PSYC 3420 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Classical Conditioning, Sociobiology, Homo Erectus
11 Mar 2013
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Chapter 1: the scientific movements leading to evolutionary psychology. Lamarck was one of the first scientists to use the work biologie, thus recognizing the study of life as a distinct science. He believed in two major causes of species change: first, a natural tendency for each species to progress toward a higher form and, scond, the inheritance of acquired characteristics. Cuvier proposed a theory called catastrophism, according to which species are extinguished periodically by sudden catastrophes, such as meteorites, and then replaced by different species. Darwin"s answer to all these puzzles of life was the theory of natural selection (survival selection) and its three essential ingredients: variation, inheritance, and selection. Variations is essential for the process of evolution to operate, it provides the raw materials for evolution. Variations are inherited, passed down reliably from parents to their offspring and down to the generations.
