Evolutionary
Psychology
PSYC
358
Calendar
of Events
Introduction to the course
Tuesday, Sept.
3: CLASS IS CANCELLED (UBC “Imagine” day)
[For
information about “Imagine” events in Psychology, go here]
Thursday, Sept. 5: Introduction to
“Evolutionary Psychology”
Reading: Course syllabus (which you’ll find on the course website)
Tuesday, Sept. 10: Logical principles
underlying evolutionary psychology
Reading: Cosmides, L., & Tooby, J.
(1997). Evolutionary psychology: A primer. Center for Evolutionary Psychology;
University of California, Santa Barbara.
Reading: Confer,
J. C., Easton, J. A., Fleischman, D. S., Goetz, C. D., Lewis, D. G. M., Perilloux, C., & Buss, D. M. (2010). Evolutionary
psychology: Controversies, questions,
prospects, and limitations. American Psychologist, 65, 110–126.
Part 1: Gene’s-eye view of human cognition
and behavior
Thursday, Sept. 12: The gene’s-eye
view of life
Reading: Dawkins,
Chapters 1 and 2
Tuesday, Sept. 17: Good genes
Reading: Dawkins,
Chapter 3
Reading: Gangestad, S. W., Thornhill, R. & Garver-Apgar,
C. E. (2005). Adaptations to ovulation: Implications for sexual and social
behavior. Current Directions in
Psychological Science, 14, 312-316.
Thursday, Sept. 19: Adapted cognition
Reading: Dawkins,
Chapter 4
Reading: Nairne,
J. S., & Pandeirada, J. N. S. (2008). Adaptive memory: Remembering with a
stone-age brain. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17,
239-243.
Tuesday, Sept. 24: The social context of
adapted cognition
Reading: Dawkins,
Chapter 5
Reading: Dunbar, R.
I. M. (2014). The social brain: Psychological underpinnings and implications
for the structure of organizations. Current
Directions in Psychological Science, 23, 109–114.
Thursday, Sept. 26: Inclusive fitness and
its implications
Reading: Dawkins,
Chapter 6
Tuesday, Oct. 1: MIDTERM EXAM 1
Part 2: Psychological adaptations pertaining to
survival and sexual reproduction
Thursday, Oct. 3: Looking back
[No
new readings assigned]
Tuesday, Oct. 8: Looking forward
(Evolution and motivation)
Reading: Schaller,
M., Kenrick, D.T., Neel, R., & Neuberg, S.L. (2017). Evolution and human motivation: A
fundamental motives framework. Social and Personality Psychology
Compass, 11, e12319.
Reading: Kenrick (2016). Rate
yourself on the new motivational pyramid:
A new
scale of fundamental evolved motives [blog
post].
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sex-murder-and-the-meaning-life/201604/rate-yourself-the-new-motivational-pyramid
Thursday, Oct. 10: Better safe than sorry
(Error management)
Reading: Öhman, A., & Mineka, S. (2003). The malicious
serpent: Snakes as a prototypical stimulus for an evolved module of fear. Current Directions in Psychological Science,
12, 5-9.
Reading: Zebrowitz, L. A. (2017). First impressions from faces. Current Directions in Psychological Science,
26, 237-242.
Tuesday, Oct. 15: The behavioral immune
system
Reading: Schaller,
M., & Park, J. H. (2011). The behavioral immune system (and why it
matters). Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20, 99-103.
Thursday, Oct. 17: Parental (and
grandparental) investment
Reading:
Dawkins,
Chapters 7 and 8
Tuesday, Oct. 22: Parental investment and
sex differences in sexual behavior
Reading: Dawkins,
Chapter 9
Reading:
Schmitt,
D. P., Jonason, P. K., Byerley,
G. J., Flores, S. D., Illbeck, B. E., O’Leary,
K. N., & Qudrat, A. (2012). A reexamination
of sex differences in sexuality: New studies reveal old truths. Current
Directions in Psychological Science, 21, 135-139.
Thursday, Oct. 24: Mate preferences
Reading: Bjorklund, D. F. & Shackelford, T. K. (1999). Differences
in parental investment contribute to important differences between men and
women. Current Directions in
Psychological Science, 8, 86-89.
Reading: Fink,
B. & Penton-Voak, I. (2002). Evolutionary
psychology of facial attractiveness. Current
Directions in Psychological Science, 11, 154-158.
Tuesday, Oct. 29: Choosy women, show-off-y
men
Reading: Buss, D. M.
(2001). Cognitive biases and emotional wisdom in the evolution of conflict
between the sexes. Current Directions in
Psychological Science, 10, 219-223.
Reading: Buss, D. M.
(2017). Sexual conflict in human mating. Current
Directions in Psychological Science, 26, 307–313.
Thursday, Oct. 31: Beyond sexual
stereotypes (Focus on female short-term mating)
Reading: Haselton,
M. G., & Gildersleeve, K. (2011). Can men detect ovulation? Current
Directions in Psychological Science, 20, 87-91.
Tuesday,
Nov. 5: MIDTERM
EXAM 2
Part 3: Other challenges, other adaptations,
other implications
Thursday, Nov. 7: More kinship (Focus on
kin-recognition cues)
Reading: Daly,
M. & Wilson, M. I. (1996). Violence against stepchildren. Current Directions in Psychological Science,
5, 77-81.
Reading: Lieberman,
D., & Smith, A. (2012). It’s all relative: Sexual aversions and moral
judgments regarding sex among siblings. Current
Directions in Psychological Science, 21, 243–247.
Tuesday, Nov. 12: More parental investment
(Focus on psychological mechanisms)
Reading: Schaller,
M. (2018). The parental care motivational system and why it matters (for
everyone). Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27, 295-301.
Thursday, Nov. 14: Reciprocity and cooperation
Reading: Dawkins,
Chapter 10
Reading: Delton,
A. W., & Robertson, T. E. (2016). How the mind makes welfare tradeoffs: Evolution, computation, and emotion. Current Opinion in Psychology, 7, 12-16.
Tuesday, Nov. 19: Emotions and
emotional expressions
Reading:
McCullough,
M. E., Kimeldorf, M. B. &, Cohen, A. D. (2008).
An adaptation for altruism? The social causes, social effects, and social
evolution of gratitude. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17,
281-285.
Reading: Shariff,
A. F., & Tracy, J. L. (2011). What are emotion expressions for? Current
Directions in Psychological Science, 20, 395-399.
Thursday, Nov. 21: Intergroup conflict
ESSAY
ASSIGNMENT IS DUE
[No new readings
assigned]
Tuesday, Nov. 26: Evolution and culture
Reading: Dawkins,
Chapter 11
Reading: Li,
N. P., van Vugt, M., & Colarelli,
S. M. (2018). The evolutionary mismatch hypothesis: Implications for
psychological science. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27,
38-44.
Thursday, Nov. 28: The perils and
prospects of evolutionary psychology
Reading: Schmalor, A., & Heine, S. J. (2019). In genes we trust:
On the consequences of genetic essentialism. In B. T. Rutjens
& M. J. Brandt (Eds.), Belief systems and the perception of reality
(pp. 138-152). London: Routledge.
Optional Reading: Lewis,
D. G. M., Al-Shawaf, L., Conroy-Beam, D., Asao, K.,
& Buss, D. M. (2017). Evolutionary psychology: A how-to guide. American
Psychologist, 72, 353–373.
FINAL EXAM: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 3:30 p.m.
(Buchanan A101 and A103)