PSYC18H3 Chapter 2: Chapter 2.docx
Document Summary
The line that led to modern humans is thought to have diverged from that leading to modern chimpanzees some six million years ago. Darwin dethroned human beings from place as unique creations of god. Evidence similarity of human emotional expressions to those of lower animals: argued that human emotional expression have primitive aspects. Darwin"s specific analysis of facial expression would give birth to modern study of emotional expression. Broader theory of evolution changed how scholars think about emotion. Engine that drives evolution has 3 parts: 1. Superabundance: animals and plants produce more offspring necessary merely to reproduce themselves: 2. Variation: each offspring is somewhat different than others: 3. Natural selection: characteristics that allow individual to be adapted to environment are selected for; disadvantageous characteristics are selected against. For humans these are features of physical and social environment in which humans evolved, that determined whether or not individuals survived and reproduced.