Applied Evolutionary Anthropology

Applied Evolutionary Anthropology PDF

Author: Mhairi A. Gibson

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2014-03-10

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13: 1493902806

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As a species, we are currently experiencing dramatic shifts in our lifestyle, family structure, health, and global contact. Evolutionary Anthropology provides a powerful theoretical framework to study such changes, revealing how current environments and legacies of past selection shape human diversity. This book is the first major review of the emerging field of Applied Evolutionary Anthropology bringing together the work of an international group of evolutionary scientists, addressing many of the major public health and social issues of this century. Through a series of case studies that span both rural and urban situations in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America, each chapter addresses topics such as natural resource management, health service delivery, population growth and the emergence of new family structures, dietary, and co-operative behaviours. The research presented identifies the great, largely untapped, potential that Applied Evolutionary Anthropology holds to guide the design, implementation and evaluation of effective social and public health policy. This book will be of interest to policy-makers and applied researchers, along with academics and students across the biological and social sciences.

Applied Evolutionary Psychology

Applied Evolutionary Psychology PDF

Author: S. Craig Roberts

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 449

ISBN-13: 0199586071

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This is the first book to overtly consider how basic evolutionary thinking is being applied to a wide range of special social, economic, and technical problems. It draws together a collection of renowned academics from a very disparate set of fields, whose common interest lies in using evolutionary thinking to inform their research.

Applying Evolutionary Archaeology

Applying Evolutionary Archaeology PDF

Author: Michael J. O'Brien

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2007-05-08

Total Pages: 481

ISBN-13: 0306474689

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Anthropology, and by extension archaeology, has had a long-standing interest in evolution in one or several of its various guises. Pick up any lengthy treatise on humankind written in the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the chances are good that the word evolution will appear somewhere in the text. If for some reason the word itself is absent, the odds are excellent that at least the concept of change over time will have a central role in the discussion. After one of the preeminent (and often vilified) social scientists of the nineteenth century, Herbert Spencer, popularized the term in the 1850s, evolution became more or less a household word, usually being used synonymously with change, albeit change over extended periods of time. Later, through the writings of Edward Burnett Tylor, Lewis Henry Morgan, and others, the notion of evolution as it applies to stages of social and political development assumed a prominent position in anthropological disc- sions. To those with only a passing knowledge of American anthropology, it often appears that evolutionism in the early twentieth century went into a decline at the hands of Franz Boas and those of similar outlook, often termed particularists. However, it was not evolutionism that was under attack but rather comparativism— an approach that used the ethnographic present as a key to understanding how and why past peoples lived the way they did (Boas 1896).

Innovation in Cultural Systems

Innovation in Cultural Systems PDF

Author: Michael John O'Brien

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 0262013339

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Leading scholars offer a range of perspectives on the roles played by innovation in the evolution of human culture. In recent years an interest in applying the principles of evolution to the study of culture emerged in the social sciences. Archaeologists and anthropologists reconsidered the role of innovation in particular, and have moved toward characterizing innovation in cultural systems not only as a product but also as an evolutionary process. This distinction was familiar to biology but new to the social sciences; cultural evolutionists from the nineteenth to the twentieth century had tended to see innovation as a preprogrammed change that occurred when a cultural group "needed" to overcome environmental problems. In this volume, leading researchers from a variety of disciplines--including anthropology, archaeology, evolutionary biology, philosophy, and psychology--offer their perspectives on cultural innovation. The book provides not only a range of views but also an integrated account, with the chapters offering an orderly progression of thought. The contributors consider innovation in biological terms, discussing epistemology, animal studies, systematics and phylogeny, phenotypic plasticity and evolvability, and evo-devo; they discuss modern insights into innovation, including simulation, the random-copying model, diffusion, and demographic analysis; and they offer case studies of innovation from archaeological and ethnographic records, examining developmental, behavioral, and social patterns. Contributors André Ariew, R. Alexander Bentley, Werner Callebaut, Joseph Henrich, Anne Kandler, Kevin N. Laland, Daniel O. Larson, Alex Mesoudi, Michael J. O'Brien, Craig T. Palmer, Adam Powell, Simon M. Reader, Valentine Roux, Chet Savage, Michael Brian Schiffer, Jeffrey H. Schwartz, Stephen J. Shennan, James Steele, Mark G. Thomas, Todd L. VanPool

Introduction to Evolutionary Anthropology

Introduction to Evolutionary Anthropology PDF

Author: Shawn M. Lehman

Publisher:

Published: 2009-02-28

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 9780132078221

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Introduction to Evolutionary Anthropology represents a new, exciting perspective on the field of evolutionary anthropology. This text explores evolutionary anthropology in a unique and lively manner. This text is student-friendly, low-tech, and affordable, and has an entertaining and narrative style that is clearly written, comprehensive, and engaging. The book features an unconventional writing style with fun examples and humorous cartoons throughout the text.

Applied Evolutionary Psychology

Applied Evolutionary Psychology PDF

Author: S. Craig Roberts

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2011-11-24

Total Pages: 449

ISBN-13: 0191625701

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Human behaviour is marvellous in its complexity, variability and unpredictability. Understanding it, however, is not solely the role of psychologists: everyone has a vested interest in it, from individuals to organisations and industry. Recently, biologists and psychologists have had considerable success incorporating insights from evolutionary theory to help them understand some fundamental psychological issues, in a discipline now known as evolutionary psychology. However, to date, these useful insights have not been widely applied to tackle specific practical problems or issues in society. This innovative new book kick-starts this process. It provides a foundation for an incipient focus on applications of evolutionary research. It draws together a collection of renowned academics from a disparate set of fields, whose common interest lies in using evolutionary thinking to inform their research. Topics range from reviews of evolutionary perspectives on adult and family relationships, insights into business, economics and marketing, health and interactions with technology and the media, through to major global and societal issues such as promoting green behaviour, cooperation, and public health, and tackling crime, terrorism, and prejudice. No other book has focused as specifically and with such broad scope on the applications of modern evolutionary psychology. While the rapidly growing number of books on evolutionary psychology succeed in describing current theoretical thinking, illustrated and supported by empirical studies, this book uses this established basis as a backdrop and starting point for a more focused exploration of practical application. This groundbreaking book will be valuable for students and researchers in evolutionary and applied psychology, as well as biology and anthropology.

Evolution of Sleep

Evolution of Sleep PDF

Author: Patrick McNamara

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 0521894972

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This book is aimed at researchers and graduate students in neuroscience, evolutionary biology, and biological anthropology and to biomedical researchers studying sleep medicine.

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