CAS PS 211 Lecture Notes - Lecture 40: Behaviorism, Child Development, Human Factors And Ergonomics
15 Sep 2016
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Document Summary
Connects contemporary psychology to evolution by natural selection. Organisms that are better suited to their environments are more successful. Mental abilities, like physical abilities, evolved over millions of years to serve particular adaptive purposes. The majority of our history is as hunter-gatherers, influencing us today, as we are social, we avoid predators, we gather and exchange food, we raise children, and we retain mates. There is no experimentation in the evolutionary level. Driven and motivated by powerful inner forces. Theses forces are instincts, biological drives, and attempts to resolve conflicts between personal needs and those of society. Deprivation states, physiological arousal, and conflict provide energy for behavior, known as tension. The main purpose of action is to reduce drive states. The early childhood is characterized as the time when the personality is formed. Child development, dreaming, forgetting, unconscious motivation is analyzed, using psychoanalytic therapy. Antecedent environmental conditions, which precede behavior, are examined. Observable consequences that follow the response are examined.
