Psychology 2070A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Kin Selection, Dime (United States Coin), Pole And Polar

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2070A/B
• Professor: Taylor Kohut

Document Summary

Prosocial behavior refers to any behavior performed wit the goal of benefiting another person. Some species of birds, mammals, fish and insects are known to exhibit examples of altruistic behavior. Potentially explained by: kin selection, reciprocity norm, ability to learn social norms, kin selection. Behavior that helps a genetic relative is favored by natural selection. Our genes get passed on not only by having our own children, but also when a genetic relative has children. How close we are to a given relative may be an even better predictor of altruism: reciprocity norm. People often have the expectation that doing something nice for someone (e. g. , helping them) will increase the likelihood that the person will return the favor in the future. This expectation may start to develop in infancy: ability to learn social norms. People who learn the norms or rules of their society and follow them are more likely to survive than people who don"t.