The problem with a Darwinian view of humanity.

Comments on the special issue on Charles Darwin and psychology (Dewsbury, February–March 2009) (see record 2009-01602-013), in which the authors present evidence supporting the validity of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and how generations of psychologists have viewed the natural world through its light, taking Darwinian theories for granted as being a literal interpretation of the origins of species and attempting to make human nature conform to the picture of evolution as Darwin conceived it. In certain terms, Darwinian evolutionary theory, as conventionally held, has played an important negative role in present world conditions. There is no possibility of spiritual survival as far as evolutionary theory is concerned, because evolutionary Darwinian man and woman are not created with souls. All psychological activity is scaled down in between life and death. Death becomes an affront to life and comes to imply a certain kind of weakness, for is it not said that only the strong survive? Unfortunately, there are just not many good alternative theories to choose from. From the point of view of a transpersonal psychologist, however, Darwin’s theory ignores too much. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

General Intelligence as a Domain-Specific Adaptation.

General intelligence (g) poses a problem for evolutionary psychology's modular view of the human brain. The author advances a new evolutionary psychological theory of the evolution of general intelligence and argues that general intelligence evolved as a domain-specific adaptation for the originally limited sphere of evolutionary novelty in the ancestral environment. It has accidentally become universally important merely because we now live in an evolutionarily novel world. The available data seem to support the author's contention that intelligent people can solve problems better than less intelligent people only if the problems are evolutionarily novel, and they have no advantage in solving evolutionarily familiar problems. This perspective can also solve some empirical anomalies, such as the "central theoretical problem of human sociobiology" (D. R. Vining, 1986, p. 167) and the geographic distribution of general intelligence throughout the world. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is altruism part of human nature?

Gathers evidence from biology and psychology bearing on the issue of whether altruism is part of human nature. The traditional views of both evolutionary biology and psychology left little room for altruism. Current variants of the Darwinian model—group selection, kin selection, reciprocal altruism, and inclusive fitness—point to the acquisition of altruistic as well as egoistic structures in humans. Psychological research is also compatible with this view. There may be a general human tendency to help others in distress that has properties analogous to egoistic motivation and yet comes into play independently of egoistic motivation. The theory of inclusive fitness also requires that mediators of altruistic action be selected (rather than altruistic action itself), because this would provide the necessary flexibility. Evidence is presented suggesting that empathy may fit the evolutionary requirements of such a mediator: It is reliably aroused in humans in response to misfortune in others, it predisposes the individual toward helping action and yet is amenable to perceptual and cognitive control, and it appears to have a neural base that may have been present early in human evolution. (80 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Incompatible with evolutionary theorizing.

Comments on the article by A. H. Eagly and W. Wood (see record 1999-05337-002) which examined the origins of sex differences in human behavior. Eagly and Wood argued that social structural theory can explain the origin of psychological sex differences. The present article discusses conceptual problems which render Eagly and Wood's theory implausible. The authors see the social structuralists' dualistic interpretation of the origin of human traits as untenable and note that it results from a misunderstanding of what drives the evolution of adaptations. It is also noted that social structuralists' contention that humans do not have evolved psychological sex differences is implausible, because their implicit assumption that the sexes have not faced different adaptive problems over evolutionary history is not true. The authors point out that social structuralists neglect empirical evidence supporting the hypothesis that behavioral sex differences are mediated by hormonal influences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the incomplete architecture of human ontogeny: Selection, optimization, and compensation as foundation of developmental theory.

