Evolutionary developmental psychology

Evolutionary developmental psychology (EDP) is a research paradigm that applies the basic principles of evolution by natural selection, to understand the development of human behavior and cognition. It involves the study of both the genetic and environmental mechanisms that underlie the development of social and cognitive competencies, as well as the epigenetic (gene-environment interactions) processes that adapt these competencies to local conditions. EDP considers both the reliably developing, species-typical features of ontogeny (developmental adaptations), as well as individual differences in behavior, from an evolutionary perspective. While evolutionary views tend to regard most individual differences as the result of either random genetic noise (evolutionary byproducts) and/or idiosyncrasies (for example, peer groups, education, neighborhoods, and chance encounters) rather than products of natural selection, EDP asserts that natural selection can favor the emergence of individual differences via "adaptive developmental plasticity." From this perspective, human development follows alternative life-history strategies in response to environmental variability, rather than following one species-typical pattern of development. EDP is closely linked to the theoretical framework of evolutionary psychology (EP), but is also distinct from EP in several domains, including: research emphasis (EDP focuses on adaptations of ontogeny, as opposed to adaptations of adulthood); consideration of proximate ontogenetic; environmental factors (i.e., how development happens) in addition to more ultimate factors (i.e., why development happens). These things of which are the focus of mainstream evolutionary psychology. Like mainstream evolutionary psychology, EDP is rooted in Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection. Darwin himself emphasized development, using the process of embryology as evidence to support his theory. From The Descent of Man:"Man is developed from an ovule...which differs in no respect from the ovules of other animals.