Lecture 17: Evolutionary Psychology

Core Concepts of Evolution

The fundamental ideas necessary for understanding evolution, which include generation of diversity, selective reproduction, and transmitted change.

Natural Selection

A process where organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.

Sexual Selection

A mode of natural selection where individuals with certain inherited traits are more likely than others to obtain mates.

Adaptationism

The approach in evolutionary psychology that theorizes the evolutionary causes of phenotypes and generates testable hypotheses.

Predetermination

A genetic influence where traits are largely independent of environmental factors.

Vestigial Organs

Body parts that have lost their original function through the course of evolution, such as male nipples or the appendix.

Exaptation

A trait that evolved for one function but has been adapted for another purpose.

Baldwin Effect

The principle that evolutionary changes facilitate the ease of learning certain behaviors.

Neoteny

The phenomenon where adults retain juvenile features, making adult humans resemble juvenile forms of other primates.

Domestication Experiment with Foxes

An experiment that demonstrated selecting for tameness in foxes also resulted in later maturation and reduced aggression.

Pleistocene/Paleolithic Time

The period when evolutionary psychologists believe human minds evolved, characterized by endurance hunting on African plains.

Modular Mind

The perspective in evolutionary psychology that sees the mind as composed of specialized mechanisms for solving specific ancestral problems.

Attraction of Men to Women

Men are predicted to be most attracted to women who signal health and reproductive capacity.

Attraction of Women to Men

Women are predicted to be attracted to men who signal their ability to provide resources for offspring.

Testosterone and Mate Choice

Women prefer more masculine faces during ovulation and more feminine faces at other times, as testosterone is linked to negative parenting traits.

Smelly T-Shirt Experiment

A study where women chose shirts based on compatible immune systems, while men preferred shirts of ovulating women.

Mate Preferences for Long-term vs. Short-term

Women prefer high prestige men for long-term relationships and dominant men for short-term affairs.

Memory and Evolutionary Purpose

Humans have evolved to remember survival-relevant information better, such as food sources or dangers.

Craving for Nutrients

The tendency to crave high quantities of fat, salt, protein, and sugar, which were historically rare and vital for survival.