CAS PS 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Scientific Method, Cultural Neuroscience, Naturalistic Observation

• School: Boston University
• Department: Psychological & Brain Sciences
• Course: CAS PS 101
• Professor: Natalie Emmons

Document Summary

The human mind has been shaped by evolution. Modern evolutionary theory has only recently begun to inform psychology. Evolutionary theory is useful for considering whether behaviors and physical mechanisms are adaptive. Visual cliff: infants won"t crawl over the cliff, even if their mothers are standing on the other side encouraging them to do so. Adaptive mechanisms enhance our chances of survival. Social interaction gives rise to culture, which is transmitted from one generation to the next through learning. Ex: music/food preferences, ways of expressing emotion, tolerance of body odors. Cultural rules reflect adaptive solutions worked out by previous generations. Cultural neuroscience studies the way that cultural variables affect the brain, the mind, genes, and behavior. Psychology subfields focus on different levels of analysis. Psychologists study the what, when, and why of behavior and mental processes. This is more objective than casual observations. Systematic- procedures follow orderly steps that are carefully planned. This is the goal, not necessarily reality.