PSYCH 100 Lecture Notes - Proxemics, Language Development, Twin

• School: UMASS-Amherst
• Department: Psychology & Brain Sciences
• Course: PSYCH 100
• Professor: tamararahhal

Document Summary

Explain human behavior/traits by examining the long term reproductive dis/advantages of said traits and behaviors. Any two humans will have % genetic variation (99. 5% similarity) Fact: men and women differ in their willingness to engage in sexual activity. Women have way fewer opportunities to bear offspring. Need to be picky in choosing a mate. Wealth, status and power will protect the child, promotes her genes. Men can have a thousand kids if they wanted to. If one partner turns out bad, lots of other opportunities. Want to have as many kids as possible to promote his genes. Wants to find really fertile women (young, attractive. Problems with evolutionary psychology: data are correlational, just so stories and backward reasoning, there are variations in human behavior. An approach to understanding the extent to which behavior/trait differences can be attributed to genetic differences. Key ways to investigate: twins raises together, twins raised apart, adoption studies.