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Evolutionary Psychology definitions

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  • Evolutionary Psychology
    Field examining how natural selection influences human behavior and mental processes, integrating evolutionary theory across psychological domains.
  • Natural Selection
    Process favoring traits that enhance survival and reproduction, shaping both physical and psychological characteristics over generations.
  • Biological Preparedness
    Innate tendency to form certain associations more easily, due to evolutionary advantages in survival or avoidance of harm.
  • Taste Aversion
    Strong, often lasting association between a specific flavor and subsequent illness, leading to avoidance of that flavor.
  • Anthropology
    Discipline contributing theories and methods to evolutionary psychology, focusing on human origins, development, and cultural practices.
  • Functionalism
    Historical psychological perspective emphasizing the adaptive purposes of mental processes and behavior in response to environmental demands.
  • Behaviorism
    Psychological approach that shifted focus away from evolutionary explanations, emphasizing observable behaviors and external stimuli.
  • Cognitive Processes
    Mental activities such as memory, decision-making, and problem-solving, analyzed through an evolutionary framework in this field.
  • Mate Selection
    Area of study exploring how evolutionary pressures influence preferences and choices in reproductive partners.
  • Parental Investment
    Concept describing the time, energy, and resources devoted to offspring, shaped by evolutionary pressures.
  • Decision Making
    Cognitive activity involving choices, examined for evolutionary roots in optimizing survival and reproductive success.
  • Cheater Detection
    Cognitive mechanism for identifying individuals who violate social norms or agreements, considered adaptive in social groups.
  • John Garcia
    Researcher whose work on taste aversion provided early evidence for innate learning biases with evolutionary significance.
  • Leah Cosmides
    Psychologist recognized for systematically applying evolutionary theory to psychological concepts, advancing the field.
  • John Tooby
    Anthropologist instrumental in formalizing evolutionary psychology by integrating evolutionary principles into psychological research.