Evolutionary psychology

"An evolved psychological mechanism is a set of processes inside an organism with the following properties: 1. An evolved psychological mechanism exists in the form that it does because it solved a specific problem of survival or reproduction recurrently over evolutionary history. [...] 2. An evolved psychological mechanism is designed to take in only a narrow slice of information. [...] 3. The input of an evolved psychological mechanism tells an organism the particular adaptive problem it is facing. [...] 4. The input of an evolved psychological mechanism is transformed through decision rules or procedures into output. [...] 5. The output of an evolved psychological mechanism can be physiological activity, information to other psychological mechanisms, or manifest behavior. [...] 6. The output of an evolved psychological mechanism is directed toward the solution to a specific adaptive problem. An important point to keep in mind is that a mechanism that led to a successful solution in the evolutionary past may or may not lead to a successful solution now. [...] In summary, an evolved psychological mechanism is a set of procedures within the organism designed to take in a particular slice of information and transform that information via decision rules into output that historically has helped with the solution to an adaptive problem. Psychological mechanisms exist in current organisms because they led, on average, to successful solutions to specific adaptive problems for that organism’s ancestors."

"An enormous amount of behavior grows out of genetic imperatives."

"In order to understand relationships you need to understand Sigmund Freuds Oedipus complex."

"Behavior evolves through natural selection, just as anatomy does."

"The conclusion this article reaches, based on the presented arguments, is that [Evolutionary Psychology] EP may be a contribution to psychological science at several different, important levels. First, EP allows psychologists to communicate between different areas of psychological interest, and with other branches of science relevant to psychology as a life science. Second, EP provides a well-researched, rigorously formulated theory for evaluating any other psychological theory. The theory may prevent one from suggesting abilities that could not evolve but have been suggested within almost all psychological disciplines. The versatility EP shows as a theoretical framework for disciplines as different as psychoanalysis and cognitive science, suggests that EP may succeed in integrating psychological science. It also supports the claim that EP is as theoretically valid a science as cognitive science and evolutionary biology. EP also brings to psychology the focus on a theoretically rigorous and predictive theory of Human Nature, and the functional approach, which may provide maturation from the level of mere descriptive science. At the level of generating new theories and insights about Human Nature, EP seems to have proven its worth."