Role of Evolution and Natural Selection

• Evolution

  • Evolve by natural selection, organisms best adapted to environment pass on their genes; traits more/less common
  • Successive mutations with some adaptive advantage that come to dominate gene pool
  • Evolutionary psychologists argue brain and mind evolve much like body
  • Some aspects behaviour aspects + cognition result from evolution; served a purpose in ancestral past, so are ‘hardwired’ into brains
• Evolved Aggression

  • Aggression had survival/reproductive value
  • Physically larger + stronger males more likely successful hunters
  • Providing better for mates and offspring
  • More aggressive males
  • Less threatened by others after resources
  • More likely chosen or chose ‘best’ themselves
  • Competition genetically engineered aggression into male brain
  • Conversely, women less aggressive
  • Spend long time pregnant, breastfeeding
  • Care for young, vulnerable children
  • Conflict/hunting would not be conducive to survival of mother or children
• Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness (EEA)

  • Conditions species adapted to environment
  • Evolutionary psychologists study fossil records for EEA
  • Speculate adaptive behaviours, then compare to modern-day behaviour to see genetic determination
  • Certain behaviors, like parental investment, mate selection, and emotional responses; may have been beneficial in past but less so now:
  • Predisposition to calorie-dense food, useful as foragers, now leads to obesity
  • ‘fight or flight’, useful in danger, modern stressors trigger too frequently, cause stress, anxiety + depression