Evolutionary Theory and Psychology CITE THIS In commemoration of the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his seminal work On the Origin of Species , this edition of Psychological Science Agenda includes a special section on evolutionary theory and psychology.
Evolutionary psychologists presume all human behaviours reflect the influence of physical and psychological predispositions that helped human ancestors survive and reproduce. Based on observations of other species in their natural environments, the evolutionary psychology of human mating tends to lean toward the idea that females are more selective in their partners than males. Influential evolutionary psychologists, Leda Cosmides and John Tooby, provide the following list of the field’s theoretical tenets (Tooby and Cosmides 2005): The brain is a computer designed by natural selection to extract information from the environment.
Evolutionary psychologists study what people look for in a partner, and how these preferences may have been shaped by evolutionary pressures. Evolutionary Psychology’s Theory and Methods. Evolutionary psychology, the study of behaviour, thought, and feeling as viewed through the lens of evolutionary biology.