Week 5 - Evolutionary Psych PDF

lOMoARcPSD|42273600 Week 5 - Evolutionary Psych Personality Psychology (University of South Australia) Scan to open on Studocu Studocu is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university Downloaded b...

lOMoARcPSD|42273600 Week 5 - Evolutionary Psych Personality Psychology (University of South Australia) Scan to open on Studocu Studocu is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university Downloaded by James Smith ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|42273600 PERSONALITY PSYCH- WEEK 5: EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVES - No succession without reproduction NOISE OR RANDOM VARIATION: neutral with Evolutionary - Men and women have different respect to selection reproductive strategies based on their Perspectives reproductive capacities EPIGENETICS SEXUAL SELECTION The study of changes in organisms caused by - INTERSEXUAL COMPETITON: The modification of the gene expression rather than CHARLES DARWIN competition between sexes alteration of the genetic code itself. (pepper moth) NATURAL SELECTION - INTRASEXUAL COMPETITION: competition - The process of competition by which within sexes EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY certain traits are selected and endure and - From an evolutionary perspective All humans today come from an unbroken link of others disappear intrasexual competition in more important ancestors who accomplished two tasks - Two criteria: staying alive/reproducing because you’re competing with others from - Survival - “There is no point in staying alive if you’re the same species as you for a mate - reproduction not going to reproduce and pass on your Human nature and human personality are made up genes” PRODUCTS OF THE EVOLTIONARY PROESSES of a collection of evolved mechanisms ADAPTATIONS: reliably developing structure in the We carry the adaptive mechanisms that led to our organism which, because it meshes with the ancestor’s success. recurrent structure of the world, causes the Have cognitive mechanisms evolved overtime to solution to an adaptive problem help solve our various adaptive problems? - ADAPTIVE PROBLEM: anything that impedes survival or reproduction. TERMINOLOGY BYPRODUCTS OF ADAPTATIONS: incidental effects ADAPTIVE: reliably allowed species to adapt and of adaptations not properly considered adaptations reproduce (e.g. belly button) DESIRABLE: judgement aspect to it (what we’re - EXAPTATIONS: adaptions that initially looking at is either wanted or not wanted, but that’s arouse through natural selection and were not a criteria for adaption. subsequently co-opted for another function (e.g antisocial personality/ drinking alcohol) SURVIVAL (e.g. large size of human brain and its - Living long enough to pass on genes function of enabling humans to produce PREMISES - Competition with others of the same speech) DOOMAIN-SPECIFICITY: adaptations are designed species crucial component - SPANDRELS: features that did not arise as by evolutionary processes to solve an adaptive - Don’t need to swim faster than the shark adaptations through natural selection but problem just than the next person rather as side effects of adaptive processes NUMEROUSNESS: there are many psychological - Survival of the fittest and that have been co-opted for a biological adaptions because there are different adaptions REPRODUCTION function: (e.g. by-products of a large brain: required to solve different adaptive problems. - Producing offspring reading/ writing/ fine arts) FUNCTIONALITY: psychological adaptations are - Single most important factor in natural designed to accomplish particular adaptive goals. selection Downloaded by James Smith ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|42273600 PERSONALITY PSYCH- WEEK 5: EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVES - Those that developed fears of these things population at a frequency where reproductive lied longer: therefore reproduced and benefits of strategies are equal. passed on genes (although susceptibility to develop anxiety) LIFE HISTORY THEORY THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Life requires capturing (foraging/ hunting/ SEX DIFFERENCES cultivating) and allocating (reproduction and Males and females will be the same or similar in survival enhancing activities) energy. all domains where sexes have faced the same or A FITNESS MAXIMISING STRATEGY: The strategy similar adaptive problems that leads to the allocation of energy that on Sex differences in those domains where sexes average, results in the greatest fitness, is the one recurrently faced different adaptive problems that wins out over others - Aggression SOMATIC EFFORT: the bioenergetic and material - Jealousy resources devoted to continued survival of the - Desire for sexual variety organism. Literally just surviving - Mate preferences (males lots of babies, REPRODUCTIVE EFFORT: the resources devoted to HUMAN NATURE females want a partner) the production of new organisms - human nature is a product of evolutionary GOOD GENES HYPOTHESIS - Mating effort process Symmetry an indicator of good genes - Parenting effort - psychological mechanisms that are Therefore, symmetry should be more attractive FUNDAMENTAL TRADE-OFF successful in helping humans survive and People’s belief that symmetry = better genes individuals can enhance their fitness in two ways reproduce out-replicate those that are less /healthier = more attractive By investing in traits that affect the age schedule of: successful - morality OR - over evolutionary time, successful INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES - fertility mechanisms spread through population and Most challenging and difficult level of analysis for three broad fundamental trade-offs with energy come to characterise all humans evolutionary psychologists allocation - examples of evolutionary analysis at the Three evolutionary perspectives on ID’s 1. The present-future reproduction trade off human nature level: the need to belong- we Environmental triggers of individual differences: Reproducing now= cost of increasing chance of not cannot survive on our own/ helping and e.g. father absence directing individuals toward reproducing in the future altruism/universal emotions. short term mating strategies. Allocation of energy to future reproduction= cost of - Bad emotions have more influence and Heritable individual differences contingent on not producing now. importance than good emotions (being other traits: e.g. individuals who are muscular and - Energy that is allocated to growth now aware of negatives facilitates survival) large pursue more aggressive strategy than those reduces fertility at younger ages but who are muscular and small increased at older ages PREPAREDNESS HYPOTHESIS Frequency dependent strategic individual 2. The quantity-quality trade-off of offspring - Certain things in our ancestral past posed a differences: e.g. short-term and long-term sexual real threat to our survival or the survival of strategies of women are maintained in the Number vs survival: do you have a lot of offspring or our offspring invest strongly in the offspring you do have? 3. The mating effort-parental effort trade off Downloaded by James Smith ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|42273600 PERSONALITY PSYCH- WEEK 5: EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVES There are sex differences in parenting investment due to biological functions Males who are highlt desirable can expect a high future reproductive rate--- BUT females partially select males for their willingness to invest in parenting. LIFE HISTORY THEORY CONTINUTED Knowledge of the environment and environmental pressures influence individuals’ decision-making processes about the allocation of resources LHT describes the adaptive choices made by individuals to optimise reproduction and survival on account of the environment - Different life strategies - Different developmental trajectories Extrinsic morality the most important environmental determinant - The reality of death from predation, homicide, disease and accidence will influence the allocation of resources. - LH STRATEGIES SLOW: organised along a dimension of speed, stable, consistent environment, allocate resources preferentially to somatic effort over reproductive effort, parental/nepotistic effort over mating effort e.g. elephants FAST: unstable, unpredictable, harsh environment reproductive effort over somatic effort, mating effort over parental/nepoti stic effort e.g. rabbits Downloaded by James Smith ([email protected])