PSYC 385 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Operant Conditioning, Reciprocal Altruism, Catastrophism
22 Jun 2018
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Psyc 385 – Lecture 2 notes
Lecture 1: intro to course materials
Things known before Darwin’s Time
Natural selection is the mechanism through which evolution works
Design through natural selection e.g. human eye
Ideas around before Darwin’s time
Lamarck believed we were passing the characteristics on (big muscles from
continued use)
Lamarck was wrong (he believed in experiences in an individual’s life being
passed on)
Catastrophism – God kills all species, starting again
Uniformitarianism – sedimentation or erosion over time, God shouldn’t be
involved in science
E conchis omnia – “everything from shells”, all species came from shells
Principle of Population – population control, not enough food for
exponentially growing population
Darwin AND Wallace discovered natural selection
What does evolutionary theory claim?
Emphasis of natural selection is about differential reproduction not “survival
of the fittest”
The Galapagos Finches
Ancestral species with change occurring in surrounding species in order to
adapt to environment
The finches beaks have 3 different purposes including crushing and probing
How did Darwin bring it all together?
Blending theory – basically take male and female phenotype, add them up,
and divide by two, e.g. height
Phenotype is observable, thus includes behaviour
Question 2
Dupre says we know where we came from and we share an ancestor with
chimpanzees
Idea of physical adaptations in some species being expanded to cognitive
adaptations in humans (e.g. human beings and blue scorpion flies)
Evolution can explain our origins but can it explain how we behave today?
History lessons from Perry and Mace
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Natural selection is the mechanism through which evolution works. Design through natural selection e. g. human eye. Lamarck believed we were passing the characteristics on (big muscles from continued use) Lamarck was wrong (he believed in experiences in an individual"s life being passed on) Catastrophism god kills all species, starting again. Uniformitarianism sedimentation or erosion over time, god shouldn"t be involved in science. E conchis omnia everything from shells , all species came from shells. Principle of population population control, not enough food for exponentially growing population. Emphasis of natural selection is about differential reproduction not survival of the fittest . Ancestral species with change occurring in surrounding species in order to adapt to environment. The finches beaks have 3 different purposes including crushing and probing. Blending theory basically take male and female phenotype, add them up, and divide by two, e. g. height. Dupre says we know where we came from and we share an ancestor with chimpanzees.
