PSYC 2560 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Oliver Sacks, Brain Damage, Behaviorism

• School: University of Windsor
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 2560
• Professor: Abeare

Document Summary

There is a tendency to think in simple dichotomies when explaining behaviour. Is it physiological or psychological: descartes argued that the universe consists of two elements (aka cartesian dualism , physical matter, human mind (soul, self, or spirit, cartesian dualism views the mind and brain as separate entities. An a in-front of a neurological condition means absence of. Nature vs nurture : watson- father of behaviourism- believed that all behaviour was the product of learning, ethology- the study of animal behaviour in the wild focused on instinctive behaviours, (nurture) emphasizing nature. A model of the biology of behaviour: behaviour is the product of the interaction of three factors, genes, experiences, perception of the current situation. Fitness- the ability of an organism to survive and contribute its genes to the next generation. Just as physical features can contribute to fitness , so do behaviours: the ability to find food, avoid predation, etc.