Psychology 3229A/B Lecture Notes - Ontogeny, Stepfamily, Genetic Fallacy

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 3229A/B
• Professor: Scott Mac Dougall- Shackleton

Document Summary

Examples of studies in evolutionary psychology: which dancer is better? (study of symmetry) Movements are from real people, and dancing motions captured by a computer. Stick figures strip away all info and just leave the movements. Participants asked to rate how attractive these movements are (fluctuating asymmetry) Fluctuating asymmetry - deviations from perfect symmetry in bilaterally symmetrical species. Environmental stress during development leads to asymmetry. Individuals who are better able to cope with stress develop more symmetrically. Symmetry also influences mate choice and attractiveness ratings. Facial symmetry - correlated to physiological, psychological and emotional health measures. Begin sexual intercourse earlier in life: attractiveness (estrogen, etc) Study took photos of females, made them pee in a cup after to measure hormone levels. They then made a composite of the 10 women with lowest levels of late follicular oestrogen metabolite, and 10 women with highest levels. Positive correlation between attractiveness, femininity and health and high estrogen in late follicular phase.