LECTURE 13 EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY 演化心理学
LECTURE 13 EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY 演化心理学
NTRODUCTION Evolutionary psychology is one of many biologically informed approaches to the study of human behavior. Along with cognitive psychologists, evolutionary psychologists propose that much, if not all, of our behavior can be explained by appeal to internal psychological mechanisms What distinguishes evolutionary psychologists from many cognitive psychologists is the proposal that the relevant internal mechanisms are adaptations(适应器)- products of natural selection--that helped our ancestors get around the world, survive and reproduce. to understand the central claims of evolutionary psychology we require an understanding of some key concepts in evolutionary biology, cognitive psychology, philosophy of science and philosophy of mind
INTRODUCTION • Evolutionary psychology is one of many biologically informed approaches to the study of human behavior. Along with cognitive psychologists, evolutionary psychologists propose that much, if not all, of our behavior can be explained by appeal to internal psychological mechanisms. What distinguishes evolutionary psychologists from many cognitive psychologists is the proposal that the relevant internal mechanisms are adaptations(适应器）—products of natural selection—that helped our ancestors get around the world, survive and reproduce. To understand the central claims of evolutionary psychology we require an understanding of some key concepts in evolutionary biology, cognitive psychology, philosophy of science and philosophy of mind
NTRODUCTION Philosophers are interested in evolutionary psychology for a number of reasons For philosophers of science -mostly philosophers of biology--evolutionary psychology provides a critical target. There is a broad consensus among philosophers of science that evolutionary psychology is a deeply flawed enterprise. For philosophers of mind and cognitive science evolutionary psychology has been a source of empirical hypotheses about cognitive architecture and specific components of that architecture philosophers of mind are also critical of evolutionary psychology but their criticisms are not as all-encompassing as those presented by philosophers of biology. Evolutionary psychology is also invoked by philosophers interested in moral psycholog both as a source of empirical hypotheses and as a critical target
INTRODUCTION • Philosophers are interested in evolutionary psychology for a number of reasons. For philosophers of science —mostly philosophers of biology—evolutionary psychology provides a critical target. There is a broad consensus among philosophers of science that evolutionary psychology is a deeply flawed enterprise. For philosophers of mind and cognitive science evolutionary psychology has been a source of empirical hypotheses about cognitive architecture and specific components of that architecture. Philosophers of mind are also critical of evolutionary psychology but their criticisms are not as all-encompassing as those presented by philosophers of biology. Evolutionary psychology is also invoked by philosophers interested in moral psychology both as a source of empirical hypotheses and as a critical target
THE RESEARCH TRADITION OF EP Evolutionary psychology rests upon specific theoretical principles not all of which are shared by others working in the biology of human behavior. For example 1 human behavioral ecologists(人类行为学家) present and defend explanatory hypotheses about human behavior that do not appeal to psychological mechanisms. Behavioral ecologists also believe that much of human behavior can be explained by appealing to evolution while rejecting the idea held by evolutionary psychologists that one period of our evolutionary history in the source of all our important psychological adaptations(Irons 1998) 2. Developmental psychobiologists(发肓心理一生物学家) take yet another approach: they are anti-adaptationist. These theorists believe that much of our behavior can be explained without appealing to a suite of specific psychological adaptations for that behavior. Instead they emphasize the role of development in the production of various human behavioral traits From here on, "evolutionary psychology refers to a specific research tradition among the many biological approaches to the study of human behavior
THE RESEARCH TRADITION OF EP • Evolutionary psychology rests upon specific theoretical principles not all of which are shared by others working in the biology of human behavior. For example, • 1.human behavioral ecologists(人类行为学家) present and defend explanatory hypotheses about human behavior that do not appeal to psychological mechanisms. Behavioral ecologists also believe that much of human behavior can be explained by appealing to evolution while rejecting the idea held by evolutionary psychologists that one period of our evolutionary history in the source of all our important psychological adaptations (Irons 1998). • 2. Developmental psychobiologists （发育心理—生物学家）take yet another approach: they are anti-adaptationist. These theorists believe that much of our behavior can be explained without appealing to a suite of specific psychological adaptations for that behavior. Instead they emphasize the role of development in the production of various human behavioral traits. • From here on, “evolutionary psychology” refers to a specific research tradition among the many biological approaches to the study of human behavior
THEORY OF EP 1. The brain is a computer designed by natural selection to extract information from the environment 2. Individual human behavior is generated by this evolved computer in response to information it extracts from the environment Understanding behavior requires articulating the cognitive programs that generate the behavior 3. The cognitive programs of the human brain are adaptations. They exist because they produced behavior in our ancestors that enabled them to survive and reproduce 4. The cognitive programs of the human brain may not be adaptive now; they were adaptive in ancestral environments 5. Natural selection ensures that the brain is composed of many different special purpose programs and not a domain general architecture 6. Describing the evolved computational architecture of our brains allows a systematic understanding of cultural and social phenomena
THEORY OF EP • 1.The brain is a computer designed by natural selection to extract information from the environment. • 2.Individual human behavior is generated by this evolved computer in response to information it extracts from the environment. Understanding behavior requires articulating the cognitive programs that generate the behavior. • 3.The cognitive programs of the human brain are adaptations. They exist because they produced behavior in our ancestors that enabled them to survive and reproduce. • 4.The cognitive programs of the human brain may not be adaptive now; they were adaptive in ancestral environments. • 5.Natural selection ensures that the brain is composed of many different special purpose programs and not a domain general architecture. • 6. Describing the evolved computational architecture of our brains “allows a systematic understanding of cultural and social phenomena