Evolutionary Psychology

Catalog description

Evolutionary psychology will examine the impact evolutionary theory on the field of psychology. This course links psychology, anthropology, and biology and examines why contemporary humans behave and think the way they do. It examines the proximate and ultimate causes of behavior with an emphasis on function. The course begins with an overview of heredity and evolutionary theory and then discusses research on evolutionary factors that influence human learning, thinking, motivation, and emotion. It also covers the evolutionary explanations for social behavior such as cooperation and competition, and mate-selection and parenting. Prerequisite(s): PY 111 and PY 141 .