PSYC 205 Chapter 1-12: ALL READINGS
15 Jun 2018
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CHAPTER ONE: INTRO
Natural selection: the process whereby inherited traits become more or less prominent in a population due to
differences in fitness
Fitness: the ability to survive and reproduce
Adaptation: the result of natural selection; an evolved solution to a problem of survival and reproduction
Byproduct: Not the result of natural selection; side effect of an adaptation (belly button)
Random effects: chance mutations that do not provide any fitness advantage, not due to natural selection
Exaptation: adaptations to one environmental problem being used to solve other problems sthat they weren’t
originally created to do (bird feathers made for thermoregulation, used for flight)
Variation: individuals within a species display variability in both physiological and behavioral traits (random
mutations)
Heritability: offspring inherit traits from their parents
Survival and Reproduction: traits that promote survival or reproduction are more likely to be transmitted to
offspring
Background
• An example of observing animals in their natural habitat calls for attention to interesting/ unusual
behaviors
o In the 20th century: a group of birds in the British Isles had learned to poke lids of milk bottles
that were delivered to houses
o There were even reports of flocks following milk carts delivery route
o This habit spread across large geographical region→this explained a form of social learning →
in order to prove this researchers must test this in a controlled setting
o Studying in the lab has led to many insights about how animals learn on their own from others
▪ Ex. Galef wanted to determine why some Male grouse had way more mating than its
peers
• Social learning hypothesis – mate choice copying across species
• Females would simply observe the mate choice of others and copy them/ each
other
• The same happened when observing quails in the lab
• Galef concluded that:
1. Females affiliate more with males they observed mating with other females
2. Females mate with males they affiliate with
3. Females lay fertilized eggs after mating with males they previously observed mating than with
males they did not observe mating
a. Galef combine field observations and controlled laboratory experiments allowed for new
insights into cognitive mechanisms of animals
b. Determined the reproductive behavior of avian species and that they are influenced by
social learning
Wolfgang Kohle: insight learning – chimps building steps of boxes to get food
Donald Griffin: echolocation = ultrasonic sounds used for movement and consciousness of nonverbal subjects
Three features characterize comparative cognition:
• A focus on cognition: knowledge or thinking; information processing (acquisition, storage, and
processing mental information)
• Experimental methodology either in the lab or the natural environment
• Comparative Approach: the study of differences across species, aimed at understanding the evolution
and function of particular traits (Explanation of research finding within the framework of evolutionary
theory)
Hallmarks of Comparative Cognition
• Three hallmarks of comparative cognition field
1. Ethology: Examination of behavioural process in cognition→ which is internal mental
processes used in perceiving, remembering, thinking etc.
a. And cognitive processes are internal→ inferred through a behavior measure in
experiments
i. Ex. Memory : a researcher may asks subjects to recite lists of words that they
heard at different time point in the past. The researcher uses the behavioral data to
make inferences abut time-dependent effects on memory retention.
b. Relationship between behavior and cognition: studying behaviour gives us insight into
cognition because we cannot measure cognition directly
2. Experimental procedures → behavior that is initially observed in the wild is ‘moved’ into the
laboratory for controlled empirical study. In other instances experiments can be conducted in an
animal natural habitat.
a. Ex. Karl von Frisch: determined how bees ‘tell’ other bees where to find food by moving
food sources to different locations and then observing how the forager bees ‘dance’ when
they return to the hive. [More of a naturalistic approach]→ more difficult to control
