PSY 625 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Gossip, Social Proof, Minority Group
8 Apr 2015
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Document Summary
Natural selection: the evolutionary process by which heritable traits that best enable organisms to survive and reproduce in particular environments are passed to ensuing generations. Evolutionary psychology: the study of the evolution of cognition and behavior using principles of natural selection. The brain"s purpose is to direct our organs and our behavior in a way that maximizes our evolutionary process. We fear what"s immediate and sudden more than greater, gradual harms from historically newer threats (smoking and climate change) Culture: the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next. Personal space: the buffer zone we like to maintain around our bodies. Its size depends on our familiarity with whoever is near us. Gender: in psychology, the characteristics, whether biologically or socially influenced, by which people define male and female. Most people rate their beliefs and feelings regarding women as more favorable than their feelings regarding men.
