PS421 Half Unit
Issues in Social Psychology: Evolutionary Social Psychology
This information is for the 2011/12 session.
Teacher responsible
Availability
Optional for MSc Organisational and Social Psychology, MSc Social and Cultural Psychology, MSc Social and Public Communication and MSc Social Research Methods. Students on degrees without a psychology component may attend subject to numbers, their own degree regulations and at the discretion of the Teacher responsible. Course content
An introduction to evolutionary theory and its applications to social psychology.
Darwin's theories of natural and sexual selection. Fisher's runaway model, Zahavi's handicap theory, indicator theory. Evolutionary genetics. The nature-nurture controversy. Trivers' parental investment theory, Hamilton's kin selection theory. Gender issues in evolutionary biology. Altruism between individuals and groups. Mate choice. Homicide, violence and aggression. Gene and culture co-evolution. Teaching
Lecture/seminar (PS421) (two hours) x 10 LT. Formative coursework
An essay plan of not more than 500 words is required. Indicative reading
C Crawford & D Krebs (Eds), Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ, 1998; H Cronin, The Ant and the Peacock, CUP, 1991; C Darwin, On the Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, John Murray, London, 1859. Facsimile reproduction with an introduction by Ernst Mayr, Athenaeum, New York, 1967; C Darwin, The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, John Murray, London, 187 Facsimile reproduction with an introduction by J T Bonner & R M May, Princeton University Press, 1981; R H Frank, Passions Within Reason. The Strategic Role of the Emotions, W W Norton & Company, New York, 1988; P A Gowaty (Ed), Feminism and Evolutionary Biology. Boundaries, Intersections and Frontiers, Chapman and Hall, London, 1997; S B Hardy, Mother Nature. Natural Selection and the Female of the Species, Chatto & Windus, London, 1999; G Miller, The Mating Mind. How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature, Heinemann, London, 2000; R Trivers, Social Evolution, Benjamin Cummings, Menlo Park, CA, 1985. Assessment
A written assignment of not more than 3,000 words 100%). ^
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