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• "As man advances in civilization, and small tribes
are united into larger communities, the simplest
reason would tell each individual that he ought to
extend his social instincts and sympathies to all
the members of the same nation, though
personally unknown to him. This point being once
reached, there is only an artificial barrier to
prevent his sympathies extending to the men of all
nations and races." - The Descent of Man, 1871.
Structuralism
• The first psychologists wanted to
understand the elements of the mind
– What is consciousness made of?
– Are complex ideas “built” from simpler
ones
Functionalism
• Functionalists wanted to know what the
mind did.
• They assumed that it was like an organ of
the body and helped us survive and to adapt
to the environment
• Interest in applying psychology to real
world problems
– Educational psychology
– Industrial/Organizational psychology
– Clinical psychology
The Evolution Revolution:
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
• On the Origin of Species by Means of
Natural Selection (1859):one of the
most influential books in the world
• Darwin’s ideas had an immediate
impact on American psychology
An Ode to Evolution
• Organic life beneath the shoreless waves
Was born and nurs'd in ocean's pearly caves;
First forms minute, unseen by spheric glass,
Move on the mud, or pierce the watery mass;
These, as successive generations bloom,
New powers acquire and larger limbs assume;
Whence countless groups of vegetation spring,
And breathing realms of fin and feet and wing.
– Erasmus Darwin. The Temple of Nature. 1802.
Other Predecessors
• Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1809):
Active Modification
– Through efforts to adapt to
environment
– Inherited by succeeding
generations
• Vestiges of Creation (1844) by
Anonymous
Other Predecessors
• Darwin Read Thomas Malthus (1766-1834),
Essay on the Principle of Population (1789)
– Food supply increases linearly
– Human population increases exponetially
– Result: Starvation is an inevitable part of a
cycle
– Only the most aggressive, intelligent
and flexible will survive!
– Social welfare is bad for the Britain
The Malthusian Trap
Darwin and Malthus
• Darwin appreciated Malthus’ point that
some members of a population were
always on the brink.
• He did not support Malthus’ implied
belief that some people should be left
to die.
Setting the Stage – 19th century Britain
• Zeitgeist
– Receptive
intellectual climate
– Social evolution due
to industrial
revolution
– Growing dominance
of science – it was
working!
The World Comes to Europe
The World comes to Europe
• Fossils and bones of
extinct species found
• HMS Beagle: 1831-1836
• Captain Fitzroy was looking for a creationist!
• Darwin makes Geological and Zoological
observations that challenge Biblical notions.
Galapagos Finches
Peter and Rosemary Grant:
visited islands in 1973 to
observe modifications in
several generations of 13
finch species – Changes
occur faster than Darwin
predicted!
Darwin Finally Goes Public
• Worked on his theory of evolution for 22 years
• A. R. Wallace (1858) wrote Darwin about a theory
of evolution that he developed in 3 days!
• Ethical dilemma for Darwin
• Darwin overwhelmed with new physical illness
• Spontaneous variability among members of a
species is inheritable – He described genes and
mutations without the benefit of biochemistry!
• Natural selection: process that leads to survival
of organisms which adapt to the environment;
Elimination of those which do not
Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)
and the Evolution Controversy
• Striving biologist; Leader among
England's scientists
• Champion of Darwin’s theory
• 1860: Debate on theory of
evolution at Oxford: Huxley
versus bishop Samuel
Wilberforce who defended the
Bible and Robert Fitzroy, captain
of HMS Beagle
Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)
and the Evolution Controversy
•
•
•
•
1865 Fitzroy Commits suicide
Wilberforce dies
1925: Scopes Monkey Trial
1987: Louisiana “Equal Time”
case
• 1999: Kansas State BOE
• 2004: Dover, PA
Darwin and Psychology
• Darwin’s other work
– 1871: The Descent of Man
–Emphasized similarity between
animal and human processes
– 1872: The Expression of the
Emotions in Man and Animals
– 1877: A Biographical Sketch of an
Infant
The Genie is out of the Bottle
– The white supremacy movement
– Social and Economic Darwinism
The Evolution of Machines
Samuel Butler (1835-1902)
– Machines would become self-acting
– Capable of simulating human intelligence
– Humans become dependent on machines
– Suggested machines would become superior
Darwin and Psychology
• Continuity in mental functioning between
humans and lower animals/humans and
ancestors
• Studying animal behavior can help us
understand human behavior
• How does the brain function and adapt?
• Increased focus on individual differences and
their measurement – no trait is accidental!!
Francis Galton (1822-1911)
• “I have no patience with the hypothesis
occasionally expressed, and often implied,
especially in tales written to teach children to
be good, that babies are born pretty much
alike, and that the sole agencies in creating
differences between boy and boy, and man and
man, are steady application and moral effort.”
