Human Evolutionary Psychology
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: January 28, 2002
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 464
ISBN-13: 9780691096223
Subjects: Science/Mathematics; Psychology; Life Sciences - Biology - General; Science; Life Sciences - Evolution - Human; Physiological Psychology; Biological Sciences; Science / Biology; Evolutionary psychology
First sentence: Why do some women of a certain age opt for plastic surgery in an attempt to preserve their youth?
Description: Why do people resort to plastic surgery to look young? Why are stepchildren at greatest risk of fatal abuse? Why do we prefer gossip to algebra? Why must Dogon wives live alone in a dark hut for five days a month? Why are young children good at learning language but not sharing? Over the past decade, psychologists and behavioral ecologists have been finding answers to such seemingly unrelated questions by applying an evolutionary perspective to the study of human behavior and psychology. Human Evolutionary Psychology is a comprehensive, balanced, and readable introduction to this burgeoning field. It combines a sophisticated understanding of the basics of evolutionary theory with a solid grasp of empirical case studies.