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Darwins Theory of Evolution
- A species can produce more offspring than the environment can hold leading to a struggle for survival
- 1. Natural Selection
- 2.Random Mutation
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natural selection
- survival of the fittest
- traits that promote the survival of species are passed on to future generations
- best able to survive
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Random Mutation
random combination of genes often leads to detremental mutation
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Darwin's theory of sexual selction
- 1. members of a species with adpatations thta lead to a mating advantage will reproduce more.
- 2. characteristics preferred by members of the opposite sex will be passed on to future generations
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Inclusive Fitness
- do not need to directly reproduce to pass on genes
- by helping a sibling you may indirectly pass on your genes
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Sociobiology
- Our primary goal in life is to perpetutae copies of our genes to the next generation
- the need for our genes drives our behavior
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Sociobiology Fallacy
- behaviors are adpative because they solve problems not because they perpetuate genes
- takes many generations to determine whether a behavior has contributed to evolutionary fitness
- a given behavior cannot be adpative for all environments
- ignore psychological mechanisms
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Cosmides and Tooby
all selection process occurs in the brain
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Empirical Theory of Human Nature
- socail scientists focus on culture determining social behavior
- tabula rosa
- minds are a blank slate and personality development is based on experience
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Evolutionary Psychological Theory
- assume a predisposition to act in some ways and to avoid acting in others
- nature vs. nurture
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Strategy
an evolutionary selected neural system that has been developed to solve a specific problem
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Theory of Parental Investment
- females of a species are more biologically valuable than males in terms of reproduction
- they have to invest more and their reproductive system is limited
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Sexual strategies theory (SST)
what we do and what we do to make ourselves desirable depends on whether we are looking for long term or short term mate
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long term mating strategies
- women prefer men who have...
- resources
- slightly older
- strong and possess a tall athletic build
- display affection toward children
- men prefer women who...
- 18.5 years of age
- attractive with proper waist to hip ratio
- show signs of fidelity
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Long Term Mating Strategies
- Females attracting males
- Self promotion
- Makeup and cosmetic surgery for a youthful
- appearance
- play hard to get
- Competitor derogation
- Point our competitor’s flaws and smear their
- reputation.
- a.
- Females attracting males
- 1.
- Makeup and cosmetic surgery for a youthful
- appearance
- ii.
- Competitor derogation
- 1.
- Point our competitor’s flaws and smear their
- reputation.
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I.
Short Term Mating Strategies
- i.
- Are physically attractive
- ii.
- Are physically attractive to other women
- i.
- Consent to have sex after a short period of time
- ii.
- Lack aversive characteristics such as low sex
- dive, physical unattractiveness, need for commitment, and hairiness.
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Females
attracting males
- 1.
- Wear revealing and sexy clothing
- ii.
- Competitor derogation
- 1.
- Identify competitors as teases, infected with
- STD, gay or bisexual, frigid, or rarely showering
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Males
attracting females
- 1.
- Brag about income, career, and athleticism
- 2.
- Make an immediate showing of wealth
- ii.
- Competitor derogation
- 1.
- Identify competitor as gay or bisexual, infected
- with an STD or in a committed relationship.
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Love
and Jealousy
- a.
- Love helps to bind couples to one another
- through sickness and health, for richer or poorer.
- b.
- Jealousy is an evolutionary adaptation that
- protects long term relationships.
- c.
- Jealousy like love is adaptive
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I.
Signal Detection theory
- i.
- Either a signal that has occurred or no signal
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Error
Management
- a.
- Examines how error costs affect performance on
- discrimination tasks
- b.
- Men are more jealous and intolerant of sexual
- infidelity
- c.
- Women are more jealous and intolerant of
- emotional infidelity
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a.
Kin Altruism
- Offering
- to help genetically related individuals
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a.
Hamilton’s Rule
- 2.
- C= cost incurred by actor
- 3.
- r= proportion of genes shared by actor and
- recipient
- ii.
- Benefit of what you are doing for the recipient
- must be greater than the cost to you.
- 2.
- Our children and immediate family
- a.
- Example: nepotism- preferential treatment of
- blood relatives
- 3.
- More distant relatives
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Xenophobia
fear or distrust of strangers
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i.
Reciprocal altruism (promoted by all cultures)
- 1.
- Willingness to help unrelated people
- a.
- Enhancing everyone’s ability to survive
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Cheating
- 1.
- Consuming more than one’s chare of benefits
- and/or paying less than one’s chare of costs.
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Dysfunctional Behavior
occurs because evolved mechanisms fail to activate appropriately
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context failure
activation of an evolved mechanism by stimuli or situation other than those for which it is evolved
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Suicide
- cost-benefit analysis
- --> extended family, elderly not contributing much, won't be reproducing, those who are sick...
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murder
- psychological systems are designed for the production and regulation of violence
- provoked by threats to one's resources or ones sexual repoduction adaptive behavior
- males are more violent than females due to sexual selection and the propenstiy for risk taking
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homicide within families
- spouses at greater risk of violoence than genetically related individuals
- children are more likely to be killed by a step-parent
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Addiction
- alcohol-gateway drug
- encountered this in nature in very ripe fruit with more nutritional value
- we are made to like sweet things overly ripe fruit will ferment to produce alcohol
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Anorexia Nervosa
- adpative in some contexts (ex. may not be able to find food)
- more anorexic women
- -below weight
- - menstrual cycle changes
- -bad for reproduction
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Anxiety disorders
Phobias represent ancient threats to our species ancestors
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prepared learning
more likely to develop fear tp certain objects than other mor edangerous things
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latent inhibition
repeated exposure to CS imapirs ability to enter into subsequent associative learnign
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Extinction
presentation of CS in the absence of UCS
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Criticisms of Evolutionary Psychology
- not falsifiable
- engages in adaptationism
- legitimizes status quo
- accepts a rigid biological determinism
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exceptations
a chacacteristic that may have evolved for a specific reason int he past but is used in totally different ways in the present.
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nomological network interrelates
- theoretical framework for a constuct
- emprical framework for how the consruct is measured
- empirical relationships amoing and between 2 frameworks
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