lecture notes - 5 - june 6th

7/29/2019 Lecture Notes - 5 - June 6th

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Chapter 4 - Continued

NATURE AND

NURTURE


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EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY

Charles Darwin (older)

1809-1882

Charles Darwin (younger)

1809-1882

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmphlbRhLu8


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Evolutionary psychology is the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind,using principles of natural selection.

Charles Darwin proposed that natural selection is the mechanism of evolution.The idea is that variation exists within a population of organisms. Some organisms

are more able to exploit the environment than others. Those best able to exploitthe environment are more likely to survive and reproduce, hence, their genes getpassed onto succeeding generations and over time, these genes and the traits they giverise to, accumulate in the population(see next slides for explanations and illustrations ofnatural selection).

Charles Darwin (older)

1809-1882

Charles Darwin (younger)

1809-1882


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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgqVPFiMhA0

Natural Selection-A Simple One Minute Explanation


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Natural Selection- Dmitry Belyaev- From Fox to Dog through Selective Breeding

Dmitry Belyaev

1917-1985

Dmitry Belyaevselectivelybred the tamest foxes and, after a number of generations,produced whimpering, afectionate dog-like foxes. He thus demonstrated themechanism of natural selection and showed just how quickly the process could lead to

change. Note: Contrary to video title, this actually supports Darwin, as it demonstrates natural selection. The contradictionspeculation comes from the speed at which the process occurs; the suggestion from this is that it can occur more quickly thanDarwin thought.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEOjlsUd7j8


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So evolutionary psychologists seek tounderstand the adaptive functions of ourshared human characteristics and behaviors. That is, they ask, why were thesecharacteristics and behaviors selected for?

Why, for example, do so many more people have phobias about spiders and snakes

than about more dangerous threats, such as guns and electricity?

Those that were afraid of snakes and spiders were more likely to survive (because theyappropriately ran away or hid) and therefore were more likely to pass on these spider and

snake-fearing genes to subsequent generations.


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Criticisms of the Evolutionary Approach

1. Its explanations tend to be in hindsight. That is, it starts with an observation(e..g, that we fear spiders)and then speculates about a potential cause (was adaptivefor our ancestors to do so in the past). The problem is that for any given

observation, if you try hard enough, you could come up with a reasonableevolutionary explanation.

Evolutionary psychologists retort, however, that they do make predictions. Forexample, they predict and have confirmed that we tend to favor others to theextent that they share our genes or can later return our favors (see next slide formorbid example).


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Richard Dawkins on Altruism and The Selfish Gene

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8C -ntwUpzM


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Rates of Child Homicide Committed by Genetic vs. StepFathers (Daly and Wilson, 1996)

As evolutionary psychologists predict, stepfathers much more likely to commithomicide (murder their children)thanare genetic fathers.


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Criticisms of the Evolutionary Approach

1. Its explanations tend to be in hindsight. That is, it starts with an observation(e..g, that we fear spiders)and then speculates about a potential cause (was adaptivefor our ancestors to do so in the past). The problem is that for any given observation, if

you tr y hard enough, you could come up with a reasonable evolutionaryexplanation.

2. Some worry it may promote undesirable social behavior(e.g., sleeping around andinfidelity in men) as people appeal to the fact that it is just the way they are wired up.

3. Has diculty explaining some traits and behaviors, such as same-sex marriageand suicide (the genes of these individuals certainly arent getting passed on!).


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CULTURAL INFLUENCES

Culture refers to the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditionsshared by a group of people andtransmitted from one generation to the next.

Cultures have diferent norms, which refers to understood rules for accepted andexpected behavior. Norms influence behavior (see below/next slides for examples).

Cultural Experience of Emotion

Whether an emotion is experienced as good or bad, useful or destructive is shapedby cultural norms. For example, for Spartans, aggression encouraged, not for Buddhists.


