EXPANDING PSYCHOLOGY’S FRONTIERS

The boundaries of the science of psychology are constantly growing. Three newer
members of the field’s family tree—evolutionary psychology, behavioral genetics,
and clinical neuropsychology—have sparked particular excitement, and debate,
within psychology.
Evolutionary Psychology: Evolutionary psychology considers how behavior is influenced
by our genetic inheritance from our ancestors. The evolutionary approach
suggests that the chemical coding of information in our cells not only determines
traits such as hair color and race but also holds the key to understanding a broad
variety of behaviors that helped our ancestors survive and reproduce.
Evolutionary psychology stems from Charles Darwin’s arguments in his groundbreaking
1859 book, On the Origin of Species. Darwin suggested that a process of
natural selection leads to the survival of the fittest and the development of traits that
enable a species to adapt to its environment.
Evolutionary psychologists take Darwin’s arguments a step further. They argue
that our genetic inheritance determines not only physical traits such as skin and eye
color but certain personality traits and social behaviors as well. For example, evolutionary
psychologists suggest that behavior such as shyness, jealousy, and cross cultural
similarities in qualities desired in potential mates are at least partially
determined by genetics, presumably because such behavior helped increase the survival
rate of humans’ ancient relatives .
Although they are increasingly popular, evolutionary explanations of behavior
have stirred controversy. By suggesting that many significant behaviors unfold automatically,
because they are wired into the human species, evolutionary approaches
minimize the role of environmental and social forces. Still, the evolutionary approach
has stimulated a significant amount of research on how our biological inheritance
influences our traits and behaviors.
Behavioral Genetics Another rapidly growing area in psychology focuses on the
biological mechanisms, such as genes and chromosomes, that enable inherited behavior
to unfold. Behavioral genetics seeks to understand how we might inherit certain
behavioral traits and how the environment influences whether we actually display
such traits.
Clinical Neuropsychology: Clinical neuropsychology unites the areas of neuroscience
and clinical psychology: It focuses on the origin of psychological disorders in biological
factors. Building on advances in our understanding of the structure and chemistry
of the brain, this specialty has already led to promising new treatments for
psychological disorders as well as debates over the use of medication to control
behavior.