Waarom we niet wegrennen voor giftige paddenstoelen

Een evolutionair-psychologische match of mismatch?
07/07/2017
Stefan Gruijters
Geen reacties
De Psycholoog 2017-7-8 Cover
Issue 7

Samenvatting

S.L.K. GRUIJTERS
WHY WE DON’T FLEE FROM POISONOUS MUSHROOMS
A recently published popular science book discusses the mismatch hypothesis (Giphart & van Vugt, 2016). Central in its thesis is the environment of evolutionary adaptedness (EAA), as a source of mismatch with current environments. Stone-age minds in a modern world, where culture and information-load has exploded since then. In this article, I argue that ‘just-so-story’ skepticism towards evolutionary psychology is partly fueled by too easily made claims about how evolution has shaped the mind, and a lacking mentioning of alternative views on how and when psychological adaptations took shape. The easily learned fear for spiders, considered to be a mismatching adaptation by the authors, is discussed to illustrate an alternative approach.

1232 Weergaven
2 Downloads
  • Samenvatting
  • Alternatief
  • Mismatch
  • Viezigheid
  • Spinnetje, spinnetje aan de wand
  • Tot slot
  • Literatuurlijst
  • Over de auteur
Log in
Lopen wij rond met een oerbrein? Een boek van Giphart & Van Vugt (2016) bespreekt de mismatch-hypothese: ons brein is geëvolueerd op de savannes en is eigenlijk niet up-to-date. Spinnenangst, depressie, ADHD, dyslexie en dyscalculie, onze recente voorouders krijgen van alles de schuld. Hebben die jager-verzamelaar en zijn savannes nu zoveel verklarende kracht? Darwins evolutietheorie hoort thuis in de psychologie, stelt Stefan Gruijters. De vraag is wel: op welke manier en met welke nuances?

Darwins uitspraak aan het einde van zijn On the origin of species wordt veelvuldig geciteerd in evolutionaire kringen (Darwin). Evolutie door natuurlijke selectie, zo voorzag Darwin (1859)13, zou de fundering gaan vormen van ons begrip van de psychologie.

De geschiedenis van de psychologie leert ons echter anders. De evolutietheorie heeft maar in relatief beperkte mate een plek verworven binnen de psychologie. Historisch in eerste instantie mede door een reeks niet-wetenschappelijke toepassingen van de evolutietheorie. De evolutietheorie werd bijvoorbeeld misbruikt als verantwoording voor politieke idealen; een inspiratiebron voor onder andere het ‘iedereen voor zich’-denken en rasverbeteringsideologie. Binnen de psychologie is de beperkte acceptatie wellicht mede gevolg van negatieve connotaties verbonden aan het concept ‘de menselijke natuur’. Evolutie centraal stellen in verklaringen van psyche en gedrag lijkt voor sommigen ons dagelijks wel en wee op dwingende wijze te koppelen aan onze evolutionaire historie. De genetica achter de schermen van ons doen en laten.

