BSc Psychology / Course details

In the course, students will first be introduced to basic principles of evolution, including an overview of its history. The course will present basic evolutionary principles, including genetics, gene-environment interaction, and mechanisms of evolutionary change. There will be an emphasis on fallacies and mistaken applications of the principles of evolution. Further background will be given about the evolution of our species to make it relevant for psychology students. These evolutionary principles will be applied to key topics in human traits such as altruism, aggression and mate choice and the cognitive mechanisms that underlie these. Comparison with other species, notably nonhuman primates, will be made to highlight evolutionary processes in general and the phylogeny of traits in humans. Topical issues will be discussed to highlight that the study of the evolution of behaviour is a timely, and often controversial, subject.

This unit will be taught via lectures and seminars.

Describe: the governing principles of evolution theory; basic genetic principles involved in natural selection; the mechanisms of evolutionary change; the governing principles of gene-environment interaction including gene-culture co-evolution, the origins of Homo sapiens

Critically evaluate: fallacies and misconceptions in evolutionary psychology; comparative evolutionary approaches in non-human primates; evolutionary approaches to studying altruism and other social behaviours, sociobiology and evolutionary psychology studies

Critically evaluate human cognition and behaviour in the light of evolution theory; critically evaluate comparative evolutionary research  with reference to methodological considerations

Apply evolutionary theory and research evidence to questions about human cognition and behaviour; Appraise research findings and discuss them with others in a small group context

Communicate complex ideas both orally and in writing; think critically about the validity of competing theoretical perspectives

Exam worth 90% and Blackboard Quizzes worth 10%

Students will recieve a grade as well as written feedback for the exam and cohort level feedback for the quizzes.

Primary textbook:

Workman, L. & Reader, W. (2014). Evolutionary Psychology, 3rd edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.