Misunderstandings in applying evolution to human mind and behavior and its causes: A systematic review

Abstract

In spite of the increasing influence and acceptance of the evolutionary approach in psychology, misunderstandings continue to occur and a systematized approach to cope with its diversity and causes is needed. We have analyzed content of evolutionary psychological literature published from 1992 to 2011, in which misunderstandings were explicitly mentioned. We identified 22 different misunderstandings, which we categorized into 3 dimensions (individual, social and evolutionary), and we identified 6 types of attributed causes. By discussing definitions and inter-relations of the identified misunderstandings, we hope to contribute to a more precise approach to teaching and scientific communication. The first step in overcoming misconceptions and decreasing the barriers between areas of knowledge is to comprehend their diversity and their causes. Advices on how to better address and combat misunderstandings in the classroom are given.

Artistic motivations are intrinsic, specific, and temporally stable by nature: Evidence from large real-life Brazilian public data between 1987–2004

“…Much work remains to be done regarding the conceptual refinement of artistic capacities, including work on its definitions, multifaceted components, multiple functions, and distinction between proximate and distal factors (Fitch, 2015;Honing & Ploeger, 2012;Menninghaus, 2019;Merker, Morley, & Zuidema, 2015;Seghers, 2016;Varella, Souza, & Ferreira, 2012. Moreover, to avoid 'just-so stories', pitfalls and anecdotal evidence (Honing & Ploeger, 2012;Varella et al, 2011Varella et al, , 2013Varella et al, , 2017, more empirical research is needed, particularly addressing many artistic modalities simultaneously (Brown, 2018) to probe whether they share the same evolutionary influences (cf. Varella, 2021;Varella, St erbová, Bártová, Fisher, & Valentova, 2022).…”