Эволюционная психология развития: синтез эволюции и онтогенеза

Psychology field concerned with Darwinian evolution

Evolutionary developmental psychology (EDP) is a research paradigm that applies the basic principles of evolution by natural selection, to understand the development of human behavior and cognition. It involves the study of both the genetic and environmental mechanisms that underlie the development of social and cognitive competencies, as well as the epigenetic (gene environment interactions) processes that adapt these competencies to local conditions. EDP considers both the reliably developing, species typical features of ontogeny (developmental adaptations), as well as individual differences in behavior, from an evolutionary perspective. While evolutionary views tend to regard most individual differences as the result of either random genetic noise (evolutionary byproducts) and/or idiosyncrasies (for example, peer groups, education, neighborhoods, and chance encounters) rather than products of natural selection, EDP asserts that natural selection can favor the emergence of individual differences via "adaptive developmental plasticity." From this perspective, human development follows alternative life history strategies in response to environmental variability, rather than following one species typical pattern of development.

Like mainstream evolutionary psychology, EDP is rooted in Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection. Darwin himself emphasized development, using the process of embryology as evidence to support his theory. From The Descent of Man:<blockquote>"Man is developed from an ovule which differs in no respect from the ovules of other animals. The embryo itself at a very early period can hardly be distinguished from that of other members of the vertebrate kingdom." Despite this early emphasis on developmental processes, theories of evolution and theories of development have long been viewed as separate, or even opposed to one another (for additional background, see nature versus nurture). Since the advent of the modern evolutionary synthesis, evolutionary theory has been primarily "gene centric", and developmental processes have often been seen as incidental. Similarly, sociobiologist E. O. Wilson regarded ontogenetic variation as "developmental noise".

Despite the minimization of development in evolutionary theory, early developmental psychology was influenced by evolution. Both Darwin's theory of evolution and Karl Ernst von Baer's developmental principles of ontogeny shaped early thought in developmental psychology. Wilhelm T. Preyer, a pioneer of child psychology, was heavily inspired by Darwin's work and approached the mental development of children from an evolutionary perspective. However, evolutionary theory has had a limited impact on developmental psychology as a whole, Developmental psychology, as with the social sciences in general, has long been resistant to evolutionary theories of development Evolutionary approaches to human behavior were, and to some extent continue to be, considered a form of genetic determinism and dismissive of the role of culture and experience in shaping human behavior (see Standard social science model). One group of developmental psychologists who have embraced evolutionary perspectives are nativists, who argue than infants possess innate cognitive mechanisms (or modules) which allow them to acquire crucial information, such as language (for a prominent example, see universal grammar).

Evolutionary developmental psychology can be viewed as a more focused theoretical framework derived from the larger field of evolutionary psychology (EP). Mainstream evolutionary psychology grew out of earlier movements which applied the principles of evolutionary biology to understand the mind and behavior such as sociobiology, ethology, and behavioral ecology, While EDP theory generally aligns with that of mainstream EP, it is distinguished by a conscious effort to reconcile theories of both evolution and development. However, some authors have rebutted the claim that mainstream evolutionary psychologists do not integrate developmental theory into their theoretical programs, and have further questioned the value of developmental systems theory (see Criticism). Additionally, evolutionary developmental psychologists emphasize research on psychological development and behaviors across the lifespan. Pioneers of EDP contrast their work with that of mainstream evolutionary psychologists, who they argue focus primarily on adults, especially on behaviors related to socializing and mating. Sex differences in children's play may be an example of this type of adaptation: higher frequencies of "rough and tumble" play among boys, as well as content differences in fantasy play (cross culturally, girls engage in more "parenting" play than boys), seem to serve as early preparation for the roles that men and women play in many extant contemporary societies, and, presumably, played over human evolutionary history.

EDP emphasizes that children display considerable developmental plasticity, and proposes a special type of adaptation to facilitate adaptive developmental plasticity, called a conditional adaptation. Conditional adaptations detect and respond to relevant environmental cues, altering developmental pathways in ways which better adapt an individual to their particular environment. These adaptations allow organisms to implement alternative and contingent life history strategies, depending on environmental factors.

The social brain (or Machiavellian) hypothesis posits that the emergence of a complex social environment (e. g., larger group sizes) served as a key selection pressure in the evolution of human intelligence. Among primates, larger brains result in an extension of the juvenile period, and some authors argue that humans evolved (and/or expanded) novel developmental stages, childhood and adolescence, in response to increasing social complexity and sophisticated social learning. While many species exhibit social learning to some degree and seemingly possess behavioral traditions (i. e., culture), humans can transmit cultural information across many generations with very high fidelity. High fidelity cultural learning is what many have argued is necessary for cumulative cultural evolution, and has only been definitively observed in humans, although arguments have been made for chimpanzees, orangutans, and New Caledonian crows. Developmentally oriented researchers have proposed that over imitation of behavioral models facilitates cultural learning, a phenomenon which emerges in children by age three and is seemingly absent in chimpanzees.

Behaviors that benefit other members of one's social group, particularly those which appear costly to the prosocial or "altruistic" individual, have received considerable attention from disciplines interested in the evolution of behavior. Michael Tomasello has argued that cooperation and prosociality are evolved characteristics of human behavior, citing the emergence of "helping" behavior early in development (observed among 18 24 month old infants) as one piece of evidence. Researchers investigating the ontogeny and evolution of human cooperation design experiments intended to reveal the prosociality of infants and young children, then compare children's performance with that of other animals, typically chimpanzees.

EDP researchers emphasize that evolved strategies are context dependent, in the sense that a strategy which is optimal in one environment will often be sub optimal in another environment. They argue that this will result in natural selection favoring "adaptive developmental plasticity," allowing an organism to alter its developmental trajectory in response to environmental cues. and, more recently, some anthropologists and psychologists have applied this continuum to understand within species variation in trade offs between reproductive and somatic effort. Some authors argue that childhood environment and early life experiences are highly influential in determining an individual's life history strategy. Factors such as exposure to violence, harsh child rearing, and environmental unpredictability (e. g., frequent moving, unstable family composition) have been shown to correlate with the proposed behavioral indicators of "fast" life history strategies (e. g., early sexual maturation, unstable couple relationships, impulsivity, and reduced cooperation), where current reproduction is prioritized over future reproduction.