Education Through an Evolutionary Lens 1

Education Through an Evolutionary Lens

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Table of Contents

Introduction: Education through an Evolutionary Lens 03 Gabrielle Principe

Evolutionary Approaches to Early Education 05 Dave Bjorklund

Playful Learning: Preparing 21st Century Children for a Global World 07 Roberta Golinkoff and Kathy Hirsh-Pasek

Overcoming the Challenges of Teaching & Learning about Biological Evolution 09 Gale Sinatra

Evolutionary Education Psychology as a Base for Instructional Design 11 John Sweller

Taming the Autonomous Learner 14 David Lancy

The Evolved Mind in the Modern School 16 Dave Geary

Fairness. What It Is, What It Isn’t, And What It Might Be For 18 Alex Shaw

Adaptive Memory: How Evolution Shapes What We Learn and Remember 20 James Nairne

Is the Ability to Learn Language Different from the Ability to Learn Math 22 Peter Gray

Evolutionary Theory Can Inform the Intelligent Design of Educational Policy and Practice 24 Daniel Berch

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Introduction: Education through an Evolutionary Lens

By Gabrielle Principe

Take a look at the picture. Does it look familiar? memorize times tables, state capitals, and the It could be a snapshot from almost any periodic table. And you can see for yourself that he elementary classroom in Western society. If does most of his learning in a physical environment you were to ask the boy in the front row how very different from that of most primates. he spends his schooldays, he probably won’t tell you he’s collaborating with mixed-aged Children today are educated in a very different peers on meaningful tasks that are obviously way than they used to be. But even though the relevant to survival. Rather he’d probably tell ways in which we educate children have changed, you the same thing that almost any American their brains have not. Modern children have schoolchild would: That instead, he spends a essentially the same brains and accompanying disproportionate amount of time preparing tendencies, abilities, and adaptations as their for standardized exams. That he is more likely nomadic hunter-gatherer ancestors. Further, than the usual young nomad to do word-study many parts of their brains originated even deeper worksheets while sitting quietly at a desk. That in the evolutionary past – long before written he belongs to the only hominid species whose symbols, spoken language, deliberate instruction, young are required to be sedentary as they or creatures like us even existed.

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When humans (i.e., members of the Homo peers, yet we sit them down in classrooms, genus) first emerged two or so million years give them textbooks, and ask them to take ago, we lived in small, nomadic bands and made standardized exams. We ask them to learn our living hunting and gathering. Children things that their brains never expected and in spent their days playing on their own in packs contexts that are completely foreign. It is this in the outdoors. Their education was informal mismatch between children’s evolutionary past and new skills were learned “on the job” as and their modern human present that makes they collaborated with multiage peers on tasks today’s formal education system ineffective for meaningful to everyday life. The reasons for some children and stultifying for others. learning each new skill were apparent. We didn’t show children how to identify edible An appreciation of this deep history of our brains plants merely so they could demonstrate that makes it clear that the classroom and many of knowledge on next Tuesday’s biology exam. the skills that we teach in school, like reading, Rather children learned this skill so they could writing, and most of modern day mathematics, forage for lunch safely. are foreign elements in the natural ecology of children. Considering the unnaturalness of Such was education until about 10,000 years formal education, we should not be surprised ago when humans gave up their nomadic that not all children thrive in the classroom and ways, established stationary communities, and that many lack the motivation for the out-of- domesticated plants and animals. Maintaining context learning that goes on in most schools. this new sedentary and agrarian lifestyle from Significantly, an evolutionary framework one generation to the next depended on a can provide keen insights into the sorts of certain amount of technological knowhow instructional approaches, curricular materials, being transmitted to children. At first, much and educational contexts that best fit children’s of this education was still done on the job. But natural dispositions and tendencies. Indeed, an as the tools and technological skills needed to evolutionary perspective can help educators thrive in adulthood ratcheted up in complexity understand a range of classroom behaviors and over time, instruction “out of context” emerged. learning styles that make little sense through any other lens. Today, formal education is necessary for success. But the newness of this practice Despite the breadth of fields represented in this cannot be understated. Humans evolved some series on education, a common strand that runs two or so million years ago, yet it’s been only throughout the pieces is the ways in which an within the last few hundred years that formal evolutionary lens affords deep understanding schooling has become part of the ecology of of how individuals teach, learn, and lead in childhood. That’s about 1/100th of 1 percent educational contexts. This collection of essays of the human brain’s entire existence – an demonstrates potently how evolutionary evolutionary wink-of-an-eye. theory can serve to unify seemingly disparate findings and, in this case, produce This recognition of the deep evolutionary a comprehensive science of education that is history of our brains means that we were not much more meaningful when couched within designed for formal schooling, but rather we an evolutionary frame. While all of the authors evolved to be educated in a very different agree that there is much to be gained by viewing way. Today’s children come into the world with education through an evolutionary lens, their the very same brains as their hunter-gatherer perspectives for remedial pedagogies differ.

