Extended evolutionary psychology: the importance of transgenerational developmental plasticity
What kind mechanisms one deems central for the evolutionary process deeply influences one’s understanding of the nature of organisms, including cognition. Reversely, adopting a certain approach to the nature of life and cognition and the relationship between them or between the organism and its envi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2014-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00908/full |
| _version_ | 1819154683084668928 |
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| author | Karola eStotz |
| author_facet | Karola eStotz |
| author_sort | Karola eStotz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | What kind mechanisms one deems central for the evolutionary process deeply influences one’s understanding of the nature of organisms, including cognition. Reversely, adopting a certain approach to the nature of life and cognition and the relationship between them or between the organism and its environment should affect one’s view of evolutionary theory. This paper explores this reciprocal relationship in more detail. In particular it argues that the view of living and cognitive systems, especially humans, as deeply integrated beings embedded in and transformed by their genetic, epigenetic (molecular and cellular), behavioral, ecological, socio-cultural and cognitive-symbolic legacies calls for an extended evolutionary synthesis that goes beyond either a theory of genes juxtaposed against a theory of cultural evolution and or even more sophisticated theories of gene-culture coevolution and niche construction. Environments, particularly in the form of developmental environments, do not just select for variation, they also create new variation by influencing development through the reliable transmission of non-genetic but heritable information. This paper stresses particularly views of embodied, embedded, enacted and extended cognition, and their relationship to those aspects of extended inheritance that lie between genetic and cultural inheritance, the still grey area of epigenetic and behavioral inheritance systems that play a role in parental effect. These are the processes that can be regarded as transgenerational developmental plasticity and that I think can most fruitfully contribute to, and be investigated by, developmental psychology. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T15:24:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c10b72513b5242ea9a04e3215141f81f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T15:24:58Z |
| publishDate | 2014-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-c10b72513b5242ea9a04e3215141f81f2022-12-21T18:21:32ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782014-08-01510.3389/fpsyg.2014.0090897140Extended evolutionary psychology: the importance of transgenerational developmental plasticityKarola eStotz0Macquarie UniversityWhat kind mechanisms one deems central for the evolutionary process deeply influences one’s understanding of the nature of organisms, including cognition. Reversely, adopting a certain approach to the nature of life and cognition and the relationship between them or between the organism and its environment should affect one’s view of evolutionary theory. This paper explores this reciprocal relationship in more detail. In particular it argues that the view of living and cognitive systems, especially humans, as deeply integrated beings embedded in and transformed by their genetic, epigenetic (molecular and cellular), behavioral, ecological, socio-cultural and cognitive-symbolic legacies calls for an extended evolutionary synthesis that goes beyond either a theory of genes juxtaposed against a theory of cultural evolution and or even more sophisticated theories of gene-culture coevolution and niche construction. Environments, particularly in the form of developmental environments, do not just select for variation, they also create new variation by influencing development through the reliable transmission of non-genetic but heritable information. This paper stresses particularly views of embodied, embedded, enacted and extended cognition, and their relationship to those aspects of extended inheritance that lie between genetic and cultural inheritance, the still grey area of epigenetic and behavioral inheritance systems that play a role in parental effect. These are the processes that can be regarded as transgenerational developmental plasticity and that I think can most fruitfully contribute to, and be investigated by, developmental psychology.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00908/fullEmbodied Cognitiondevelopmental plasticityextended cognitionparental effectsextended inheritancedevelopmental niche |
| spellingShingle | Karola eStotz Extended evolutionary psychology: the importance of transgenerational developmental plasticity Frontiers in Psychology Embodied Cognition developmental plasticity extended cognition parental effects extended inheritance developmental niche |
| title | Extended evolutionary psychology: the importance of transgenerational developmental plasticity |
| title_full | Extended evolutionary psychology: the importance of transgenerational developmental plasticity |
| title_fullStr | Extended evolutionary psychology: the importance of transgenerational developmental plasticity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Extended evolutionary psychology: the importance of transgenerational developmental plasticity |
| title_short | Extended evolutionary psychology: the importance of transgenerational developmental plasticity |
| title_sort | extended evolutionary psychology the importance of transgenerational developmental plasticity |
| topic | Embodied Cognition developmental plasticity extended cognition parental effects extended inheritance developmental niche |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00908/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT karolaestotz extendedevolutionarypsychologytheimportanceoftransgenerationaldevelopmentalplasticity |