The Functional Mind: Readings in Evolutionary Psychology

The evolutionary perspective on psychology has the power to fundamentally change how you understand yourself, your fellow humans, and your relationship to the birds, the bees, and your pet dog. Getting a good grasp on this perspective is like turning on a light inside your head: It is both illuminating and exciting. And once people get it―that is, once they understand how to think in evolutionary terms―they never turn back.

This book introduces readers to a number of modern classics ― research papers applying evolutionary concepts to the whole range of topics in psychology, including psychopathology, development, learning, cognition, motivation, personality and social psychology. The list of authors includes Steven Pinker, Leda Cosmides, Martin Seligman, Eleanor Rosch, Paul Ekman, David Buss, Martin Daly, Josef Shepher, and Franz deWaal.

The articles include a number of modern classics by prominent authors in evolutionary psychology:

MOTIVATION AND EMOTION

― The Evolution of Happiness, by David M. Buss

― Hunger, Eating, and Ill Health, by J. P. J. Pinel, Sunaina Assanand, and Darrin R. Lehman

PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

― Psychoactive Drug Use in Evolutionary Perspective, by Randolph M. Nesse and Kent C. Berridge

― Evolutionary Social Psychology and Family Homicide, by Martin Daly and Margo Wilson

SENSATION, PERCEPTION, AND PHYSIOLOGY

― @#147Hawk-Eyed,” in The Birder¿s Handbook, by Paul R. Ehrlich, David S. Dobkin, and Darryl Wheye

― Natural Categories, by Eleanor H. Rosch

LEARNING

― Biological Boundaries of Learning: The Sauce-Bérnaise Syndrome, by Martin E. P. Seligman and Joanne L. Hager

― Illness-Induced Aversions in Rat and Quail: Relative Salience of Visual and Gustatory Cues, Hardy C. Wilcoxon, William B. Dragoin, and Paul A. Kral

MEMORY AND COGNITION

― The Hunter-Gatherer Theory of Spatial Sex Differences: Proximate Factors Mediating the Female Advantage in Recall of Object Arrays, by Marion Eals and Irwin Silverman

― Cross-Cultural Evidence of Cognitive Adaptations for Social Exchange among the Shiwiar of Ecuadorian Amazonia, by Lawrence S. Sugiyama, John Tooby, and Leda Cosmides

― Error Management Theory: A New Perspective on Biases in Cross-Sex Mind Reading, by Martie G. Haselton and David M. Buss

LANGUAGE AND NONVERBAL BEHAVIOR

― Constants across Cultures in the Face and Emotion, by Paul Ekman and Wallace V. Friesen

― Language as an Adaptation to the Cognitive Niche, by Steven Pinker

― Nonverbal Courtship Patterns in Women, by Monica M. Moore

AGGRESSION

― Competitiveness, Risk Taking, and Violence: The Young Male Syndrome, by Margo Wilson and Martin Daly

― A Few Good Men: Evolutionary Psychology and Female Adolescent Aggression, by Anne Campbell

PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR

― Nepotism and the Evolution of Alarm Calls, by Paul W. Sherman

― Primates―A Natural Heritage of Conflict Resolution, by Frans B. M. de Waal

MATE SELECTION

― Mate Selection among Second Generation Kibbutz Adolescents and Adults: Incest Avoidance and Negative Imprinting, by Joseph Shepher

― Evolution, Traits, and the Stages of Human Courtship: Qualifying the Parental Investment Model, by Douglas T. Kenrick, Edward K. Sadalla, Gary Groth, and Melanie R. Trost

MATING RELATIONSHIPS

― Sociosexuality and Romantic Partner Choice, by Jeffry A. Simpson and Steven W. Gangestad

― Sex Differences in Jealousy: Evolution, Physiology, and Psychology, by David M. Buss, Randy J. Larsen, Drew Westen, and Jennifer Semmelroth

― Evolution and Social Cognition: Contrast Effects as a Function of Sex, Dominance, and Physical Attractiveness, by Douglas T. Kenrick, Steven L. Neuberg, Kristin L. Zierk, and Jacquelyn M. Krones

CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND FAMILY RELATIONS

― What Is a Good Mother? Adaptive Variation in Maternal Behavior of Primates, by Lynn A. Fairbanks

― Evolution and Developmental Sex Differences, by David C. Geary

― On the Importance of Kin Relations to Canadian Women and Men, by Catherine A. Salmon and Martin Daly

This reader demonstrates how evolutionary perspectives can shed the same light on human thought and behavior as they have shed on the behaviors of species from earthworms to chimpanzees. Reader-friendly and straightforward, students will find this set of articles and shortened empirical studies engaging and relevant. It is a collection of readings that deal with all areas of evolutionary psychology.