Child development and evolutionary psychology

Evolutionary developmental psychology involves the expression of evolved, e pigenetic programs, as described by the developmental systems approach over the course of ontogeny. There have been different selection pressures on o rganisms at different times in ontogeny, and some characteristics of infant s and children were selected in evolution to serve an adaptive function at that time in their life history rather than to prepare individuals for late r adulthood. Examples of such adaptive functions of immaturity are provided from infancy, play, and cognitive development. Most evolved psychological mechanisms are proposed to be domain specific in nature and have been ident ified for various aspects of children's cognitive and social development, m ost notably for the acquisition of language and for theory of mind. Differe nces in the quality and quantity of parental investment affect children's d evelopment and influence their subsequent reproductive and childcare strate gies. Some sex differences observed in childhood particularly as expressed during play, are seen as antecedents and preparations for adult sex differe nces. Because evolved mechanisms were adaptive to ancestral environments, t hey are not always adaptive for contemporary people, and this mismatch of e volved mechanisms with modem environments is seen in children's maladjustme nt to some aspects of formal schooling. We argue that an evolutionary persp ective can be valuable for developing a better understanding of human ontog eny in contemporary society and that a developmental perspective is importa nt for a better understanding of evolutionary psychology.