Galton’s Work
• Mental Inheritance
– Hereditary Genius (1869)
• Eminent men have eminent sons
• Specific forms of genius inherited
• Founded eugenics: improve inherited human
traits through artificial selection
• Applied statistical concepts to heredity
problems
• Eminence not a function of opportunity
Galton’s Work
– 1874: English Men of Science
– 1889: Natural Inheritance
– Established eugenics laboratory at
university college, London
– 1904: founded organization for
promoting racial improvement
– Clearly opposed the British Empirical
movement of the 17th century
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
• Applied Darwin’s theories to society
and business
• Coined term Survival of the Fittest
• Theory was actually more Lamarkian
than Darwinian
• Here’s where the problems
start…Most people (especially
Americans) equated his views with
Darwin’s
Distorting Darwin
• Why the controversy?
– Human emergence as a result of natural
events rather than divine intervention
– Humans are part of the animal kingdom
• What about animal consciousness and
morality?
– Social implications of who is “fit” and
“unfit”
Distorting Darwin
• There is no evidence that Hitler read
Darwin or understood evolution!
– Hitler believed that races were created
separately by God
– Based much of his anti-Semitic rhetoric on the
teachings of Martin Luther (On the Jews and
their Lies)
Distorting Darwin
• Darwin did not say that man (humans) evolved
from apes!
– This is important!
• Everyone alive has been “evolving” for exactly
the same amount of time
– No person, race, or animal is “more evolved” than
another
• “Fit” doesn’t mean charismatic, strong, good
looking etc.
– If swine flu kills everyone but you, you are the
fittest!
Distorting Darwin
• "As man advances in civilization, and small tribes
are united into larger communities, the simplest
reason would tell each individual that he ought to
extend his social instincts and sympathies to all
the members of the same nation, though
personally unknown to him. This point being once
reached, there is only an artificial barrier to
prevent his sympathies extending to the men of all
nations and races." - The Descent of Man, 1871.
Darwin’s Theory
• Variations in traits are the norm
– They are inherited (through
genes)
– New variations appear
spontaneously (genes mutate)
• Changes in the environment will
put selective pressures on these
traits. Some will survive, some
won’t
Psychology already accepted it
• Freud’s original theory of
psychoanalysis proposed
The instinctual System.
1. Life-Preservative Instincts
(preserving the genes)
• Biological needs
• Fears (snakes, heights,
dangerous humans).
2. Sexual Instincts (passing the
genes on)
Psychology already accepted it
•
•
William James and the
Psychology of Instincts
They emerged in phases
over a lifetime
1. Sucking, crying, sneezing
2. Biting, clasping, standing
3. Hunting, sex, parenting
•
They were inherited for
the sake of survival
Some Sociologists Did Not
• Looking for Utopia
– Margaret Mead in Samoa
– Described a culture in which
• Gender roles were reversed
• No sexual jealousy
• No rape, murder or war
• Results were appealing to those
who were concerned about trends
in Western societies
• Results were later challenged
Common Misunderstandings about Evolution
1. Human behavior is genetically determined
–
Environment plays a large role
2. If it is evolutionary, we can’t change it
–
We have the power
3. Current mechanisms are optimally designed
–
–
Environments change faster than genes. We
are stone-age (or pre-modern) people in a
modern world (McDonalds Effect)
Every adaptation has a cost and perfecting one
system will probably compromise another
Observe, Hypothesize and Test
• Phobias
– Evolutionary approach
• Phobias represent an exaggeration of a useful survival tool
• An inborn fear of snakes provides a survival advantage
• Most phobias have a legitimate basis (spiders, snakes,
heights, strangers, closed spaces, open spaces)
• Phobias to modern threats (guns, electrical outlets) are rare
Observe, Hypothesize and Test
• Conditioned taste aversions
– Evolutionary approach
• Human diets were once based on foraging and new foods
were encountered daily
• A tasty treat might be poisonous, but you won’t get sick
for a few hours
• CTA is special learning system keeps you away from the
stuff that might have made you sick
Choosing a Mate
• Observe behavior and look for an
explanation
– Men and women both get jealous, but men
are much more likely to get violent about it
– An evolutionary explanation:
• Men face the problem of paternity uncertainty
• It is important to defend the “genetic territory”
• Men are, of course, generally more aggressive
Choosing a Mate
• Look to related species and
compare/contrast
– Chimpanzee females go into estrus when
ovulating
• Visible signs of sexual receptivity
• Little interest in sex when there is little chance of
conception
– If we’re related, why don’t humans do this?
– There is a selective advantage for males in
knowing when a female is fertile
Choosing a Mate
• Studies show that, when ovulating, women
– Dress more carefully
• Haselton, 2006
– Have more interest in sex
• Stanislaw and Rice, (1988)
– Have more attractive faces (as judged by
men)
– Smell differently
• Marlowe, 2004
– Favor “manly” faces
Who’s Manlier?
Who’s Ovulating?
Evolutionary Psychology may
be the Unifying Principle
• It has tackled
– Law
– War
– Religion
– Economics
– Advertising
– Architecture
– Cognition, Education, Sociology, etc.
What about this?