One Name for the Evolutionary Baby? A Preliminary Guide for Everyone Confused by the Chaos of Names

2004 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iver Mysterud
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Human Behavior ◽  
Behavioral Ecology ◽  
Human Behavioral Ecology ◽  
Evolutionary Perspective ◽  
Evolutionary Anthropology ◽  
The Past ◽  
Evolutionary Studies ◽  
Human Ethology ◽  
Human Sociobiology

Evolutionary studies of human behavior and design are increasing in popularity. There are now few topics or disciplines where an evolutionary perspective is not applied. For the past 40 years, evolutionary approaches to human behavior and design have been given many names, e.g. human ethology, human sociobiology, human behavioral ecology, evolutionary anthropology and evolutionary psychology. This diversity may be confusing when one first becomes interested in evolutionary studies. Different names have come and gone – often because they have become unpopular in someone’s mind – while some names have survived and remained, but are often used with different meanings. This article presents the preliminary result of a scrutiny of names used in the evolutionary literature and what they mean. I also briefly discuss why there is a surplus of names and consider if we should attempt to find one name for the field(s) or if we should continue with the diversity.

The Cradle of Humankind

2021 ◽  
pp. 114-134
Author(s):  
Geoff Kushnick
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Human Behavior ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Behavioral Ecology ◽  
The Other ◽  
Evolutionary Perspective ◽  
Dual Inheritance Theory ◽  
Cradle Of Humankind ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Dual Inheritance

This chapter explores the relationship between parenting and technology from an evolutionary perspective. The exploration is organized around the “three styles” framework for understanding and differentiating between the three major evolutionary approaches to the study of human behavior: evolutionary psychology, human behavioral ecology, and dual inheritance theory. For each of these evolutionary approaches, the chapter provides two examples of the relationship between parenting and technology, one related to childbearing and the other related to childrearing. Is the evolutionary approach a useful one to understand this relationship? First, although each has as its focus the application of evolutionary theory to the study of human behavior, each of the three styles brings a different set of assumptions and priorities. Second, an evolutionary perspective points to specific, and theoretically justified, behavioral concomitants of technological change.

Developments in the Ethology of Law

1987 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred Kort
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Human Behavior ◽  
West Germany ◽  
International Conference ◽  
The Past ◽  
Human Ethology

In a development parallel to the emergence of the biobehavioral orientation in political science, the ethology of law has become a prominent endeavor in the past ten years. That it is indeed a biobehavioral approach is a fact that received a cogent reminder at the Fifth International Conference on Human Ethology in Tutzing, West Germany, in 1986. In a major address at the conference, Irenaus Eibl-Eibesfeldt defined human ethology as the biology of human behavior. Correspondingly, Wolfgang Fikentscher and Hagen Hof, in their respective presentations at the session on the ethology of law at the conference, emphasized that law is a particular form of human behavior, making it clear that the biobehavioral context for the study of law is imperative.

The Daily Lives of Early Archaic Foragers in the Mid-South

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kandace D. Hollenbach ◽  
Stephen B. Carmody
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Behavioral Ecology ◽  
Human Behavioral Ecology ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Economic Relationships ◽  
The Past ◽  
Early Archaic ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Everyday

This chapter is a narrative-based construction of a seasonal year using various archaeological datasets, with a focus on subsistence. The authors approach the fictional interpretation of the past from the framework of human behavioral ecology, which they find particularly useful in everyday research because it focuses on the decisions of individuals – specifically those decisions that result in the everyday actions from which the archaeological record is constructed. By imagining the daily, seasonal activities through the eyes of a young girl, they give those individuals identities and begin to think about the social relationships among earlier Archaic peoples and the landscapes that are rooted in economic relationships.

scholarly journals Clinical Psychology and Evolutionary Psychology: Toward a Dialogue

2002 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard J. Siegert ◽  
Tony Ward
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Human Behavior ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Clinical Psychology ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Evolutionary Perspective ◽  
Etiological Theory

The growth of evolutionary psychology as a theoretical framework for the study of human behavior has been spectacular. However, evolutionary psychology has been largely ignored by clinical psychology. This article is an attempt to encourage greater dialogue between the two. First, some of the major principles of evolutionary psychology are outlined, followed by consideration of some of the criticisms that have been made of this approach. Second, an attempt is made to trace the influence of evolutionary theory on the history and development of clinical psychology. Third, the authors describe how an evolutionary perspective has enhanced the understanding and study of autism and depression. Finally, some implications of an evolutionary perspective for etiological theory, assessment, treatment, and ethics are discussed.

