The Evolution of Childhood: Relationships, Emotion, Mind by Melvin Konner, ISBN-13: 978-0674062016

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The Evolution of Childhood: Relationships, Emotion, Mind by Melvin Konner, ISBN-13: 978-0674062016

[PDF eBook eTextbook]

• Publisher: ‎ Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press (November 30, 2011)
• Language: ‎ English
• 960 pages
• ISBN-10: ‎ 0674062019
• ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0674062016

This book is an intellectual tour de force: a comprehensive Darwinian interpretation of human development. Looking at the entire range of human evolutionary history, Melvin Konner tells the compelling and complex story of how cross-cultural and universal characteristics of our growth from infancy to adolescence became rooted in genetically inherited characteristics of the human brain.

All study of our evolution starts with one simple truth: human beings take an extraordinarily long time to grow up. What does this extended period of dependency have to do with human brain growth and social interactions? And why is play a sign of cognitive complexity, and a spur for cultural evolution? As Konner explores these questions, and topics ranging from bipedal walking to incest taboos, he firmly lays the foundations of psychology in biology.

As his book eloquently explains, human learning and the greatest human intellectual accomplishments are rooted in our inherited capacity for attachments to each other. In our love of those we learn from, we find our way as individuals and as a species. Never before has this intersection of the biology and psychology of childhood been so brilliantly described.

“Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution,” wrote Dobzhansky. In this remarkable book, Melvin Konner shows that nothing in childhood makes sense except in the light of evolution.

Table of Contents:

