Evolutionary educational psychology

Florence Lespiau

Chapter 7 in Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology, 2026, pp 112-127 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Evolutionary psychology provides a fresh perspective in education, offering a framework to reassess established theories and explore how cognitive and motivational systems shaped by evolution impact learning in school settings. This chapter primarily focuses on the distinction between biologically primary knowledge (i.e., ancient knowledge that benefits from efficient, low-cognitive-cost processing and motivational biases) and biologically secondary knowledge (i.e., more recent knowledge whose learning is lengthy and both cognitively and motivationally demanding). These differences, rooted in their relevance throughout human evolution, have been incorporated into an educational psychology theory, reshaping our understanding of learning mechanisms. Current research aims to leverage primary knowledge to facilitate the acquisition of secondary knowledge, primarily by harnessing motivational drivers and reducing cognitive load. While the findings are promising, they face challenges related to skepticism about the evolutionary approach.

Keywords: Primary Knowledge; Secondary Knowledge; Cognitive Load Theory; Motivation; Learning; Instructional Design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035332496
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