scholarly journals Is a non-evolutionary psychology possible?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Nettle ◽  
Thom Scott-Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Role Theory ◽  
Social Role ◽  
Weak Version ◽  
Human Psychology ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
Dual Inheritance Theory ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary ◽  
Dual Inheritance ◽  
Bayesian Cognitive Science

The last thirty years has seen the emergence of a self-styled ‘evolutionary’ paradigm within psychology (henceforth, EP). EP is often presented and critiqued as a distinctive, contentious paradigm, to be contrasted with other accounts of human psychology. However, little attention has been paid to the sense in which those other accounts are not evolutionary, or at least evolutionalizable. We distinguish between a commitment to evolution, and a more specific commitment to adaptationism. We argue that all formulable accounts of human psychology are evolutionary in a real sense: non-evolutionary psychology is impossible. Not all psychologies are explicitly adaptationist, but those that are not still draw on informal notions of organismal function, and thus implicitly require at least a weak version of adaptationism. We argue that the really distinctive and contentious feature of EP is not its commitment to evolution, or even adaptationism. It is the commitment to domain-specificity and the associated multiplicity of innately specialized psychological mechanisms. This commitment entails a narrow parsing of what an adaptive problem is, and has the consequence that the science of psychology ends up consisting of many narrow proximal explanations, rather than a few broad ones. We illustrate this thesis by examining a range of paradigms that can be seen as competitors to canonical EP: social role theory; cultural evolutionary psychology and dual inheritance theory; Bayesian cognitive science; and Giddens’ social theory. Narrow versus broad functional specialization emerges as the central locus of difference between the different psychologies we review.

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.

7. Human behaviour, mind, and culture

2019 ◽  
pp. 101-118
Author(s):  
Samir Okasha
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Biological Evolution ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Human Behaviour ◽  
Dual Inheritance Theory ◽  
Nature Vs Nurture ◽  
Dual Inheritance

‘Human behaviour, mind, and culture’ examines the implications of biology for humans, asking whether human behaviour and culture can be explained in biological terms. The intelligence, language use, cultural inventions, technological prowess, and social institutions of our own species, Homo sapiens, seem to set us apart from other species. Can biology shed any light on humanity and its achievements? One way to tackle this question is to ask whether human behaviour can be understood in biological terms. The nature vs nurture debate is discussed, followed by the approaches of sociobiology and evolutionary psychology to the study of human behaviour. Finally, cultural evolution—or dual inheritance theory—is considered and how this relates to biological evolution.

scholarly journals Towards a Pricean foundation for cultural evolutionary theory

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Baravalle ◽  
Victor J. Luque
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Fundamental Equation ◽  
Price Equation ◽  
Dual Inheritance Theory ◽  
Heuristic Device ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary ◽  
Fundamental Equations ◽  
Dual Inheritance

The Price equation is currently considered one of the fundamental equations – or even the fundamental equation – of evolution. In this article, we explore the role of this equation within cultural evolutionary theory. More specifically, we use it to account for the explanatory power and the theoretical structure of a certain generalised version of dual-inheritance theory. First, we argue that, in spite of not having a definite empirical content, the Price equation offers a suitable formalisation of the processes of cultural evolution, and provides a powerful heuristic device for discovering the actual causes of cultural change and accumulation. Second, we argue that, as a consequence of this, a certain version of the Price equation is the fundamental law of cultural evolutionary theory. In order to support this claim, we sketch the ideal structure of dual-inheritance theory and we stress the unificatory role that the Price equation plays in it. 

scholarly journals Understanding Cultural Evolutionary Models: A Reply to Read's Critique

2006 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 771-782 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Henrich
Keyword(s):  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Evolutionary Models ◽  
Evolutionary Modeling ◽  
Alternative Analysis ◽  
Modeling Approaches ◽  
Dual Inheritance Theory ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Dual Inheritance ◽  
Empirical Analyses

This reply to Read's (2006) critique of my paper (Henrich 2004) is divided into three parts. Part I clarifies misinterpretations and mischaracterizations of both Dual Inheritance Theory in general and my model specifically. Part II addresses several problems in Read's empirical analyses of forager toolkits, and presents an alternative analysis. Part III tackles some common misunderstandings about the relationship between cost-benefit models (such as Read's) and cultural evolutionary modeling approaches, as well as highlighting some concerns with Read's efforts. In writing this, I have tried to introduce the reader to the issues in debate, but to fully understand this reply, one should read both my paper and Read’s critique.

