This book advances life history evolution as the missing metatheory for the social sciences. Life history theory and evolutionary psychology 89 life history theory lht provides a framework that addresses how, in the face of tradeoffs, organisms should allocate time and energy to tasks. The theories on which evolutionary psychology is based originated with charles darwins work, including his speculations about the evolutionary origins of social instincts in humans. It is a theory of biological evolution that seeks to explain aspects of. Unlike many books on the topic,which focus on abstractions like kin selection, this book focuses on darwinian explanations of why we are the way we areemotionally and morally. The evolutionary history of men and women should not prevent us from seeking gender equality. Coverage in psychology textbooks was largely hostile. The handbook of evolutionary psychology by editordavid m.
The history of evolutionary psychology began with charles darwin, who said that humans have social instincts that evolved by natural selection. Dec 27, 2016 the book draws theoretical inspiration from life history theory, evolutionary genetics, molecular genetics, developmental psychology, personality psychology, and evolutionary psychology, while utilizing the theories of the best and the brightest international scientists working on this cutting edge paradigm shift. We conclude with a summary of the theoretical and empirical challenges facing future research in this area. The chapter then considers specific applications of lht to an understanding of the human life course. Life history theory and ev olutionary psychology 89 life history theory lht provides a framework that addresses how, in the face of tradeoffs, organisms should allocate time and energy to tasks. Browse the amazon editors picks for the best books of 2019, featuring our. In addition to wellstudied areas of investigation, such as mate choice and reproduction, the book also includes articles on the philosophical underpinnings of evolutionary psychology, comparative perspectives from other species, recent neurobiological findings.
The challenge for evolutionary biology is to explain how such diversity arises. I know you had a hard time narrowing your list down to just five books on evolution. Lht conceptualizes specific allocation tradeoffs in terms of three broad. The theory of evolution by natural selection, first formulated in darwins book on the origin of species in 1859, is the process by which organisms change over time as a result of changes in. At the base of evolutionary psychology is darwins theory of evolution by natural selection. Life history and evolutionary psychology 2 life history theory and evolutionary psychology the evolution of life is the result of a process in which variant forms compete to harvest energy from the environment and convert it into replicates of those forms. Score a book s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book. In the 1990s, evolutionary psychology was treated as a fringe theory, and evolutionary psychologists depicted themselves as an embattled minority. Pellegrini evolutionary developmental psychology involves the expression of evolved, epigenetic programs, as described by the developmental systems approach, over the course of. Buss and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Oxford handbook of evolutionary psychology oxford handbooks. Child development and evolutionary psychology david f. Part i foundations of evolutionary psychology 1 david m.
Keywords human behavioural ecology evolutionary psychology cooperation geneculture co evolution cultural group selection 1 applying evolutionary theory to human behaviour the application of evolutionary theory to the study of human behaviour has a long and contentious history boakes 1984. Evolutionary psychology is neither the evolution institute. Applications of evolutionary psychology to other disciplines. It combines the science of psychology with the study of biology.
The cambridge encyclopedia of darwin and evolutionary. It is a theory of biological evolution that seeks to explain aspects of organisms anatomy and behavior by reference to the way that their life historiesincluding their reproductive development and. Written and edited by jerome h barkow, leda cosmides, and john tooby, the adapted mind is considered the allinone handbook of evolutionary psychology. Goulds most significant contribution to evolutionary biology was the theory of punctuated equilibrium developed with niles eldredge in 1972. Life history theory seeks to explain the evolution of the major features of life cycles by analyzing the ecological factors that shape agespecific schedules of growth, reproduction, and survival and by investigating the tradeoffs that constrain the evolution of these traits. Life history theory and evolutionary psychology the evolution of life is the result of a process in which variant forms compete to harvest energy from the environment. While each chapter thus stands on its own, and the book can be used as a work of reference, the integration of themes across chapters and sections means it can also be read in its entirety as a complement to textbooks and other publications in the field. Evolutionary psychology is the field of psychology dedicated to uncovering the biological, evolutionary roots of human behavior. The new science of evolutionary psychology by robert wright, the b. His account is strong on the history of psychology, on tracing the emergence of evolutionary psychology, and his examples of the current work of evolutionary psychologists is largely limited to ones that have a strong and prolonged set of results to support them.
The oxford handbook of evolutionary psychology is the definitive text on this burgeoning field. Sacco and osipowicz life history theory and social psychology frontiers in evolutionary neuroscience september 2012 volume 4 article 2. Darwins work inspired later psychologists such as william james and sigmund freud but for most of the 20th century psychologists focused more on behaviorism and proximate explanations for human behavior. Evolutionary psychology is an approach that views human nature as the product of a universal set of evolved psychological adaptations to recurring problems in the ancestral environment. We then consider the evolution of life history strategies at the population level and their development at the individual.
