The last decade has witnessed an exciting change in our understanding of
the way in which the mind operates and the reasons behind a myriad of
human behaviours. The traditional idea that nurture trumps nature in
explanations of human behaviour has been supplanted by the evolutionary
argument that human beings share evolved mental architectures that
govern their behaviour.
This volume is an introduction to evolutionary approaches to psychology,
bringing together seminal work in the field and exploring the ways in
which evolutionary psychological research can illuminate our
understanding of human behaviours and nature. Together, the chapters in
this volume present a fresh perspective on evolutionary approaches to
psychology, critically evaluating the extant literature while
maintaining the need for evolutionary psychologies.