PSYA01H3 Chapter : Chapter Three Notes
Document Summary
Darwin came up with concept of biological evolution. Biological evolution: changes that take place in the genetic and physical characteristics of a population or group of organisms over time. > argued that over time, organisms originate and become adapted to their environments by biological means. Adaptive significance: effectiveness of behaviour in aiding organisms to adapt to changing environmental conditions. Novelty seeking: tendency to engage in behaviours that lead to new experiences. Psychologists interested in understanding both ultimate causes and proximate causes of behaviour. Ultimate causes: events and conditions that, over successive generations, have slowly shaped the behaviour of our species. Proximate causes: namely immediate environmental variables that affect behaviour. Darwin then became interested in artificial selection. Artificial selection: procedure i which particular animals are deliberately mated to produce offspring that possess especially desirable characteristics. Natural selection: the consequence of the fact that, because there are physical and behavioural differences among organisms, they reproduce differentially.