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Evolutionary Approaches to Early Education

By David F. Bjorklund

Evolutionary developmental psychology is the there must be adaptations of infancy and application of the basic principles of Darwinian childhood, distinct from those of adulthood. evolution to explain contemporary human Although some adaptations of infancy and development. From this perspective, not only childhood may prepare children for life are behaviors and cognitions that characterize as adults, others were selected to serve adults the product of natural-selection pressures an adaptive function at specific times in operating over the course of geologic time, but development, termed ontogenetic adaptations. so also are characteristics of children’s behaviors This means that some aspects of children’s and minds. In fact, although natural selection immature functioning are adaptive in their works at all stages of the lifespan, selection own right, providing infants and children with will have greatest effects on early stages of immediate (and perhaps deferred) benefits. development: getting born, surviving infancy and childhood, and developing to sexual maturity. For example, there is evidence that infants’ inefficient sensory and learning abilities may If you believe, as all evolutionists do, that protect young animals from overstimulation natural selection produces adaptations, then and enhance the learning of species -

evolution-institute.org Education Through an Evolutionary Lens 6 appropriate content. This is seen in studies of in subsequent academic performance, but also precocial birds (Likeliter, 1990) that are given with respect to motivation and psychosocial premature visual stimulation that subsequently factors, including liking school better, feeling results in improved visual abilities but at less stress, and having greater creativity, pride the expense of important auditory-learning in accomplishment, and self-confidence than abilities, and in monkey (Harlow, 1959) and children attending direct-instruction programs. human infants (Papousek, 1977) whose performance on simple learning tasks is What can we conclude from all this? Natural impeded when they started the learning tasks selection has adapted children’s cognition and earlier as opposed to later. Such results provide behavior to learn from experience – to educate evidence that not all learning experiences are themselves in many respects. Much of what necessarily good for infants – that sometimes, we consider to be “immature” thinking in young learning experiences will not only be useless for children may actually be adaptive ways of infants who lack the requisite cognitive abilities, gaining knowledge and developing intellectual but they may actually be detrimental to later skills. This may extend beyond childhood learning and development. to the juvenile and adolescent periods. We should take advantage of children’s cognitive These ideas have implications for preschool immaturity to foster their education, rather education. For instance, “educational” DVDs than trying to educate immature thinking out and videos, such as “Baby Einstein” have of children. been touted to accelerate infant cognitive development, but scientific evaluation of such videos with infants much younger than two years of age show that they have either no impact or are actually associated with lower levels of learning. Similarly, preschool programs that emphasize teacher-directed instruction typically provide no immediate or subsequent academic advantage to children compared to those that emphasize developmentally appropriate practices (that is, more play oriented). Moreover, children attending developmentally appropriate programs typically show advantages not only

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Playful Learning: Preparing 21st Century Children for a Global World

By Roberta Golinkoff and Kathy Hirsh-Pasek

To borrow from our colleague, David Bjorklund, others); communication (persuasively arguing it is pretty fair to conclude, “Children did not – and listening – to share ideas); content (the evolve to sit quietly at desks in age-segregated 3R’s and so much more); critical thinking classrooms…” (2007). Yet here we are in (selecting and synthesizing the information 2017, under the remnants of No Child Left needed to perform the task at hand); creative Behind, where children are doing just that – innovation (using content and critical thinking individually and passively ingesting quantities to envision new solutions to old problems); and of information for high stakes tests (Hirsh- confidence (the old saws about perspiration Pasek, Golinkoff, Berk, & Singer, 2009). Yet in and perseverance have much to offer). the 21st century, children will be required to operate in a world where information will be What if we could wave a magic wand and at their fingertips. Content is necessary, but change the sterile pedagogical approach it is not the whole story. Our most successful used in many schools today? What kind of a citizens will be required to use the “6C’s” more evolutionarily sound pedagogy would (Golinkoff & Kirsh-Pasek, 2016): collaboration replace silent classrooms, where well-meaning (building new knowledge and approaches with teachers drone on while children fill in blanks

