Evolutionary psychology

High school (ages 12+)
Thinking & Learning

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/evolutionary-psychology

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. How big is Evolutionary psychology?Mating, cooperation, conflict, emotions, cognitive biases, kinship, social structures
2. What is the theoretical foundation?Human psychological traits are adaptations shaped by natural and sexual selection
3. What is the environment of evolutionary adaptedness (EEA)?Hypothesized ancestral environment (primarily Pleistocene) that shaped human psychology
4. Why do we dislike bitter foods?Our brains learned that bitter tastes often mean poison, so we avoid them to stay safe.
5. Why do we prefer friends from our own group?Our ancestors lived in small groups, so our brains developed a preference for people who were close to us, helping us stay safe and share food.

Natural Selection: Differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype.
Sexual Selection: A mode of natural selection in which members of one biological sex choose mates of the other sex to mate with.
Kin Selection: The evolutionary strategy that favors the reproductive success of an organism's relatives, even at a cost to the organism's own survival and reproduction.
Adaptive Problem: A recurrent challenge in the ancestral environment that influenced survival or reproduction.