| Abstract: | Reviews the book, Evolutionary cognitive neuroscience edited by Steven M. Platek, Julian Paul Keenan, and Todd K. Shackelford (2007). This book demonstrates that now scientists can hop back and forth--examining archaeological and palaeontological, genetic, phylogentic, developmental, and even online neuroimaging evidence in a compelling enterprise of converging operations. The first few chapters do a very nice job of bringing readers together with some requisite concepts--natural and sexual selection, inclusive reproductive fitness, adaptation, and so on. The second and third sections of the book provide provocative accounts of work with humans, nonhuman primates, cetaceans (whales and dolphins), and even cichlid fishes. The book concludes with some cautionary commentaries about avoiding invalid moral conclusions from the study of evolutionary cognitive neuroscience. This book shows that, in some fields, it's all starting to come together. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved) |