evolution-institute.org Education Through an Evolutionary Lens 8 on worksheets that constrain the answer to discover them (think guided play), versus if space? We suggest that “playful learning” – they were simply given geometric forms to play an umbrella term that includes both “guided with (think free play). Learning that triangles, play” and “free play” – might be the antidote to for instance, must have three sides and three today’s atavistic classrooms. Playful learning “corners” seems easy until children are presented provides a middle ground between positions with non-standard forms like right or scalene like Peter Gray’s, where children are expected triangles. Then, if they haven’t figured out what to learn entirely through self-directed play makes a triangle a triangle, they are lost. and exploration, and David Geary’s approach that emphasizes the importance of didactic After experiencing these three different kinds instruction for “biologically secondary of pedagogy in the controlled experiment, knowledge” like mathematics. 4-year-olds were all able to identify four different, standard variety, geometric forms. It Free play allows children to be in charge and to was on the non-standard forms that the children explore their surroundings with or without social who had learned with guided play – where partners. Watch two children muck about with the teacher followed their lead – shined. The a net and a bucket at the seashore. They can be children who had didactic instruction or free absorbed for hours, extending their attention play bombed, while the children who had been spans, formulating hypotheses (what happened active participants in their own learning did to the animals that lived in these shells?), and marvelously. Active, engaged, and meaningful fueling their intellectual engine to want to know learning creates learners who can extend more about their world. While free play has (“transfer”) what they know to new instances. many cognitive, psychological, and emotional advantages, it turns out that if you want children If we are to prepare our kids for a future to learn something, it is better to provide a where the 6C’s are essential, we will need framework, or lens, for them to see it through. to change classrooms to breed engaged and Here is where guided play comes in. An example energetic learners who eat ideas for breakfast. illustrates the concept and attests to its power. Questioning and meaning-making will need to be de rigueur. Training children to fill in We and Kelly Fisher (with Nora Newcombe, blanks correctly only seems more effective 2014) wanted to see whether preschoolers and efficient than inviting them to participate. would best learn the properties of geometric Learning “sticks” when teachers with learning forms if they were told these properties (think goals follow children’s lead and encourage didactic instruction), versus if they were guided debate and wonder.

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Overcoming the Challenges of Teaching and Learning about Biological Evolution

By Gale M Sinatra

I often hear, “Science is just tough to learn, and learn (see Rosenberg, Evans, Brem, & so is evolution really any different?” It’s true Sinatra, 2012, also see Sinatra, Brem, & Evans, that students struggle to learn concepts 2008). Our findings? Evolution: 1) conflicts like photosynthesis or gravity, but evolution with intuitive ideas, 2) requires overcoming presents some unique challenges not inherent misconceptions, 3) is conceptually complex, 4) in all science learning. The challenges are challenges individuals’ identity, and, 5) presents evidenced by the near flat line of acceptance in emotional and motivational hurdles. Let’s the United States over the last several decades consider each of these challenges in turn. (Miller, Scott, & Okamoto, 2006). 1. Young children come equipped with intuitive Recently, my colleagues and I brought together ideas about biology, often called folk biological over 40 psychologists, science educators, and knowledge. For instance, children tend to evolutionary biologists to explore just what believe that members of a category have an makes evolution particularly vexing to teach underlying immutable essence (Gelman &

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Rhodes, 2012). Essentialism helps children 5.Conflicts with knowledge, beliefs, and learn to categorize living things, but it conflicts identity can evoke strong emotions. Even with the idea that species change over time. students who accept evolution find it Children also tend to believe that things are disheartening (Brem, Ranney, & Schindel, made for a purpose (teleological thinking) by 2003). Motivations such as goals, values, an intentional agent (intentionality) notions openness to new ideas, and beliefs about much more consistent with creationism and knowledge can either facilitate learning or intelligent design than evolution (Evans, 2000). create resistance to learning about evolution.

2. Misconceptions like “Humans evolved Students can and do overcome these challenges from modern day apes” are common among and learn about evolution. Evolution educators evolution learners. Conceptual change is the may be more successful if instruction is process of overcoming misconceptions, and is designed to address the challenges head on notoriously difficult to promote and achieve and promote conceptual change (Heddy & (Sinatra & Mason, 2013). Sinatra, 2013). It also helps if evolution is taught with an eye toward appreciating the nature of 3. Emergent systems, deep time, and science and how we come to know facts about uncertainty are extremely complex, abstract evolution. Finally, the relevance of evolution to ideas. Each of these concepts have been shown learners’ everyday life (i.e., antibiotic resistant to be a rough go for learners but combined, bacteria) should be central to any evolution they present a high bar. curriculum.