Controversies Surrounding Evolutionary Psychology

2019 ◽  
pp. 157-178
Author(s):  
Glenn Geher ◽  
Vania Rolón
Keyword(s):  
Visual Perception ◽  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Human Behavior ◽  
Intimate Relationships ◽  
Great Work ◽  
Infant Attachment ◽  
Human Emotion ◽  
Attachment Patterns ◽  
The Past ◽  
University Curricula

The field of evolution and human behavior is a powerful area of inquiry, shedding new light on such facets of human behavior as infant attachment patterns, visual perception, the human emotion system, the nature of altruism, the nature of aggression, human intimate relationships, and more. In fact, over the past several decades, many significant scholars have contributed great work in this field. However, the resistance within academia to the very idea of evolutionary psychology is quite strong. These facts taken together make for an interesting (and often difficult) environment when teaching and researching in the field of evolutionary psychology. This chapter focuses on a host of reasons to expand the inclusion of evolutionary psychology within university curricula—along with a demarcation of the several intellectual forces that surround this field within the academy.

Potential for Collaboration: Differences Between Evolutionary Anthropology and Evolutionary Psychology as Scientific Disciplines

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecka Kathleen Hahnel-Peeters
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Human Behavior ◽  
Evolutionary Analysis ◽  
Evolutionary Anthropology ◽  
Good Opportunity ◽  
Current Content ◽  
Future Direction ◽  
Empirical Methodology

In a review of evolutionary analysis of human behavior, Alden Smith (2000) argues that evolutionary anthropology and evolutionary psychology should not be considered competing disciplines. If evolutionary anthropology and psychology were to become more collaborative, it would aid our understanding of human nature – regardless of the different assumptions and empirical methodology used by the two disciplines. The recent 10th anniversary of “The WEIRDEST people in the world” (Henrich et al, 2010) presents a good opportunity to assess the current state of the evolutionary social sciences. While scholars (e.g., Barrett, 2020) have provided thoughts on the future direction of the evolutionary social sciences, none have explicitly evaluated the degree to which the various subdisciplines within the evolutionary social sciences have moved toward greater collaboration over the past decade. The current study uses content analysis to systematically examine if the disciplines of evolutionary anthropology and psychology are becoming more collaborative by reporting the frequency of coauthored peer-reviewed papers published in Evolution and Human Behavior (EHB), the type of data, and the empirical methodology used in these papers. A total of 737 articles published in EHB between 2009 and 2020 were coded, and no evidence of increased frequency of anthropologist and psychologist collaborations was found. While evolutionary anthropologists and psychologists did not report different types of data or topics of interest, the methods for hypothesis testing were different. I discuss limitations for the current content analysis and review suggested future steps for unification.

Integrating Mechanisms and Functions to Understand Behavior

2019 ◽  
pp. xiv-9
Author(s):  
Lisa L. M. Welling ◽  
Todd K. Shackelford
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Human Behavior ◽  
Reproductive Behavior ◽  
Affective Behavior ◽  
Behavioral Endocrinology ◽  
Human Psychology ◽  
Proximate Mechanisms ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
Influence Behavior ◽  
Evolutionary Perspectives

Evolutionary psychology and behavioral endocrinology provide complementary perspectives on interpreting human behavior and psychology. Hormones can function as underlying mechanisms that influence behavior in functional ways. Understanding these proximate mechanisms can inform ultimate explanations of human psychology. This chapter introduces this edited volume by first discussing evolutionary perspectives in behavioral endocrinology. It then briefly addresses three broad topic areas of behavioral endocrinology: (1) development and survival, (2) reproductive behavior, and (3) social and affective behavior. It provides examples of research within each of these areas and describes potential adaptations. The chapter concludes with a discussion on the importance of integrating mechanisms with function when investigating human behavior and psychology.

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