PSYCH 1XX3 Chapter Notes - Chapter Evolution Module 1: Behavioural Genetics, Assistive Technology, Dunlin
5 Mar 2018
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Adaptation-biological traits or characteristics that help an individual survive and reproduce in its habitat. Cognitive psychologists study the adaptive functions of mental activities. Cognitive psychologists refer to the adaptive functions of mental activity. Break down large-scale cognitive processes into adaptive problems or tasks, and then look for the adaptations that solve those problems. Our adaptive mental processes all evolved through natural selection. There are 3 essential components to natural selection (darwin and wallace: individual differences. Within any population, there is variation among individuals for any given characteristic: differential reproduction. These differences affect the individual"s" chances of surviving and reproducing, causing differential reproduction (some individuals will have more offspring than others: heritability. The offspring of successful reproducers will resemble their parents with respect to these variable characteristics. Basic mechanisms of evolution: natural selection, mutation, genetic drift, migration. Natural selection-the differential survival and reproduction of organisms as a result of the heritable differences between them.
