The+Evolutionary+Perspective

toc =The Evolutionary Perspective = - Evolutionary Perspective refers to the application of the principles of evolution to explain psychological processes and phenomena. It grew from the work of English naturalist Charles Darwin. Evolutionary psychology is a hybrid discipline that draws insights from modern evolutionary theory, biology, cognitive psychology, anthropology, economics, computer science, and paleoarchaeology. Other pioneers of the field of Evolutionary psychology are Leda Cosmides, John Tooby, and David Buss.

Key Pioneers to Evolutionary Psychology


 

  Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin left England in 1831 for a five-year voyage around the world. Midtrip, Darwin stopped in the Galapagos Islands. There Darwin developed his theory of evolution, which claimed that humans and all life evolved from either inferior forms of life or from non-living things. In 1859, Darwin wrote his world-famous book //On the Origin of Species//. This book described his theory of evolution, and from this book, the evolutionary perspective of psychology formed.



David Buss
David Buss thought that psychological processes that help individuals adapt to their environment also helped them survive, reproduce, and pass those abilities on to their offspring. Buss earned his Ph.D. in 1981 from the University of Texas. Later, he became a professor at Harvard Unversity.

Basically, psychologists who take the evolutionary perspective assumed that psychological processes are also subject to the principal of natural selection.




 * Leda Cosmides**

Leda Cosmides is well-known for her work in the field of volutionary psychology. She studied at Harvard University and received her Ph. D. in Cognitive psychology in 1985. She studied with Roger Shepard at Stanford University. She has been on faculty since 1991 at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She published a book called //The Adapted Mind: Evolutionary psychology and the generation of culture// which is said to be a "state of the art study of the field." She has received numerous awards for her work and is a great contribute to the study of evolutionary psychology.



Mental Illness
Evolutionary psychologists see mental illness from a different perspective than other psychologists. They believed that mental illness was a result of a flaw in the evolution process. They believed that mental illness was due to a dying trait in natural selection. Evolutionary psychologists believe that if the condition do not actually change the person's way of life, it is not an illness. This would encompass anything that is atypical to the species or interferes with performance of natural function.