Lecture 36 focuses on the study of animal behavior from the viewpoint of sociobiology. We will start by defining sociobiology and considering its potential applications to the study of humans. Before plunging into sociobiology, however, consider the following.
Animal behavior is subject to the same pressures of natural selection as other animal traits.
Therefore, we should expect group life or cooperation to lead directly to increased individual fitness in the Darwinian sense. These types of animal associations are straightforward to explain. But other types of groups in which individuals do not improve their own personal fitness require explanation. Harvard Professor E.O. Wilson was the first to employ the term sociobiology, which he used as the title of a book published in the 1970s. The quotation we read in class indicated the inclusive nature of his concept of sociobiology.