Evolutionary Psychology Approach - Term Paper Example

? Evolutionary psychology Rachelle H. Moore PSY 464 Roddy Sueoka Evolutionary psychology Introduction Evolutionary psychology is an approach in the natural and social sciences that examines the traits of psychology such as language, perception and memory from the perspective of modern evolutionary point. Evolutionary psychology seeks to determine the traits of human psychology that evolve adaptations. That is the functional products of sexual selection or natural selection of human beings. Some evolutionary psychologists have applied a similar thinking to psychology and argued that body and mind have similar modular structure with different modular adaptations that serve different functions. According to evolutionary psychologists, much of human behavior is an output of psychological adaptations that evolved in order to solve problems that recur in ancestral human environments (Barkow, Cosmides & Tooby, 2008). This paper seeks to use evolutionary psychology as a thread in explaining and integrating sub-disciplines of psychology: personality, social, cognitive, clinical, and abnormal, from the perspective of evolutionary psychology. Generally, evolutionary psychology perspective on the sub-disciplines of psychology is founded on various premises: brain is a device of information processing and produces behavior in response to internal and external inputs; the brain has neural mechanisms evolved from it that are designed to solve recurring problems over the time of evolution and this gives modern people stone age minds; the adaptive mechanisms of brain were shaped by sexual and natural selection; distinct mechanisms of neurons are specialized to solve problems in the past humanity evolutionary; human psychology has numerous mechanisms specialized and sensitive to various information or input classes, these combine to manifest human behavior; and most processes and contents of the brain are unconscious and mental problems that look easy are in reality difficult problems extremely to solve unconsciously by complicated mechanisms of neurons (Buss, 2007). Due to this, psychology has been sub divided into various sub-disciplines which this paper seeks to explain and integrate from the perspective of evolutionary psychology. Personality Evolutionary psychology is interested primarily in identifying the commonalities that exist between the nature of basic human psychology, or people. From the evolutionary psychology point of view, the assertion that human beings have elemental differences in traits of personality presents a puzzle like idea. Again from the perspective of evolutionary psychology, the behavioral field of genetics is concerned with partitioning statistically the differences between people into environmental and genetic sources of variance. However, evolutionary psychology explains that mastering the heritability concept can be complicated. Heritability in this perspective of evolutionary psychology refers to merely the differences between people, and not the degree or extent to which individual traits are because of genetic of environmental factors, because traits are often a complex interweaving of both (Durrant & Ellis, 2003). Traits of personality are conceptualized by the evolutionary psychologists as because of the usual variation around an optimum, or because of selection that is dependent on frequency, or even facultative adaptations. Just like variability in the height, some traits of personality may simply be reflected by inter-individual variability around an optimum in general. Personality traits may also represent different behavioral morphs predisposed genetically; alternate strategies of behavior that are dependent on the frequency of competing strategies of behavior in the entire population. For example, if majority of the population is generally gullible and trusting, a behavioral morph; cheater or sociopath, may be advantageous in a way. Nevertheless, from the perspective of evolutionary psychology, like several other psychological adaptations, personality traits may be considered facultative: sensitive to the typical variations within the social environ, particularly during very early development. For instance, children who are born later in a family are most likely to be rebellious than the ones born earlier, more open to new experiences and less conscientious, this may be specifically advantageous to them because of their specific niche within the structure of the family (Evan, 2008). Cognitive From the perspective of evolutionary psychology, cognitive psychology refers to the internal information processing and internal representations of the world. In the point of view of evolutionary psychology, cognition is not particularly a general purpose; it uses strategies or heuristics that increase generally the possibility of solving problems that are faced routinely by the present day’s human ancestors. For example, human beings in the present day are much more likely to solve more logic problems involving detecting cheats than a similar logic problem when put in abstract terms purely (Steven & Donald, 2008). Due to the fact that present day ancestors did not encounter random events, human beings in the present day may be predisposed cognitively to identify incorrectly patterns in random sequences. The fallacy of gamblers is a good example of this argument. Gamblers may believe falsely that they hit lucky streak even though every outcome is in real sense random and independent or the trials held previously. From the perspective of evolutionary psychology, human beings find it easier to make predictions and diagnoses using frequency data than when that same data is presented as percentages or probabilities, presumably because the present day ancestors lived in small tribes relatively in which frequency information was available more readily (Barkow, Cosmides & Tooby, 2008). Social From the perspective of evolutionary psychology, human beings are highly social species, and there are numerous adaptive challenges that are associated with navigation of the social world. For example managing hierarchies, maintaining allies and interacting with out-group members of the society are some of the elements of social psychology. In the point of view of evolutionary psychology, researchers in the field of evolutionary social psychology have made numerous discoveries concerning the topics studied traditionally by social psychologists, which includes social cognition, person perception, attitudes, emotions, altruism, group dynamics, motivation, leadership, prejudice, cross cultural differences, and intergroup relations (Buss, 2007). Clinical Clinical psychology, from the perspective of evolutionary psychology, is an integration of theory, science and clinical knowledge for reasons of understanding, relieving, and preventing psychology based dysfunction or distress and to promote personal development and subjective well-being. Major to the practice of clinical psychology are the psychotherapy and psychological assessment. However, from the point of view of evolutionary psychology, clinical psychologists engage as well in teaching, research, consultation, program administration and development, and forensic testimony. In many countries, health care profession regulates clinical psychology. From evolutionary psychology point of view, clinical psychologists should offer psychological testing, psychotherapy, and psychological diagnoses of mental illness. Generally, clinical psychologists are trained in four main theoretical orientations: behavior therapy or cognitive behavior, psychodynamic therapy, systems or family therapy, and humanistic therapy (Routh, 2009). As put in the evolutionary psychology, there are recurring tensions in the diverse field of clinical psychology over the extent to which clinical practice need to be limited to empirical research support treatments. In spite of illustrations by evidence that most of the major therapeutic orientations are concerned with equal effectiveness, there is much debate concerning the efficacy of different treatment forms in clinical psychology. In reference to evolutionary psychology, clinical psychology rarely allies itself with client groups and has the propensity of individualizing problems in order to neglect a broad economic, social and political inequality issues that may not necessarily be the client responsibility. The argument from the perspective of evolutionary psychology shows that therapeutic practices are bound up inevitably with power inequities that can be used for bad or good (Durrant & Ellis, 2003). Clinical psychology and other professions that make up a psy-complex normally fail to address or consider power differences and inequalities and may play a role in the moral and social control of deviance, disadvantage and unrest. As outlined in the evolutionary psychology, clinical psychologists offer abroad range of professional services t hat include: administering and interpreting psychological testing and assessment; conducting psychological research, consultation service, especially in mental health setting, business or school or healthcare setting; developing treatment and prevention programs; providing expert testimony; administration of programs; teaching; and providing mental or psychological treatment (Routh, 2009). Abnormal From the perspective of evolutionary psychology, the etiology of psychological illnesses is usually founded on analogies existing between psychological and physiological dysfunctions. According to the evolutionary psychology point of view, abnormal psychology deals in mental disorders associated with psychological dysfunctions. In the light of evolutionary psychology, mental disorders are because of the interactive impacts of both nurture and nature, and usually have numerous contributing causes (Routh, 2009). Conclusion In summary, evolutionary psychology is an approach that looks at the nature of human as a product of universal set of psychological adaptations that have evolved to recurring problems in their ancestral environment. The evolutionary psychology proponents suggests that it aims to integrate psychology into other natural sciences and roots evolutionary psychology in the biological organizing theory (theory of evolution), and hence mastering evolutionary psychology as a branch of biology. This explains the sub-disciplines that this paper has discussed in the light of evolutionary psychology such as social psychology, personal psychology, abnormal psychology, cognitive psychology, and clinical psychology (Evan, 2008). Evolutionary psychology has its roots in evolutionary biology and that’s the reason for intensive explanation of cognitive psychology from the perspective of evolutionary psychology as discussed in the paper. In addition, evolutionary psychology traces its roots from behavioral ecology, genetics, artificial intelligence, ethnology, archeology, zoology, anthropology, and biology. It is also linked closely to sociobiology though there are key distinctions between the two including emphasis on domain general mechanisms and domain specific mechanisms. Evolutionary psychologists presume generally that, just like the body, the mind is also made up of numerous emerged modular adaptations, however, there is some sort of mismatch in the discipline with respect to the extent in the generality or general plasticity of some modules. Evolutionary psychologists suggest that modularity emerges because, in comparison to the non-modular networks, it could have bestowed an advantage in relation to fitness, and since the costs of connections are lower (Durrant & Ellis, 2003). Contrary to the evolutionary psychologists, some scholars have argued that it is important to conjecture the existence of highly domain particular modules, and recommend that the anatomy of brain neural supports models based on more general domain processes and faculties. There is also a defense for evolutionary psychology in this respect. Evolutionary psychologists, due to this has argued that most of the criticism that are leveled against evolutionary psychology are straw men, are founded on an inaccurate and incorrect nurture vs. nature dichotomy, or are founded on misunderstandings of evolutionary as a discipline (Evan, 2008). This paper has precisely explained the sub-disciplines of psychology: social psychology, personal psychology, abnormal psychology, cognitive psychology, and clinical psychology in the perspective of evolutionary psychology. References Barkow, J., Cosmides, L. & Tooby, J. (2008). The adapted mind: Evolutionary psychology and the generation of culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Buss, D. M. (2007). The evolution of desire: Strategies of human mating. New York: Basic Books. Durrant, R., & Ellis, B.J. (2003). Evolutionary Psychology, In M. Gallagher & R.J. Nelson (Eds.), Comprehensive Handbook of Psychology, Volume Three: Biological Psychology (pp. 1–33). New York: Wiley & Sons. Evan, D. (2008). Introducing Evolutionary Psychology, Lanham, MD: Totem Books USAGaulin. Routh, D. (2009). Clinical psychology training: A history of ideas and practices prior to 1946. American Psychologist 55 (2): 236. Steven J. C. & Donald H (2008). Evolutionary psychology, London: Prentice Hall. Read More