Quo Vadis, Chronopsychology?

Abstract

This is the fi rst review in chronopsychology, a relatively new interdisciplinary area of research which has developed rapidly at the junction of chronobiology, somnology, and psychology. Chronopsychology studies the mechanisms of rhythmicity in behavior and the mind based on methods of chronobiology, somnology, and psychometry. In particular, chronobiology studies biological clocks, while somnology addresses their infl uences on regulatory processes directly controlling the sleep-waking cycle, impairments to which have adverse impact on mental activity. Psychometric and differential psychology methods are widely used, for example, in studies of the chronotype and its relationship with a great diversity of human characteristics -genetic, psychophysiological, behavioral, cognitive, personality, and psychopathological. Particular attention is paid to sleep, drowsiness, fatigue, work/study productivity, and healthy/unhealthy lifestyles in people of different sexes and ages. Applied research includes the development -taking account of the chronotype of each specifi c person -of recommendations supporting preservation of good quality sleep and health in specifi c temporal situations, optimizing work/rest patterns, effi cient assimilation of new skills, and preventing accidents during vigorous activity at times of day unsuitable for these activities.

Nocturnal selective pressures on the evolution of human musicality as a missing piece of the adaptationist puzzle

“…Most temporal concern in EP focuses on life-history development ( Webster et al, 2014 ; Figueredo et al, 2021 ) or the menstrual cycle ( Gildersleeve et al, 2014 ). Nevertheless, a comprehensive ‘Evolutionary Chronopsychology’ is needed, integrating EP and chronopsychology ( Putilov, 2021 ), in which the seasonal, monthly, and circadian rhythms are also considered as evolved temporal signatures of mental adaptations integrated into the underlying chronobiological patterns of neural and endocrine systems. Early ethologists knew that “Behavior must occur not only in the right place and with the right orientation but also at the right moment.…”