Drawing on both evolutionary and ontogenetic perspectives, the basic biological-genetic and social-cultural architecture of human development is outlined. Three principles are involved. First, evolutionary selection pressure predicts a negative age correlation, and, therefore, genome-based plasticity and biological potential decrease with age. Second, for growth aspects of human development to extend further into the life span, culture-based resources are required at ever-increasing levels. Third, because of age-related losses in biological plasticity, the efficiency of culture is reduced as life span development unfolds. Joint application of these principles suggests that the life span architecture becomes more and more incomplete with age. Degree of completeness can be defined as the ratio between gains and losses in functioning. Two examples illustrate the implications of the life span architecture proposed. The first is a general theory of development involving the orchestration of 3 component processes: selection, optimization, and compensation. The second considers the task of completing the life course in the sense of achieving a positive balance between gains and losses for all age levels. This goal is increasingly more difficult to attain as human development is extended into advanced old age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the evolution of reality--some biological prerequisites and evolutionary stages

The discussion of the evolutionary origins of consciousness has largely been concentrated to the human mind, and it is only in recent years that a comparative ethological view has come into play. Even here, a tendency has been to look mainly at the primates. There is a vast literature that discusses the differences between human consciousness and cognition, compared with that of the other primates, but much less attention has been given to the fact that evolutionary gaps-fulgurations, emergencies, new systems-have occurred at many stages in the evolution of cognition. More especially, the complexity of rather simple cognitive systems in lower animals has been underestimated, as well as the necessary prerequisites for a cognition worthy of the name to exist. Of particular interest in the discussion has been the views from evolutionary epistemology and radical constructivism, since they support the ethologically founded view that mind representations do not depict reality, but are adaptations for a successful way of behaving in the physical world, that reality in this sense is in the mind, that there are many realities, varying for different species-rich or poor in complexity-but all of them basically of the same nature. Even such human achievements as mathematics or logic may thus be seen as specific cognitive adaptions in our species, not as independent aspects of the physical world.     

From allies to adversaries?

Comments on the article by A. H. Eagly and W. Wood (see record 1999-05337-002) which examined the origins of sex differences in human behavior. Eagly and Wood argued that social structural theory can explain the origin of psychological sex differences. In the present article, E. Kleyman praises Eagly and Wood for clarifying her confusion as to the difference between the evolutionary theory and the social structural theory views on the origins of sex differences in behavior. She states that before the article by Eagly and Wood it was difficult to see the significant distinctions between the social structural theory's acceptance of evolutionary origins of the human species and evolutionary theory's acceptance of social input and context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The experimental evolution of aging in fruitflies

The evolutionary theory of aging suggests that the level of repair will evolve to an intermediate optimum that permits the accumulation of random damage to cells. This, in turn, causes a decline in essential functions during the life span of an organism. The central claim of the life history theory of aging is that intrinsic mortality rates evolve in response to changes in extrinsic mortality rates. To prove this central claim, it must be evaluated experimentally. Experimental evolution is an approach that has been yielding interesting results from both a variety of questions posed and organisms examined. In this article the organism chosen for study is the fruitfly (Drosophilia melanogaster) in which the evolutionary effects of high and low adult mortality rates are compared. It has been found that higher extrinsic mortality rates lead to the evolution of higher intrinsic mortality rates and a shorter life span. This is the first clear experimental demonstration of the central claim of the evolutionary theory of aging.     

Evolutionary trends and evolutionary origins: Relevance to theory in comparative psychology.

W. Hodos and C. B. Campbell (see PA, Vol 43:12612) contended that there was no theory in comparative psychology because psychologists did not base their work on true evolutionary (phyletic) lineages or origins. The present author argues that theory in comparative psychology is based appropriately on the phyletically transcendant concept of "anagenesis:" the progressive evolution of adaptive behavior, learning ability, or intelligence. Although anagenetic trends (grades, levels) do transcend known cladistic (phyletic) lineages, it is widely held in evolutionary biology, as well as in comparative psychology, that the documentation of such trends is a valuable and necessary part of evolutionary study, especially with respect to behavior. In this context a theoretical rationale is offered for discerning the anagenetic status of various contemporary species for comparative psychological purposes. It is proposed that by determining the extent of ontogenetic plasticity and behavioral versatility in the face of experimentally altered ecological circumstances, the anagenetic grades of various species can be estimated and thus compared. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The SCL-90 factor structure in comorbid substance abusers

