Question

what it means to use an evolutionary perspective to understand human psychology. Second, describe three misunderstandings of evolutionary theory. From your experience, which one of the three misunderstandings do you think is the most common and why?

Answer 1

Evolutionary Psychology seeks to find out human psychology traits which are evolved adaptations. These adaptations could be natural selection or human evolution.

Some misunderstandings of evolutionary theory are:

1) Human behaviour is genetically determined

2) We cannot change behaviour since it's evolutionary.

3) Current mechanisms are optimally designed.

The most common misunderstanding is that human behaviour is genetically determined. This is the feeling that behaviour comes from birth and there is little environmental influence. This misconception is debunked by two facts that human behaviour is influenced by evolved adaptations and environmental input triggers the development and activation of these adaptations.