Chapters on EEA

• Books and Evolutionary Psychology by James Brody, 8/4/97
  • Suggested chapter or paper? by Mark Waugh, 9/15/97
    
    

I've gleaned an intuitive grasp of the presumed EEA but haven't seen anyone do a thorough job in regard to climate, geography, competing species, and population shifts. The EEA is often discussed but as a backdrop for introducing other material. For example, most chapters in the Adapted Mind make some reference to EEA as a launching point for one psych adaptation or another. AM, unfortunately, can be rough going unless you're already hooked on this stuff.

Glantz & Pearce have a short chapter on EEA in "Exiles from Eden." The "Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Evolution" describes several dispersion models; there may have been 3 or 4 EEAs. Richard Leakey talks more about physical structures and presumed psychological shifts; his "Origin of Humankind" is a highly readable paperback. "Ishmael" gives a nice intuitive feel to some of the shifts that occurred with agriculture. (That darn gorilla really has stayed with me!)

Given the newness of EP, you may have found an opportunity to write what you need, perhaps by involving your students in research on varied aspects of our probable EEA and then combining it into a chapter and posting it. Please let me know the outcomes of your efforts.

I'm personally restricted by "Evolutionary Psychology." There are too many things, foundation events and processes, that we share with other species. Pleistocene people make a lot more sense when you see our traits shared so intimately by other species. Russell Gardner,MD, has promised me a copy of his chapter on "Sociobiology" that he's writing for Kaplan & Sadock. I'm curious if it will be included in their next "Synopsis of Psychiatry," which was in its 7th edition at last count. I'll post a review ASAP.

Meanwhile, I'm dismayed by our current 65% oversupply of therapists of one kind or another and by the related statistic that some 60% of Ph.D. psychologists are still in school. Do your undergrads know how full the pond is?

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