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Related Concept Videos

Types of Selection01:46

Types of Selection

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Natural selection influences the frequencies of particular alleles and phenotypes within populations in several different ways. Primarily, natural selection can be directional, stabilizing, or disruptive. Directional selection favors one extreme trait and shifts the population towards that phenotype while selecting against individuals displaying alternate traits. Stabilizing selection favors an intermediate trait with a narrow range of variation. Deviation from the optimal phenotype towards an...
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Mate Choice01:20

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Mate choice—the decision about whom to mate with—is a type of natural selection, since animals must reproduce to pass down their genes. Mate choice is also called intersexual selection because the behavior occurs between the sexes.
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Conservation of declining population focuses on ways of detecting, diagnosing, and halting a population decline. The approach uses methods to prevent populations from going extinct.
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When the fitness of a trait is influenced by how common it is (i.e., its frequency) relative to different traits within a population, this is referred to as frequency-dependent selection. Frequency-dependent selection may occur between species or within a single species. This type of selection can either be positive—with more common phenotypes having higher fitness—or negative, with rarer phenotypes conferring increased fitness.
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Organisms that are well-adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. However, natural selection does not lead to perfectly adapted organisms. Several factors constrain natural selection.
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Related Experiment Video

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A Method for Investigating Change Blindness in Pigeons Columba Livia
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Selective attention in birds.

Devarajan Sridharan1, Jason S Schwarz1, Eric I Knudsen1

  • 1Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.

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|June 4, 2014
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Selective attention helps us process relevant information while ignoring distractions. This cognitive function enhances focus on important stimuli for better decision-making.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • The human brain processes vast sensory information daily.
  • Selective attention is crucial for managing this information overload.
  • William James defined attention in 1890 as focusing on specific stimuli while withdrawing from others.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the fundamental mechanisms of selective attention.
  • To understand how attention enhances processing of relevant information.
  • To investigate how attention suppresses irrelevant information.

Main Methods:

  • Historical review of attention theories.
  • Analysis of William James' definition of attention.
  • Conceptual framework of attentional selection.

Main Results:

  • Attention involves both enhancing target information processing.
  • Attention includes suppressing distracting information.
  • James' definition highlights the dual nature of attentional selection.

Conclusions:

  • Selective attention is a vital cognitive process for navigating complex environments.
  • Understanding attention's hallmarks is key to cognitive research.
  • Attentional mechanisms allow for effective information processing and decision-making.