PSY397H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Melatonin, Waggle Dance, Malic Acid
Document Summary
We use clocks to tell us when we need to change out behaviour. As night shifts to day, the environment changed dramatically: now organisms that can use light are at an advantage. Humans adapt to the changing light in 2 ways: biologically: same processes as other organisms, socially: arti cial light. Many areas have the same time zone, but due to the tilt & curve of the earth, they may not have the same amount of light. That means kids who are expected to go to school at 8am may be leaving in the dark (before of cial sunrise) This means that some people have to get up before they are biologically supposed. Humans try hard to overcome these biological processes, many poor outcomes to be awake including disease. We can guess how long to boil water or walk somewhere. We are good at remembering the time of day.
