The Colony

  Recently in our Psychology Class, we have been watching a TV show called The Colony.  In the show, a group of "colonists" participate in a psychological experiment that tests their ability to adapt and survive in the world after a deadly virus has wiped out most of the population.  As time goes on, the group faces situations that challenge their physical, mental and emotional capabilities.  They soon realize they must rise to the occasion and adapt to their environment or ultimately face death.
   In one of the early episodes of The Colony, the colonists are intitally placed in the abandoned neighborhood where the experiment takes place.  After being in quarantine for thirty six hours, their initial reaction was to immediately socialize. From an evolutionary perspective, the reasoning behind their socialization would be influenced by their ancestors.  Perhaps, in the past, these individuals' ancestors survived better as a group, with social connection than independently.  As time passed, the traits that encouraged socialization were handed down and caused the colonists to immediately socialize with one another once they were released form quarantine.
    In another episode of The Colony, the colonists are faced with hostile invaders who try to take over their camp and steal their supplies.  The colonists reacted with hostility themselves; especially Reno and George.  From a behavioral viewpoint, the colonists reaction would be explained by them learning to fight back.  Perhaps the colonists had viewed behavior, such from their parents or even a TV show, that showed them fighting is a good way to get what they want.  What they wanted was for the invaders to leave, and their reaction was to imitate behavior they have previously seen, and fight back in hopes of achieving what they want. 
   The Colony is an interesting psychological experiment, and there are many more examples of psychological behavior that can be explained from the different view points.  These are just two of the examples from the show, and I'm sure there will be many more to come.