The evolution of mind : fundamental questions and controversies /

Gangestad (Univ. of New Mexico) and Simpson (Univ. of Minnesota) have gathered coherent essays that fulfill the promise of their book's title. The editors begin by describing a dozen controversial issues confronted by scientists concerned with the impact of evolution on human behavior. The 43 contributions are arranged in three parts, each subdivided into sections dealing with a particular issue and comprising several papers addressing that issue. Part 1, which looks at theoretical and methodological issues involved in applying a Darwinian perspective to human psychology, examines the differences between evolutionary psychology and human behavioral ecology, the value of using information about contemporaneous nonhuman primates, and the application of cost benefit analyses. The second part presents significant controversies in the evolution of the human mind, e.g., whether human cognition involves many domain-specific adaptations or a flexible intelligence that can be used to solve problems in many domains of life. The final section discusses the distinctive features of human cognition, the selection pressures that made the enlargement of the human brain advantageous, and the evolution of the human reliance on culture. The brevity and clarity of the papers, along with their tight organization around single issues, effectively reveals the relationships among the advanced ideas presented. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. S. I. Perloe emeritus, Haverford College