Related Experiment Videos
Development, microevolution, and social behavior
R B Cairns1, J L Gariépy, K E Hood
1Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599-3270.
Psychological Review
|January 1, 1990
Summary
Social development hinges on gene-environment interactions. This study proposes that developmental and microevolutionary changes often collaborate, allowing rapid adaptation through modified developmental timing, particularly in aggressive behaviors.
Area of Science:
- Developmental psychology
- Evolutionary biology
- Behavioral genetics
Background:
- Social development involves understanding genetic and ontogenetic influences on behavior.
- Key questions range from infant attachment to aggression plasticity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose a framework for understanding social adaptation through the interplay of developmental and microevolutionary processes.
- To investigate how social behavior patterns are modified during development and across generations.
Main Methods:
- The study proposes a theoretical model integrating genetic, developmental, and microevolutionary factors.
- Empirical evidence from aggressive interactions is used for illustration.
Main Results:
- Developmental, experiential, and microevolutionary processes often collaborate in social adaptation.
- Social behaviors are generally stable but possess vulnerabilities for rapid, reversible changes in ontogeny and microevolution.
- Altering the developmental timing of behavioral features significantly impacts adaptive configurations.
- Features rapidly changeable in ontogeny are also susceptible to rapid microevolutionary change.
Conclusions:
- Social behaviors exhibit dual genesis, with developmental and microevolutionary pathways contributing to coincident adaptation.
- Understanding the plasticity of social behavior requires considering both ontogenetic and microevolutionary dynamics.