Human Evolutionary Psychology
1st Edition
Published on 27. November 2001
438 pages
978-1-137-23550-3 (ISBN)
Description
Other people and their behaviour are a subject of endless fascination for us. Our understanding of why we behave in certain ways can be greatly enhanced if we take an evolutionary perspective. Understanding the evolutionary pressures that have shaped human behaviour can give us a new insight into why we prefer a good gossip to a lengthy session of algebra, or why children are so good at learning language and so poor at sharing nicely with others. Human Evolutionary Psychology offers a comprehensive overview of all aspects of human evolutionary behaviour and psychology. Tackling everything from mate choice to marriage patterns, childcare to cultural evolution, Human Evolutionary Psychology critically assesses the value of evolutionary explanations to humans in both modern western society and traditional pre-industrial societies. The combination of broad scope and in-depth analysis makes it the ideal introduction to this exciting and rapidly expanding area of research.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
ISBN-13
978-1-137-23550-3 (9781137235503)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Louise Barrett | Robin Dunbar | John Lycett
Human Evolutionary Psychology
Book
11/2001
Red Globe Press
€161.56
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Content
- Cover
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- CHAPTER 1 The Evolutionary Approach to Human Behaviour
- NATURAL SELECTION
- BOX 1.1 Speciation and the evolutionary processes
- ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
- BOX 1.2 Reductionism vs holism
- APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF HUMAN BEHAVIOUR
- BOX 1.3 The problem of external validity
- BOX 1.4 Human evolution
- TOWARDS A UNIFIED APPROACH
- BOX 1.5 Modern human origins
- Chapter summary
- Further reading
- CHAPTER 2 Basics of Evolutionary Theory
- INDIVIDUAL SELECTION AND THE SELFISH GENE
- BOX 2.1 Genomic imprinting
- THE PROBLEM OF ALTRUISM
- BOX 2.2 Calculating degrees of relatedness
- BOX 2.3 Prisoner's dilemma
- BOX 2.4 Other models of cooperation
- BOX 2.5 Evolutionary stable strategies (ESSs
- PARENTAL INVESTMENT AND PARENT-OFFSPRING CONFLICT
- SEXUAL SELECTION
- BOX 2.6 Female choice for exaggerated male traits
- BOX 2.7 Why do handicaps have to be costly?
- Chapter summary
- Further reading
- CHAPTER 3 Cooperation Among Kin
- KIN SELECTION IN HUMANS
- BOX 3.1 Rules of thumb and kin recognition
- BOX 3.2 Adoption: an exception to kin selection?
- REPRODUCTIVE VALUE AND KIN SELECTION
- BOX 3.3 Reproductive value
- KINSHIP, HOMICIDE AND CHILD ABUSE
- BOX 3.4 Homicide and infanticide as 'conflict assays'
- KINSHIP AND CONTINGENCY
- KINSHIP AND HEALTH
- Chapter summary
- Further reading
- CHAPTER 4 Reciprocity and Sharing
- COOPERATION IN HUMANS: A DIFFERENCE IN DEGREE OR KIND?
- BOX 4.1 Fairness
- RECIPROCITY AND INFORMATION EXCHANGE
- BOX 4.2 Competitive altruism
- LABOUR EXCHANGE AND BET HEDGING
- FOOD SHARING AMONG HUNTER-GATHERERS
- BOX 4.3 The marginal value theorem and tolerated theft
- BOX 4.4 The tragedy of the commons
- ARE HUMANS INHERENTLY SELFISH?
- BOX 4.5 How 'selfish' genes lead to non-selfish people
- Chapter summary
- Further reading
- CHAPTER 5 Mate Choice and Sexual Selection
- UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES OF MATE CHOICE
- BOX 5.1 Anisogamy
- BOX 5.2 Lonely hearts advertisements: methodologicalconsiderations
- BOX 5.3 Evolution of pairbonding
- SEXUALLY SELECTED TRAITS
- BOX 5.4 WHR and body mass index
- BOX 5.5 The problem of concealed ovulation
- CONDITIONAL MATE CHOICE STRATEGIES
- COURTSHIP
- FITNESS CONSEQUENCES OF MATE CHOICE
- BOX 5.6 Changes in bridewealth among the Kipsigis
- Chapter summary
- Further reading
- CHAPTER 6 Life-history Constraints and Reproductive Decisions
- OPTIMISING FAMILY SIZE
- BOX 6.1 Why do humans have such large brains?
- BOX 6.2 Why are human babies born so early?
- BOX 6.3 Impact of offspring production on parental survival
- BOX 6.4 Optimality models and stochastic dynamic programming
- BOX 6.5 Are !Kung birth rates low by accident rather than design?
