Darwin in Mind: New Opportunities for Evolutionary Psychology

Johan J Bolhuis (), Gillian R Brown, Robert C Richardson and Kevin N Laland

Working Papers from eSocialSciences

Abstract: Evolutionary Psychology (EP) views the human mind as organized into many modules, each underpinned by psychological adaptations designed to solve problems faced by our Pleistocene ancestors. It is argued that the key tenets of the established EP paradigm require modification in the light of recent findings from a number of disciplines, including human genetics, evolutionary biology, cognitive neuroscience, developmental psychology, and paleoecology. For instance, many human genes have been subject to recent selective sweeps; humans play an active, constructive role in co-directing their own development and evolution; and experimental evidence often favours a general process, rather than a modular account, of cognition. A redefined EP could use the theoretical insights of modern evolutionary biology as a rich source of hypotheses concerning the human mind, and could exploit novel methods from a variety of adjacent research fields. URL:[http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.1001109].

Keywords: Darwin; psychology; evolutionary psychology; research fields; human mind; evolutionary biology; Pleistocene ancestors; Adaptedness; Gradualism; human cognitive processes; environment of evolutionary adaptedness; human genetics; human nature; Massive modularity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-08
Note: Institutional Papers
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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