PSYC 354 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Peppered Moth, Exaptation, Assistive Technology
24 Jan 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
As a process : an alteration in organisms that increase their fitness. As a characteristic : the evolution of a trait by the process of natural selection. Different to exaptation : occurs when a feature is incorporated into a new function. A dissociation between the current and historical origins of characteristics. Feathers: used to be used for insulation or mate selection. Correlation between traits : selection for one leads to selection of another. Complexity : if it is complex, it is adaptive. Design : if the features are particularly well fitted to the environment. Experiments : empirical investigation that manipulates presence vs absence of features and examine the effects on fitness. Comparative study : comparing sets of species in similar environments. The perfect organism: a perfectly adapted organism shows only genetic variations of fitness that are selected for and ultimately fixed. Best of all variants : necessity may not have arisen. Limitation in the ability to evolve adaptive trends.
