The Evolution of Mind: Fundamental Questions and ControversiesSteven W. Gangestad, Jeffry A. Simpson In the past two decades, an explosion of research has generated many compelling insights--as well as hotly debated controversies--about the evolutionary bases of human nature. This important volume brings together leading proponents of different theoretical and methodological perspectives to provide a balanced look at 12 key questions at the core of the field today. In 43 concise, accessible chapters, followed by an integrative conclusion, the contributors present viewpoints informed by human behavioral ecology, evolutionary psychology, and gene-culture coevolutionary approaches. Topics include the strengths and limitations of different methodologies; metatheoretical issues; and debates concerning the evolution of the human brain, intellectual abilities, culture, and sexual behavior. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 73
Page 5
... individuals included Napoleon Chagnon, William Irons, and Kristen Hawkes. Anthropologists were struck by the variability of behavior across cultures. People in different groups eat different foods, spend differing amounts of time ...
... individuals included Napoleon Chagnon, William Irons, and Kristen Hawkes. Anthropologists were struck by the variability of behavior across cultures. People in different groups eat different foods, spend differing amounts of time ...
Page 6
... individuals in different groups behave differently because they facultatively, flexibly, and adaptively adjust their behavior in response to the particular contingencies imposed by certain environments. In that sense, they differ from ...
... individuals in different groups behave differently because they facultatively, flexibly, and adaptively adjust their behavior in response to the particular contingencies imposed by certain environments. In that sense, they differ from ...
Page 8
... individual to individual, from one mind to another. Some ideas, however, more effectively “replicate” themselves in new minds (i.e., they are more effectively transmitted across individuals), spreading rapidly and becoming popular ...
... individual to individual, from one mind to another. Some ideas, however, more effectively “replicate” themselves in new minds (i.e., they are more effectively transmitted across individuals), spreading rapidly and becoming popular ...
Page 10
... individual fitness (e.g., the tendency to warn others about a predator, calling perhaps lethal attention to oneself) ... individuals to act in their best self-interest within groups (cf. Sober & Wilson, 1998). Boyd and Richerson (1985) ...
... individual fitness (e.g., the tendency to warn others about a predator, calling perhaps lethal attention to oneself) ... individuals to act in their best self-interest within groups (cf. Sober & Wilson, 1998). Boyd and Richerson (1985) ...
Page 26
... individuals will be shaped to be adapted to their environments. Are humans adapted to their environments? If so, in what specific ways? These approaches, of course, are not mutually exclusive. Scientists can and often do use all of them ...
... individuals will be shaped to be adapted to their environments. Are humans adapted to their environments? If so, in what specific ways? These approaches, of course, are not mutually exclusive. Scientists can and often do use all of them ...
Contents
1 | |
23 | |
PART II Fundamental Metatheoretical Issues | 145 |
PART III Debates Concerning Important Human Evolutionary Outcomes | 233 |
Whither Science of the Evolution of Mind? | 397 |
Index | 439 |
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Common terms and phrases
ability adaptationism adaptationist adaptive problems ancestral environments Anthropology apes approach argue Barrett behavioral ecologists benefits Borgerhoff Mulder Boyd Buss Byrne Cambridge causal chimpanzees cognitive mechanisms complex computational cooperation Cosmides culture Darwin developmental systems domains Dunbar ecological estrus evidence evolutionary biology evolutionary history evolutionary psychology evolved example exaptation favored fitness Flinn foraging function Gangestad genes genetic group selection hominid human behavior human behavioral ecology human brain human evolution human evolutionary human mating hunter-gatherer hypotheses important individuals inferences intelligence interactions issues Kaplan language male Mithen models modern humans modular modules natural selection Neanderthals neocortex norms one’s organisms Oxford University Press perspective phenotypic phylogenetic Pleistocene primates processes produce psychological adaptations REFERENCES relative reproductive success Richerson role selection pressures sexual selection social selection Sociobiology solve species strategies structure Thornhill tion Tooby traits understanding variation women York