1,106
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 1:
Line 1: − + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
added historical section, more coming
{{psychology}}
{{psychology}}
{{merge|psychology}}
{{merge|psychology}}
Evolutionary psychology is an approach to [[psychology]] that attempts to explain psychological traits using the [[Theory of Evolution]], by considering them as adaptations to their [[environment]], i.e., as the functional products of natural selection. The purpose of this approach is to bring the functional way of thinking about [[biology | biological]] mechanisms such as the heart or the immune system, into the field of psychology, and to approach psychological mechanisms, such as face recognition or language acquisition, in a similar way.
Evolutionary psychology is an approach to [[psychology]] that attempts to explain psychological traits using the [[Theory of Evolution]], by considering them as adaptations to their [[environment]], i.e., as the functional products of natural selection. The purpose of this approach is to bring the functional way of thinking about [[biology | biological]] mechanisms such as the heart or the immune system, into the field of psychology, and to approach psychological mechanisms.
Evolutionary psychology is not an area of study, such as [[memory]] or [[attention]] but instead is a way of viewing psychology and framing research. Research has focused on a diverse range of topics from facial recognition to mate to choice to [[altruism]]. It is one of the youngest paradigms in psychology formalizing in the 1980s. Only with in the last ten years have Universities created specific departments for evolutionary psychology and conferred specific degrees in the field.
==History==
Evolutionary psychology obviously has deep roots with [[Charles Darwin]] and his theory of evolution. But the connection is deeper than that. Darwin is sometimes described as the first evolutionary psychologist. In the closing pages of his work [[The Origin of Species]] he states:
<blockquote>"In the distant future I see open fields for far
more important researches. Psychology will be based on a new foundation, that of the necessary
acquirement of each mental power and capacity by gradation." <ref>[http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?itemID=F373&viewtype=text&pageseq=506&keywords=fields%20in%20distant%20see%20i%20open%20future%20the%20far%20for Quote from On the Origins of Species</ref></blockquote>
However, most of psychology took a very different path for the next 60 years focusing on [[behavioral psychology]], while [[evolutionary biology]] focused mainly on [[macroevolution | mechanisms of evolution]] and united [[genetics]] and evolution. Several important individuals in psychology and biology however tried to accomplish what Darwin had pointed to.
William James in his book [[Principles of Psychology]] focused a create deal on instincts and advocated a [[functionalism | functionalist]] approach to psychology. [[Ronald Fisher | RA Fisher]] the famous [[statistician]] and evolutionary biologist as well as [[J. B. S. Haldane]] helped define a mathematical base for many of the ideas that would later come to dominate evolutionary psychology.
During the peak of the [[cognitive revolution]] in psychology two very important works were published. The first was [[George C. Williams]]' [[Adaptation and Natural Selection]] in 1964, this was an extremely important book in evolutionary biology, it advocated a gene-centric view of evolution and used mathematical models to demonstrate that currently vogue theories of [[group selection]] where impossible. Two years later in 1966 [[W.D. Hamilton]] would use the concepts of gene-centric evolution to argue that evolution could support development of traits that did not directly favor the individual. This would become known as [[inclusive fitness]] and [[Hamilton's rule]] would later serve as bedrock for future work in evolutionary psychology.
The 1970s brought about the first recognizably modern research in evolutionary psychology. One significant development was the publication by evolutionary biologist [[Robert Trivers]] on his theories of [[reciprocal altruism]], [[parental investment theory]], and [[parent-offspring conflict]]. All of these ideas made use of Williams' and Hamilton's work. Another important event was [[E.O. Wilson]]'s publication of [[Sociobiology]]. Wilson's work attempted to explain such mysterious of evolution as the [[peacock's tail]] and the social structure of [[ants]]. He also advocated the explanations he found be applied to human behavior. His ideas were highly controversial and received a lot of political backlash, though the scientific community was mostly positive.
In many ways sociobiology is evolutionary psychology, with the size of the political pressure and negative press surrounding sociobiology the term got dropped in the early 80s. Many students and proponents started using the term evolutionary psychology. This would become the accepted phrase.
Most of the early work focused on demonstrating that the core belief in a universal human nature that could be elucidated from an evolutionary perspective was a viable idea. [[David Buss]] did a cross cultural study that examined 32 groups all over the world to show that there was a gender difference in preferences for short-term mates, but remarkable similarity for long-term mates. This prediction actually stemmed from evolutionary ideas of Trivers and concepts such as [[Bateman's principle]]. This dataset was also important because it showed that even a diverse range of cultures shared a common psychology.
By the 1990s the field had expanded considerably and gained a lot of recognition. Several Journals dedicated to evolutionary psychological research were started including [[Evolution and Human Behavior]] which is run by the [[Human Behavior and Evolution Society]].
==See also==
==See also==