Prologue 1

The Structure of This Book 4

Six Paradigms 8

1 Introduction 12

Some Premises 14

Some History 17

Evolution and Modification of Behavior 19

Evolution of Ontogeny in the Human Animal 26

Levels of Causation in the Explanation of Behavior 27

Part I. Evolution: The Phylogenetic Origins of Childhood

wherein we learn how the laws of evolution produced the

shape of human social and emotional development

2 Paradigms in the Evolution of Development 33

Neo-Darwinian Theory—The Adaptationist Paradigm 38

Life History Theory 45

Evolutionary Allometries 54

Heterochrony in the Phylogeny of Development 58

The Evolution of Developmental Genes (Evo-Devo) 65

Phyletic Reorganization

in Brain Evolution 69

Developmental Ethology 70

Evolutionary Developmental Psychology 72

Interlude 1: Thinking about Birdsong 75

3 Brains Evolving 78

Expansion and Organization in Brain Evolution 78

Vertebrate Body Plans and Behavioral Advances 83

The Emergence of Mammalian Brain and Behavior 86

Developmental Keys to Psychosocial Evolution 92

4 Ape Foundations, Human Revolution 100

Ape Evolution and Behavior 100

Hominin Evolution and Behavior 107

Hominin Brain Evolution 112

Evolving Human Life Histories 116

Hominin Behavior, Social Organization, and Culture 117

5 The Evolution of Human Brain Growth 124

Neonatal Status and Early Brain Growth 124

Humanizing Anthropoid Brain Growth 126

Hominin Ontogeny 128

Heterochrony in Hominin Evolution 136

Transition 1: Neurological Models of

Psychosocial Function 145

The Limbic System Model 145

The Orbitofrontal Cortex and the Somatic Marker

Hypothesis 147

The Polyvagal Model 149

The Mirror-Neuron System 151

Lateralized Higher Functions 153

Imperfect Models 156

Part II. Maturation: Anatomical Bases of Psychosocial Growth

wherein we see how neural and endocrine systems guide

the paths of development called for by natural selection

6 Paradigms in the Study of Psychosocial Growth 159

The Neurogenetics of Animal Models and Human Disease 162

Neuroembryology 172

Developmental Neuroendocrinology 178

Postnatal Brain Development 181

Developmental Behavior Genetics 190

Neurological Individuality 198

Interlude 2: Thinking about Bipedal Walking 202

7 The Growth of Sociality 206

The “Fourth Trimester” and the Presocial Baseline 207

The Rise and Fall of Early Crying 214

Smiling and Mutual Gaze 219

8 The Growth of Attachment and the Social Fears 227

Universals of Human Attachment and Social Fear 228

Animal Studies 230

Biological Mechanisms 233

9 The Growth of Language 241

A Language Acquisition Device 244

Cross-Cultural and Other Evidence 246

Biological Foundations 250

Early Anatomical Preparedness 253

The Role of Learning 255

10 The Growth of Sex and Gender Differences 260

Gender Identity 260

Sex Differences in Aggression 262

Cross-Cultural Studies 264

Neuroendocrine Foundations 267

11 The Transition to Middle Childhood 277

An Evolutionary Approach 281

Cognition in Middle Childhood 282

A Biological Model 291

12 Reproductive Behavior and the Onset of Parenting 296

Biological Changes in Puberty and Adolescence 297

Is Individual Age at Puberty a Facultative Adaptation? 298

Control of the Onset of Puberty 301

Growth and Change in the Adolescent Brain 303

The Psychological Impact of Body Changes 309

Adolescent Hormones in Sexuality and Aggression 310

Cross-Cultural Regularities 315

A Role for Romantic Love? 318

Ideals and Abstractions 320

The Onset of Parenting—Maternal Care 321

Paternal Care and the Pair Bond 325

Interlude 3: Thinking about Growing Up Gay 329

Transition 2: Plasticity Evolving 335

Selection for Plasticity and Resilience 343

Part III. Socialization: The Evolving Social Context of Ontogeny

wherein we discern the contributions of social life

to developing relationships and emotions

13 Paradigms in the Study of Socialization 349

Laws of Learning 350

Early Experience Effects and the Sensitive Period Question 353

Ethology, Field Primatology, and Sociobiology 355

Ethnology and Quantitative Cross-Cultural Comparison 358

Historiography and Historical Demography 359

14 Early Social Experience 363

Early Handling, Stress, and Stimulation 363

Postweaning Isolation and Crowding 365

Social Deprivation in Monkeys 368

The Neurobiology of Social Perturbation in Monkeys 369

Experience in the Etiology of Psychopathology 371

Early Deprivation in Human Childhood 374

15 The Evolution of the Mother-Infant Bond 381

Maternal Care in Mammals 382

Mother and Infant Primates, Including Humans 382

Mother-Infant Relations among !Kung Hunter-Gatherers 385

Mother-Infant Relations in Other Hunter-Gatherers 388

Reconstructing Maternal Care: Phylogeny and History 398

Attachment Theory and the Mother-Infant Bond 409

Interlude 4: Thinking about Maternal Sentiment 412

16 Cooperative Breeding in the Extended Family 426

Helpers at the Nest 427

Allocare in Nonhuman Primates 430

Nonmaternal Care among !Kung Hunter-Gatherers 435

Nonmaternal Care in Other Hunter-Gatherers 437

Cooperative Breeding in the Human Species 441

Normative Adoption and Fosterage in Human Societies 445

The Physiology of Alloparental Care 447

Social Context and Mother-Infant Interactions 448

Cooperative Breeding beyond Hunters and Gatherers 449

