EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY--论文代写范文精选

对心理现象进化的角度被转移到其他学科,包括动物行为学，由唐纳德·t·坎贝尔的进化认识论提起。建立在这些心理方法上，进化心理学回到以前。最初,这种方法很有争议的,因为它与标准社会科学模型相矛盾。下面的essay代写范文将进行详述。

Description 
When Charles Darwin formulated his theory of natural selection as an explanation for the origin of species, he already anticipated that this concept would also help us to understand the mind as a product of biological evolution. He made some first steps towards such “evolutionary psychology” in his later works on human descent and on the expression of emotions. His approach inspired several late 19th century philosophers and psychologists, including William James and James Baldwin. However, in the 20th century, psychology became dominated first by behaviourism, then by cognitive approaches, which saw the mind basically as a blank slate, to be “programmed” by experience. Evolutionary perspectives on mental phenomena were relegated to other disciplines, including ethology (the study of animal behaviour) as investigated by Konrad Lorenz, the evolutionary epistemology instigated by Donald T. Campbell, and sociobiology (evolutionary theory of social interactions) proposed by E. O. Wilson. Building on these developments while adding specifically psychological methodologies for testing hypotheses, evolutionary psychology came back to the fore in the 1990s, under the impulse of researchers such as David Buss, Leda Cosmides, and John Tooby (Barkow, Cosmides & Tooby, 1992; Wright, 1995; Buss, 2011). Initially, this approach was quite controversial, as it contradicted the standard social science model according to which our preferences and behaviours are essentially a product of education and socialization. However, some of the empirical results of the new approach (e.g. on the cross-cultural universality of the determinants of jealousy and of physical attractiveness) were so compelling that it was difficult to come up with alternative explanations. 

Moreover, evolutionary psychology profited from a general revival and spread of Darwinian ideas across virtually all the disciplines, including economics, computer science, and medicine. Nowadays, the value of EP is generally recognized, although some scepticism and much misunderstanding remain concerning its theoretical underpinnings (Buss, 2005; Confer et al., 2010). Assumptions and methods The basic assumption of evolutionary theory is that all organisms are the product of blind variation and natural selection. Each generation, selection picks out the variants that are fittest, i.e. that are best adapted for surviving and reproducing in their given environment. Therefore, most features of biological organisms can be understood as adaptations, specifically “designed” for life in this environment—although some are merely to appear in: A. Michalos (ed.) (2011): Encyclopedia of Quality of Life Research (Springer, Berlin). 2 by-products of adaptations, or random variations that have not (yet) undergone selection. Evolutionary psychology (EP) adds that the major features of the human mind too should be viewed as adaptations to our ancestral environment. 

While environments have of course changed over the course of evolution (most radically in the last centuries), evolutionary psychologists contend that the most important environmental features remained largely the same over the last 2-3 millions years of human prehistory until the end of the Paleolithic, about 10 000 years ago. Therefore, we may assume that our psychological mechanisms have been optimized by natural selection for functioning in this Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness (EEA) (Buss, 2005; Narvaez et al., 2011). The human EEA features are those of life as hunter-gatherers in small, nomadic bands of 30-150 individuals, searching for a large variety of animal and vegetal foods, shelter, and other resources across a varied, savannah-like landscape, while avoiding dangers such as predators, poisonous plants and animals, parasites, precipices, and potentially hostile strangers. Important criteria for success in the social environment were the abilities to attract and bond with fertile and dependable mates, to raise children until they are able to stand on their own, to establish cooperative relations with reliable friends, to detect and exclude “cheaters” who abuse such social contracts, to exchange useful information with others (via language, “gossip” and story telling), and to achieve a sufficiently high status within the group.

Applications to wellbeing 
The view of psychological adaptations as innate, subconscious preferences for certain conditions and behaviours has direct implications for human wellbeing: people can be expected to feel well when these preferences are satisfied, and feel stressed otherwise. According to EP, these preferences reflect the conditions that were optimal for survival and reproduction in the EEA. For example, we will tend to feel good in an open, sunny landscape with grass, trees and animals, in the vicinity of clear water, such as a lake, while performing activities that resemble hunting or gathering, in the company of friends or mates, or while nurturing children. On the other hand, we will tend to feel stressed in the presence of spiders, snakes, thunderstorms, threatening animals or people, loud noises, fast-moving objects, and great heights, as these all indicate dangers in the EEA. to appear in: A. 

Michalos (ed.) (2011): Encyclopedia of Quality of Life Research (Springer, Berlin). 4 The problem is that our present environment is very different from the EEA. Therefore, behaviours that were adaptive in the EEA may no longer fit in well with our modern lifestyle. This leads to a fundamental mismatch between what our genes expect and what society offers (Grinde, 2002; Hill & Buss, 2008). Several authors have argued that this discrepancy is at the origin of our many “diseases of civilisation”, which include obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, allergies, depression, dementia and ADHD. These disorders, which severely reduce our quality of life, are virtually unknown among hunter-gatherers. EP theorists have examined in particular the evolutionary origins of stress and emotions together with their implications for happiness (Nesse, 2004; Hill & Buss, 2008; Grinde, 2002). One conclusion is that some of the “natural” conditions for happiness, such as intimate connections within a small, egalitarian band, are intrinsically difficult to achieve in our industrial society. 

On a more optimistic note, several aspects of our ancestral, hunter-gatherer lifestyle, such as regular exercise, engaging activity, sound sleep patterns, and frequent exposure to sunlight and nature, can be reintroduced or mimicked without too much effort. Such a program has been shown to combat depression more effectively than drugs or psychotherapy (Ilardi, 2009), and is likely to increase wellbeing overall. Another application is in improving childcare. Here, EP researchers recommend maximum physical contact between caregiver and infant (extended breast-feeding, carrying on the body, and co-sleeping) and immediate and sensitive response to any form of distress, while allowing older children to freely play and explore as soon as they feel autonomous enough (Schön & Silvén, 2007; Narvaez et al., 2011). Such nurturing but permissive parenting style, at least in hunter-gatherers, appears to provide the foundation for the development of a healthy, self-confident personality, and for what is called “secure attachment” in interpersonal relationships.

EP further provides an explanation for the often-observed asymmetry between positive and negative emotions. We tend to feel good by default (the “positivity offset”), because that motivates us to explore, take on challenges, and thus build the mental and physical resources that ensure long-term survival (Fredrickson, 2004). On the other hand, we tend to overreact to possible threats (the “negativity bias”), because that protects us against potentially lethal harm. Therefore, humans behave like “paranoid optimists” (Haselton & Nettle, 2006). 

In conclusion, evolutionary psychology has proven its value in generating testable new hypotheses about human cognition, emotion, and innate preferences, by assuming that our mind is adapted to our ancestral way of life, the environment of evolutionary adaptedness. While several non-trivial hypotheses have already been confirmed, more tests are needed, and many more fruitful predictions are likely to be derived from our increasing understanding of the human EEA. Such theories and tests are likely in particular to unify and extend our understanding of the conditions for human wellbeing.（essay代写)

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