Evolutionary psychology is concerned with the adaptive problems early humans faced in ancestral human environments, the nature of the psychological mechanisms natural selection shaped to deal with those ancient problems, and the ability of the resulting evolved psychological mechanisms to deal with the problems people face in the modern world. The oxford handbook of evolutionary psychology provides an overview of the latest developments in this fastgrowing area of research. Differential k theory rushton, 1985, 1990, 2004, a variant of life history theory, attempts to characterize all the traits that are associated with fast rather than slow reproductive strategies. The book describes in particular the ways in which variation can be analyzed and predicted. They accept the that over evolutionary time the hun. Cambridge core history of science the cambridge encyclopedia of darwin and evolutionary thought edited by michael ruse. The basic assumption underlying lifehistory theory is that natural selection has selected for. Explores the psychological aspects of evolution and behavior in humans and nonhumans. Evolution, theory in biology postulating that the various types of plants, animals, and other living things on earth have their origin in other preexisting types and that the distinguishable differences are due to modifications in successive generations. The theory of evolution is one of the fundamental keystones of modern biological theory the diversity of the living world is staggering. Choose from used and new textbooks or get instant access with etextbooks and digital materials. Evolutionary and life history presents a new approach to understanding the human male by drawing upon life history and evolutionary theory. It also uses measures of evolutionary fitness to determine if organisms are able to maximize or optimize this fitness, 9 by allocating resources to a range of different. The similarities between all present day organisms indicate the presence of a common ancestor from which all known.
Lifehistory theory has its roots in evolutionary models of the fitness consequences of allocating energy to reproduction, growth and selfmaintenance across the life course. Evolutionary psychologists seek to explain peoples emotions, thoughts, and responses based on charles darwins theory of evolution through. Encyclopedia of evolutionary psychological science. The book describes in particular the ways in which.
Life history theory and evolutionary psychology giudice. According to evolutionary psychologists, current coverage in psychology textbooks is usually neutral or balanced. Marks teaches at the university of north carolina at charlotte, and has published widely on human microevolution and macroevolution, and the history and meaning of those sciences. A framework for understanding between and withinspecies differences in the strategic allocation of bioenergetic and material resources toward competing goals, such as somatic effort, mating effort, and parental effort. Sep 03, 2012 see the article the optimal calibration hypothesis. Coordinated evolution of all these principal lifehistory traits together determines the. Life history theory and ev olutionary psychology 93 the onset of sexual receptivity and competitiveness and the activation of behavioral systems that support parental care e.
The book draws theoretical inspiration from life history theory, evolutionary genetics, molecular genetics, developmental psychology, personality psychology, and evolutionary psychology, while utilizing the theories of the best and the brightest international scientists working on this cutting edge paradigm shift. Life history theory explains how organisms allocate energy to survival and. Evolutionary psychology is a theoretical approach in the social and natural sciences that examines psychological structure from a modern evolutionary perspective. Life history evolution a biological metatheory for the. Specifically, according to this variant, a strategy called r represents individuals with faster life history strategies, who produce many offspring. Kaplan and others published life history theory and evolutionary psychology find, read and cite all the research you need on. History of evolutionary thought in this section, you will see how study in four disciplinary areas earths history, life s history, mechanisms of evolution, and development and genetics has contributed to our current understanding of evolution. It described the scientific evidence behind the origin of life and the manner in which chemistry and physics were major determinants of what happened from 3. Pinker puts it on the dustjacket of a recent book buss, 2000.
Models of these competitive interactions could be constructed using evolutionary game theory and the predictions of these models tested against actual behavior. Lifehistory theory, reproduction and longevity in humans oxford. Evolutionary psychology darwins 18591958 theory of evolution, as presented in the origin of species, is probably the best and most enduring general explanation we have of the. It seeks to identify which human psychological traits are evolved adaptations that is, the functional products of natural selection or sexual selection in human evolution. Life history theory seeks to explain the evolution of the major features of life cycles. Evolutionary theories and principles have a great deal to offer personality psychology. Darwin did not actually discuss the origin of life nor the airbreathing phyla.
Summary this chapter provides an overview of life history theory lht. There are many different types of organisms in the world. This book discusses key figures in history in the context of their time, takes students on a carefullyformulated, chronological journey through the buildup of psychology from ancient times to the present, and seeks to draw students into the way science is done, rather than merely presenting them with historical fact. What are the best books about evolutionary psychology. Although life history theory has made enormous progress in explaining the diversity of life history strategies among. Evolutionary psychology is a theoretical approach to psychology that attempts to explain useful mental and psychological traitssuch as memory, perception, or languageas adaptations, i.
