Psychology 109

Psychology 109

1. Evolutionary Psychology

   • Cultural Evolution
     • Homology - shared inherited structures. Shared due to decent from the same ancestor
       • Convervent Evolution - independent evolution of the same structure due to natural selection favouring similar traits
     • Natural selection requires four things 1.Variation 2.Heritability 3.Design differences 4.Competition
   • Heritability
     • A proportion of the variation in a specific population that is attributed to genetic differences
       • Genotype and environment add up to create a person
         • eg. PKU is a 'inborn' metabolic disorder. A single recessive gene on chromosome 12 causes the body to lack the enzyme PAH which causes a buildup of phenylalanine in the body which causes vomiting and seizures etc. It effects 1/10000 white infants in the US and is toxic to the nervous system. PKU is inborn but a strict diet can reduce cognitive deficits.
           • Thus proving genotype and environment combine. Nature and nurture
         • eg. MAOA metabolises neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine. Low MAOA causes a more violent person but however environmental factors like maltreatment impact whether they develop into violent persons. Severe maltreat to a low MAOA individual increases their deposition towards violence severely compared to low MAOA individual.
   • Intelligence
     • Domain Specific - specific to a particular domain eg. language
       • Domain General - integrates information across a range of domains. All parts of brain working together
     • IQ tests