Child Development in Evolutionary Perspective

An evolutionary perspective provides better understanding of how changes in the development of our ancestors produced modern humans.

David F. Bjorklund (Author)

9781108791502, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 29 October 2020

75 pages
23 x 15 x 0.5 cm, 0.15 kg

'Child Development in Evolutionary Perspective (part of the Cambridge Elements Series) is a short summary that would add a very valuable dimension to any course on child development.' Melvin Konner, Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture

Natural selection has operated as strongly or more so on the early stages of the lifespan as on adulthood. One evolved feature of human childhood is high levels of behavioral, cognitive, and neural plasticity, permitting children to adapt to a wide range of physical and social environments. Taking an evolutionary perspective on infancy and childhood provides a better understanding of contemporary human development, predicting and understanding adult behavior, and explaining how changes in the early development of our ancestors produced contemporary Homo sapiens.

1. Introduction
2. How Can an Understanding of our Species' Evolution Help Us Better Understand Children, Development, and the Adults We Become?
3. How Can an Understanding of Human Development Help Us Better Understand Human Evolution?
4. Children, Childhood, and Development in Evolutionary Perspective.

Subject Areas: Child & developmental psychology [JMC]