Evolutionary Theory

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John H. Shaver ◽  
Grant Purzycki ◽  
Richard Sosis
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Behavioral Ecology ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Behavioral Plasticity ◽  
Group Level ◽  
Dual Inheritance Theory ◽  
Selection Processes ◽  
Evolutionary Force ◽  
Dual Inheritance

People in all cultures entertain beliefs in supernatural agents and engage in ritual behaviors that are related to those beliefs. This suggests that religion is a product of a shared evolutionary history. Currently researchers employ three major evolutionary frameworks to study religion—evolutionary psychology, behavioral ecology, and dual-inheritance theory—each with different assumptions, methods, and areas of focus. This chapter surveys these approaches and describes the major sources of disagreement between them. Two of the largest sources of disagreement among evolutionary scholars of religion are: (1) whether or not religion is a cognitive byproduct, or a manifestation of adaptive behavioral plasticity, and (2) whether or not individual or group-level selection processes are a more potent evolutionary force in shaping the significant features religion. The authors suggest that integrative frameworks that incorporate aspects of all these perspectives offer the best potential for real progress.

Evolutionary and Complexity Theory

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy A. Kohler
Keyword(s):  
Complexity Theory ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Behavioral Ecology ◽  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Dual Inheritance Theory ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary ◽  
Dual Inheritance

Echoes of all the major approaches to applying evolutionary theory and method to the archaeological record can be found in the Southwest. Prior to about 1980, cultural evolutionary approaches were quite common; after that time, until the mid-1990s, selectionism was the dominant approach. More recently, human behavioral ecology and, to a smaller degree, dual inheritance theory have oriented most evolutionary research, while at the same time, research that draws on the theories and methods of complex adaptive systems has become more prominent. All of these approaches are likely to contribute to solving the grand challenges facing archaeology in the Southwest.

Niche Construction and the Study of Culture Change in Anthropology: Challenges and Prospects

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily A. Schultz
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Change ◽  
Population Biology ◽  
Niche Construction ◽  
Cultural Anthropology ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Ecological Change ◽  
Niche Construction Theory ◽  
Dual Inheritance Theory ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary ◽  
Dual Inheritance

<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>Abstract </strong></span>| Many North American anthropologists remain deeply suspicious of attempts to theorize the evolution of culture, given the legacy in our discipline of nineteenth-century stagist theories of cultural evolution that were shaped by scientific racism<span class="s2"><strong>. </strong></span>In the late twentieth-century, some theorists tried to escape this legacy by using formal models drawn from neo-Darwinian population biology to reconceptualize cultural evolutionary processes, but these more recent approaches have been found unsatisfactory for reasons of their own. For example, gene-culture coevolution and the dual inheritance theory have limited appeal to many contemporary cultural anthropologists because these theories rely on definitions of culture, and assumptions about human individuals and social groups, that many cultural anthropologists no longer find persuasive<span class="s2"><strong>.</strong></span>Niche construction, by contrast, appears more promising as a framework for connecting cultural change with biological and ecological change. Nevertheless, the innovative features of niche construction coexist uneasily alongside the same problematic features that limit the usefulness of gene-culture coevolution and dual inheritance theory in cultural anthropology<span class="s2"><strong>. </strong></span>This article discusses anthropological concerns about niche construction theory, but also suggests ways in which some of them might be reduced if niche construction theory were to incorporate insights from developmental systems theory and actor network theory.</p>

Tinkering with cognitive gadgets: Cultural evolutionary psychology meets active inference

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Benjamin Badcock ◽  
Axel Constant ◽  
Maxwell James Désormeau Ramstead
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Research Program ◽  
Active Inference ◽  
Innovative Research ◽  
Cognitive Faculties ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Cognitive Gadgets offers a new, convincing perspective on the origins of our distinctive cognitive faculties, coupled with a clear, innovative research program. Although we broadly endorse Heyes’ ideas, we raise some concerns about her characterisation of evolutionary psychology and the relationship between biology and culture, before discussing the potential fruits of examining cognitive gadgets through the lens of active inference.

Fit and Congruency

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 148-156
Author(s):  
Mary Hogue ◽  
Lee Fox-Cardamone ◽  
Deborah Erdos Knapp
Keyword(s):  
Role Theory ◽  
Social Role ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Job Fit ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Working Adults ◽  
Role Congruity ◽  
Self Selection ◽  
Selection Of

Abstract. Applicant job pursuit intentions impact the composition of an organization’s applicant pool, thereby influencing selection outcomes. An example is the self-selection of women and men into gender-congruent jobs. Such self-selection contributes to a lack of gender diversity across a variety of occupations. We use person-job fit and the role congruity perspective of social role theory to explore job pursuit intentions. We present research from two cross-sectional survey studies (520 students, 174 working adults) indicating that at different points in their careers women and men choose to pursue gender-congruent jobs. For students, the choice was mediated by value placed on the job’s associated gender-congruent outcomes, but for working adults it was not. We offer suggestions for practitioners and researchers.

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