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CULTURAL INFLUENCES

Spartans -Anger and Aggression- Good

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLiyAYf1O24


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CULTURAL INFLUENCES

Dalai Lama-Anger and Aggression- Bad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7_0IJTBoNA


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CULTURAL INFLUENCES

Cultural Experience of Emotion- Changing Norms

Culture also shapes what we become emotional (happy, angry, sad) about. And thesenormsmay change over time. For example,premarital sex once unacceptable, now fine.

Premarital Sex- Disgust and Changing Norms




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CULTURAL INFLUENCES

Cultural Expression of Emotion

Diferent cultures have diferentdisplay rules (rules for how, when, and where peoplemay display emotion) for the expression of emotion. For example, Japanese smilemore than North Americanswho smile more than Germans(Hall and Hall, 1990).



Smiling Across Cultures


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CULTURAL INFLUENCES

Cultural Influences on Interpretation of Insult - Culture of Honor (Nisbett (1993)There exists in the south a Culture of Honor in which even small disputes andtrivial insults must be responded toprotect ones honor.

Northerners and Southerners were brought into the lab and insulted (a confederatebumped into them and called them an asshole). Saliva was taken (under the guise theywere measuring blood glucose) and cortisol (stress hormone) andtestosterone levels

were assessed.

Though Northerners found the insult amusing,Southerners became inflamed and their levels ofcortisol and testosterone shot up (see figure to right).

Result:



Note: Southerners reportedly much more polite

before being insulted!


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CULTURAL INFLUENCES

There exists in the south a Culture of Honor in which even small disputes andtrivial insults must be responded toprotect ones honor.

Northerners and Southerners were brought into the lab and insulted (a confederatebumped into them and called them an asshole). Saliva was taken (under the guise theywere measuring blood glucose) and cortisol (stress hormone) andtestosterone levels

were assessed.

This shows, then, how culture can influence how weinterpret (what we consider an insult) and respond to(what we are supposed to do about it)thebehavior ofothers.

Explanation:



Cultural Influences on Interpretation of Insult - Culture of Honor (Nisbett (1993)


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CULTURAL INFLUENCES

The Culture of Honor - Nisbett (1993)



Robert E Howard

Civilized men are more discourteous than savages becausethey know they can be impolite without having their skullssplit, as a general thing.

This also may explain Southern hospitality. In the words of Robert E. Howard, creatorof the Conan saga:


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CULTURAL INFLUENCES

Culture and Our Sense of Self



Culture also influences how wedefine the self.

For example, t h o s e f ro mindividualist cultures (e.g., North

America) tend to see the self asautonomous, independent fromg r o u p s , whereas t h o s e f ro mcollectivist cultures (e.g., Asian)tend to see the self as aninterdependent part of groups.


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CULTURAL INFLUENCES

Culture and Our Sense of Self



Thus when asked to describe themselves, those from individualist cultures (whereindependence of the individual takes precedence over the group needs)tend to define

themselves in terms of personality traits(I am smart, hugely successful, yet incrediblymodest), whereas those from collectivist cultures(where group needs are placed beforeindividual needs)tend to define themselves in terms of the community(I am a student

and play for the soccer team).


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CONCLUSIONS FOR NATURE AND NURTURE

We are endowed with a common genome that has been shaped over eons by evolutionaryprocesses. Though genetically we share much, each one of us is still an original, andmade even more soby our unique experiences, as well as by the diferent social-cultural environments in which we are raised.


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QUESTION #6

This question(as with all questions) is to be answered in a maximum of one page, double-spaced,

using 12 point, Arial font.

Its Valentines Day and you have been set up on a blind date. When you first meet your date,he/she giggles a lot, after almost every sentence in fact. After engaging in some meaninglesssmalltalk, you each settle down with a coffee. A spider, however, suddenly scurries across thetable and your date screams in fright! Without hesitation you smash the little critter flat withyour fist. Your date, needless to say, is very grateful, not to mention quite impressed by yourbravery. So, you then ask, tell me about yourself ? Your date responds, Im a student atLangara College and a proud member of the Surrey Chapter of the Book of the Month Club.