extraneous variables outside the laboratory
3. Evolutionary Framework→ cognitive abilities evolved through natural selection.
a. Ex. Cognitive processes across different species will depend on how closely the species
are related on the evolutionary scale. Some researchers examine whether a given
cognitive ability in humans is present in animals [ex. Counting, planning, understanding
social groups etc.]→ With the goal of understanding more about human cognition
b. Researchers also compare cognitive processes across species with goals understanding
how and why processes evolved
Influence: Evolutionary Theory
• Prior, most people believed that animals did not engage in voluntary behavior and had no capacity for
complex though
Darwin’s theory→the Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection & the Decent of Man and
Selection in Relation to Sex
• Not all learning can be explained by reinforcement history: ex. Language acquisition
Basic tenets of Darwin’s theory:
1. Herbitability: Offspring inherit parents’ characteristics → works through genetic mechanisms
2. Variations: members from species are different than one another
among individuals within a species occur spontaneously → there is even a variation between closely-
related member of the same species
3. Survival and reproduction: Certain variation will be selected and transmitted across generations→ if
certain variation promotes survival or reproduction of an individual, that individual will be more likely
to pass on this trait to their offspring. The offspring will then be more likely to survive and pass down
the trait
a. “Survival of the fittest”
i. Fitness: ability to survive and reproduce
ii. Natural Selection: process by which inherited traits become more or less prominent in a
population due to differences in fitness
• From these points→
1. Humans are animals descended from other animals→ humans share a common ancestor with
chimpanzees 4-6 million years ago
2. If there are [morphological] physical similarities between species due to common ancestry,
they are more likely to be similarities in behavior, emotion, and cognition.
Influence: Experimental Psyc – manipulation & objective measurements of behaviour
Influence: Behavioural Ecology – scroll down for more info
Adaptations
Adaptations: evolved solutions to a problem of survival and reproduction
• Some adaptations can be seen at birth → reflexes, others input from the environment that may be a
necessary adaptive trait to develop→ language
• Some adaptive trait may not appear until later in life → depend on developmental processes ex. Walking
Exaptations: particular characteristics that may be providing valuable service now, without having been
selected for that function in the past [without being an adaptation]→ adaptations to one environmental problem
that can be co-opted to solve another
• Ex. LEWENS: a screwdriver can be used to lift paint cans but that is not what it was originally used for
• Bird feathers probably evolved for thermo regulation but then served the important function of flight
• Primate hands probably have evolved for manual dexterity, but humans also use them to hold a wedding
ring in which symbolizes a monogamous relationship→ symbol helps social bonding, increased fitness
of offspring
• Different animals will employ different solutions to the same problem
Byproducts: features that are side effects of adaptations→ not a result of natural selection
• EX. Belly button is not an adaptation but a byproduct of the adaptive umbilical cord
Random Effects: chance mutations that do not provide any survival or reproductive advantage when the
mutation arises, although they may be adaptive in the future if environment contingencies change.
Speciation
• The concept of adaptation helps to explain the emergence of different species across evolution.
• To Darwin→ a species was a group of animals that resembled each other [based on similar physical
appearances]
Species: a group of animals that could breed with each other
• Ex. humans cannot breed with chimpanzees but they did share a common ancestor that could breed
together
Darwin’s explanation for the divergence of species [more than one species evolving from a common ancestor]:
subpopulations of single species may display a trait that becomes adaptive when environments change.
• When groups of animals change their habitat, many of their traits did not propose an advantage in their
old habitat but do in their new habitat→ improving their fitness
o These traits can be passed on to the next generation but only to the group living in these new
environmental conditions
Speciation: the process by which new species evolve→usually as the result of isolation from the main
population
In Lake Victoria in east Africa→ Cichlidae fish
• Carries genes that made them more sensitive to light
• Blue light is present near the surface, whereas red is present in deeper water
• Fish sensitive to red light will be able to find food easier in deeper water→ fish with different light
sensitivity slowly separate themselves into groups→ with continued environmental pressures the
neighboring populations become two separate species
Continuity Hypothesis
Continuity hypothesis:
Document Summary
Natural selection: the process whereby inherited traits become more or less prominent in a population due to differences in fitness. Adaptation: the result of natural selection; an evolved solution to a problem of survival and reproduction. Byproduct: not the result of natural selection; side effect of an adaptation (belly button) Random effects: chance mutations that do not provide any fitness advantage, not due to natural selection. Exaptation: adaptations to one environmental problem being used to solve other problems sthat they weren"t originally created to do (bird feathers made for thermoregulation, used for flight) Variation: individuals within a species display variability in both physiological and behavioral traits (random mutations) Survival and reproduction: traits that promote survival or reproduction are more likely to be transmitted to offspring. Wolfgang kohle: insight learning chimps building steps of boxes to get food. Donald griffin: echolocation = ultrasonic sounds used for movement and consciousness of nonverbal subjects.
