PSYCH361 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: The Adapted Mind, Fixed Action Pattern, Tabula Rasa
11 Feb 2020
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Document Summary
Ethology (meaning manner/trait) is the naturalistic observation of an organism"s behavior in their natural environment. Imprinting birds follow an object (usually mother) during the first 36 hours after birth, irreversible. Lock and key the lock (innate template) is the learned brain pattern containing information about the mother"s characteristics or key (social releaser: critical/sensitive period the limited time in which the lock and key work together. Fixed action pattern a species characteristics that is released by a stimulus, uses the same physiological mechanisms to achieve the same actions, requires no learning and cannot be unlearned. Tinbergen considered 4 whys when studying behavior: causation, development, evolution, function. Eibl-eibesfeldt said the goal of life is to acquire more energy than one must expend, thus adapting to changing environments.
