Title: Evolutionary Psychology Primer by Leda Cosmides and John Tooby
Headings: Evolutionary Psychology: A Primer
Evolutionary Psychology: A Primer
Leda Cosmides & John Tooby
Introduction
Debauching the mind: Evolutionary psychology's past and present
The Standard Social Science Model
Back to Basics
Principle 4. Different neural circuits are specialized for solving different adaptive problems.
Understanding the Design of Organisms
Adaptationist Logic and Evolutionary Psychology
Nature and nurture: An adaptationist perspective
Reasoning instincts: An example
Figure 4: Generic Structure of a Social Contract.
Acknowledgements:
Futher reading:

Content: Three complementary levels of explanation in evolutionary psychology. Inferences (represented by the arrows) can be made from one level to another. An evolutionary approach provides powerful lenses that correct for instinct blindness. It allows one to recognize what natural competences exist, it indicates that the mind is a heterogeneous collection of these competences and, most importantly, it provides positive theories of their designs. Einstein once commented that "It is the theory which decides what we can observe". An evolutionary focus is valuable for psychologists, who are studying a biological system of fantastic complexity, because it can make the intricate outlines of the mind's design stand out in sharp relief. Theories of adaptive problems can guide the search for the cognitive programs that solve them; knowing what cognitive programs exist can, in turn, guide the search for their neural basis. ( See Figure 1.) The Standard Social Science Model
One of our colleagues, Don Symons, is fond of saying that you cannot understand what a person is saying unless you understand who they are arguing with.