PY2108:03
Evolution of Behaviour
Townsville
Prerequisites: PY1001 or PY1002 or PY1003 or PY1102 or PY1104
26 lectures, 24 hours practicals. First semester.
Staff: Dr M Surbey.
Evolutionary psychology and sociobiology are concerned with how natural selection has shaped the behaviour and psychology of humans and other animals. Basic concepts in genetics and evolutionary theory, necessary for applying this approach, are covered including heritability, inclusive fitness, kin selection, parental investment, parent-offspring conflict and male and female reproductive strategies. These concepts will be employed in order to understand diverse phenomena such as eusociality in bees, size and behavioural differences in males and females, the evolution of altruism and cooperation, why many species engage in sexual reproduction rather than asexual reproduction and why men and women focus on particular characteristics, such as the waist-to-hip ratio, when choosing a mate. Although many examples will be drawn from the non-human literature, the focus will be on understanding human behaviour and psychological processes.
Learning Objectives:
- acquire a working knowledge of basic evolutionary concepts so that these may be appropriately applied to our understanding of how natural selection may have shaped behaviour and the mind;
- discuss the methodological problems and ethical issues that arise when applying an evolutionary or biological approach to behaviour;
- illustrate how an evolutionary perspective may be applied to diverse topics within the discipline of psychology, as well as to those common in other disciplines;
- demonstrate that an evolutionary or distal perspective complements, rather than necessarily competes with, proximate explanations typical of other subfields within the discipline.
Assessment by mid-semester examination (25%); practical work or assignments (30%); end-of-semester examination (45%).