PSYC 2130 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Ethology, Shyness, Baby Talk

• School: York University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 2130
• Professor: Frank Marchese

Document Summary

Introduction: some motivated behaviors are genetically programmed into the nervous system. Ex. ill male who outdid healthy male for mating via the ability to deceive: eibl-eibesfeldt (1972): Found universal greeting ceremony across cultures: human recognizes another human, smiles and raises eyebrows signaling that the other individual is familiar. The behavior is reciprocated by the other person: serves as recognition b. w humans and threat when approaching someone, genetically motivated behaviors are often analyzed under the topic of instinct. Instinct: genetically programmed bit of behavior that occurs when circumstances are appropriate and that requires no learning of the behavior. Early instinct theories were vague but later ones (such as those of ethologists) were more clearly defined and continue to exist under evolutionary psychology. Early instinct theories: 1800s and early 1900s: instinct as an explanation for motivated behavior reached peak popularity in part b/c it served as a theoretical bridge b. w humans and animals.