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Human zoological psychology: Mind of men and women in
the mirror of evolution
Arcady A. Putilov
This handbook reviews the state of the art in comparative
psychology (“zoopsychology” in Russian programs of psychological
faculties).
The main idea of the book is to rewrite the science of comparative
psychology with the position of evolutionary psychology that
is a new approach to psychology, in which knowledge and principals
from evolutionary biology are put to use in research on the
structure of the human mind. This approach argues that human
behavior can be understood in terms of evolutionary processes
and suggests application of biological ideas and data to establish
a comprehensive theory of evolutionary psychology – a theory
with a potential to unite all of psychology under a single
framework and to explain the basis of human behavior and experience.
The key concepts of evolutionary psychology contrast with
the psychological views prevailing in the 20th
century that the humans have evolved beyond the influence
of animal instincts, that a newborn baby is a tabula rasa
(blank slate) ready for cultural imprinting. The evolutionary
psychology suggests that hard-wired instincts and instinct-based
individual modifications of behavior are still with us, and
that our genes and minds did not change much for the last
10000 years, even though in recent times of civilization the
environment has changed rapidly. The recent moment of the
history of psychology is considered as a turning point when
for the first time this science might really be integrated
into evolutionary biology.
Additionally, the textbook is designed to bridge the gap
between old topics of comparative psychology (such as a comparison
of animal intellectual abilities) and most recent interests
of evolutionary psychology (such as evolutionary cognitive
psychology). The textbook is written in belief that the future
of the psychology in increased interdisciplinary training
and communication. The textbook chapters integrate findings
from sociobiology, behavioral ecology, human ethology, comparative
psychology, evolutionary psychology, anthropopsychology, ethnopsychology,
human genetics, and the like. One of most important messages
that this textbook convey is the need for multidisciplinary
synthesis of all these disciplines on the basis of evolutionary
psychology.
Almost every concept presented in the textbook is illustrated
by parallel examples from the animal and human studies. These
illustrations cover such topics as intellectual and specific
abilities, language evolution, emotions, courtship, reproduction,
rearing of offspring, family relations, social interactions,
etc. The principles of evolutionary biology are applied to
basic psychological functions to derive new insights into
the roots of human behavior. It is shown how human behavior
and psychic characteristics may be viewed as adaptations to
life’s significant challenges.
The book consists of 7 main parts. The 1st part
(evolution of psychology) traces the philosophical and scientific
movements leading to evolutionary revolution in psychology
associated with the rise of human ethology, sociobiology,
behavioral ecology and evolutionary psychology. It covers
the whole history of psychological thoughts starting from
evolution of the concept of “psyche” in ancient times. In
the end of this part the main conceptual foundations of evolutionary
psychology are listed.
The issues, discussed in the 2nd part (comparative
psychology), are very diverse, from the nature of reflex and
habituation to a theory of mind and language acquisition.
The 3rd part (psychological genetics) devotes
to the genetic and evolutionary aspects of adaptations.
Whereas the 2nd part is organized largely in terms
of basic forms of psychic capacities, the 4th and
5th parts are organized around organisms’ adaptive
problems, such as getting access to physical and social resources,
choosing mates, growing offspring, forming group, and so on.
The 4th part (ecological psychology) devoted to
the adaptive problems of animals and humans, starting with
the problems of survival and intra-species competition and
ending with reproductive problems. The 5th part
(ecological sociology) introduces and exemplifies group living.
These last two parts cover evolutionary history of modern
humans, the history of race division and ethnic expansions,
as well as several general psychosocial aspects of traditional
and modern societies. The 6th part (anthropological
psychology) focuses on evolution of human mind, and 7th
(ethnological psychology) – on the human diversity and most
unique aspect of human nature – culture.
The textbook appeals to students (both undergraduate and
postgraduate) and other educated readers who are interested
in psychology and evolution.
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