The Shape of Thought
This book presents a roadmap for an evolutionary psychology of the twenty-first century. It brings together theory from biology and cognitive science to show how the brain can be composed of specialized adaptations, and yet also be an organ of plasticity. Although mental adaptations have typically b...
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| Format: | Online |
| Language: | English |
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Oxford University Press
2026
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| Online Access: | https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/110816 |
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| _version_ | 1869525967015247872 |
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| author | Clark Barrett, H. |
| author_browse | Clark Barrett, H. |
| author_facet | Clark Barrett, H. |
| author_sort | Clark Barrett, H. |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| description | This book presents a roadmap for an evolutionary psychology of the twenty-first century. It brings together theory from biology and cognitive science to show how the brain can be composed of specialized adaptations, and yet also be an organ of plasticity. Although mental adaptations have typically been seen as monolithic, hardwired components frozen in the evolutionary past, this book presents a new view of mental adaptations as diverse and variable, with distinct functions and evolutionary histories that shape how they develop, what information they use, and what they do with it. The book describes how advances in evolutionary developmental biology can be applied to the brain by focusing on the design of the developmental systems that build it. Crucially, developmental systems can be adaptively plastic, designed by the process of natural selection to build adaptive phenotypes using the rich information available in our social and physical environments. This approach bridges the longstanding divide between nativist approaches to development, based on innateness, and empiricist approaches, based on learning. It shows how a view of humans as a flexible, culturally dependent species is compatible with a complexly specialized brain, and how the nature of our flexibility can be better understood by confronting the evolved design of the organ on which that flexibility depends. |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-174227 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | Oxford University Press |
| publisherStr | Oxford University Press |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-1742272026-03-19T14:58:59Z The Shape of Thought Clark Barrett, H. Evolutionary psychology Evolutionary developmental biology Cognitive science Neuroscience Evolution Modularity Plasticity Developmental systems Culture Cognition thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTM Philosophy of mind thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JM Psychology::JMR Cognition and cognitive psychology thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PS Biology, life sciences::PSX Human biology::PSXE Evolutionary anthropology / Human evolution This book presents a roadmap for an evolutionary psychology of the twenty-first century. It brings together theory from biology and cognitive science to show how the brain can be composed of specialized adaptations, and yet also be an organ of plasticity. Although mental adaptations have typically been seen as monolithic, hardwired components frozen in the evolutionary past, this book presents a new view of mental adaptations as diverse and variable, with distinct functions and evolutionary histories that shape how they develop, what information they use, and what they do with it. The book describes how advances in evolutionary developmental biology can be applied to the brain by focusing on the design of the developmental systems that build it. Crucially, developmental systems can be adaptively plastic, designed by the process of natural selection to build adaptive phenotypes using the rich information available in our social and physical environments. This approach bridges the longstanding divide between nativist approaches to development, based on innateness, and empiricist approaches, based on learning. It shows how a view of humans as a flexible, culturally dependent species is compatible with a complexly specialized brain, and how the nature of our flexibility can be better understood by confronting the evolved design of the organ on which that flexibility depends. 2026-03-19T14:58:58Z 2026-03-19T14:58:58Z 2026-03-02T17:52:38Z 2015 book https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/110816 9780199348305 9780199348312 9780199348329 9780190463601 9780199348336 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/174227 eng Evolution and Cognition open access image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/110816/1/9780199348305.pdf Oxford University Press 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199348305.001.0001 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199348305.001.0001 db4e319f-ca9f-449a-bcf2-37d7c6f885b1 9780199348305 9780199348312 9780199348329 9780190463601 9780199348336 416 New York, NY, United States open access |
| spellingShingle | Evolutionary psychology Evolutionary developmental biology Cognitive science Neuroscience Evolution Modularity Plasticity Developmental systems Culture Cognition thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTM Philosophy of mind thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JM Psychology::JMR Cognition and cognitive psychology thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PS Biology, life sciences::PSX Human biology::PSXE Evolutionary anthropology / Human evolution Clark Barrett, H. The Shape of Thought |
| title | The Shape of Thought |
| title_full | The Shape of Thought |
| title_fullStr | The Shape of Thought |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Shape of Thought |
| title_short | The Shape of Thought |
| title_sort | shape of thought |
| topic | Evolutionary psychology Evolutionary developmental biology Cognitive science Neuroscience Evolution Modularity Plasticity Developmental systems Culture Cognition thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTM Philosophy of mind thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JM Psychology::JMR Cognition and cognitive psychology thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PS Biology, life sciences::PSX Human biology::PSXE Evolutionary anthropology / Human evolution |
| topic_facet | Evolutionary psychology Evolutionary developmental biology Cognitive science Neuroscience Evolution Modularity Plasticity Developmental systems Culture Cognition thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTM Philosophy of mind thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JM Psychology::JMR Cognition and cognitive psychology thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PS Biology, life sciences::PSX Human biology::PSXE Evolutionary anthropology / Human evolution |
| url | https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/110816 |
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