17 Male Parental Care 452

Male Parental Investment and Reproductive Success 453

Paternal Investment, Social Organization, and Ecology in

Nonhuman Species 456

The Paternal Role among !Kung Hunter-Gatherers 462

Paternal Roles in Other Hunter-Gatherers 463

Paternal Roles in Non-Hunter-Gatherers 466

Observable Patterns and Their Possible Significance 468

Subsistence Adaptation and Family Organization 471

The United States and Other Industrial Cultures 475

Dads and Cads 475

Plasticity and Its Physiological Limits 476

Interlude 5: Thinking about “Oedipal” Conflicts 479

18 Relations among Juveniles 484

Theoretical Considerations 484

Juvenile Social Relations in Selected Mammals 485

Relations among Juveniles in !Kung Hunter-Gatherers 489

Relations among Juveniles in Other Hunter-Gatherers 492

Relations among Juveniles since the Hunting-Gathering Era 495

Functional Considerations 496

Developmental Mechanisms 497

19 Play, Social Learning, and Teaching 500

The Evolution of Play 501

The Development of Human Play 504

The Evolutionary Neurobiology of Play 509

Intelligent Players 510

Play, Learning, and Culture 511

Social Learning, Imitation, and Teaching 512

Toward a Neurobiology of Social Learning 515

Teaching: Uniquely Human? 516

20 The Contexts of Emerging Reproductive Behavior 518

The Development of Sexual Behavior in Monkeys and Apes 519

Adolescence among the !Kung Hunter-Gatherers 520

Adolescence in Other Hunter-Gatherers 522

Broader Cross-Cultural Patterns of Premarital Sex 524

Parent-Offspring Conflict over Arranged Marriage 525

Adolescent Sexuality in the Industrial World 526

Secular Trends in Growth and Maturation 528

Secular Trends and Adolescent Behavior 530

Interlude 6: Thinking about Incest Avoidance and Taboos 532

21 Stress and Resilience in the Changing Family 537

Basic Stress Physiology 537

Stress in Infancy and Childhood 538

Stress in Early Life as a Signal for Facultative Adaptation 540

Stress and Resilience on the Island of Dominica 542

Mortality, Attachment, and Loss 544

Stress and Resilience in Exceptional Situations 547

Child Abuse and Neglect in Western Industrial States 550

Evolutionary Considerations in Abuse and Neglect 552

Changing Family Structure in Western Industrial States 556

Abuse, Neglect, and Adolescent Aggression 559

Stress and Coping in Human Development 560

22 Hunter-Gatherer Childhood—The Cultural Baseline 564

Generalizations and Challenges 565

The Hunter-Gatherer Childhood Model 566

Hunter-Gatherer Childhood in Evolutionary Context 568

Evaluating the Divergences 570

Conclusion: Facultative Adaptation, Discordance, or Both? 577

Transition 3: Does Nonhuman Culture Exist? 579

Defining the Extremes 580

The Approach from Material Culture 582

The Approach from Socially Learned Local Variation 584

The Approach from Teaching and Cultural Learning 586

The Approach from Language and Symbol 587

The Approach from History 589

Part IV. Enculturation: The Transmission and

Evolution of Culture

wherein we come to understand what culture changes

23 Paradigms in the Study of Enculturation 595

Laws of Learning, Expanded 596

Culture and Personality 598

The Whiting Model 605

Broader Cross-Cultural Analyses 606

Extensions and Modifications of the Model 608

Challenges to the Role of Early Experience 610

Culture and Mind 612

Interlude 7: Thinking about the Question “How?” 619

24 The Culture of Infancy and Early Childhood 624

Culture in Utero? 624

Cross-Cultural Variation in Infant Care 628

Possible Mechanisms of Influence 630

Language Acquisition and Language Learning 632

25 The Culture of Subsistence 636

Work, Play, and Cultural Transmission 637

Children’s Work in Farming Cultures 647

26 The Culture of Middle Childhood 651

Enculturation among the Gusii of Kenya 652

Enculturation Processes beyond Conventional Learning 654

Enculturation by Children 661

Inculcating Morality? 665

Children and Religion 669

27 The Culture of Gender in Childhood and Adolescence 675

Culture Stretches Biology 675

Cultural Tradition in Adolescent Development 681

28 Evolutionary Culture Theory 687

Cultural Macroevolution 687

The Meme Model and the Question of Coherence 688

Cavalli-Sforza and Feldman 691

Lumsden and Wilson 693

Boyd and Richerson 697

The Durham Model 698

Defining Culture 701

Applying the Model 702

Some Models Compared 707

Interlude 8: Thinking about Boys at War 708

29 Universals, Adaptation, Enculturation, and Culture 713

Universals of Human Behavior and Culture 713

A Culture Acquisition Device 719

A Model of Culture in Biological Context 725

Part V. Conclusion

wherein we see, as through a glass darkly, how human relationships

and emotions may actually

emerge

30 The Ultimate Epigenetic Enterprise 731

A General Theory? 732

Chaos, Self-Organization, and Complexity 733

A Theory of Generative Variation 735

Selection, Epigenetics, and Development 740

Reprise 741

Epilogue 750

References 757

Acknowledgments 917

Index 921

Melvin Konner is Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor in the Department of Anthropology and the Program in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology at Emory University.

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