Evolutionary hypothesis

Data sources (Evolutionary psychology (book))

• Archeological records
• Data from hunter-gatherer societies
• Observations
• Self-reports
• Human products

Generating and testing

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The hierarchy of levels shows one scientific strategy for generating evolutionary hypotheses and predictions. This strategy is called the top-down or theory-driven approach to hypothesis generation. … The top-down strategy illustrates one of the ways in which theoryies can be extraordinarily useful. Theories provide both a set of working premises from which specific hypotheses can be generated and a framework for guiding researchers to important domains of inquiry such as investing in kin or children.

There is a second strategy for generating evolutionary psychological hypotheses. Instead of starting with a theory, we can start with an observation. Once the observation is made about the existence of a phenomenon, we can then proceed in a bottom-up fashion and generate a hypothesis about its function. Because humans are keen perceivers of other people, they generally notice things even without a formal theory to direct attention to them. …

Two general conclusions about this “bottom-up” strategy of generating and testing hypotheses can be drawn. First, it is perfectly legitimate for scientists to observe phenomena and subsequently formulate hypotheses about their origins and functions. … Second, the value of an evolutionary hypothesis depends in part on its precision. The more precise the hypothesis, the easier it is to generate specific predictions that follow from it. … Step by step, prediction by prediction, hypotheses that fail to yield empirically verified predictions are discarded; those that consistently yield empirically verified predictions are retained. So the entire enterprise shows a cumulative quality as the sicence moves closer and closer to discovering the existence, complexity, and functionality of evolved psychological mechanisms. —p46-49

Methods for testing

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• Comparing Different Species: …
• Comparing Males and Females: …
• Comparing Individuals within a Species: …
• Comparing the Same Individuals in Different Contexts: …
• Experimental Methods: …