ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an outline of views on evolution and genetics especially as they apply to behaviour including human behaviour and discusses the application of evolutionary and genetic ideas to social behaviour. There is evidence that behaviour has evolved with other features in the formation of groups and species, so that it can be used as a character in taxonomy. K. Lorenz has used behaviour as a character in the taxonomy of ducks and geese. Certain elements of behaviour seem not to be learned in that they appear in their usual form the first time a particular situation is encountered. Some variation in behaviour is achieved by one generation learning from its parents or other individuals, a process called cultural inheritance. The role of cultural traditions in causing differences between human populations is enormous, and it also occurs in animals.
