Review by Choice Review
Platek (psychology and neuroscience, Georgia Gwinnett College) and Shackelford (evolutionary psychology, Florida Atlantic Univ.) offer two main sets of essays: one deals with evolutionary psychology theory, the other with the evolution of language. The theoretical set begins with a concise, thorough chapter that acquaints cognitive neuroscientists with the evolutionary psychology perspective. It is followed by three insightful chapters that deal with a central issue: the extent to which evolution has equipped humans with (on the one hand) flexible, general intelligence or (on the other hand) a set of discrete cognitive mechanisms, each of which deals with a single class of adaptive problems. One essay on language evolution, which grew out of a study of sign languages spontaneously created by deaf people, distinguishes between evolved proto-language (involving gestural movements and vocal utterances that could develop without the support of a linguistic community) and the grammatically structured languages of modern humans (which required verbal exchange among members of a linguistic community for their development in individuals). Two additional essays examine perceiving human faces and jealousy, respectively. This book will interest specialists in disciplines ranging from psychology to neuroscience. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty. S. I. Perloe emeritus, Haverford College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
