Adolescence signifies a transition from the use of prereproductive to reproductive strategies in the life history of Homo sapiens. Insofar as human generations overlap, events at adolescence, surrounding the onset of puberty, offer a unique glimpse into human adaptation from the point of view of the changing strategies of both parents and offspring. The timing of puberty is an important life history trait that varies between species, but also between and within the sexes in human beings. The onset of puberty marks the beginning of the reproductive life, is affected by previous experience, and serves as a trigger for behavioral change. Surbey (1988, 1990) reported relationships between father absence, heightened levels of childhood stress, and early menarche and considered them within the context of human evolutionary history. Subsequently, similar findings have been reported in a number of human populations and have been interpreted from several evolutionary perspectives. This article discusses the extent to which these and related findings regarding alterations in the timing of human puberty reflect evolved parental or offspring strategies. It entails a consideration of the applicability of the concepts of phenotypic plasticity, nonadaptive genetic variation, and conditional and alternative reproductive strategies in describing the interwoven nature of strategies employed by parent and child in the transition at adolescence.

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Mate copying, or mate-choice copying, refers to the heightened probability of choosing or preferring a prospective mate as a result of them having been previously chosen by another individual. First demonstrated in nonhuman species, increasing evidence suggests the phenomenon also occurs in humans. Mate copying may be considered a form of nonindependent mate choice, whereby individuals incorporate additional information supplied by conspecifics into the selective process. Such additional information would be especially advantageous to individuals (typically females) who face higher informational constraints in selecting mates, and who are subject to greater fitness costs in the process of selection or as a result of poor mate choice decisions. In nonhumans, mate copying occurs largely as a result of visual association, following a potential mate being observed in courtship with another opposite sex conspecific. In human beings, who use many informational modalities, including visual, verbal, social, and deductive reasoning, mate copying may be based on a wider variety of cues and factors. This article reviews the evidence for human mate copying, beginning with that predating, yet foreshadowing, recognition of the phenomenon. As the evidence is somewhat equivocal and inconsistent, an attempt to comprehend how methodological or other factors may increase, attenuate, or modulate the probability of human mate copying or its detection is undertaken. In particular, the additional roles of nonvisual or inferred information, such as a potential mate’s current availability, willingness to commit, their friendships with opposite sex peers, a former partner’s characteristics, the valence of information provided about a potential mate, expected duration of a relationship, and a rater’s level of experience in mate selection are considered.

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