Biological Theorists

Second, evolutionary psychologists strive to understand human behavior using Darwin's theory of evolution. These individuals believe that current behavior is a byproduct of natural selection (Roberts, 2017, para. 1). Dr. Nick Neave

In the modern world, mankind is surrounding by a plethora of unique animals, plants, and other organism that have a certain natural design all their own. For instance, every organism appears to be best suited in their natural environment, as they are usually able thrive under unique conditions that may not optimal for every organism. Thus, it would appear as though divine intervention was necessary for this perfect design and placement of an organism into their environment. Consequently, this was the ideology for many centuries until Charles Darwin explained how these “illusions” fit into his theory of natural selection. Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection stated that the process by which forms of life having traits that better enable them to adapt to specific environmental pressures, such as predators, changes in climate, or competition for food or mates, will tend to survive and reproduce in greater numbers than others of their kind, thus ensuring the perpetuation of those favorable traits in succeeding generations (Cite). Although it is widely accepted that many of human’s physical traits are inherited from their parents, the notion that the mind has evolved and is designed to function is certain ways is still controversial (Cite). With that being said, the majority of theories that illustrate how the mind develops are still being debated. Moreover, the

Outline the Processes Involved in Evolution and Discuss how Evolutionary Psychologists have Contributed to our Understanding of

They provide a background to our native history, present a real-life problem, which connects back to the history they supply, and offer a solution. They constantly refer to the theory of evolution and natural selection. Questions about how the human mind evolved have been around ever since Charles Darwin presented his of natural selection in 1859 with The Origin of Species. He hypothesized about where human thought and emotion came from, but his data concerned the bodies (not the minds) of distant human relatives. At around the same time, Gregor Mendel discovered that characteristics were passed from parents to offspring through genes. In 1953, their discoveries were combined with the James Watson and Francis Crick’s discovery of the structure of DNA: genes were shown to be patterns of DNA that serve as blueprints for the organism’s physical traits. A few decades later, evolutionary biologists began to connect how genes translate not only to physical traits but also into human behavior. However, few actually use the results of evolutionary psychology to improve

The concept of evolutionary psychology can be thought to have originated from sociobiology. Wilson (1975) suggested that socio-biology was the most important factor in the process of starting to relate evolution to behaviour. Sociobiology is a theory that stems back to the 1970’s and can be defined as the study of the genetic origin of social behavior. Sociobiologists concentrate on how behavior patterns might be “built in” or genetically influenced. However Social behavior stems from evolutionary process. Thus this field of research suggests that several methods of social interaction have resulted from evolution. This was concluded when Darwin (1859) pointed out that the theory of evolution brought about

Evolutionary/genetic perspectives do not generally account for the biological mechanisms between genes and personality.  Theorists use biological processes in an attempt to fill in the gap between personality and genetics by inferring, theorizing and researching biological links with behavior. Anatomical approach examines functions of various structures of brain.

BTEC Level 3 Applied Science Unit 34: criminal psychology Explain how psychological perspectives have been used to explain criminal behaviour Biological theory Biological theory advances the evolution and cognition with an emphasis on the conceptual integration afforded by evolution. Biological theories: Biological perspective is relevant to the study of the psychology in three ways: comparative method: Many species can be studied and be compared. This can help them in search of human behaviour. physiology: The nervous system and hormones work, how the brain functions and how the structure can affect criminal behaviour.

However, the mind compromises of “hundreds or thousands” of “genetically specified” modules that ancestors encountered diversity array of adaptive problems, each adaptive problem “domain” needs its own “domain specific” solution. No single “domain-general” psychological mechanism could successfully solve various adaptive problems. Thus, a psychological mechanism evolved for each distinct adaptive problem ancestors faced. Cosmides and Tooby supports this argument ‘‘a woman who

In this assignment, the four major paradigms of psychology are discussed. The reasoning behind the placement of the theories will be discussed thoroughly and efficiently. Each of the theories was placed on a spectrum that measured whether they were more influenced by heredity or environment. Some, as many can see, can fit into both sides of the spectrum. There are many factors that are involved in the process, and each are important variables in personality and the evolution of humanity.

