Evolutionary Psychology

Evolutionary psychology is based on the hypothesis that

- just like hearts, lungs, livers, kidneys, and immune systems, cognition has functional structure that has a genetic basis, and therefore has evolved by natural selection - They seek to understand psychological mechanisms by understanding the survival and reproductive functions they might have served over the course of evolutionary history.

in a study of mate preference differences between men and women that spanned 37 cultures

Buss (1989) found that women valued earning potential factors greater than men, and men valued potential reproductive factors (youth and attractiveness) greater than women in their prospective mates. In general, the predictions were in line with the predictions of evolution, although there were deviations in some cultures.

human behavior for which evolution can make predictions;

Examples include memory, mate choice, relationships between kin, friendship and cooperation, parenting, social organization, and status

The study of behavior in the context of evolution has its origins with Charles Darwin because...

He co-discoverer of the theory of evolution by natural selection. Darwin was well aware that behaviors should be adaptive and wrote books titled, The Descent of Man (1871) and The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872), to explore this field.

natural selection:

a process by which heritable traits conferring survival and reproductive advantage to individuals tend to be passed on to succeeding generations and become more frequent in a population

To be subject to evolution by natural selection, a behavior must

have a significant genetic cause.

Just as genetic traits have evolved and adapted over time, psychological traits can also evolve and be determined through

natural selection.

The approach taken by most evolutionary psychologists is to predict the

outcome of a behavior in a particular situation based on evolutionary theory and then to make observations, or conduct experiments, to determine whether the results match the theory.

evolutionary psychology

seeks to study the ultimate biological causes of behavior. Just as genetic traits have evolved and adapted over time, psychological traits can also evolve and be determined through natural selection.

evolutionary psychology:

seeks to understand human behavior as the result of psychological adaptation and natural selection

Evolutionary psychologists study

the extent that a behavior is impacted by genetics.

biopsychology typically focuses on

the immediate causes of behavior based in the physiology of a human or other animal,