- SCHEDULING REPRODUCTION
- FOR LOVE OR MONEY: HERITABLE WEALTH AND DECISION-MAKING
- THE DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION
- THE EVOLUTION OF MENOPAUSE
- BOX 6.6 Phenotypic correlations
- BOX 6.7 Celibacy and homosexuality
- Chapter summary
- Further reading
- CHAPTER 7 Parental Investment Strategies
- CONFLICT IN THE WOMB
- PARENTAL BIASES AND SIBLING RIVALRY
- BOX 7.1 Pregnancy sickness and parent-offspring conflict
- BOX 7.2 Teaching biases and peer groups
- BOX 7.3 Family environment and future reproductive strategies
- INFANTICIDE: SCHEDULING INVESTMENT
- BOX 7.4 Paternity certainty and sexual jealousy
- SELECTIVE INFANTICIDE AND THE SEX RATIO
- BOX 7.5 Testing the Trivers-Willard hypothesis
- CONDITION-DEPENDENT INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
- Chapter summary
- Further reading
- CHAPTER 8 Marriage and Inheritance
- MATRILINEAL VS PATRILINEAL INHERITANCE
- BOX 8.1 Marriage and inheritance: a phylogenetic analysis
- BOX 8.2 Environmental correlates of polygyny
- RESOURCE COMPETITION AND LINEAGE SURVIVAL
- BOX 8.3Wealth-dependent herd management
- KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY: INCEST AND MARRIAGE RULES
- BOX 8.4 The Westermarck effect
- BOX 8.5 Incest and exogamy
- TIBETAN POLYANDRY
- BOX 8.6 The member-joiner game
- BOX 8.7 Reproductive rivalry and the risk of fission
- Chapter summary
- Further reading
- CHAPTER 9 The Individual in Society
- KINSHIP AND KINSHIP-NAMING
- SEX BIASES IN SOCIAL ORGANISATION
- STRUCTURE OF SOCIAL GROUPS
- BOX 9.1 Self-structuring principles for societies
- BOX 9.2 Evolutionary history of society
- THE FREERIDER PROBLEM
- BOX 9.3 How dialects control freeriders
- SOCIETY, VIOLENCE AND WARFARE
- BOX 9.4 How not to do evolutionary analyses
- BOX 9.5 When does it pay to go berserk?
- BOX 9.6 Evolutionary explanations of rape
- Chapter summary
- Further reading
- CHAPTER 10 Cognition and the Modular Brain
- A BRIEF HISTORY OF MODULARITY
- BOX 10.1 Mental models: error-prone biases or simple rules that make us smart?
- 'BEYOND MODULARITY'
- BOX 10.2 'Fast-and-frugal' algorithms
- SOCIAL EXCHANGE AND CHEAT DETECTION
- BOX 10.3 The Wason selection task
- BOX 10.4 Relevance theory and the selection task
- THE ROLE OF EMOTIONS
- BOX 10.5 Neurobiology of social reasoning
- Chapter summary
- Further reading
- CHAPTER 11 Social Cognition and its Development
- THEORY OF MIND
- BOX 11.1 Intentionality
- BOX 11.2 Theory theory
- DEVELOPMENT OF THEORY OF MIND
- BOX 11.3 False-belief task: a benchmark for theory of mind?
- BOX 11.4 Theory of mind in adults
- WHEN TOM FAILS
- BOX 11.5 Theory of mind and clinical disorders
- THE SOCIAL BRAIN
- Chapter summary
- Further reading
- CHAPTER 12 Language
- THE EVOLUTION OF LANGUAGE
- BOX 12.1 How many people can you talk to?
- BOX 12.2 When did speech evolve?
- BOX 12.3 The evolution of languages
- THE SOCIAL FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE
- BOX 12.4 An instinct for
- LANGUAGE AND MEANING
- COGNITIVE UNDERPINNINGS
- BOX 12.5 Motherese
- BOX 12.6 Laughter and social bonding
- Chapter summary
- Further reading
- CHAPTER 13 Cultural Evolution
- WHAT IS CULTURE?
- BOX 13.1 Psychological mechanisms of cultural transmission
- BOX 13.2 How memes differ from genes
- IS CULTURE ADAPTIVE?
- BOX 13.3 The evolution of fantasy
- CULTURAL EVOLUTION UNDER NEUTRAL SELECTION
- BOX 13.4 The evolution of the teddy bear
- PROCESSES OF CULTURAL EVOLUTION
- BOX 13.5 Two examples of gene-culture co-evolution
- HOW FAST DOES CULTURE CHANGE?
- BOX 13.6 What happens when cultural change is too slow?
- CULTURE CHANGE AND GROUP SELECTION
- Chapter summary
- Further reading
- Glossary
- References
- AUTHOR INDEX
- SUBJECT INDEX