3. What is the evolutionary view of emotion as originally proposed by Darwin? What is the adaptive value of emotion? What evidence suggests

As most of us know, Charles Darwin is known as the father of the theory of evolution. Darwin not only advanced our understanding of nature in the fields of science and biology, he also made a huge contribution to the field of psychology in his book entitled “The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals”. In it he argued that organisms develop the ability to express emotion as an adaptation to enhance their skills at surviving (Hockenbury & Hockenbury, 2014). In essence what Darwin was trying to explain is that emotions play a crucial role in our survival. Emotions allow us to feel love and compassion with the end result being reproduction. The emotion of fear urges us to avoid threats and danger. It is also the demonstration of these emotions that assist us in communicating our needs or intentions. As Darwin put it “...emotional displays serve the important function of informing other organisms about an individual’s internal state” (Hockenbury & Hockenbury, 2014). For an example a rattlesnake in a state of anxiety will rattle its tail as a warning to tell others to retreat or he will strike. Charles Darwin’s evolutionary stand point on the expression of emotions is a thorough and multifaceted study.

In class, L. Meek discussed about the six properties of Evolved Psychological Mechanism (EPM). The first property is that EPM solved a specific problem of survival or reproduction recurrently over the evolutionary history. Second, only narrow of information is processed according to EPM. Third, the adaptive problem an organism is facing is informed by an EPM. Fourth, EPM also transformed through, leaving some room for decision making for an individual as the output. Fifth, the output of an EPM is the physical activity, which manifest behavior. Last, the output of an EPM is to solve a specific adaptation problem, such as having an EPM to attract food to solve a hunger problem.

When first reading through the articles and not having done the web search yet, I was really conflicted in my decision on what to believe and what not to believe. Before even reading any of the articles I had a mindset that there were critical periods of development. I distinctly remember learning that in my developmental psychology class and I recall briefly touching upon it in child psychopathology as well as in my developmental psychology: social development course. I always learned and remembered that development does rely on timing and there are stages where if you don’t develop a skill during a certain time period then it could be lost forever or could result in a deficit in development

The physical expression that we make when we fear is universal all around the world despite language and cultural barriers. Some thought that it was “Gods” way of allowing us to communicate fear. According to Bourke, “When we experienced fear our muscles tightened to take flight, and we assumed - without meaning to - an expression that signaled dread” (Bourke 3). Charles Darwin decided to challenge this study by conducting his own experiment in a reptile house at the London Zoological Gardens. He conducted a test to see if he could remain calm and resist the natural reaction to create the face-of fear. Darwin stood behind a glass and waited for a snake to charge toward him. Although he tried to remain calm, he couldn’t resist jumping back. Although Darwin had never had a bad experience with snakes before, he couldn’t help but be scared due to something called anticipation (Layton 4). Humans anticipate situations as a worse case scenario, and as what could happen. For example, many of us probably haven’t been mugged walking down the street, but when we are alone, we can’t help but walk with a lurking fear due to the exposure that we have had to stories in the news or the things that we have seen. Alongside natural fears to keep us away from danger, we also can have created

Analyzing research methods used for uncovering basic emotions applied to the Cannon-Bard emotion theory and Drive reduction arousal theory. The Cannon-Bard theory of emotion is a stimulating event takes place, emotional, and physiological changes occur (Changing Minds, 2010). A person may feel muscular tension as well as sweating to the situation. A research method associated with the Cannon-Bard emotion theory would be the evolution theory. This method is an idea where emotion aids species survival (Decker, 2010). An example: A person is hiking through the woods approaches a snake. The appearance of the snake evokes fear, which in return causes the emotional experience. Fear produces behavior and emotion to run, muscular tension, or possibly cry. The emotion evoked by the predator or event causes the survival. The Drive reduction arousal theory is an approach to motivation that assumes behavior arises. Arousal is the source of emotions. Second, arousal is the impetus for attending to