Evolutionary Psychology

Sometimes humans can get only so far…

What is the difference between behavior geneticists and

evolutionary psychologists?

Evolutionary Psychology

• Aims to find out what makes humans ALIKE– Natural selection and the development of human

characteristics

Natural selection• Among the range of inherited trait variations,

those that lead to increased reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations

Why do we love fats and sweets?

• MUST LOOK AT ORIGINAL PURPOSE

• Once hard to come by, they helped us survive famine long ago– Natural disposition

is mismatched with today’s junkfood environment

Mutations

• Nature selects beneficial variations among mutations: random errors in gene replication

Can you identify gender differences in sexuality and mating preferences – AND describe the evolutionary explanations for those differences?

Gender• Biologically and socially influenced

characteristics by which people define male and female

Men vs. Women

• Sex?– Relational or recreational?– Masturbation practices?– Social and economic status preference vs. health?

Criticisms of Evo. Psych

• Starts with the EFFECT with aims to work backwards to propose explanation– What’s wrong with this? Which type of reasoning

is this?• Effects of culture?• Explanation doesn’t help us necessarily

overcome human behavior– Males and cheating – the promiscuity gene

Parents/Peers/Culture

How can experience modify the brain?

• Embryos receive different nutrition and varying exposure to toxic agents

• Normal stimulation in early years is critical for optimal brain development

maturation• Biological growth process that enable orderly

changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience– Ex: a flower unfolds due to its genetic instructions,

we do the same through maturation• Humans sit up, then crawl, then stand up, then walk

Maturation sets the basic course, but experience adjusts the direction• After brain maturation provides humans with

abundance of neural connections, experience preserves our activated connections and unused connections degenerate– Called pruning

What roles do parents play in development?

What roles do our peers play in development?

How’d you do?

• Parents– Education– Discipline– Responsibility– Orderliness– Charitableness– Interacting with

authority figures

• Peers– Cooperation– Finding road to

popularity– Inventing styles of

interaction among people of same age

Conclusion

• Parents can influence the culture that shapes the peer group by helping select children’s neighborhood and schools, thus providing the peer group for the children to interact with.

Cultural Influences

• Culture: behaviors, attitudes, values and traditions shared by a group of people transmitted from one generation to the next

Norms

• Rules that govern the culture’s members’ behaviors– sometimes oppressive, but they help progress

society– Vary in personal space, expressiveness, and pace

of life– Colliding cultures make differing norms interaction

uncomfortable – why?

Effects of Time

• Culture changes faster than genetics’ abilities to keep up– What kind of issues can this cause?

• Women and abusive relationships• Increased rights for minorities • Rates of divorce, delinquency and depression

Individualist vs. Collectivist

• Individualist– Value personal

achievement and fulfillment

– Individual rights and liberties

– Define identity in personal traits

– Strive for personal control in life

• Collectivist– Value group goals

and solidarity– Relationships tend to

be closer and enduring

– Maintaining social harmony is important

– Identity is derived from belonging

Conclusions

• Individualist cultures encourage ________________ in their children, while collectivist cultures focus on __________________________

• Children in collectivist grow up with a stronger sense of family self