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Introduction Psychology 3916. Introduction Why study psychology from an evolutionary perspective? Well, umm we are animals after all Darwin talked about.

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Presentation on theme: "Introduction Psychology 3916. Introduction Why study psychology from an evolutionary perspective? Well, umm we are animals after all Darwin talked about."— Presentation transcript:

1 Introduction Psychology 3916

2 Introduction Why study psychology from an evolutionary perspective? Well, umm we are animals after all Darwin talked about evolutionary psychology William James talked about evolutionary psychology

3 Evolution and Social Science Most psychologists adhere to the ‘ Standard Social Science Model ’ This of course affects research, theories, hypotheses etc. It is almost completely at odds with Evolutionary Theory, and dare I say, with reality….

4 SSSM - Assumptions 1) The Blank Slate – Most of us can see this is silly, but, the SSSM seems to accept it 2) Biology is Irrelevant – If experience is all that matters, biology really has no effect now does it 3) There are only a few learning mechanisms

5 Why the SSSM is wrong… Development NEEDS biology So, when you hear say language, you learn language, as a kid. No matter how many hockey stats I flash at you, you will not become a hockey stats expert by the age of 4. Why?

6 Another example or two… Why can ’ t my parents ’ dog learn to speak English? BECAUSE SHE IS A DOG Why can ’ t you remember where you cached 30 000 seeds six months ago? BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT A CLARK ’ S NUTCRACKER There is such a thing as human nature

7 Nature vs. Nurture The SSSM divides nature and nurture, this is silly as you cannot have one without the other The interaction principle Genes do not just set some sort of limit. They interact with the environment So, say learning, needs a mechanism and so forth to allow experience to change behaviour

8 The SSSM and the natural sciences We cannot study behaviour in a vacuum We cannot ignore biology Exempting the behaviour of organisms from the principles of biology is like exempting the behaviour of atoms from the principles of physics We cannot ignore evolution of sociality in other species and us

9 Tinbergen ’ s ‘ Four Whys ’ Proximate vs. Ultimate explanations Development Physiology Historical Selective Psychology has concentrated on proximate, and that is fine, but it only tells half of the story

10 Human Nature Margaret Mead All culture, all social, no effect of biology Had a big effect in anthropology and sociology not to mention us Umm turns out it is wrong… Universal people Hard to change a hundred years worth of scholarly work though

11 Just because there is human nature….. It does not mean stuff is unchangeable Variability due to environmental variability and variability in genes And, of course the interaction thereof Many examples, the book has a nice bit on violence Killer sperm and cheating

12 Naturalistic Fallacy Just because something has a genetic basis we do not make the judgment that it is right or wrong Science is amoral Society has determined that monogamy is cool, polygyny is not We may be hooked up to be polygynous, but most of us are faithful

13 Conclusion The EEA influences us Generals always fight the last war Don ’ t forget about the levels Just because something is biological does not make it right or wrong

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