Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
14 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Biopsychology
|
studying and understanding the biological and evolutionary roots of behavior
|
|
What is the relationship between nature & nurture?
|
A mix between the two determines intelligence, personality, and behavior.
|
|
What is the nature position?
|
Focus on innate, biological explanations for human nature. Includes adaptation, selections, evolution.
|
|
Adaptation
|
Changes in a population of organisms over time-- can be physical or behavioral and are due to changes in environment
|
|
Evolutionary Psychology
|
Focuses on psychological characteristics (behavioral adaptations) and applies to populations, not individuals
|
|
Sexual Selection
|
Adaptations within populations that contribute to reproduction-- enhance attractiveness to potential mates; "survival of the sexiest"
|
|
Natural Selection
|
Adaptations that contribute to survival-- most likely to passed through generations-- physical features, behavior techniques (hunting),
"survival of the fittest" |
|
What are the problems associated with the nature position? (4)
|
1. behavior is multiply determined, so it's hard to trace complex behaviors from a single gene and ignore a person's lifetime of experiences (many factors)
2. can lead to discrimination or biological determinism -- ex. racist or sexist views about occupation 3. "is/ought" fallacy-- that's how it is or how it's always been, therefore that's how it ought to be 4. distal (remote) causes can deemphasize proximal (immediate) causes-- biology vs. natural condition |
|
What is the nurture position?
|
Focus on environmental and cultural explanations for behavior, knowledge, personality, etc.
|
|
Culture
|
"behaviors/attitudes shared by a group and transmitted across generations"-- varies between different places in terms of "appropriateness"
|
|
Peer Influence
|
"how you are now has little to do with how your parents raised you and more about child's friends" -- how friends, colleagues, etc. influence language, behavior, interests
|
|
Gender
|
Difference between sexes might have more to do with society than biology
|
|
Neural Plasticity
|
Biological brain changes influenced by experience-- neural connections form and change over period of practice/learning
|
|
What are problems associated with the nurture position? (3)
|
1. Proximal/external causes can deemphasize distal causes; neurochemistry, don't know that nature isn't underlying cause
2. can increase blame that is sometimes unwarranted (blame society, parents, etc.) 3. cultural relativism-- people want simple explanations that are preferably biological or universal because they are viewed with more legitimacy and not necessarily always correct vs. something being accepted by a culture b/c society says so |