Use this scenario to discuss evolutionary and cultural contributions to behavior. First,provide an evolutionary explanation (being sure in the process to explain the concept ofnatural selection) for your dates extreme reaction to the spider. Second, compare andcontrast individualist and collectivist cultural views of the self. Which type of culture does

your date likely come from? How do you know? And given how much they laugh and smile,and results from studies concerning display rules, what might you infer about their country oforigin?


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DEVELOPING THROUGH

THE LIFESPANChapter 5


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PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT

Aristotle rejected the prevailing idea that theindividual was preformed at the start of life infavor ofepigenesis, the idea that there is ane m e r ge nce of ne w str uctur e s andfunctions during development.

Aristotle

Where do we come from?

Conception


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Conception



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Conception


The process begins with the launching

of an egg by the ovary into thefallopian tube.

As it moves through the tube towardsthe uterus it emits a kind of comehither signal.

During intercourse the male releasessome 500 million sperm into thewomans vagina.

After traveling from the uterus tothe fallopian tube(which takes about 6hours), if all goes well, the fittestsperm make it to the egg.


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Conception


Conceptionoccurs with the union of the twogametes- the egg and the sperm -each

of which contains half the genetic material(23 chromosomes) of all the other cells inthe body

This union produces afertilized egg, the zygote, which has the full complementof genetic material.


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Prenatal Development

PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE NEWBORN

Embryonic Stage (3 weeks-8 weeks) Fetal Stage (9 weeks to birth)Germinal Stage (conception->2 weeks)

rapid cell division of zygoteattaches to uterine wall at 10 daysPlacenta forms

organs begin to form/functionheart begins to beatFigure a and b

looks human responsive to sound (6 month)Figure c and d


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Prenatal Development


Dark Blue = Most Sensitive

Light Blue = Less Sensitive

Teratogens are agents (chemicals or viruses) that can reach the embryo or fetusduring prenatal development and cause harm.


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Prenatal Development - Some Dangers

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome refers to the physical (e.g., microcephaly) and cognitiveabnormalities (e.g., mental retardation, irritability, hyperactivity) caused by a pregnant

womans heavy drinking.



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The Competent Newborn- Some Abilities of the Newborn

2. Recognition

Newborns are able to recognize their own mother (e.g., turns towards a gauze pad

that has her smell and sucks harder when hears her voice).

THE NEWBORN


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The Competent Newborn- Some Abilities of the Newborn

3. Preferences

Newborns show apreference for noveltyand faces.

THE NEWBORN


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INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD - PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Some Interesting Facts


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Jean Piaget

1896-1980

Jean Piaget, a Swiss developmental psychologist, spent his life studying intelligenceand reasoning in children, and developed a very influential model of cognitivedevelopment.

Through observations and informal experiments with children, he came to believe that achilds cognitive development is about constructing a mental model of the

world.

INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD - COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT


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Schemas areconcepts or frameworks that allow us to categorize, organize andinterpret information.

Jean Piaget

1896-1980



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The procedure is actually quite simple. First you arrange things into diferentgroups. Of course, one pile may be sucient, depending on how much there is todo.

If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities, that is the next step.Otherwise you are pretty well set. It is important not to overdo things - that is, itis better to do too few things at once than too many.

?????????



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The procedure is actually quite simple. First you arrange things into diferentgroups. Of course, one pile may be sucient, depending on how much there is todo.

If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities, that is the next step.Otherwise you are pretty well set. It is important not to overdo things - that is, itis better to do too few things at once than too many.

Schema-Washing Clothes



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Schemas areconcepts or frameworks that allow us to categorize, organize andinterpret information.

According to Piaget, as children develop cognitively their schemas become morewell-developed and diferentiated, thus allowing them to better comprehend

and get along in the world.

