk of danger
5 assumptions of evolutionary psyc
1) human brain is made up of modules with functions each a solution to a challenge
2) module function derived by analyzing adaptive challenges previously faced by ancestors
3) Natural selection acts on PSYC mechanisms that underlie behavior and not the behavior itself
4) all humans share the same EPMs, universal human PSYC or human nature.
5) all human PSYC mechanisms evolved in an environment of evolutionary adaptedness EEA different from current environment eg. hunter gatherer to lifestyle today, maladaptive to current environment
Evolved psychology mechanisms (EPMs)
modules/units/cognitive traits that developed through natural selection to solve adaptive problems of survival. domain specific and tailored to specific survival and reproductive challenges
EMP characteristics
- can be triggered by specific inputs
- some can be damaged but do not effect others
- universal across cultures
- evidence from studying other populations
examples of EPMs and their functions
Sexual selection- what is seen as a good mate/sex preferences
Fear- alert for survival
Taste aversion- spoiled food for survival
Jealousy- mate protection for reproduction
how does universal human nature exist and what is the evidence
Triats, characteristics and behavior are universal across speciesvregardless of context (biological evolution and social experiences)
- evolution = similar environments lead to shared traits for survival
- genetic similarities how we are genetically related to other species
- patterns of social behaviors across societies and cultures
evidence: - bipedal
- large brains
- emotions/facial expressions
- language acquisition
how do we account for human cultural variability in behavior
EPMS – they are flexible
human behavior is influenced by innate PSYC mechanisms as well as environmental influences.
the differences amongst cultures is due to the fact that universal mechanisms are flexible to environment or cultural context.
Culture and environment shape human behavior in diverse ways. ancestral adaptations still influence us we are “not cavemen with technology”
Environment of evolutionary adaptiveness EEA
ancestral environment that shaped an organisms evolved EPMs. Set of conditions under which a particular trait or behavior was naturally selected because of increased survival and reproductive success.
Short comings of EEA
- instability of the environment
- continuation of evolution past Pleistocene
- difficult to test (cant observe the past)
- shared evolutionary traits from other species
HUMAN EVOLUTION IS MORE COMPLEX THAN ORIGINAL EVOLUTION PSYCHOLOGY FRAMEWORK SUGGESTS
4 Fallacies of POP evolution in PSYC
1) adaptive problems leads to clues to the minds design
2) we know or can discover why human traits evolved
3) our modern skulls house a stone age mind
4) the psyc data provides clear evidence for pop evolution psychology
pop evolution psychology
is a sensationalized, oversimplified version of evolutionary psychology that often ignores scientific nuance, cultural diversity, and environmental influences.
characteristics of sociobiologists
- view of humans related to fitness
- mechanisms specific aim is fitness
- gene maximization
characteristics of Evolutionary Psychologists
humans adapt
“adaptation executors”
“mechanism activators”
- fitness cannot be traced within ones life time
- fitness varies across species/environments/culture
