What is evolutionary psychology?
In the three and a half centuries since William Harvey proved that the purpose of the heart is to pump blood, physiologists have revealed the functional organization of the body in blinding detail. Their discoveries demonstrate beyond question that the structure of the body serves survival and reproduction. Further, there is near unanimity among biologists that this functional structure is a product of natural selection. In our century, psychologists have developed powerful techniques that conclusively demonstrate that cognition, too, has structure. Evolutionary psychologists are betting that cognitive structure, like physiological structure, has been designed by natural selection to serve survival and reproduction. Evolutionary psychology focuses on the evolved properties of nervous systems, especially those of humans. Because virtually all tissue in living organisms is functionally organized, and because this organization is the product of evolution by natural selection, a major pres
Simply put: Evolutionary psychology is the combination of two sciences — evolutionary biology and cognitive psychology. Introducing Evolutionary Psychology, Dylan Evans & Oscar Zarate, Totem Books, New York, 2000 Another explanation: Evolutionary psychology is the approach of explaining human behavior based on the combination of evolutionary biology, anthropology, cognitive science, and the neurosciences. Evolutionary psychology is not a specific sub field of psychology, such as the study of vision, reasoning, or social behavior. It is a way of thinking about psychology that can be applied to any topic within it. “Evolutionary Psychology and the Emotions,” by Leda Cosmides & John Tooby, from the new book, Handbook of Emotions, 2nd Edition, M. Lewis, J.M. Haviland-Jones, Editors, NY, Guilford, 2000. Another explanation: Evolutionary psychology is the science that seeks to explain through universal mechanisms of behavior why humans act the way they do (See, Assumptions About EP to Help
The most basic and universal of all questions asked by humankind is the following: “Who am I?” or, perhaps, rephrased more descriptively, “As I look around and see the broad field of experience, where do I fit within the scheme of things?” It is clear that, in order to gain understanding of self, one must look at his relation to all things outside himself —the context of his existence. This is more simply demonstrated by analogy with the far simpler challenge of putting together a puzzle as a game for one’s own amusement. If one has a particular puzzle piece that happens to have a confusing conglomeration of colors and shapes; some red, some blue, etc.; it is very hard to see where it fits within the larger scheme of the puzzle. Likewise, it is hard for the puzzle that is man to figure out where he fits in the larger scheme of things. The solution in both cases is to, first, study and piece together the overall context. In the case of the puzzle piece, this means one must complete th
Related Questions
- Why doesn the lack of sensory input reclaim "processing power" for the brain, possibly boosting cognitive capacity?
- What can psychological science, and evolutionary psychology in particular, offer to help to address these problems?
- Can I use an old edition of the text, Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind?
