Introduction to Psychology

Introduction to Psychology • Natural Selection- Characteristics that increase the likelihood of survival and reproduction within a particular environment are more likely to be preserved in the population, and therefore become more common in the species over time. As environmental changes produce new and different demands, various new characteristics may contribute to survival and the ability to pass on one’s genes. In this way, natural selection acts as a set of filters, allowing certain characteristics of survivors to become more common. • Instincts/Mental Modules- Darwin’s theory of evolution inspired many early psychological views that instincts motivate much of our behavior. An instinct is an inherited characteristic, common to all members of a species that automatically produces a particular response when the organism is exposed to a particular stimulus. To evolutionary psychologists, what we call human nature is the expression of inborn biological tendencies that have evolved through natural selection. • Universal Traits- Culture plays an important role in shaping our present and past experiences, and strongly affects howwe learn. Cultural socialization influences our beliefs and perceptions, our social behavior, our sense of identity, the skills we acquire, and countless other characteristics. Learning is the mechanism through which the environment exerts its most profound effects on behavior. • Courtship and Mating- The only way to continue the species is through reproduction. In order to pass on one’s genes and maintain the species, people must mate. One of the most important and intimate ways that humans relate to one another is by seeking a mate. Marriage seems to be universal across the globe. In seeking mates, women and men display different mating strategies and preferences. According to an evolutionary viewpoint, called sexual strategies theory, mating strategies and preferences reflect inherited tendencies, shaped over the ages in response to the different types of adaptive problems that men and women faced. Another theory, referred to as the social structure theory, maintains that men and women display different mating preferences, not because nature impels them to do so, but because society guides them into different social roles. 2.2 Environmental Influences Nature vs. Nurture Behavior geneticists study how genetic and environmental factors contribute to the development of psychological traits and behaviors. Adoption and twin studies are the major research methods used to disentangle hereditary and environmental factors. The environment exerts its effects largely through learning processes, made possible by innate biological mechanisms. Humans and other

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