Piaget explains howcognitive development occurs in terms of two companionprocesses: assimilationand accommodation.

Jean Piaget

1896-1980



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Gabrielas schema for cow may at first simply consist oflarge and shaggy four-leggedanimal.

Schema Learning

Equilibrium

Assimilation



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Schema Learning

Equilibrium

Assimilation

Gabriela subsequentlyencounters another animaland correctly calls it a cow.

Assimilationis the process by which a child incorporates new information into anexisting schema.



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Disequilibrium

Huh, go moo?

Gabrielaencounters yet another animal and, again, correctly calls it a cow. She also,however, hears it go moo. After reassurance from her father she incorporates thisnew information into her existing schemafor cow: large and shaggy four-leggedanimal + go moo.

Equilibrium

Assimilation



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Disequilibrium

Huh, go moo?

Gabrielaencounters yet another animal and, again, correctly calls it a cow. She also,however, hears it go moo. After reassurance from her father she incorporates thisnew information into her existing schemafor cow: large and shaggy four-leggedanimal + go moo.

Equilibrium

Assimilation



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Disequilibrium

AccommodationAttempted(failed)

Assimilation

Gabriela now sees another large and shaggy four-legged animal and incorrectlycalls it cow; No, daddy says, its a moose!

Equilibrium



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Disequilibrium

AccommodationAttempted(failed)

Assimilation

Gabrielacreates a new schemafor amoose: alarge and shaggy four-legged animalthat has antlers.

Accommodation is the process by which a child creates a new schema (or radicallyalters an existing one) whenhe or she is unable to incorporate new information into

an existing schema.

Equilibrium



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So, it is in this way, then, that a childs mental model of the world develops overtime, thus enabling better comprehension of the world.

Jean Piaget

1896-1980


Piaget proposed that as childrenconstruct a mental model of the world theypassthroughfour stages of cognitive development. Each stage represents a coherent way of

understanding experience, and each transition between stages represents adiscontinuous intellectual leap from one coherent way of understanding to thenext one.


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Piagets Model

Jean Piaget

1896-1980



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Jean Piaget

1896-1980

1. Sensorimotor Stage (birth to 2 years)

A childsbehavior is dominated by innate reflexes.

For much of this stage (until about 8 months), a child lives in the present: forexample, theydont exhibit object permanence.

Piagets Model


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFUInSY2CeY


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Infants seem to develop object permanence as young as 3-months of age.

What do we know now?

Baillargeon and her colleagues (1991) have used the violation -of-expectancy technique to establish that infants as young as 3months of age look longer at an impossible event than at apossible event.

Their continued interest in the impossible event suggests theymust be capable of mentally representing the box even

whenit is no longer there(i.e., where did that box go?)

Piagets Model



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Jean Piaget

1896-1980


A childsbehavior is dominated by innate reflexes.

For much of this stage (until about 8 months), a child lives in the present: forexample, theydont exhibit object permanence.

By the end of this stage, infants become capable of forming enduring mentalrepresentations and, therefore, capable of deferred imitation.

Piagets Model



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Deferred Imitation


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbXHyIlsG0M


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Deferred Imitation



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Jean Piaget

1896-1980

Piagets Model



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Jean Piaget

1896-1980

2. Preoperational Stage (2 to 7 years)

A notable acquisition is symbolic representation, the use of one object to stand

for another, which makes a variety of new behaviors possible.

Piagets Model



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Jean Piaget

1896-1980


A notable acquisitionis symbolic representation, the use of one object to stand for

another, which makes a variety of new behaviors possible.One major limitation (up until about age 4) is egocentrism, the tendency toperceive the world solely from ones own point of view.

