Evolutionary Psychology: Strategies And Modern Day Correlation

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Evolutionary Psychology

Did you know evolutionary psychology does not just apply to humans? That is right evolutionary psychology applies to any organism with a nervous system. Although it applies to any organism with a nervous system, which is every living organism except sponges and placozoans, it is mainly focused on humans alone. Evolutionary psychology is the theoretical approach to psychology that explains the mental and psychological changes and adaptation of natural selection. This meaning the explanation of change in memory, language and perception throughout evolution.

Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin was an English naturalists whose scientific theory became the foundation of modern evolutionary studies. A voyage to find the great unknown was set out and throughout the voyage Darwin focused on the species and how they differentiated. He adapted the word “transmutation” which will later be called evolution. Darwin’s work was not known until two decades after his voyage when he released publication for a book that has deeply influenced society called On the Origin of Species (1859). His work was declaring his proposition that all living species are descendants from common ancestors. After collaboration with Alfred Wallace they introduced the theory of evolution called natural selection, in which species adapt to the environment they are in in order to survive. Charles Darwin is described as the most influential figure in human history.

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Gender Differences

Gender differences also referred to as sex differences is the mental and behavioral functions of the sexes. The differences are due to complex biological, developmental and cultural factors. There have been various differences found in mental health, cognitive abilities, personality and tendencies towards aggression. It is hard to distinguish the variation from learned behavior or natural behavior. Numerous factors contribute to the development of sex differences including genetics, hormones, psychological traits, and brain structure. It is proposed that psychological traits evolved through history and formed a way of sexual selection. Males tendencies to be the toughest and most fit for mating is an example of sexual selection. Females often find a mate that will give their offspring a better chance of survival whether it be strength, knowledge or physical traits.

Cognitive Psychology

Although it is a smaller branch of psychology it is one of the most popular subfields. Cognitive psychology involves the study of the mental process including perception, memory, language, learning, etc. Evolutionary psychology proposes that the human brain evolved cognitive mechanisms by process of natural selection. The evolution of cognitive psychology in humans is to not solve problems in our current modern-day environment but the change is to solve recurring adaptation problems in the environment of our ancestors. The theory that humans’ language, memory, ability to learn and retain information all gets altered through evolution along with our physical aspects. Our mind is a complex set of cognitive mechanisms that define who we are, they define our universal human nature, thus meaning no individual cultural or societal differences.

Strategies.

Several strategies are used in order to figure out whether a psychological trait is an adaptation or not. According to Buss, D.M. (2011) some of the included methods are cross-cultural consistency, function to form, form to function and more. Cross-cultural consistency is the universal use of human characteristics such as smiling, laughing, crying and facial expressions are considered to be evolved psychological adaptations that have occurred in all cultural settings. Function to form also known as “problem to solution” is the potential misidentification of males to their offspring, therefore, stating compared to females, males jealousy is more focused on sexual traits instead of emotional. Form to function also known as “solution to problem” is the evolved adaptation of morning sickness and adverse reactions to specific types of foods in pregnant females. The function of this adaptation was to protect the fetus from potentially harmful toxins which in other cases would not be harmful to a healthy non-pregnant female.

Modern Day Correlation.

Psychology and healthcare are far apart from each other. However, they have a connection point. Nurses work in a constant environment where they are the ones who have to understand their patients to provide the best care. The first step to understanding their patient is understanding the behavior and actions the patient observes. Nurse’s knowledge on psychology helps them interact with patients based on various factors such as age and gender. The commonly used term “bedside manner” is a key point, nurses need to have good bedside manner to be able to assist their patients. A big role in bedside manner is psychology, knowing how to make the patient feel good, have trust in their care team and to ultimately increase their health. The key to a being a successful nurse is having good communication to work with the patient and staff effectively which can not be done without a piece of basic knowledge in psychology.

The cessation of evolutionary psychology is it is to be widely taught to help us effectively work with peers and patients. By understanding our ancestors and the way our bodies and minds have evolved to help us sustain a longer life ultimately shows a lot about the power of psychology. You have to have a comprehension of the past to apprehend the future.

References

  1. Buss, D.M. (2011). Evolutionary psychology. Chapter 2. Boston: Pearson/A and B.
  2. Charles Darwin. (2019, February 24). Retrieved March 3, 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin
  3. Cherry, K. (n.d.). Cognitive Psychology: The Science of How We Think. Retrieved March 3, 2019, from https://www.verywellmind.com/cognitive-psychology-4157181
  4. Desmond, A. J. (2019, February 08). Charles Darwin. Retrieved March 3, 2019, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Darwin
  5. Erik. (2015, March 23). The Importance of Psychology in the Nursing Profession. Retrieved March 4, 2019, from https://dlsii.com/blog/tag/importance-of-psychology-in-nursing/
  6. Evolutionary psychology. (2019, March 03). Retrieved March 4, 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_psychology#cite_note-55
  7. Evolutionary psychology. (n.d.). Retrieved March 3, 2019, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/evolutionary_psychology.htm
  8. Lahey, B. B. (2018). Chapter 4/ Genetics and Psychological Theory. In Psychology: An Introduction(11th ed., pp. 1-719). McGraw-Hill Education.
  9. Walter, S. (n.d.). Retrieved March 4, 2019, from https://www.iep.utm.edu/evol-psy/

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