Chapter 2: Biological Beginnings

The Evolutionary Perspective:

Natural Selection and Adaptive Behavior:
Natural selection: The evolutionary process by which those individuals of a species that
are best adapted to their environment are the ones that are most likely to survive and
reproduce. Those that do survive and reproduce pass on their characteristics to the next
generation.
- The survivors then, are better adapted to the world than nonsurvivors.

Evolutionary Psychology:
From the evolutionary psychology view point, natural selection favors behaviors that
increases reproductive success (i.e. the ability to pass your genes to then next generation).
Evolutionary Developmental Psychology:
Some ideas proposed from evolutionary psychologists:
An extended childhood period might have evolved because humans require time
to develop a large brain and learn the complexity of human society.
However, evolved characteristics are not always adaptive in contemporary
society.
For example: Our ancestors likely gorged on food and high-calorie foods, since
it was more scarce, but this would lead to obesity in todays society.
Evolution and Life-Span Development:
What matters most in evolutionary theory, is that individuals like long enough to
reproduce and pass on their characteristics.
So why do we live so long? Could be because having adults around ensures the
survival of the young.
Natural selection does not weed out harmful conditions and nonadaptive
characteristics that appear among older adults. Why?
Because, natural selection is primarily tied to reproductive fitness which extends
though the earlier part of adulthood. So, natural selection primarily operates
during the first half of life.
So if Alzheimers struck 20 year olds, natural selection would have eliminated it
man years ago.
Therefore, the benefits of evolutionary selection decrease with age, which maybe
why we have aches and pains when were old.
Evaluating Evolutionary Psychology:
Criticisms of evolutionary psychology include:
Not being able to be tested scientifically

Relies on post hoc (after the fact) explanations

And according to Bandura, it views social behavior as strictly the product of
evolved biology.
An alterative, the bidirectional view suggests that environmental and biological
conditions influence each other.
- In other words, evolution has given use body structures and biological
potentialities, but it does not dictate behavior.
In the end, studying specific genes in humans and their links to traits and
behaviors, may be the best approach for testing ideas coming from the
evolutionary psych perspective since evolution occurs on a time scale that does
not lend itself to empirical study.

Evolutionary Perspective A branch of psychology that emphasizes the importance of

adaptation, reproduction, and survival of the fittest in shaping behavior.

Genetic Foundations of Development:

DNA is not just inherited from out parents its also what weve inherited as a species
that were our ancestors.

The Collaborative Gene:

The nucleus of each human cell contains chromosomes that contain DNA, and the
DNA contains genes.
Each gene has its own designated place on a particular chromosome, and we are trying to
discover the specific locations of genes that are linked to specific functions and
developmental outcomes.
Some approaches to gene identification and discovery are: