- Table View
- List View
Evolution and Psychology
by Scott A. MacDougall-ShackletonEvolution and Psychology is a critical exploration of how evolutionary approaches can be used to understand the human mind and behaviour. Written for undergraduate students in the social sciences, this text provides an accessible introduction to foundational concepts in evolutionary biology. It then explores evolutionary perspectives on key psychological topics such as cognition, development, group dynamics, mate choice, language and communication, psychopathology, and culture. An interdisciplinary approach is woven throughout, integrating evolutionary psychology with insights from behavioural ecology, anthropology, genetics, and neuroscience. You will learn to think critically about evolutionary explanations, with Warning Flag features throughout the text that address frequently misunderstood topics, common fallacies, and historical misuses and abuses of applying evolutionary theory to human behaviour. This is an essential read for students of Evolutionary Psychology and anyone looking for a contemporary overview of this complex and captivating field. Scott A. MacDougall-Shackleton is Professor of Psychology at Western University.
Evolution and Rationality
by Samir Okasha Ken BinmoreThis volume explores from multiple perspectives the subtle and interesting relationship between the theory of rational choice and Darwinian evolution. In rational choice theory, agents are assumed to make choices that maximize their utility; in evolution, natural selection 'chooses' between phenotypes according to the criterion of fitness maximization. So there is a parallel between utility in rational choice theory and fitness in Darwinian theory. This conceptual link between fitness and utility is mirrored by the interesting parallels between formal models of evolution and rational choice. The essays in this volume, by leading philosophers, economists, biologists and psychologists, explore the connection between evolution and rational choice in a number of different contexts, including choice under uncertainty, strategic decision making and pro-social behaviour. They will be of interest to students and researchers in philosophy of science, evolutionary biology, economics and psychology.
Evolution and Social Psychology (Frontiers of Social Psychology)
by Douglas T. Kenrick Jeffry A. Simpson Mark SchallerWhy do we think about and interact with other people in the particular ways that we do? Might these thoughts and actions be contemporary products of our long-ago evolutionary past? If so, how might this be, and what are the implications? Research generated by an evolutionary approach to social psychology issues profound insights into self-concept, impression formation, prejudice, group dynamics, helping, aggression, social influence, culture, and every other topic that is fundamental to social psychology. Evolution and Social Psychology is the first book to review and discuss this broad range of social psychological phenomena from an evolutionary perspective. It does so with a critical and constructive eye. Readers will emerge with a clear sense of the intellectual challenges, as well as the scientific benefits, of an evolutionarily-informed social psychology. The world-renowned contributors identify new questions, new theories, and new hypotheses—many of which are only now beginning to be tested. Thus, this book not only summarizes the current status of the field, it also sets an agenda for the next generation of research on evolution and social psychology. Evolution and Social Psychology is essential reading for evolutionary psychologists and social psychologists alike.
Evolution and the Fate of Humankind (Elements in Applied Evolutionary Science)
by Peter A. CorningIn recent years we have come to understand better the forces that have shaped biological evolution over the course of time. Evolved purposiveness (teleonomy) in living systems themselves has been an important influence. Cooperative effects (synergies) of various kinds have also been influential. And the bioeconomics (functional costs and benefits) have been important constraints. Now we are facing a mounting survival crisis that may determine the future of life on Earth. We need to make a major course change, utilizing our insights into these important influences. Here is a review, and a 'prescription.'
Evolution and the Human-Animal Drive to Conflict: A Psychobiological Perspective
by Jorge A. ColomboEvolution and the Human-Animal Drive to Conflict examines how fundamental, universal animal drives, such as dominance/prevalence, survival, kinship, and "profit" (greed, advantage, whether of material or social nature), provide the basis for the evolutionary trap that promotes the unstable, conflictive, dominant-prone individual and group human behaviours. Examining this behavioural tension, this book argues that while these innate features set up behaviours that lean towards aggression influenced by social inequalities, the means implemented to defuse them resort to emotional and intellectual strategies that sponsor fanaticism and often reproduce the very same behaviours they intend to defuse. In addressing these concerns, the book argues that we should enhance our resources to promote solidarity, accept cultural differences, deter expansionist and uncontrolled profit drives, and achieve collective access towards knowledge and progress in living conditions. This entails promoting the redistribution of resources and creative labour access and avoiding policies that generate a fragmented world with collective and individual development disparities that invite and encourage dominance behaviours. This resource redistribution asserts that it is necessary to reformulate the global set of human priorities towards increased access to better living conditions, cognitive enhancement, a more amiable interaction with the ecosystem and non-aggressive cultural differences, promote universal access to knowledge, and enhance creativity and cultural convivence. These behavioural changes entail partial derangement of our ancestral animal drives camouflaged under different cultural profiles until the species succeeds in replacing the dominance of basic animal drives with prosocial, collective ones. Though it entails a formidable task of confronting financial, military, and religious powers and cultural inertias – human history is also a challenging, continuous experience in these domains – for the sake of our own self-identity and self-evaluation, we should reject any suggestion of not continuing embracing slowly constructing collective utopias channelled towards improving individual and collective freedom and creativeness. This book will interest academics and students in social, cognitive, and evolutionary psychology, the neurosciences, palaeoanthropology, philosophy, and anthropology.
Evolution and the Psychology of Thinking: The Debate (Current Issues in Thinking and Reasoning)
by David E. OverThe field of evolutionary cognitive psychology has stimulated considerable interest and debate among cognitive psychologists and those working in related areas. In this collection, leading experts evaluate the status of this new field, providing a critical analysis of its most controversial hypotheses. These hypotheses have far reaching implications for cognition, including a modular view of the mind, which rejects, in its extreme form, any general learning or reasoning abilities. Some evolutionary psychologists have also proposed content-dependent accounts of conditional reasoning and probability judgements, which in turn have significant, and equally controversial, implications about the nature of human reasoning and decision making.The contributions range from those that are highly critical of the hypotheses to those that support and develop them. The result is a uniquely balanced, cutting-edge evaluation of the field that will be of interest to psychologists, philosophers and those in related subjects who wish to find out what evolutionary considerations can, and cannot, tell us about the human mind.
Evolution and the Social Mind: Evolutionary Psychology and Social Cognition (Sydney Symposium of Social Psychology)
by William Von Hippel Joseph P. Forgas Martie G. HaseltonThis book seeks to combine the study of human social cognition - the way we think, decide, plan and analyze social situations - with an evolutionary framework that considers these activities in light of evolutionary adaptations for solving problems of survival faced by our ancestors over thousands of generations. The chapters report recent research and theories illustrating how evolutionary principles can shed new light on the subtle and often subconscious ways that cognitive mechanisms guide peoples’ thoughts, memories, judgments, attitudes and behaviors in social life. The contributors to this volume, who are leading researchers in their fields, seek answers to such intriguing questions as: how can evolutionary principles help to explain human beliefs, attitudes, judgments, prejudice, and group preferences? Are there benefits to behaving unpredictably? Why are prototypical faces more attractive than atypical ones? How do men and women think about, and select potential mates? What are the adaptive functions of negative affect? What are the evolutionary influences on the way people think about and respond to social exclusion and ostracism? Evolution and the Social Mind offers a highly integrated and representative coverage of this emerging field, and is suitable as a textbook in advanced courses dealing with social cognition and evolutionary psychology.
Evolution in International Relations (Elements in Applied Evolutionary Science)
by Jeremy GarlickScholars of international relations (IR) and evolution pay little attention to each other's fields. However, there is a need to examine evolution's impacts in IR. International actors such as nations are made up of people, so evolved human nature has an impact on relations within and between states. Accordingly, this pathbreaking Element will attempt to apply insights from evolutionary biology, evolutionary psychology, neuroscience, and archaeogenetics to IR. Among such insights are the evolved role of emotions in decision-making, intergroup competition as a driver of in-group cooperation, and culture, morality, and language as group-binding mechanisms. Homo sapiens is a primate, so comparison with the behaviours of other great apes reveals some commonalities in terms of group dynamics, status, and hierarchies, as well as the enduring human capacity for both in-group cooperation and organised violence against other groups. These have an evolutionary basis that is relevant to IR theory and practice.
Evolution of Brain and Behavior in Vertebrates (Psychology Library Editions: Comparative Psychology)
by R. B. Masterton M. E. Bitterman C.B.G. Campbell Nicholas HottonOriginally published in 1976, the object of this volume was to present a relatively up-to-date overview of what was known, what was suspected, and what remained to be discovered concerning the general question of the evolution of the vertebrate brain and behaviour, and to present a list of references for those who wanted to delve deeper into one or another aspect of the problem. Accordingly, it contains chapters by palaeontologists, sensory morphologists and physiologists, comparative neurologists and comparative psychologists. The chapters are arranged in a sequence loosely approximating the order in which the various animals, brain structures, or behaviour first appeared. Therefore, the chapters fall naturally into sections, each section directed to a group of vertebrates, beginning with those which have very remote common ancestry and progressing to those with more recent common ancestry with mankind.
Evolution of Learning and Memory Mechanisms
by Mauricio R. Papini Mark A. Krause Karen L. HollisEvolution of Learning and Memory Mechanisms is an exploration of laboratory and field research on the many ways that evolution has influenced learning and memory processes, such as associative learning, social learning, and spatial, working, and episodic memory systems. This volume features research by both outstanding early-career scientists as well as familiar luminaries in the field. Learning and memory in a broad range of animals are explored, including numerous species of invertebrates (insects, worms, sea hares), as well as fish, amphibians, birds, rodents, bears, and human and nonhuman primates. Contributors discuss how the behavioral, cognitive, and neural mechanisms underlying learning and memory have been influenced by evolutionary pressures. They also draw connections between learning and memory and the specific selective factors that shaped their evolution. Evolution of Learning and Memory Mechanisms should be a valuable resource for those working in the areas of experimental and comparative psychology, comparative cognition, brain–behavior evolution, and animal behavior.
Evolution of the Central Nervous System of Craniata and Homo
by Wolfgang SeegerThe main focus of this book is on providing students, neurosurgery trainees, certified neurosurgeons and colleagues in neighbouring disciplines essential information on the evolution of the central nervous system (CNS) of craniata and homo. Therefore the book is divided in three parts: Part I is describing the evolution of CNS of craniata (starting 800 million of years ago). Part II is explaining in detail the exceptional position of the human encephalon. Part III is discussing maturity and immaturity of all parts of CNS of craniatas and the consequences concerning further development of brain structure and psychological functions. In all parts anatomical fundamentals are presented in the form of didactic and self-explanatory illustrations.
Evolution's Empress: Darwinian Perspectives On The Nature Of Women
by Maryanne Fisher Justin Garcia Rosemarie Chang Sarah HrdyOver the last decade, there has been increasing debate as to whether feminism and evolutionary psychology can co-exist. Such debates often conclude with a resounding "no," often on the grounds that the former is a political movement while the latter is a field of scientific inquiry. In the midst of these debates, there has been growing dissatisfaction within the field of evolutionary psychology about the way the discipline (and others) have repeatedly shown women to be in passive roles when it comes to survival and reproduction. Evolutionary behavioral research has made significant strides in the past few decades, but continues to take for granted many theoretical assumption that are perhaps, in light of the most recent evidence, misguided. As a result, the research community has missed important areas of research, and in some cases, will likely come to inaccurate conclusions based on existing dogma, rather than rigorous, theoretically driven research. Bias in the field of evolutionary psychology echoes the complaints against the political movement attached to academic feminisms. This is an intellectual squabble where much is at stake, including a fundamental understanding of the evolutionary significance of women's roles in culture, mothering, reproductive health and physiology, mating, female alliances, female aggression, and female intrasexual competition. Evolution's Empress identifies women as active agents within the evolutionary process. The chapters in this volume focus on topics as diverse as female social interactions, mate competition and mating strategies, motherhood, women's health, sex differences in communication and motivation, sex discrimination, and women in literature. The volume editors bring together a diverse range of perspectives to demonstrate ways in which evolutionary approaches to human behavior have thus far been too limited. By reconsidering the role of women in evolution, this volume furthers the goal of generating dialogue between the realms of women's studies and evolutionary psychology.
Evolution's Eye: A Systems View of the Biology-Culture Divide
by Susan OyamaIn recent decades, Susan Oyama and her colleagues in the burgeoning field of developmental systems theory have rejected the determinism inherent in the nature/nurture debate, arguing that behavior cannot be reduced to distinct biological or environmental causes. In Evolution's Eye Oyama elaborates on her pioneering work on developmental systems by spelling out that work's implications for the fields of evolutionary theory, developmental and social psychology, feminism, and epistemology. Her approach profoundly alters our understanding of the biological processes of development and evolution and the interrelationships between them. While acknowledging that, in an uncertain world, it is easy to "blame it on the genes," Oyama claims that the renewed trend toward genetic determinism colors the way we think about everything from human evolution to sexual orientation and personal responsibility. She presents instead a view that focuses on how a wide variety of developmental factors interact in the multileveled developmental systems that give rise to organisms. Shifting attention away from genes and the environment as causes for behavior, she convincingly shows the benefits that come from thinking about life processes in terms of developmental systems that produce, sustain, and change living beings over both developmental and evolutionary time. Providing a genuine alternative to genetic and environmental determinism, as well as to unsuccessful compromises with which others have tried to replace them, Evolution's Eye will fascinate students and scholars who work in the fields of evolution, psychology, human biology, and philosophy of science. Feminists and others who seek a more complex view of human nature will find her work especially congenial.
Evolution's Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People
by Joan RoughgardenA celebration of the enormous diversity of genders and sexuality found in animals and among human cultures. Roughgarden explores how and why this range of bodies and behaviors evolved and exposes how biology, medicine, anthropology and Christianity have obstructed the recognition and acceptance of this diversity.
Evolution, Brain, and Behavior: Persistent Problems
by R. B. MASTERTON, WILLIAM HODOS AND HARRY JERISONIn this second volume on the evolution of the nervous system and behavior, the discussion turns from conclusions to method, from a desciption of what happened in history to the means of deciidng what happened. First published in 1976.
Evolution, Cognition, and Performance
by Bruce McconachieCulture and cognition work together dynamically every time a spectator interprets meaning during a performance. In this study, Bruce McConachie examines the biocultural basis of all performance, from its origins and the cognitive processes that facilitate it, to what keeps us coming back for more. To effect this major reorientation, McConachie works within the scientific paradigm of enaction, which explains all human activities, including performances, as the interactions of mental, bodily, and ecological networks. He goes on to use our biocultural proclivity for altruism, as revealed in performance, to explore our species' gradual ethical progress on such matters as the changing norms of religious sacrifice, slavery, and LGBT rights. Along the way, the book engages with a wide range of performances, including Richard Pryor's stand-up, the film Titanic, aerialist performances, American football, and the stage and film versions of A Streetcar Named Desire.
Evolution, Culture, and the Human Mind
by Mark SchallerAn enormous amount of scientific research compels two fundamental conclusions about the human mind: The mind is the product of evolution; and the mind is shaped by culture. These two perspectives on the human mind are not incompatible, but, until recently, their compatibility has resisted rigorous scholarly inquiry. Evolutionary psychology documents many ways in which genetic adaptations govern the operations of the human mind. But evolutionary inquiries only occasionally grapple seriously with questions about human culture and cross-cultural differences. By contrast, cultural psychology documents many ways in which thought and behavior are shaped by different cultural experiences. But cultural inquires rarely consider evolutionary processes. Even after decades of intensive research, these two perspectives on human psychology have remained largely divorced from each other. But that is now changing - and that is what this book is about. Evolution, Culture, and the Human Mind is the first scholarly book to integrate evolutionary and cultural perspectives on human psychology. The contributors include world-renowned evolutionary, cultural, social, and cognitive psychologists. These chapters reveal many novel insights linking human evolution to both human cognition and human culture – including the evolutionary origins of cross-cultural differences. The result is a stimulating introduction to an emerging integrative perspective on human nature.
Evolution, Kultur und Kriminalität
by Christian LaueDie Evolutionsbiologie gilt einerseits als Königsdisziplin der Biologie, andererseits wird sie nach den erschreckenden Erfahrungen mit der Kriminalbiologie vor allem mit Eugenik, Sozialdarwinismus und Rassismus in Verbindung gebracht. Tatsächlich bietet die Evolutionstheorie viele Antworten auf kriminologisch interessante Fragen. Der Autor überbrückt den Graben zwischen sozialwissenschaftlich orientierter Kriminologie und den Biowissenschaften und untersucht, inwieweit neue Erkenntnisse aus der Evolutionsbiologie die Kriminologie bereichern können.
Evolutionary Behavioral Ecology and Psychopathy
by Janko MeđedovićThis book examines the study of psychopathy using behavioral ecological framework. It consists of two parts. The first describes the science of human behavioral ecology, including:• Basic concepts of evolutionary biology• Evolutionary behavioral sciences• Evolutionary ecology of family• Evolutionary tradeoffs• Life history theory• Behavioral ecology of personality• Psychopathy and its current evolution.The second part of the book describes empirical research on psychopathy in evolutionary ecological context, aiming to explore fertility-longevity tradeoffs in psychopathy, interacting phenotypes in psychopathy, and parental effects associated with psychopathy. This part contains the discussion of the study’s findings which is based on several theoretical concepts described in part one. This volume is ideal for psychopathy researchers hoping to bridge the natural and social sciences in a new and innovative way.
Evolutionary Case Formulation: Developing a Unified Language for the Practice of Psychotherapy
by Álvaro Quiñones BergeretThis book presents the Evolutionary Case Formulation model, a new proposal of case formulation protocol developed with the aim of providing psychotherapists with a common language to identify and treat psychological problems of varying complexity. This new case formulation model was developed based on the analysis of textual data in complete psychotherapeutic processes which led to the identification of different dimensions of intersubjective meaning elaboration that are a product of our evolution as a species. The Evolutionary Case Formulation model is based on a system of first and second order intersubjective knowledge domains. The first order knowledge domain is the Self System, which is ubiquitous in the processing of information and creation of individual meaning in a cultural intersubjective matrix. The second order knowledge domains are the different dimensions of intersubjective meaning elaboration: Cognition, Emotion, Interpersonal, Imagination, Corporeality, Sexuality and Religiosity/Spirituality. This system provides psychotherapists with a new conceptual framework to work with patients in the different stages of the psychotherapeutic process, from assessment to treatment planning and implementation. The book Evolutionary Case Formulation: Developing a Unified Language for the Practice of Psychotherapy, that the reader has in their hands, was first published in Spanish in 2021. This English edition is a fully revised and updated version of the original Spanish edition. More specifically, the case formulation protocol presents a series of innovations that are not present in the Spanish edition. In other words, it is a protocol that includes numerous clarifications in the intersubjective knowledge domains, making this book different. The original manuscript of this book was written in Spanish and translated into English with the help of artificial intelligence. The author (with the friendly support of a bilingual psychotherapist) has subsequently revised the text further in an endeavor to refine the work stylistically.
Evolutionary Criminology and Cooperation: Retribution, Reciprocity, and Crime (Palgrave's Frontiers in Criminology Theory)
by Evelyn SvingenThis book develops an evolutionary theory of crime. Both evolutionary theory and neurocriminology are growing fields that are attracting more and more interest for criminologists and wider fields alike. This book summarises important readings that relate to retribution and punishment and presents some neurocriminological findings. In addition, the book introduces a new methodology for the study of crime: a game theory experiment adapted from the field of behavioural economics. Overall, the book synthesises the key crime literature, presents a new theory of crime in a new field of evolutionary criminology and the methodology to study it, and provides empirical results in support of the theory. For any evolutionary and neuroscientist interested in deviance, this book offers a new model which is testable using more complex methods such as MRI scanners and survival simulations.
Evolutionary Economics (Springer Texts in Business and Economics)
by Yuji ArukaThis textbook presents a new way to visualize or imagine the evolutionary architecture of economics, to judge both its practical outcomes and its ultimate value. Evolutionary economics employs an Aristotelian architecture. The cognitive value of this imagination[H1] must be directly relevant to the evolutionary theory and practice of designing the architecture of the economic system. Mainstream economics completely ignores design value in order to concentrate on the ideal, Platonic vision of the economy. The current system is no longer one that converges on a constant entity, because the system is constantly evolving. The advent of the digital economy is an indispensable next step, and computational power and algorithmic rationality are increasingly dominating the economic system—and complicating it. In today’s society, neither fault nor malice matters in the algorithmic or human system. There is little room left for the effective working of human reason. Correspondingly, the meanings of money, exchange, the market system, auctions, production, consumption, and the currency transaction system are poised to change. In most cases, there will be digital counterparts. A smart contract tied together with DLT, for example, makes it possible to design an economically well-behaved peer-to-peer (P2P) system, which ranges from the micromarket to the international currency transaction system. The introduction of this technology and its architectural design may suggest what a truly decentralized future entails. This change may also bring about a new understanding of existing social consensus and practice. Thus, the implementation of these considerations naturally leads to a new style of chapter structuring in this book, from the classical analytical approach to exploring computational methods and digital tools: in many cases, the problems presented in each chapter are combined with discussions of a respective computational method and its practical value.
Evolutionary Explanations of Human Behaviour (Routledge Modular Psychology Ser.)
by John H. CartwrightIn recent years, a new discipline has arisen that argues human behaviour can be understood in terms of evolutionary processes. Evolutionary Explanations of Human Behaviour is an introductory level book covering evolutionary psychology, this new and controversial field. The book deals with three main areas: human reproductive behaviour, evolutionary explanations of mental disorders and the evolution of intelligence and the brain. The book is particularly suitable for the AQA-A A2 syllabus, but will also be of interest to undergraduates studying evolutionary psychology for the first time and anyone with a general interest in this new discipline.
Evolutionary Explanations of Human Behaviour (Routledge Modular Psychology)
by John H. CartwrightIn recent years, a new discipline has arisen that argues human behaviour can be understood in terms of evolutionary processes. Evolutionary Explanations of Human Behaviour is an introductory level book covering evolutionary psychology, this new and controversial field. The book deals with three main areas: human reproductive behaviour, evolutionary explanations of mental disorders and the evolution of intelligence and the brain. The book is particularly suitable for the AQA-A A2 syllabus, but will also be of interest to undergraduates studying evolutionary psychology for the first time and anyone with a general interest in this new discipline.
Evolutionary Perspectives on Child Development and Education
by David C. Geary Daniel B. BerchThis stimulating volume assembles leading scholars to address issuesin children's cognitive, academic, and social development through the lens ofevolutionary psychology. Debates and controversies in the field highlight thepotential value of this understanding, from basic early learning skills throughemerging social relationships in adolescence, with implications for academicoutcomes, curriculum development, and education policy. Children's evolvedtendency toward play and exploration fuels an extended discussion on child-versus adult-directed learning, evolutionary bases are examined for younglearners' moral development, and contemporary theories of learning and memoryare viewed from an evolutionary perspective. Alongthe way, contributors' recommendations illustrate real-world uses of evolution-basedlearning interventions during key developmental years. Among the topics covered: The adaptive value of cognitive immaturity:applications of evolutionary developmental psychology to early education Guidedplay: a solution to the play versus learning dichotomy Adolescent bullying in schools: anevolutionary perspective Fairness:what it isn't, what it is, and what it might be for Adaptingevolution education to a warming climate of teaching and learning The effects of an evolution-informed school environmenton student performance and wellbeing Evolutionary Perspectives on Child Development andEducation will interest researchers andgraduate students working in diverse areas such as evolutionary psychology,cultural anthropology, human ecology, developmental psychology, and educationalpsychology. Researchers in applied developmental science and early educationwill also find it useful.