The application of evolution by
natural selection to human behavior and cognition.
Descriptive vs. Normative
(prescriptive) theories
Human sociobiology is descriptive
Heritability:
The degree to which phenotypic differences among people in one population in a particular environment can be accounted for by genotypic differences.
Human behavior evolved via natural selection
Genes code for behavior in a rigid way, unaffected
by environmental input
Examples?
Criticisms: Genetic determinism does not explain how a gene directly encodes for behavior in a developmental sense.
The organism is a 'blank slate' upon which the environment acts to create behavioral and psychological traits
natural selection does not shape behavioral
traits
Examples?
Criticisms:
What does culture mean?
By what process does culture cause behavior?
Cannot account for scientific evidence of heritability of behavioral traits and of the apparent adaptive significance of complex behaviors.
(most sociobiologists, evolutionary psychologists,
and Darwinian anthropologists)
Behavior (including that of humans) is genetically heritable and is acted upon by natural selection
Genes and the environment interact dynamically to
produce complex behavior in a developmental sense.
Goal: to determine the functional significance of particular behaviors and psychological processes.
Cross cultural:
is the trait in question uniform across many human cultures?
Comparative:
is the trait similar in closely related species?
Measuring reproductive success:
Is there a difference in lifetime reproductive success between individuals who possess the trait and those who do not.
Dawkins' memes
a difference: can be
transmitted to non-relatives within the same generation
a similarity: fitness based on ability to survive and replicate
In your groups, please address the following
questions regarding your assigned topic:
1: Why does this trait/practice/behavior exist?
2: Does it have any adaptive significance?
3: Design a study to test your hypothesis: