Chapter 2 - Emotional Intelligence: Evolution of Emotions

Process to How Evolution Works

Evolutionary Theory: Emotions exist universally and are derived from adaptive purposes

1. Superabundance: organisms producing more offspring than needed

2. Variation: Each offspring are different when passed through family

3. Selection: characteristics favored by the environment to allow organisms to live long enough to reproduce and pass them on

Natural Selection

When certain traits are favored in an environment, which allows them to live and pass on those traits to offspring

• Believed that it has let us down due to the fact that some of our adaptive behaviors in the past are not beneficial for us now

  • We naturally have the urge to consume things with more sugar and fats since it gave us more energy

    • Historically outlived those who didn’t have it in most cases

  • However, with how our food is now heavily processed, it only hurts our health because humans are at risk of consuming far too much at once it causes obesity and diabetes

Sexual Selection

When certain traits are favored by other organisms for reproduction and mating

• Example: Male peacocks having huge feathers to attract female peacocks

  • Not necessarily good for survival

Intrasexual Selection

The process of members of the same sex fighting for the ability to reproduce with the opposite sex

Intersexual Selection

The process of members of the opposite sex finding one another to reproduce

Adaptation

Organisms with traits that let them handle and respond to the environment effectively

• Example: Darwin’s finches

Genome

Instructions to make an organism’s genetic material

• Comprised of 23 pairs of chromosomes

  • 22 identical pairs and 1 pair of sex chromosomes

• Double helix structure made of DNA

  • DNA contains genetic information

  • Contains nucleotides (A, T, C, G) that determine genetic code

    • Base Pairings: A ← → T, C ← → G

      • T is turned to U in RNA transcription

• Genes are in the segments of the DNA to make proteins for our traits

Transcription

The process of changing nucleotides into RNA

• Makes a copy of the DNA into mRNA format

Translation

The process of changing the nucleotides in mRNA format into proteins

Epigenetics

The study of environmental influences on genes

• Common misconception: Humans pass on whatever genes they have to their offspring

• Factual Statement: Humans have the internal ability to allow which genes are passed on to offspring

• This works because of methylation

  • A methyl group in inserted on genes, which work as an on + off switch on whether or not it will be active

• Based on certain things that happen to one’s environment like trauma, it can change genetics in that way

  • This would be the cause of generational trauma

Environment of Human Adaptedness

The environment where humans evolved and adapted as a species

• Social factors caused hunter-gatherer societies to evolve since it heavily relied on tribes and hierarchies

• Non human societies use emotions to assert control and communicate

Jane Goodall’s Four Core Species of Parallels Between Humans and Monkeys

Jane Goodall discovered that we share 4 core features of our society as monkeys

1. Attachment: Mother and children stay close until adolsence

2. Hierarchies: Alphas are treated with highest power who defends the group and takes priority in resources

3. Affiliation: They tend to those in need since they are a community

4. In group behavior: Chimps have cannibalistic tendencies when they attack other tribes

Language

Spoken or written words being combined together to make meaning

• Phonemes: Distinct sounds used to make syllables

  • Consonants, consonant blends, and vowels

    • Think of the word phonics!

• Morphemes: Small parts of words that make meaning

  • Prefixes and suffixes

• Grammar: Rules in the language that help make communication flow

  • Semantics: rules to get meaning from sound

  • Syntax: rules to combining words into sentences

• Also used to express emotions via hyperbole, metaphors, similes, hypotheticals, etc

Universal Grammar

Universal aspect all language share, which assist in sentence structures and language learning

• All humans were born with a language acquisition device when they were born

  • This time period is easiest to pick up languages

Language Stages

The process of a baby learning a language:

1. Babbling Stage: Learning to produce sounds

2. One Word Stage: Child speaks one word at a time

3. Two Word State: Eventually able to speak two words at a time

Receptive Language: Ability to understanding it

Productive Language: Ability to produce words

They can eventually form more words and sentences as time goes on

Do Other Species Display Language?

Yes they can, however they won’t be able to understand complex grammar and sentence structures

• Maximum comprehension is that of a two year old

Criticism: The apes probably only understood gestures rather than the words themselves

Social Cognition

Humans’ ancestors (apes) live by individual goals. Our social cognition evolved to have joint goals in mind

Bowlby’s Attachment System

Attachment systems form based on the bond a mother and an infant shared

• Avoidant, Disorganized, Anxious, or Secure attachment styles form during infancy

• Pair Bonding: long lasting sexual relationships between parents

  • Will also increase infants’ survival if relationship is healthy