Genetic Psychology

Our understanding of the human mind has radically changed in recent years--from the unified mind once envisioned by Rene Descartes over three hundred years ago to a new understanding of mind as a set of specialized cognitive components gradually accumulated in our evolutionary past. As a result, many scientists and philosophers now believe that our minds emerged out of the same type of evolutionary processes that have shaped our bodies. In The Evolution of Mind, outstanding figures on the cutting edge of evolutionary psychology follow clues provided by current neuroscientific evidence to illuminate many puzzling questions of human cognitive evolution. With contributions from psychologists, ethologists, anthropologists, and philosophers, the book offers a broad range of approaches to explore the mysteries of the minds evolution--from investigating the biological functions of human cognition to drawing comparisons between human and animal cognitive abilities. This interdisciplinary work presents a comparative and evolutionary perspective on a wide variety of topics, including mental algorithms for reasoning about contingencies, quantities, social norms, and the minds of others; social play and communicative abilities; thought and language, and the role of Darwin's theory of natural selection in evolutionary psychology. Written in a highly readable style, The Evolution of Mind will appeal to a broad range of researchers and students and help set the agenda for the field for years to come.

Rosen and Luebbert have edited a collection providing a diverse sampling of theoretical and scientific approaches to understanding important markers connected with the evolution of the psyche. Markers from our evolutionary path can be discerned in the structure of the human brain, in our similarities to our infrahuman ancestors, and in contemporary behaviors that, as the essays make clear, continue to serve purposes best understood in our original environment of evolutionary adaptedness.

This captivating work takes us on a spellbinding journey through time and space to explore the age-old question: What makes humans unique? The answer revolves around the very essence of what makes us distinctly human -- our brains.

Dr. Robert DeMoss derives twelve principles that can explain the rise of humankind and the evolution of human behavior. For out of this evolution rose the only species that can contemplate its own future, think about the very act of thinking, and build mighty civilizations and destroy them, too. He explores the circumstances that came together to produce the extraordinary way we think, learn, and store memories. Furthermore, DeMoss dares to tackle the overriding question of our time: Is our brain to evolve once again? Never before has a book provoked us to, think our place in nature and how we might best flourish and fulfill our innate promise.

The study and measurement of human intelligence is one of the most controversial subjects in psychology. For much of its history, the focus has been on differences between people, what it means for one individual to be more intelligent than the other, and how such differences might have arisen. With the emphasis on these issues, the efforts to understand the general nature of intelligence have been obscured. The author provides clear, comprehensive, and extremely readable introduction to this difficult subject. In addition to a discussion of the traditional topics raised by IQ tests, this book attempts to bring the theory and data of cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience to bear on some of these other, equally important scientific questions.

The author presents a theory that major genes controlling the growth of human intelligence, both left- and right-brain attributes, are on the X-chromosome. The more significant of the implications of such X-linkage include: BL Males tend to be more variable in intelligence. BL Partial or total reversions to the aboriginal level of intelligence can account for virtually all cases of non-specific mental subnormality. BL Since the X-linked genes control a pattern of growth, boys are more variable in the age of readiness for the skills required for progress in school. BL Being on the X-chromosome, these genes, favorable or unfavorable, are not passed on from father to son, although they are passed on from father to daughter. In effect, earlier studies have come up with estimates of the heritability of intelligence that are too low.