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| Many researchers have published in the field of evolutionary psychology. Evolutionary psychology has been applied to the study of economics, aggression, law, psychiatry, politics, literature, and sex. | Many researchers have published in the field of evolutionary psychology. Evolutionary psychology has been applied to the study of economics, aggression, law, psychiatry, politics, literature, and sex. | ||
| In addition to Cosmides and Tooby, some of the best known authors are: ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ]. | In addition to Cosmides and Tooby, some of the best known authors are: ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ]. | ||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 21:11, 15 April 2004
The term evolutionary psychology was coined in the book The Adapted Mind: Evolutionary Psychology and The Generation of Culture. (Leda Cosmides & John Tooby, 1992.) They believe that more scientists and psychologists should study human cognition and behavior from the perspective of evolutionary theory. Evolutionary psychology is related to the fields of cognitive psychology, genetics, ethology, anthropology, biology, and zoology and is derived from the sociobiology concept.
Evolutionary psychologists think we should investigate the idea that evolution has shaped our minds. Evolutionary psychologists think it is likely that evolution has an influence way beyond perceiving systems like hearing, vision, motor control, and pain: they argue that it also shapes things like cultural interests, values, responses to situations, social dynamics, and sexual attitudes.
For example, evolutionary psychologists wonder if people think incest is bad because our minds evolved that way. They may propose that the mind has a mechanism, built by the process of evolution, to identify siblings, and then inhibit sexual desire. (See: "Does morality have a biological basis? An empirical test of the factors governing moral sentiments relating to incest." by D Lieberman, J Tooby and L Cosmides.)
Evolutionary psychologists do not always agree on what the mechanisms in the brain are. An evolutionary psychologist might think that racism comes from built-in racial categorization. Or, they might think that there is a part of the brain that recognizes alliances between groups of people. If people chose to ally by skin color, then the result would be racism. What is common to these two ideas is the idea that psychological machinery exists, and that it evolved.
Evolutionary psychologists study both human and non-human minds. They work to show that psychological machinery exists, and to show how it has developed by the process of evolution. They want to study the mind in the same way that scientists have studied the development of body parts, like bones and muscles.
Evolutionary psychology is controversial. There are many families of criticism of the idea.
Scientists and psychologists, as a whole, do not necessarily believe that the mind is as mechanical as evolutionary psychologists suggest. Evolutionary psychologists point to the structure of Universal Grammar as evidence of machinery. However, the Universal Grammar itself is controversial, and it does not require the existence of machinery.
Some people who do not normally call themselves scientists worry that evolutionary psychology will be used to justify harmful behavior. For example, they believe a husband may be more likely to cheat on his wife, if he believes his mind evolved to be that way.
Many researchers have published in the field of evolutionary psychology. Evolutionary psychology has been applied to the study of economics, aggression, law, psychiatry, politics, literature, and sex.
In addition to Cosmides and Tooby, some of the best known authors are: Donald Symons, David Buss, Margo Wilson, Martin Daly, Steven Pinker, Robert Wright, David C. Geary, Geoffrey Miller, Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, Robin Dunbar, Richard Dawkins.
References
- Cosmides, Leda; Tooby, John (1992). The Adapted Mind: Evolutionary Psychology and The Generation of Culture. ISBN 0-19-510107-3.