Essay \"Briefly examine how darwin’s theory of natural selection has benefitted the field of psychology\" PDF

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Briefly examine how Darwin’s theory of natural selection has benefitted the field of psychology...

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Briefly examine how Darwin’s theory of natural selection has benefitted the field of psychology It was Darwin’s journey to the Galapagos Islands which led to the breakthrough of his theory of natural selection. He noticed that each island had its own form of Finch, which all differed in Beak size. The finches may have evolved different beaks to suit their environment. Darwin’s idea of natural selection was that animals should end up with physical and behavioural characteristics that allow them to perform well in competition with their rivals (Cardwell, 2007). However, this was not sufficient evidence for his theory of natural selection as it did not explain why species evolve. Darwin’s theory of natural selection was influenced by Thomas Malthus’s the Principle of Population (Leahey, 2013), which states that increases in population would eventually diminish that economy’s ability to produce sufficient food. Not only do creatures struggle to exist, they must compete with others of the same sex for access to the opposite sex. Animals that best suit to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. Moreover, Darwin’s theory of natural selection and its comparison between animals and humans has benefitted the field of biological rhythms and sleep where experimentation on humans would be would be possible or highly unethical. For example, lesions of SCN destroy these annual-breeding cycles, and male hamsters secrete testosterone all year round, which has improved our understanding of infradian cycles and circadian cycles. Furthermore, according to the Descent of Man (1871), humans were descended from lower animals. Mental processes in humans are similar to that of animals. An important component of this would be sexual selection, which is when a particular species possess certain traits which make them more attractive to the opposite sex and enhance their reproductive success. Therefore, individuals possess features that make them attractive to members of the opposite sex or help them compete with members of the same sex for mates. This has helped psychologists understand human reproductive behaviour. For example, studies of human mate preference have shown men from a wide range of cultures find the classic hourglass shape of young women particularly attractive. This makes sense when applying sexual selection theory because this shape is an indicator of fertility of women (Workman and Reader, 2008). Similarly, in the Expression of Emotions (1872), Darwin argued that both humans and animals possess inherited emotional expressions which are adaptive (Leahey, 2013). However, many researchers tend to over simply Darwin’s theory and often come to the conclusion that animals are separate from animals, but what Darwin’s theory of natural selection suggests is that the difference in mental ability between humans and animals is one of degree not kind (Schultz, 2013). Hence, the theory of evolution gave comparative psychology (studies the similarities and differences between humans and animals) a powerful impetus. As humans and animals possess similar behaviours and emotions, psychologists can study animals to have a deeper understanding of human behaviour such as Ivan Pavlov’s classical conditioning. Studies conducted on animals which share similar brain chemistry to humans has also been shown to be effective in human trials and experiments. Research has shown, for example, that animals fed on a regular basis soon become active just before their feeding time. This happens even in the absence of other environmental cues and must therefore rely on some sort of internal clock, an internal clock which humans also possess (Rossenwasser at al. 1981).

The psychological phenomenon of individual differences could also be explained by natural selection. This is because natural selection depends on variation within populations; and as a result, psychologists tend to focus on differences among people. Additionally, this has also spurred on the type of research methods and statistics commonly used in psychological research which aims to find significant differences in data such as independent group measures, ANOVA and multiple linear regressions; therefore showing that Darwin’s theory of natural selection has benefitted psychology in its experimental methodology as well as theoretical application. Darwin’s sexual selection has contributed to medial psychology. An evolutionary explanation for the attraction of celebrities would be our love for novelty, known as neophilia. This is because before the arrival of TV and computers, our ancestors would have had to amuse each other; and neophilia would have led to ever more imaginative displays of creativity from potential mates ( Cardwell, 2007). This could also explain the developed traits in humans such as humour and art. Conclusion Based on the evidence above, it is clear to see that Darwin’s theory of natural selection has given psychology a range of theories in explaining human behaviour such as comparative psychology and media psychology, spurred on experimental methodology within psychology and therefore broadened the scope of research and the field of psychology as a whole....