PSYCH 1XX3 Lecture Notes - Daphne Major, Assistive Technology, Genetic Drift
14 Apr 2013
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Document Summary
Adaptations- are biological traits that help an individual to survive and reproduce in its habitat. Adaptations perform a specific function that make an organism better suited to its environment. They are used during tasks organisms face when interacting with the physical world. Example: your eyes enable you to recognize and respond effectively to things around you by detecting and analyzing the reflected light. Perceptual processes and behaviours are also biological adaptations. Higher mental processes- selective attention, memory encoding, memory retrieval and word recognition; these all refer to tasks that the mind needs to accomplish to do its job= the adaptive functions of the mind. The adaptive functions that are served by our minds evolved like all other adaptations- through natural selection. Adaptations emerge in development as a result of the activation of relevant genes in interaction with relevant aspects of the environment. Natural selection- differential survival and reproduction of organisms as a result of the heritable differences between them.
