Psychology 2550A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Prefrontal Cortex, Directional Selection, Reality Principle

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2550A/B
• Professor: David Vollick

Document Summary

The evolutionary approach focuses on personality differences between people as a result of natural selection. Through directional selection, characteristics that enhance survival and reproduction gradually become increasingly represented in the gene pool, which is more important vs the individual. Some characteristics that may be highly adaptive in some environmental may be dysfunctional and catastrophic in others. When its adaptive to have characteristics that are not at the extreme ends of dimensions, genetic variability may be maintained through a mechanism of stabilizing selection. Mate selection - evolutionary pressures - there will be important sex differences in the characteristics desired in mates: males seek fertility, youth, beauty, females seek resources, status, dominance. Sexual jealousy - evolutionary pressures encourage aggressive, sexual jealousy in males (it may increase their reproductive success) Differences in regrets - males unlike females tend to express greater regrets about not having pursued romantic or sexual relationships. When organisms learn, not all associations between stimuli are formed with equal ease.