Editing Evolutionary psychology (section)

==Research methods==
Evolutionary theory is [[heuristic]] in that it may generate hypotheses that might not be developed from other theoretical approaches. One of the main goals of adaptationist research is to identify which organismic traits are likely to be adaptations, and which are byproducts or random variations. As noted earlier, adaptations are expected to show evidence of complexity, functionality, and species universality, while byproducts or random variation will not. In addition, adaptations are expected to be presented as proximate mechanisms that interact with the environment in either a generally obligate or facultative fashion (see above). Evolutionary psychologists are also interested in identifying these proximate mechanisms (sometimes termed "mental mechanisms" or "psychological adaptations") and what type of information they take as input, how they process that information, and their outputs.<ref name=Buss-D-M-2011/> [[Evolutionary developmental psychology]], or "evo-devo," focuses on how adaptations may be activated at certain developmental times (e.g., losing baby teeth, adolescence, etc.) or how events during the development of an individual may alter life-history trajectories.

Evolutionary psychologists use several strategies to develop and test hypotheses about whether a psychological trait is likely to be an evolved adaptation. Buss (2011)<ref>Buss, D.M. (2011). Evolutionary psychology. Chapter 2. Boston: Pearson/A and B.</ref> notes that these methods include:

{{blockquote|<poem>''Cross-cultural Consistency.'' Characteristics that have been demonstrated to be cross-cultural [[human universals]] such as smiling, crying, facial expressions are presumed to be evolved psychological adaptations. Several evolutionary psychologists have collected massive datasets from cultures around the world to assess cross-cultural universality.

''Function to Form (or "problem to solution").'' The fact that males, but not females, risk potential misidentification of genetic offspring (referred to as "paternity uncertainty") led evolutionary psychologists to hypothesize that, compared to females, male jealousy would be more focused on sexual, rather than emotional, infidelity.

''Form to Function (reverse-engineering – or "solution to problem").'' [[Morning sickness]], and associated aversions to certain types of food, during pregnancy seemed to have the characteristics of an evolved adaptation (complexity and universality). [[Margie Profet]] hypothesized that the function was to avoid the ingestion of toxins during early pregnancy that could damage fetus (but which are otherwise likely to be harmless to healthy non-pregnant women).

''Corresponding Neurological Modules.'' Evolutionary psychology and cognitive neuropsychology are mutually compatible – evolutionary psychology helps to identify psychological adaptations and their ultimate, evolutionary functions, while neuropsychology helps to identify the proximate manifestations of these adaptations.

''Current Evolutionary Adaptiveness.'' In addition to evolutionary models that suggest evolution occurs across large spans of time, recent research has demonstrated that some evolutionary shifts can be fast and dramatic. Consequently, some evolutionary psychologists have focused on the impact of psychological traits in the current environment. Such research can be used to inform estimates of the prevalence of traits over time. Such work has been informative in studying evolutionary psychopathology.<ref>Jacobson, N.C. (2016). Current Evolutionary Adaptiveness of Psychiatric Disorders: Fertility Rates, Parent-Child Relationship Quality, and Psychiatric Disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology</ref></poem>}}

Evolutionary psychologists also use various sources of data for testing, including experiments, [[archaeological record]]s, data from hunter-gatherer societies, observational studies, neuroscience data, self-reports and surveys, [[public record]]s, and human products.<ref>{{cite book
 |last=Buss
 |first=David
 |author-link=David Buss
 |title=Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind
 |publisher=Pearson Education, Inc
 |year=2004
 |location=Boston
 |isbn=978-0-205-48338-9
}}</ref>
Recently, additional methods and tools have been introduced based on fictional scenarios,<ref name=Eldakar2006>{{cite journal
 |first1=Omar Tonsi |last1=Eldakar
 |first2=David Sloan |last2=Wilson |first3=Rick |last3=O'Gorman.
 |year=2006
 |title=Emotions and actions associated with altruistic helping and punishment
 |journal=Evolutionary Psychology
 |volume=4
 |pages=274–86
 |url=http://www.epjournal.net/filestore/ep04274286.pdf
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105223829/http://www.epjournal.net/filestore/ep04274286.pdf
 |url-status=usurped
 |archive-date=5 January 2009
 |access-date=15 August 2010
 |doi=10.1177/147470490600400123
 |s2cid=53991283
 |doi-access=free
 }}</ref> mathematical models,<ref name=Eldakar2008>{{cite journal
 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0712173105
 |first1=Omar Tonsi |last1=Eldakar
 |first2=David Sloan |last2=Wilson
 |year=2008
 |title=Selfishness as second-order altruism
 |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA
 |volume=105
 |issue=19
 |pages=6982–86
 |pmid=18448681
 |pmc=2383986
|bibcode=2008PNAS..105.6982E
 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and [[Agent based model|multi-agent computer simulations]].<ref name=Lima2009>{{cite journal
 |first1=Francisco W.S. |last1=Lima
 |first2=Tarik |last2=Hadzibeganovic |first3=Dietrich |last3=Stauffer.
 |year=2009
 |title=Evolution of ethnocentrism on undirected and directed Barabási-Albert networks
 |journal=Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and Its Applications
 |volume=388
 |pages=4999–5004
 |doi=10.1016/j.physa.2009.08.029
 |issue=24
|arxiv=0905.2672|bibcode=2009PhyA..388.4999L|s2cid=18233740
 }}</ref>