Memory and human adaptation

Psychology

Human Adaptation

Although Charles Darwin published his Origin of Species in the middle of the 19th century, the systematic application of his theory to human behavior did not begin until more than a century later when psychologists and biologists began to generate research that formed the basis of sociobiology, and later evolutionary psychology (Cartwright, 2003). Darwin's theory of evolution and natural selection provides an all-encompassing explanation of life, ranging from the origin of life to explaining the creation of new species and the ability of species, as a whole, to adapt to their environments over generations. Darwin's theory of natural selection is based on the understanding that the overall goal of life, in all species, is to survive long enough to ensure the successful propagation of one's genes. By procreating, an individual is able to ensure that a part of them, their genetic material, continues on to the next generation. Natural selection refers to the forces of nature (natural) acting on the aspects that contribute to one's success or failure in meeting this goal (selection) (Cartwright, 2003). In other words, natural selection serves as a process through which the individuals who are most capable of surviving in their given environment will be 'favored' in their ability to pass their genes to the next generation. Over time, this favoring allows the species as a whole to change (or evolve), in a manner that adapts them to their environments. What is most interesting about this process is that evolutionary psychologists have been able to extend this research beyond the adaptation of physical features to the adaptation of behavior, including behavior in human beings. Thus, adaptation applies to human behavior in an evolutionary sense due to the fact that certain behaviors have evolved to help individuals survive and pass on their genes to the next generation.

One of the most difficult challenges in applying evolutionary theory to the study of human behavior is determining the time frame in which to study human behavior as a form of adaptation. Evolution is a process that takes place over hundreds of thousands of years, and as such, evolutionary adaptations are often lagging far behind cultural and environmental changes. For example, the political climate of the United States might change every four years after an election, but babies born during a democratic presidency will not have adapted in an evolutionary sense such that their future offspring will be "more democratic" than republican. This time lag in evolution can create confusion when searching for evolutionary and adaptive explanations for human behavior and this problem arises mostly from the fact that our behavior we show today is likely a form of adaptation to an environment that existed hundreds or even thousands of years ago, when the concept of democratic and republican parties was far from existence. As an example, newborn babies are born with the instinct to clutch their tiny fists very tightly, demonstrating remarkable strength. Sociobiologists believe that this was once an adaptive trait to grab onto the fur of a mother (i.e. our primate ancestors), and although this behavior remains, its practical application has long since disappeared for human babies (Cartwright, 2003).