Psychology 2075 Lecture 1: Chapter 2

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2075
• Professor: William Fisher

Document Summary

From an evolutionary perspective, no single decision is more important than the choice of a mate. Evolutionary perspectives use principles from evolutionary biology to explain why certain patterns of social behavior and psychological mechanisms have evolved in animals, including humans. Sociobiology the application of evolutionary biology to understanding the social behaviors of animals, including humans. Evolution a theory that all living this have acquired their present forms through gradual changes in their genetic endowment over successive generations. A major criterion for how humans choose a mate is physical attractiveness. Natural selection a process in nature resulting in greater rates of survival of those plants and animals that adapted to their environment. Once a man and a women mate, there are several obstacles to reproductive success, two being infant vulnerability and maternal death. Infant vulnerability is greatly reduced if the mother provides continuing physical care, including breast-feeding.