evolutionary psychology
C2Academic/Technical
Definition
Meaning
A theoretical approach to psychology that attempts to explain mental and psychological traits—such as memory, perception, or language—as adaptations evolved through natural selection.
A field of study exploring how evolutionary theory can inform our understanding of human cognition, emotion, and behavior by considering the adaptive problems faced by our ancestors.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
The term refers to a scientific discipline, not a psychological state of an individual. It is often contrasted with social or cultural explanations of behavior.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant lexical or spelling differences. The conceptual field and debates are identical across varieties.
Connotations
In both academic communities, the term can be associated with controversial debates about genetic determinism versus social constructionism.
Frequency
Equally common in academic psychology and related disciplines in both the UK and US.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
Evolutionary psychology argues that...A key concept in evolutionary psychology is...Researchers in evolutionary psychology study...From an evolutionary psychology perspective,...Vocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “That's just your evolutionary psychology talking (informal/jocular).”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Rarely used, except perhaps in marketing discussions about innate consumer preferences.
Academic
Primary domain. Common in psychology, anthropology, biology, and cognitive science journals and textbooks.
Everyday
Very rare. May appear in popular science articles or debates about human nature.
Technical
The standard term within its specific scientific field.
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- The behaviour is difficult to evolutionary-psychologise.
- Researchers seek to evolutionary-psychologise moral intuitions.
American English
- He attempted to evolutionary-psychologize the response.
- They evolutionary-psychologized the phenomenon of jealousy.
adverb
British English
- He argued, evolutionary-psychologically, that fear of snakes is innate.
- The trait was interpreted evolutionary-psychologically.
American English
- Evolutionary-psychologically speaking, the behavior makes sense.
- They analyzed the data evolutionary-psychologically.
adjective
British English
- The evolutionary-psychological perspective is controversial.
- She offered an evolutionary-psychological account of grief.
American English
- An evolutionary-psychological explanation was proposed.
- The evolutionary-psychological model was tested.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- Evolutionary psychology is a type of science.
- Some scientists use evolutionary psychology to study people.
- Evolutionary psychology tries to explain why humans behave in certain ways by looking at our ancient past.
- A popular idea in evolutionary psychology is that men and women might look for different qualities in a partner.
- Critics argue that evolutionary psychology often resorts to untestable 'just-so' stories about human behavior.
- The lecturer posited that our aversion to incest can be understood through the lens of evolutionary psychology.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think: EVOLUTION explains the 'why' of the mind's design, PSYCHOLOGY studies the 'how' of its function.
Conceptual Metaphor
THE MIND IS A SWISS ARMY KNIFE (composed of many specialized tools/modules for specific adaptive problems).
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Avoid translating as 'развивающаяся психология' (which implies 'developing psychology'). The correct equivalent is 'эволюционная психология'.
- Do not confuse with 'evolutionary development' in other contexts.
Common Mistakes
- Using it as an adjective for something that changes psychologically (e.g., 'His views are evolutionary psychological').
- Confusing it with the study of the evolution of the brain (neuroevolution).
Practice
Quiz
Which of the following is a central premise of evolutionary psychology?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Evolutionary psychology is considered a descendant of sociobiology but focuses more on psychological mechanisms and information processing rather than just social behavior.
No, it posits that evolved psychological mechanisms interact with environmental inputs; it is not strictly deterministic but focuses on evolved predispositions.
A module is a hypothesized specialized, often innate, mental system designed by evolution to solve a specific adaptive problem (e.g., language acquisition, face recognition).
It attempts to, by arguing that modern humans possess a 'Stone Age mind' operating in a modern environment, which can lead to mismatches between ancient adaptations and current contexts.