Piaget and Inhelder (1956): Three Mountain Task

Piagets Model



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Egocentrism Illustration

Jean Piaget

1896-1980


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hLubgpY2_w&p=0E8E2D24FFD6E911&playnext=1&index=10


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Egocentrism Illustration

Jean Piaget

1896-1980



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Egocentrism Illustration- Egocentric Conversations

Jean Piaget

1896-1980



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Jean Piaget

1896-1980


A related limitation is centration, the te nde ncy to fo cu s on a singl e,

perceptually striking feature of an object or event.

Piagets Model



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Centration Illustration: Balance Scale Problems

Which side of scale would go down if arm allowed to move?

5-and 6-year-olds focus on amount of weight and ignore distance.



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Jean Piaget

1896-1980


A related limitation is centration, the te nde ncy to fo cu s on a singl e,

perceptually striking feature of an object or event.Children at this stage also lack of understanding ofthe conservation concept, theidea that merely changing the appearance of objects does not change their keyproperties.

Piagets Model



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Conservation Concept: Illustration of Methods



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Conservation Concept Illustration


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtLEWVu815o


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Children as young as 4able to solve conservation problemsifframed correctly.

What do we know now?

McGarrigle and Donaldson (1974) replicated Piagets conservation of number procedureexcept had a naughty teddy knock the line of counters offthe table. The counters werethen realigned albeit spaced farther apart.

They found children (62%) now could correctly tell the number had not changed - couldconserve!

In the original condition it appears to the child that theresearchers are intending to alter the number of counters, orthat they are askinga trickquestion. In the teddy condition thereis a reason for the counters to be messed up so the situation hasmeaning.

Explanation

Piagets Model




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Jean Piaget

1896-1980

Piagets Model



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3. Concrete Operations Stage

Childrenbegin to reason logicallyabout the world.

They can solve conservation problems, but their successful reasoning is largelylimited to concrete situations.

Thinking systematically remains dicult.

Piagets Model



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Inhelder and Piagets Pendulum Problem

The task is to compare the motions of longer andshorter strings, with lighter and heavier weightsattached, in order to determine the influence of

weight, string length, and dropping point on thetime it takes for the pendulum to swing back andforth.

Children below age 12 usually perform unsystematicexperiments and draw incorrect conclusions: themost important factor that influences the pendulumstravel time is weight.



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Jean Piaget

1896-1980

Piagets Model



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4. Formal Operations Stage

Children reason more systematicallyandbegin to use hypothetical reasoning.

Piagets Model



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Inhelder and Piagets Pendulum Problem

The task is to compare the motions of longer andshorter strings, with lighter and heavier weights

attached, in order to determine the influence ofweight, string length, and dropping point on thetime it takes for the pendulum to swing back andforth.

Children above age 12 usually perform moresystematic experiments (coming up with hypotheses

and testing them)

and drawcorrect conclusions: theonly factor that influences the pendulums travel time isthe length of the string; neither weight nor droppingpoint matters.



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4. Formal Operations Stage

Children reason more systematicallyandbegin to use hypothetical reasoning.

Individuals begin thinking abstractly (reason about such concepts as truth, justice,love, free will).

Piaget believed that the attainment of the formal operations stage, in contrast to theother stages, is not universal.

Piagets Model



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Piagets LegacyPiaget four stage model of cognitive development provides us with areasonably accurate,

broad overviewof what childrens thinking is like at different stages of development.

Weaknesses

1. The stage model depicts childrens thinking as being more consistent than it is.

Children show conservation of numbers (age 6) earlier than conservation of solid (age 8).

2. Infants and young children are more cognitively competent than Piagetrecognized.

Object permanence arises earlier (3 months) than Piaget thought (8 or 9 months).

3. Piagets theory understates the contribution of the sociocultural world tocognitive development.

The influence of adults, other children, broader culture stronger than Piaget proposed.

4. Piagets theory is vague about the cognitive processes that give rise to childrensthinking and about the mechanisms that produce cognitive growth.

Assimilation, accommodation, and equilibration are broad and vague concepts.


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