The central postulate of evolutionary
psychology is that human beings’"psychological mechanisms are a
collection of specialized entities that have evolved to solve specific
problems" more precisely, problems that our ancestors encountered over
the millions of years that our species has evolved. In other words, and
contrary to certain criticisms that have been levelled against it,
evolutionary psychology uses the concept of the Environment of
Evolutionary Adaptedness (EEA) chiefly to try to identify some
properties of the human mind about which we still know very little,
rather than to try to explain those with which we are already familiar.
Though the heuristic value of an evolutionary perspective is being recognized more and more, the schools of thought that have dominated sociology and psychology for over a century have taken little or no notice of it. Evolutionary psychologists thus raise questions about what they call the Standard Social Science Model of the development of the human mind.
Though the heuristic value of an evolutionary perspective is being recognized more and more, the schools of thought that have dominated sociology and psychology for over a century have taken little or no notice of it. Evolutionary psychologists thus raise questions about what they call the Standard Social Science Model of the development of the human mind.
Though evolutionary psychology does stress the influence of brain circuits that have been shaped by evolution, it does not assert that our behaviour is genetically determined. On the contrary, it recognizes that environment plays a critical role in the development of our faculties.