Studying the evolution of nesting behavior within the human-chimpanzee clade is problematic because evidence is sparse and difficult to interpret. Lacking a fossil or archaeological record for proto-chimpanzees, reconstructions of the antecedents of modern chimp nesting patterns can be reconstructed only from careful studies of variation in current chimpanzee and bonobo nesting patterns within the context of spatial and temporal landscape parameters. The ethology of nesting also provides an important frame of reference for reconstructions of early hominid nesting behavior. If the contemporary contrast between human and chimpanzee nesting patterns is seen as an evolutionary dichotomy, then African prehistoric landmarks that mark the origin of this split might include bipedalism and the origins of the hominidae, the first stone tools and the origins of Homo, the developmental and behavioral adaptations of Homo ergaster, shifts in Late Acheulian settlement patterns, and the origins of anatomically modern humans and the Middle Stone Age. The issue of whether Early Stone Age archaeological sites were used for nesting is unresolved because potential markers of such behavior, such as hearths, structures, or bedding, are not unambiguously recognizable in the archaeological record until the Middle Stone Age.     

Molecular evolution of viruses: an interim summary

The origin and molecular evolution of viruses in this issue is dealt with at two levels: (1) tracing the past evolutionary pathways of viruses belonging to RNA virus families, retroviruses, and small and large DNA viruses; (2) tracing current changes in the RNA and DNA viral genomes that lead to the evolution of new virus mutants. In this interim summary, a time scale for the evolutionary processes is given, based on the accumulated published knowledge concerning the postulated origins of life on planet Earth, and the hypothesis that living cells with RNA genomes may have emerged (the "RNA world hypothesis") that then developed into cells with DNA genomes in eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells (1-3). The ideas about the evolution of RNA and DNA viruses from ancient cellular RNA and DNA molecules over a period of 3.5 billion years are discussed. It may be possible that by studying virus genes and molecular processes in virus-infected cells, and their involvement in the shaping of the genomes of bacteria, yeast, plants, insects, mammals, and humans, it will be possible to understand the importance of viruses in past evolution and to predict their possible impact on current and future evolutionary trends in biology.     

Grandmothering, menopause, and the evolution of human life histories

Long postmenopausal lifespans distinguish humans from all other primates. This pattern may have evolved with mother-child food sharing, a practice that allowed aging females to enhance their daughters' fertility, thereby increasing selection against senescence. Combined with Charnov's dimensionless assembly rules for mammalian life histories, this hypothesis also accounts for our late maturity, small size at weaning, and high fertility. It has implications for past human habitat choice and social organization and for ideas about the importance of extended learning and paternal provisioning in human evolution.     

Progress in the study of brain evolution: from speculative theories to testable hypotheses

Darwin's theory of evolution raised the question of how the human brain differs from that of other animals and how it is the same. Early students of brain evolution had constructed rather grand but speculative theories which stated that brains evolved in a linear manner, from fish to man and from simple to complex. These speculations were soundly refuted, however, as contemporary comparative neurobiologists used powerful new techniques and methodologies to discover that complex brains have evolved several times independently among vertebrates (e.g., within teleost fishes and birds) and that brain complexity has actually decreased in the lineages leading to modern salamanders and lungfishes. Moreover, the old idea that brains evolved by the sequential addition of new components has now been replaced by the working hypothesis that brains generally evolve by the divergent modification of preexisting parts. Speculative theories have thus been replaced by testable hypotheses, and current efforts in the field are aimed at making phylogenetic hypotheses even more testable. Particularly promising new directions for comparative neurobiology include (1) the integration of comparative neuroanatomy with comparative embryology and developmental genetics in order to test phylogenetic hypotheses at a mechanistic level, (2) research into how evolutionary changes in the structure of neural circuits are related to evolutionary changes in circuit function and animal behavior, and (3) the analysis of independently evolved similarities to discover general rules about how brains may or may not change during the course of evolution.     

