PSYC 3420 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Thumb, Mammal, Hominidae
Document Summary
Human classification: kingdom: animalia, phylum: chordata spinal cord, class: mammalia (mammary glands, order: primates (two mammary glands, family: hominidae (bipedalism, genus: homo, species: sapiens. Characteristics of primates: decreasing reliance on olfaction shortened snout , flatter face, grasping hands and feet opposable thumb, highly developed visual sense eyes forward, locomotion hind-limb dominated, longer gestation and smaller litters, social life. Dramatic shifts: bigger brains, legs and hips, tool making, ecological variables, move into more open savannah habitats from the woods and standing water, larger home range. Pleistocene period selection pressures that occurred: hunter-gatherer and/or scavenging subsistence, nomadic or semi/nomadic pattern of movement, low population density, relatively small, kin-based groups, stone age technology, high infant mortality and low life expectancy. Human nature: critics: jose ortega y gasset: man has no nature , ashley montague: man has no instinct , gabor mate: the only way you can talk about human nature is by recognizing human needs and if they are met.
