Readings
Buss, D. M. (Ed.). (2005). The handbook of evolutionary psychology.
Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Other readings to be assigned or chosen.
Description of Course
The format of this class will be that of a seminar. Each meeting
we will review some of the key concepts presented in the readings
and discuss relevant issues. This course will examine the human
mind through the lens of evolutionary psychology. We begin with
a review of key themes in evolutionary biology and psychology.
We then proceed to substantive topics, including mating, kinship,
parenting, language, and morality. The course concludes by arguing
for a unified field that integrates the different branches of
psychology.
It is my opinion that learning and genuine understanding are
most likely to occur in an environment where there is freedom
of expression and opinion and respect for the views of others.
Consequently, I strongly encourage students to devote their
energy to trying to understand what an author or a presenter
is trying to express rather than on criticism. I also believe
that learning is enhanced by taking responsibility for one’s
own education as opposed to passively waiting to be told what
to think. Therefore, I expect students to actively participate
in discussions, ask questions, make comments, and so forth.
We all have a lot of useful and interesting knowledge to share,
and each of us needs to figure out how to obtain this information
from each other.
Components of Course
Participation (100 points)
Students are expected to participate fully in class, keeping
up with all reading assignments and attending all class meetings.
Each student will be responsible for leading the class discussion
for two class periods and will choose the chapters they wish
to cover. In preparation for class discussions, the following
guidelines should be followed:
• Readings. All students should have read the assigned
readings by the time class meets.
• Discussion Leader. No later than midnight on the day
before the first day that you are discussion leader, you should
provide me with a 1-2 page summary (not an outline) of the relevant
chapter(s). In addition to the summary, include at least four
topics, issues, and/or questions on which you will focus for
discussion.
• Participants. No later than noon on the day before
a new discussion topic, all students (except the discussion
leader) will post at least two substantive questions from the
readings to the discussion board on the course web site. In
order to extend discussion beyond the classroom, during the
week each student will post at least two substantive replies
to other students’ questions/comments on the discussion
board. I encourage students to use the discussion board beyond
the minimum requirements.
• Thought Questions. For each section/topic that we discuss,
I will post a thought question to the discussion board. Students
should come to class prepared to discuss their ponderings with
regard to these questions. Also, students may respond to the
thought questions in their discussion board postings.
Discussions (including in-class discussions and discussion
board postings) will be evaluated on a scale from 0 to 2, as
follows:
0 = not adding to the discussion in any substantial manner;
typically comments that simply agree with what someone else
said or just restate what someone else said or the readings
said
1 = comments or questions that contribute some original thinking
to the discussion but are still somewhat superficial or do not
use the theoretical terminology of the course
2 = comments or questions that contribute substantially to
the discussion, stimulate other questions, and use the theoretical
terminology of the course
Research Article Presentations (30 points)
Several times throughout the semester (check schedule for specific
dates), students will be required to find an empirical article
on some topic relevant to evolutionary psychology, write a short
summary of it, and tell the class about it. (Try to find recent
articles that do not appear in the text.) A brief synopsis of
the problem, method, and results (not to exceed two double-spaced
pages) should be submitted along with a copy of the article,
and a short (15 minute) presentation will be given during class
time. Each student will be responsible for presenting two articles.
Each article summary/presentation is worth 15 points, for a
total of 30 points toward your final grade.
Term Project (70 points)
Each student will be responsible for selecting an area of research
in evolutionary psychology, conducting a literature review,
and presenting an overview and synthesis of the topic. Topic
areas must be submitted and approved no later than September
6, and components of the paper will be due at intervals throughout
the semester. The final version of the term paper is due on
November 27. At the end of the semester each student will make
an oral presentation to the class on the topic of his/her final
paper. Plan on making your presentation approximately 20-25
minutes in length. All students are responsible for actively
contributing to and eliciting from the presenter his/her knowledge
and judgments regarding the research topic.
Term Paper Guidelines. These term projects are presumed to
be about 10 pages long, but strict page limits will not be enforced
if the student has done an adequate job of presenting the material
in one or two pages more or less than that. The paper is to
be written in APA style. Because the paper is not based on the
student’s original empirical research, the style to be
adopted is that of a literature review article (e.g., the kind
of articles published in Psychological Bulletin) rather than
that of a primary research report. This means, for example,
that there do not need to be separate sections for Method and
Results, but, instead, a body of the paper that presents and
duly cites the relevant methods and results of the previous
research reviewed. A Discussion section is nonetheless required
wherein the student provides whatever personal conclusions may
be drawn from a critical evaluation of prior results and defends
that conclusion. An initial Abstract will not be required. APA-style
citations, both in the text and in a Reference section, are
absolutely essential. Footnotes are discouraged unless absolutely
necessary for some critical point of scholarship.
The paper should be in greater depth and use more readings
than were assigned in class. It should apply evolutionary theory
to a particular topic of interest rather than simply reiterate
what we have already discussed in class. The main point is to
write a scientific paper that makes appropriate distinctions
between data and interpretations and critically scrutinizes
any inferences made from the data on the part of either the
student or the researchers cited. No attempt should be made
to conform to what the student might think the instructor believes
(or wants to hear) or to what the student thinks is generally
believed by others. Instead, an honest assessment should be
made of the evidence presented and an argument constructed on
the facts as the student understands them.
