Applied Psychology
What is evolutionary psychology?
In the three and a half centuries since William Harvey proved that the purpose of the heart is to pump blood, physiologists have revealed the functional organization of the body in blinding detail. Their discoveries demonstrate beyond question that the structure of the body serves survival and reproduction. Further, there is near unanimity among biologists that this functional structure is a product of natural selection. In our century, psychologists have developed powerful techniques that conclusively demonstrate that cognition, too, has structure. Evolutionary psychologists are betting that cognitive structure, like physiological structure, has been designed by natural selection to serve survival and reproduction.
Evolutionary psychology focuses on the evolved properties of nervous systems, especially those of humans. Because virtually all tissue in living organisms is functionally organized, and because this organization is the product of evolution by natural selection, a major presumption of evolutionary psychology is that the brain, too, is functionally organized, and best understood in evolutionary perspective. It is clear that the body is composed of a very large number of parts, and that each part is highly specialized to perform a specific function in service of the survival and reproduction of the organism. Using the body as a model for the brain, it is a fair guess that the brain, too, is composed of one or more functional parts, each of which is also specialized to facilitate the survival and reproduction of the organism (we'll get to genes in a bit). Thus, according to evolutionary psychology, neural tissue is no different from any other tissue: it is functionally organized to serve survival and reproduction. This is the foundational assumption of evolutionary psychology. Because vision, hearing, smell, pain, and motor control are indisputable functions of the nervous system that clearly have utility for survival and
In the three and a half centuries since William Harvey proved that the purpose of the heart is to pump blood, physiologists have revealed the functional organization of the body in blinding detail. Their discoveries demonstrate beyond question that the structure of the body serves survival and reproduction. Further, there is near unanimity among biologists that this functional structure is a product of natural selection. In our century, psychologists have developed powerful techniques that conclusively demonstrate that cognition, too, has structure. Evolutionary psychologists are betting that cognitive structure, like physiological structure, has been designed by natural selection to serve survival and reproduction.
Evolutionary psychology focuses on the evolved properties of nervous systems, especially those of humans. Because virtually all tissue in living organisms is functionally organized, and because this organization is the product of evolution by natural selection, a major presumption of evolutionary psychology is that the brain, too, is functionally organized, and best understood in evolutionary perspective. It is clear that the body is composed of a very large number of parts, and that each part is highly specialized to perform a specific function in service of the survival and reproduction of the organism. Using the body as a model for the brain, it is a fair guess that the brain, too, is composed of one or more functional parts, each of which is also specialized to facilitate the survival and reproduction of the organism (we'll get to genes in a bit). Thus, according to evolutionary psychology, neural tissue is no different from any other tissue: it is functionally organized to serve survival and reproduction. This is the foundational assumption of evolutionary psychology. Because vision, hearing, smell, pain, and motor control are indisputable functions of the nervous system that clearly have utility for survival and