Dergelijke negativiteit rondom de evolutietheorie is de

Literatuurlijst

  1. Abell, F., Happé, F. & Frith, U. (2000). Do triangles play tricks? Attribution of mental states to animated shapes in normal and abnormal development. Cognitive Development, 15(1), 1-16.
  2. Blanchette, I. (2006). Snakes, spiders, guns, and syringes: How specifi c are evolutionary constraints on the detection of threatening stimuli? The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 59(8), 1484–1504. http://doi.org/10.1080/02724980543000204
  3. Bolhuis, J.J. & Wynne, C. D. L. (2009). Can evolution explain how minds work? Nature, 458(7240), 832-833.
  4. Buller, D.J. (2009). Four fallacies of pop evolutionary psychology. Scientifi c American, 300(1), 74-81.
  5. Burke, D. (2014a). Why isn’t everyone an evolutionary psychologist? Frontiers in Psychology, 5(AUG), 910. http://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00910.
  6. Cohen, L.B. & Oakes, L.M. (1993). How infants perceive a simple causal event. Developmental Psychology, 29(3), 421-433.
  7. Confer, J.C., Easton, J.A., Fleischman, D.S., Goetz, C.D., Lewis, D.M. et al. (2010). Evolutionary psychology: Controversies, questions, prospects, and limitations. American Psychologist, 65(2), 110.
  8. Cosmides, L. & Tooby, J. (2000). Evolutionary psychology and the emotions. Handbook of emotions, 2, 91-115.
  9. Curtis, V. (2014). Infection-avoidance behaviour in humans and other animals. Trends in Immunology, 35(10), 457-464. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.it.2014.08.006
  10. Curtis, V., Aunger, R. & Rabie, T. (2004). Evidence that disgust evolved to protect from risk of disease. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 271(Suppl 4), S131-S133.
  11. Curtis, V. & Biran, A. (2001). Dirt, disgust, and disease: Is hygiene in our genes? Perspectives in biology and medicine, 44(1), 17-31.
  12. Curtis, V., de Barra, M. & Aunger, R. (2011). Disgust as an adaptive system for disease avoidance behaviour. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 366(1563), 389-401.
  13. Darwin, C.R. (1859 / 1979). On the origin of species by means of natural selection. New York: Gramercy books.
  14. Dasser, V., Ulbaek, I. & Premack, D. (1989). The perception of intention. Science, 243(4889), 365-367.
  15. Dittrich, W.H. & Lea, S.E.G. (1994). Visual perception of intentional motion. Perception, 23(3), 253-268.
  16. Dunbar, R.I.M. (2009). The social brain hypothesis and its implications for social evolution. Annals of Human Biology, 36(5), 562-572. doi: doi:10.1080/03014460902960289
  17. Foley, R. (1995). The adaptive legacy of human evolution: A search for the environment of evolutionary adaptedness. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews, 4(6), 194-203.
  18. Fox, E., Griggs, L. & Mouchlianitis, E. (2007). The Detection of Fear-Relevant Stimuli: Are Guns Noticed as Quickly as Snakes? Emotion, 7(4), 691-696. doi: 10.1037/1528-3542.7.4.691
  19. Gao, T., McCarthy, G. & Scholl, B.J. (2010). The Wolfpack Effect. Psychological Science, 21(12), 1845-1853. doi: 10.1177/0956797610388814
  20. Giphart, R. & van Vugt, M. (2016). Mismatch: Hoe we dagelijks worden misleid door ons oeroude brein. Amsterdam: Podium.
  21. Gruijters, S.L.K., Tybur, J.M., Ruiter, R.A.C. & Massar, K. (2016). Sex, germs, and health: pathogen-avoidance motives and health-protective behaviour. Psychology & health, 1-17.
  22. Hart, B.L. (1990). Behavioral adaptations to pathogens and parasites: five strategies. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 14(3), 273-294.
  23. Heider, F., & Simmel, M. (1944). An experimental study of apparent behavior. The American Journal of Psychology, 57, 243-259.
  24. Holmes, E.A. & Mathews, A. (2010). Mental imagery in emotion and emotional disorders. Clinical Psychology Review, 30(3), 349-362. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2010.01.001
  25. Kipling, R. (1902 / 1993). Just So Stories. Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions.
  26. Kurzban, R. (2002). Alas Poor Evolutionary Psychology: Unfairly Accused, Unjustly Condemned. The Human Nature Review, 2, 99–109 [This article first appeared in Skeptic Mag]. Retrieved from http://human-nature.com/nibbs/02/apd.html
  27. Kurzban, R. (2010). Grand challenges of evolutionary psychology. Frontiers in Psychology, 1(3). doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2010.00003
  28. LoBue, V., Rakison, D.H., & DeLoache, J.S. (2010). Threat perception across the life span evidence for multiple converging pathways. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 19(6), 375-379.
  29. Maestripieri, D. & Roney, J.R. (2006). Evolutionary developmental psychology: Contributions from comparative research with nonhuman primates. Developmental Review, 26(2), 120-137.
  30. Merckelbach, H. (2016). Psychologie van Fred Flintstone. Retrieved from https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2016/02/27/psychologie-van-fred-flintstone-1592628-a144980
  31. Öhman, A. & Mineka, S. (2001). Fears, phobias, and preparedness: Toward an evolved module of fear and fear learning. Psychological Review, 108(3), 483-522. doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.108.3.483
  32. Panksepp, J. & Panksepp, J.B. (2000). The seven sins of evolutionary psychology. Evolution and cognition, 6(2), 108-131.
  33. Schmitt, D.P. & Pilcher, J. J. (2004). Evaluating evidence of psychological adaptation: how do we know one when we see one? Psychological Science, 15(10), 643-649.
  34. Seligman, M.E.P. (1971). Phobias and preparedness. Behavior therapy, 2(3), 307-320. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0005-7894(71)80064-3
  35. Smith, E.A., Mulder, M.B. & Hill, K. (2001). Controversies in the evolutionary social sciences: A guide for the perplexed. Trends in ecology & evolution, 16(3), 128-135.
  36. Spelke, E.S. & Kinzler, K.D. (2007). Core knowledge. Developmental science, 10(1), 89-96.
  37. Tooby, J. & Cosmides, L. (1990). The past explains the present: Emotional adaptations and the structure of ancestral environments. Ethology and sociobiology, 11(4-5), 375-424.
  38. Tybur, J. M., Lieberman, D., Kurzban, R. & DeScioli, P. (2013). Disgust: evolved function and structure. Psychological Review, 120(1), 65-84. doi: 10.1037/a0030778
  39. Van Vugt, M., Hogan, R. & Kaiser, R.B. (2008). Leadership, followership, and evolution: some lessons from the past. American Psychologist, 63(3), 182.
  40. Van Vugt, M., Johnson, D.D., Kaiser, R. & O’Gorman, R. (2008). Evolution and the social psychology of leadership: The mismatch hypothesis. Leadership at the crossroads, 1, 267-282.