An accessible introduction to the science of evolutionary psychology and how it explains many aspects of human nature. Evolutionary psychology has close links to charles darwin and the idea that the theory of evolution can help us understand individual and social development. The human body evolved over eons, slowly calibrating to the african savanna on which 98 percent of human ancestry lived and died. The journal is informed by the related fields of social and life sciences, anthropology, philosophy, criminology, law and the humanities, with a focus on the ways that this interdisciplinary context contributes to the understanding of behavior.
This book has illuminated the history of evolution by perfectly blending concepts of evolutionary biology, cognitive psychology, and developmental history. Originally a biological theory for the variation between species, research on life history evolution now encompasses psychological and sociological variation within the human species that has long been the stock and trade of social scientific study. The emergence and maturation of evolutionary psychology xxiii david m. Dec 11, 2016 the core premises of darwinian evolution are survival and reproduction darwin 1859. In recent years, this field has developed rapidly with the input from neuroscience and neuropsychology and has therefore seen steady growth in terms of research and literature published.
Life history theory draws on an evolutionary foundation, and studies the effects of natural selection on organisms, both throughout their lifetime and across generations. Adaptationist literary scholars idenl tion as a crucial link in a causal chain duces literary artefacts. Because life history theory focuses on the timing of, and energetic investment in, particular aspects of physiology, such as growth and reproduction, richard bribiescas and his fellow anthropologists. In commemoration of the 200th anniversary of charles darwins birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his seminal work on the origin of species, this edition of psychological science agenda includes a special section on evolutionary theory and psychology. The evolution of desire is the most practical popular book on evolutionary psychology for men who wants to have more success with women, covering many of the common red pill paradigms such as dual mating strategies, loverprovider roles, and what cues women follow to classify men as one or the other.
Books about evolutionary psychology written for a general audience. Over the past 40 years, evolutionary biology has witnessed a tremendous explosion in understanding of adaptations, particularly as they relate to behavior. Evolutionary psychology, which emerged in the late 1980s, is a synthesis of developments in several different fields, including ethology, cognitive psychology, evolutionary biology, anthropology, and social psychology. Mechanisms of life history evolution hardcover thomas. Mar 22, 2015 jonathan marks is a biological anthropologist whose most recent book, tales of the exapes, will be published later this year.
May, 2020 evolutionary psychology is a scientific discipline that approaches human behavior through a lens that incorporates the effects of evolution. The evolution of life histories does this by showing that natural selection is the principal underlying force molding life history variation. Life history theory suggests that different therapy dosing schedules might select for fast or slow life history cell phenotypes, with important clinical consequences. Scientists and philosophers were invited to submit personal reflections on the significance and influence of darwins. Researchers and theorists are increasingly integrating lht into evolutionary psychology, as it provides a strong foundation for research across many topical areas. The chapter argues for ways in which lht can and should be infused into evolutionary psychology. While occupying a relatively brief space in the history of scientific inquiry, many social psychologists have nonetheless recognized the need to integrate the fields myriad findings into a coherent, meta. Psychologists have found that there is a fundamental difference in social norms between western cultures including those in the united states, canada, western europe, australia, and new zealand and east asian cultures. The topics concerning human life histories are the evolution of large brains, development and childhood, and aging. On the use of life history theory in evolutionary psychology. Life history theory also provides an evolutionary framework for phenotypic plasticity, which has potential implications for understanding cancer stem cells. Life history theory and evolutionary psychology the handbook of.
Modern evolutionary psychology, however, is possible only because of advances in evolutionary theory in the 20th century. The evolutionary history of men and women should not. In this chapter, we highlight how certain evolutionary theoriesespecially those related to life history theory can generate novel and important insights into not only why certain personality traits exist, but how and why people score differently on certain traits and why some traits cluster together more. Life history theory is an analytical framework designed to study the diversity of life history strategies used by different organisms throughout the world, as well as the causes and results of the variation in their life cycles.
Pdf life history theory and evolutionary psychology. Jul 04, 2005 and if my book can have any positive effect i would hope it would be to prompt people to think about alternative hypotheses and different ways in which evolutionary theory might inform psychology. How cultural evolutionary theory can inform social psychology and vice versa. Evolutionary biologist jerry coyne tells us why darwin is still essential reading and sifts the vast amount of more recent writing on evolution for books that are both inspiring to scientists and accessible to general readers. The evolutionary history of life on earth traces the processes by which living and fossil organisms have evolved since life on earth first originated until the present day. Find evolutionary psychology textbooks at up to 90% off. Life history theory and evolutionary psychology the evolutio n of life is the result of a process in whi ch variant forms comp ete to harvest energy from the en vironment and conv ert it into re. Increasingly, the term is also used in the conceptual framing of psychological and socialscience studies. Evolutionary psychologists believe there was an evolutionary. Foundations of evolutionary psychology 2nd edition.
860 727 121 1441 1354 751 266 778 342 730 1102 152 227 1067 282 1105 35 726 1511 624 1446 129 599 270 1096 335 352 648 799 903 1355 781 586 1129