Localization of the sequence-determined DNA bending center upstream of the streptokinase gene skc

This study illustrates some characteristics of the quality of life in old age when ageing is seen as a continued human development. In the Kungsholmen Project 87 healthy elderly persons were asked about the quality of their lives. Allardt's definition of quality of life was used as the conceptual framework for the content analysis. The findings indicate that the dimensions of loving and being, as Allardt describes them, take on a different meaning and the material things in the having dimension become less important. The differences point to another meaning of the quality of life in old age. The emphasis is on health and independence, contentment and a peaceful life, personal integrity in terms of a moral and a caring attitude. The findings tend to be in accordance with the successful ageing as described in Erikson's theory of psychosocial development and in Tornstam's theory of gerotranscendence. To gain a deeper understanding of this complex phenomenon, qualitative methods which go beyond definitions are required.     

A103: An anti-melan-a monoclonal antibody for the detection of malignant melanoma in paraffin-embedded tissues

Little is known about the molecular background to senescence in T-lymphocytes. In fibroblast systems replicative senescence has been shown to correlate with a number of changes in the expression of the proteins normally regulating progression through the G1 phase of the cell cycle, and recently the Ink4 inhibitor p16 was implicated as a central regulator of replicative senescence in human fibroblasts. It has, however, been claimed that p16 is not expressed in T-lymphocytes. In the present study we have analysed G1 regulating proteins in ageing human T-lymphocytes. We show that PHA and IL-2 stimulated T-lymphocytes cease to proliferate after around 20 population doublings, these cells can not thereafter be restimulated to growth, and were also found to exhibit markers for senescence. We found that T-lymphocytes accumulate p16 and p15 protein during successive population doublings and display high levels of these proteins as they enter into replicative senescence. There was also an increased binding of p16 to the Cdk6 kinase in senescent cells, and a decreased Cdk6 as well as Cdk2 kinase activity. The levels of other G1 regulating proteins were also altered in the senescent cells, such as slightly elevated levels of p21/WAF1, and downregulation of Cdk2 and cyclinD3. The levels of p27/ Kip1 is down regulated in proliferating cells but rise to approximately 15% of the levels in un-stimulated quiescent cells. As a high proportion of T-cell childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemias have deletions of both p15 and p16, our data suggest that inactivation of these genes makes it possible for leukemic cells to avoid senescence.     

Biological bases of aging

The author discusses ageing with special regard to evolution processes. Accelaration and retardation of certain ontogenetic phases or the whole ontogenesis have developed during phylogenesis and have been fixed genetically as a special reaction norm. The limitation of life span in highly differentiated organisms after reproduction is perfected has to be considered as one of the preconditions of evolution. Considering the phylogenesis, those hypotheses which interpret ageing as a continuous accumulation of cell damage, are no longer admissable. The different theories of the genetic control for ontogenesis are discussed on the basis of international literature.     

Review of The First Idea: How Symbols, Language and Intelligence Evolved From Our Primate Ancestors to Modern Humans.

Reviews the book The First Idea: How Symbols, Language and Intelligence Evolved From Our Primate Ancestors to Modern Humans, by Stanley I. Greenspan and Stuart G. Shanker (see record 2004-17062-000). In a sweeping and engrossing text, speckled with colourful anecdotes and real life examples, Greenspan and Shanker outline their ambitious theory that encompasses both development within a lifetime and evolution over millennia. They rightfully point out that emotions and social interaction have been neglected variables in the search for the origin of ideas and language. Their thesis places these factors, encapsulated in the affective caregiving relationship, as the primary instigators of developmental change. In their evaluation of human evolution, Greenspan and Shanker argue that with increased emotional communication there are tandem increases in symbolic thinking. Following their sweeping overview of human evolution, Greenspan and Shanker move to development within the individual. They argue that it is through emotional signaling that infants develop symbolic thought. The authors offer a comprehensive theory that brings emotional interaction solidly into the realm of scientific debate. It is also a theory with the enormous potential to contribute to the understanding of the beginnings of ideas and language both in individual and in evolutionary development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ageing in reptiles

