Theoretical Issues in the Study of Evolution and Development

When hen the first author wrote the introductory chapter of Sociobiological ctives Perspectives on Human Development (MacDonald, 1988a), the basic llllllllllll approach was to attempt to integrate evolutionary thinking with prominent strands of theory already influential in developmental psychology— particularly social learning theory, cognitive developmental theory, behavior genetics, and ethology. The intent was not to provide an alternative to these theoretical contributions, but to show how the revolution in evolutionary thinking inaugurated by William Hamilton, Robert Trivers, and G. C Williams and culminating in E. O. Wilson’s (1975) Sociobiology could add richness and insight into many areas of developmental psychology. W