Evolutionary Psychology

The human brain is very unique. The concept of evolutionary psychology explains that human behavior is largely influenced by their evolutionary ancestors through six theories and methods. Evolutionary psychology proposes that a lot of human behavior can be explained by the change of the physical and social environments through time. It argues that “much of human behavior is the output of psychological adaptations that evolved to solve recurrent problems in human ancestral environments.” (Evolutionary Psychology) The goals of evolutionary psychology is to understand the design of the human mind through human ancestors. Charles Darwin provided the framework of Evolutionary psychology. He proposed the “comparative method” which has become one of the most important methods in psychology and more specifically evolutionary psychology. If scientists can look at human behavior through an evolutionary standpoint, then they could see what Darwin proposed. A trait is contributed to a species’ survival (reproductive success). Therefore, if a species survives, then that trait (behavior) that allowed them to survive will continue onto their offsprings. However, if the trait (behavior) did not allow them to survive, then that trait (behavior) would die off along with that set of species, or the offspring would change so they can survive. By knowing how this concept works, scientists can possibly understand why humans behave the they do today. This is the basis of evolutionary psychology. Scientists must keep this concept in mind while looking deeper into evolutionary psychology through six different theories and methods. (Evolutionary Psychology)

“The brain is a computer designed by natural selection to extract information from the environment.” (Downes) The environment plays a tremendous role in the way the human brain functions. Depending of the surroundings, the mind can change to adapt and behave the best for that certain environment.

“Individual human behavior