Like in fishes, the reptiles appear to show three types of senescence. The African skink, Mabuya buettneri, shows rapid senescence similar to death at mating observed in Salmon and marsupial mouse. Most of the lizards and snakes undergo gradual senescence comparable to the pattern exhibited by a majority of vertebrates. On the other hand, turtles, tortoises and crocodiles continue to grow throughout life and are thus credited with slow or negligible senescence. Evidences and mechanisms of rapid or negligible senescence in reptiles are still fragmentary and unclear. Findings in a few species of lizards (Calotes versicolor) and snakes (Natrix natrix) showing gradual senescence support the concept of commonalities in ageing phenomena in vertebrates. An age-related increase in the stability of collagen and accumulation of altered enzyme molecules, a decrease in metabolism and response to stress-enhanced anti-oxidative defence mechanisms and the nature of responses to hormones, restricted diet and lower environmental temperature corroborate the concept. On the other hand neither the increase in mortality rate and accumulation of lipofuscin nor the reproductive senility have been shown conclusively in ageing reptile populations. It is likely that there are multiple mechanisms of senescence in reptiles. Further studies on selected species from among the 6,000 living species are necessary to unravel the phenomena.     

On static strain ageing

The phenomenon of static strain ageing (SSA) is reconsidered in order to clear out contradictory experimental results and controversies with their interpretation. The constitutive model used includes the evolutionary behaviour of the dislocation densities and the transient character of ageing kinetics. The numerical solutions for the ageing peak recover all the different types of the strain and ageing time dependence reported in the literature. The SSA properties of b.c.c. alloys, f.c.c. alloys, in particular interstitial NiC, and the h.c.p. Ti alloys containing oxygen can be rationalized. It is concluded that there is no need to assume a vacancy mechanism to explain the observed SSA behaviour. It is rather the evolution of the mobile and forest dislocation densities which determines the strain dependence of static as well as of dynamic strain ageing.     

The relevance of ethology for psychiatry

Darwin's evolutionary theory was the starting point for ethology, associated with an impact on scientific psychiatry. Psychiatry and ethology have common scientific and methodological prerequisites: inductive and deductive methods and "gestalt theory" as a basis for observing and describing behaviour patterns with subsequent causal analysis. There have been early endeavours to anchor ethological thinking in psychiatry but this tendency did not prevail for the following reasons: on the one hand, the methodology of ethology was immature or not applicable to man, whereas on the other hand the dominating experiential phenomenological school of Karl Jaspers and Kurt Schneider stressed the privileged position of human thinking, perception, and feeling. These fundamental categories of human existence did not appear amenable to any causal ethological analysis. Psychiatry and evolutionary biology were linked in an atrocious manner during the Nazi regime, both being abused for propaganda purposes and genocide. More recently, there is a "reconciliation" of both disciplines. In psychiatric nosology, operational, behaviour-oriented diagnostic systems have been introduced; ethology has opened up for theories of learning; new subsections like human ethology and sociobiology have evolved. The seeming incompatibility of (behavioural) biological psychiatry and experiential phenomenological psychopathology may be overcome on the basis of Konrad Lorenz' evolutionary epistemology. The functional analysis of human feeling and behaviour in psychotic disorders on the basis of Jackson's theory of the evolution and dissolution of the nervous system may serve as an example. The significance of an "ethological psychiatry" for diagnostic and therapeutical processes of psychiatric disorders derive from prognostic possibilities and the analysis of non-verbal communication in therapist-patient-interactions, but have not yet been systematically investigated.