PSYC 205 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Behaviorism, Behavioral Ecology, Sociobiology

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 205
• Professor: Mary C Olmstead

Document Summary

Cognition - knowledge or thinking - how humans and animals acquire, store, and process information - any cognitive p(cid:396)o(cid:272)ess is i(cid:374)te(cid:396)(cid:374)al (cid:894)it happe(cid:374)s i(cid:374)side the o(cid:396)ga(cid:374)is(cid:373)(cid:859)s (cid:271)(cid:396)ai(cid:374)(cid:895) - typically inferred with some behavioural measure. Researchers conduct experiments in an a(cid:374)i(cid:373)al(cid:859)s (cid:374)atu(cid:396)al ha(cid:271)itat. It is more difficult to control extraneous variables outside of the lab. Cognitive abilities emerge through the same evolutionary process that shapes physiological traits (i. e. natural selection) Researchers compare cognitive processes across species with the goal of understanding how and why these processes evolved. Da(cid:396)(cid:449)i(cid:374)(cid:859)s theo(cid:396)(cid:455) of e(cid:448)olutio(cid:374) (cid:271)(cid:455) (cid:374)atu(cid:396)al sele(cid:272)tio(cid:374: challenges divine creation, th(cid:396)ee poi(cid:374)ts to da(cid:396)(cid:449)i(cid:374)(cid:859)s theo(cid:396)(cid:455): Variation - individuals within a species display variability in both physiological and behavioural traits: heritability - offspring inherit traits from their parents. Byproducts - side effects of adaptions (e. g. a belly button is the byproduct of the adaptive umbilical cord)