Psychology and Evolution

The Origins of Mind

Introducing students to the emerging field of evolutionary psychology this book takes an approach that closely ties psychology to biology. The goal is to apply concepts of evolutionary theory to basic psychological functions to derive new insights into the roots of human behaviour and how that behaviour may be viewed as adaptations to important challenges of life.

The book is organized around major life challenges and psychological functions (courtship and reproduction, child rearing, family and social interaction, language development, perception and memory) and the evolved mechanisms that have allowed humans to adapt.

Pedagogical features include:

- chapter-opening motivational quotes and outlines

- illustrations

- key terms highlighted within the text and defined both in context and in a glossary at the end of the book

- end-of-chapter discussion questions along with annotated suggestions for further reading.