PSYC2212 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Evolution, Cultural Evolution, Mutation
Document Summary
Natural selection: all species are able to reproduce. If everyone reproduced, population size would increase exponentially: population size remains relatively stable, environmental resources are limited, there is not enough for everyone. Individuals within a population vary: such variation is passed on to offspring inheritance, successful/fit traits survive selection. Humans: defining features of humans, larger brains, new cognitive skills, produced variety of stone tools, developed symbolic communications, developed new social practices. Time problem: problem, humans have not been around like enough for time to explain such evolution, 6 million years separates humans from great apes (short time in evolutionary terms) Inadequate time to develop what we have developed: potential answer, cultural evolution changes in a much shorter timeframe. Culture: more then appearance and language (cid:1688)information capable of affecting individual"s behaviour so that they acquire from other members of their species through teaching, imitation and other forms of social transmission(cid:1689, social learning.
