plasticity & learning, evolution & contempory life, our place in nature

When is learning & plasticity favoured by natural selection

when the environment is variable over the very long term, but consistent over the short term

key forms of plasticity

• developmental induction

• imprinting

• associative learning

developmental induction

phenotypic plasticity where environmental cues early in life switch the organism onto a permanently different developmental track

• eg. tempature-dependant sex determination: 

  • environmental cue: Incubation temperature of the eggs

  • Outcome: Cooler or warmer temperatures trigger the development of male or female gonads

→ effect = irreversible : once sex is determined, it cannot change later

Baldwin effect

capacity of the animal to learn allows genetic adaptations to be selected for

3 major styles of evolutionary approach to modern human behaviour

• evolutionary psychology

• gene-culture co-evolution theory

• human behaviour ecology

gene-culture co-evolution theory

humans have evolved capacities to use social learning to obtain locally appropriate behaviour 

=> cumulative local cultural traditions

=> different behaviours of people in different populations

human behaviour ecology

behaviour is adaptive in the context where it is being used

humans belong to the …, our closest relatives are …

primates

2 species of chimpanzee

compaired with our closest relatives humans show marked changes in the domains of…

• brain size

• diet

• locomotion 

• life history (slow)

• skill learning

• language