Jeeves And Brown: Evolutionary Psychology

In Darwin’s book ‘The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals’ he expresses how thinking in an evolutionary sense can grant a scientific understanding of the behavior of humans. This gave psychology a new way to look at human behavior. Basic human emotions were looked at from the perspective

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

Their similar behaviors are adapted by observations and teachings from the human species. Psychologists have relied on years of old results, yet unable solve such study. According to Watson, “the introspective method itself has reached a cul-de-sac.” (d’Heurle & Tash, 2004, Pg. 169) Fresh ideas and a new approach from a new angle, are necessary to shed credible light on this experimentation. Will they see my metaphysical explanation, which they’re running from? Maybe or maybe not. Watson believe psychologists need to work on one common goal, in unison, not confusing us with various descriptive interpretations, terms and psychological statements. This article will have little to no relevance in modern society or modern psychology, if they continue refusing the inevitable and not enter into metaphysics; furthermore, attributes of auditory, visual sensory, judgment, conception alongside reasoning functions, differs. When asked if there would be a world of pure psychics left over in psychology, to use Yerkes’ term, a confession was given, “I do not know.” (d’Heurle & Tash, 2004, Pg. 169) Freud point is clearly understood and will certainly work; however, the same isn’t true, when trying to fathom the conscious process of human and animal

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

Although Charles Darwin is usually just looked at in the light of purely biology, his work that impacted other fields such as psychology or his work that lead to the rapid expansion of certain fields such as ethology, is often looked over. Darwin’s work impacted these fields both directly and indirectly at such a level of influence that some people believe that psychology should be looked at as pre- and post-Darwin. On the Origin of Species, while being primarily about biological phenomena and theories, was one of these works that impacted psychology indirectly. Other than giving a new perspective for psychologists to possess when contemplating different ideas, Darwin’s work on natural selection lead to the creation of evolutionary psychology.

Author, Kevin Carley, discusses the evolution of the human brain and how the history affects the unconscious use of our brain when one makes decisions. This article emphasizes on Gestalts principals of awareness, senses, and the technique in which the human brain aligns with these principals. Correspondingly, Carley, expresses the links between Gestalts principals, evolutionary biology, and cultural psychology (Carley, 2014, p. 80).

The researchers concluded that this indicated mirror neurons coded not just for action, but the goals of action. Kohler and colleagues (2007) expanded on this idea, showing that some neurons were activated with the mere sound of the result of an intended action (i.e. cracking a peanut). The authors asserted that this indicated that mirror neurons were so tuned to goals that the sound of an action reaching its goal was enough for the macaque to understand the entire action that would have been involved. The results of both studies were said to apply neatly to humans as well. That is, if action understanding is supported by the mirror neuron system of macaques, it is most likely supported by the human mirror neuron system (hMNS). There are two major problems with this view. First, it has been shown that human mirror neurons are much more broadly tuned than monkeys. There is not enough evidence to generalize macaque studies to humans in this way (Hickok 2008). Second, both of these studies fail to acknowledge that the activation of mirror neurons may have been the result, or a byproduct, of understanding rather than the cause. Their activity, then, may only have reflected understanding earlier in processing.

I often hear the phrase, “humans learn through observing and imitating,” and after reading about mirror neurons, it makes sense. As babies, we learn our first words by imitating the sounds our parents make. Growing up, we observe our environments; we learn what is acceptable and what is not. In turn, what we learn about our society allows us to conform and have a sense of belongingness to our community—we start to socialize. Socialization then translates to empathy. We discover feelings and we start to relate to other people’s conditions and situations enabling us to facilitate connections and develop relationships. Of course, more research is needed to validate the correlation of these mirror neurons to learning, language, social behaviors

This essay will outline and compare both biological and behavioural perspectives on human behaviour. The history, major discoveries and theories will be discussed along with some of the most influential theorists in each of these two areas of psychology. This essay will also compare the two areas strengths and weaknesses in the field of psychology.

Dr. Giacomo Rizzolatti, a Neurophysiologist, during a video interview began to inform viewers of his knowledge about mirror neurons. After watching this video, there were three questions listed on Blackboard to answer. The first question asked, “What does Rizzolatti say the functions of mirror neurons are?” During the video Rizzolatti informs viewers that imitation was the most practicable function, however, he then stresses how monkeys weren’t the best at imitating. Later, he researched actions understanding as the function of mirror neurons.

     In 1988, Premack carried out a research study which would appear to support the notion of the ‘theory of mind’. In his study, which was centred on an adult chimpanzee called Sarah; he exposed her to videotapes of an actor with a problem, namely an inability to reach some bananas that were placed out of reach overhead. He then proceeded to show Sarah a number of photographed solutions to the problem, only one of which actually evidenced a successful solution to the problem, (in this situation, it was stepping on a

Evolutionary psychology is the study of both the adaptive function of behaviors and the environment that produces these behaviors. This implies that evolutionary choices guide our selection of a mate. However, some believe that culture and environment shape our mating behavior. Evolutionary psychologists state that men look for young women who are capable of reproducing to carry on his genetic code, and women look for a man who can provide what's necessary to live. However, anti-evolutionists provide examples of cultures where they do not follow these mating guidelines. Another example for evolutionary mating is that of cavemen having developed aggression and hunting while the women developed nurturing. Yet again, examples were placed in their

He also funded to evolutionary development in biology, and evolutionary psychology. Also, he campaigned against creationism .

Parental investment, in evolutionary psychology, is any parental expendture that benefits one offspring at a cost to parent's ability to invest in other components of fitness. Components if fittness include the wellbeing of existing offspring, parent's future sexual reproduction, and inclusive fitness through aid to kin. Parental investment may be performed by both the male and female (biparental care), the female alone (exlusive maternal care) or the male alone (exclusive paternal care). Introduced in 1930 by biologist Ronald Fisher, parental care is found in a broad range of taxonomic groups, including both ectothermic (amphibians,reptiles,fish) and endothermic (mammals ad birds) species. Care can be provided at any stage of the offspring's

Garreau, Joel. Radical Evolution: The Promise and Peril of Enhancing Our Minds, Our Bodies- and What It Means to Be Human. New York: Random House, 2005. Print.