4. Accepting the scientific explanation of the Evolution is a challenging topic for many interrelatedness of all living things may raise learners, but with the right approach, we can unsettling questions about one’s identity and budge those stubbornly resistant numbers fundamental questions about who we are and and help promote a more scientifically literate what is our place in the universe. populace.

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Evolutionary Educational Psychology as a Base for Instructional Design

By John Sweller

Evolutionary educational psychology is used to solve a variety of unrelated problems changing the face of instructional design. By or teaching thinking skills that can be used in providing us with a base that explains critical any curriculum area provide examples. While aspects of human cognitive architecture, we it is intuitively plausible that teaching such are able to devise instructional techniques skills should be useful, evidence that they that can work. On the other side of this coin, are teachable is sparse. They certainly are in the recent past, many popular instructional learnable because we all have problem solving procedures have failed. Evolutionary and thinking skills, suggesting that generic skills educational psychology can explain some of are learnable but not teachable. Why would a those failures and provide highly effective skill be learnable but not teachable? substitutes. Until David Geary’s distinction between Over the last one or two decades, instructional biologically primary knowledge that we have design recommendations have increasingly evolved to acquire and biologically secondary emphasized generic skills. Teaching learners knowledge that is culturally important but that generic problem solving skills that can be we have not specifically evolved to acquire,

evolution-institute.org Education Through an Evolutionary Lens 12 we had no real answer to this question. The solving strategies, for example, but they are distinction between primary and secondary specific to a particular domain. Learning that knowledge provides an answer. We all have when faced with an algebraic problem such evolved to easily and automatically acquire as, (a + b)/c = d, solve for a, the first move those general problem solving and thinking should be to multiply both sides by c, will help skills that are necessary for survival. We take a person solve similar problems. It will not be them for granted because the skills were of assistance in solving unrelated mathematics acquired without being taught or even named. problems or indeed, how to start a car that will Of course, a skill that has already been learned not start or how to solve personal problems. cannot be taught. Skilled problem solvers in a knowledge rich domain have learned to solve literally tens In contrast, we do not easily or automatically of thousands of relevant problems and it is acquire biologically secondary knowledge. that knowledge that results in expertise, not Secondary knowledge encompasses almost biologically primary, generic skills. Because of everything that is taught in educational and that immense knowledge base that is required, training institutions that were devised precisely it can take many years to acquire high levels of in order to assist learners to acquire such expertise in a given area. knowledge. Secondary knowledge has several characteristics that only become intelligible 3. An immense knowledge base held by a when considered from the perspective of human is analogous to the immense amount of evolutionary educational psychology. information held in a genome. The structures and functions required by human cognitive 1. Since we have not evolved to automatically architecture can be mapped directly onto the acquire biologically secondary knowledge, structures and functions that we call evolution it is unlikely to be acquired by “immersion” by natural selection. Both are examples of in a suitable environment. Unlike primary natural information processing systems. A knowledge, it requires explicit instruction. genome is analogous to long-term memory; Children will learn the biologically primary reproduction with its transfer of genomic tasks of speaking and listening simply by information is analogous to humans obtaining immersion in a speaking and listening society. information by imitating other humans, Explicit instruction is unnecessary. In contrast, listening to what they say or reading what they are unlikely to learn how to read and they write; random mutation is analogous to write without explicit instruction. Suggestions random generate and test during problem that students would learn school subjects as solving; the epigenetic system has the same easily as they learn outside of school if the function as human working memory. In effect, same techniques were used are misguided. On the structures and functions of evolution evolutionary grounds, the information acquired by natural selection provide a template outside of school is categorically different for the structures and functions of human from the information that students acquire cognitive architecture when it deals with within school. We should not expect the two biologically secondary knowledge. Over the categories of information to be acquired in the least two decades, that architecture has been same way. used to generate a considerable array of instructional procedures designed to assist 2. Biologically secondary knowledge and skills learners to acquire biologically secondary, are domain-specific. We do learn problem- domain-specific, information. In many cases,

evolution-institute.org Education Through an Evolutionary Lens 13 instructional effectiveness can be improved by taught. In contrast, secondary knowledge that using techniques that reduce an unnecessary is taught in educational institutions should be working memory load and assist in the transfer explicitly taught rather than left for students to of information to long-term memory. discover. The second way in which evolution by natural selection has influenced instructional In conclusion, evolutionary educational design is by providing a template for human psychology has influenced instructional cognitive architecture. Both evolution by natural design by firstly, providing us with a scheme selection and human cognitive architecture for categorizing knowledge into biologically provide examples of a natural information primary and biologically secondary knowledge. processing system and that system, in turn, has Most knowledge categorisation schemas have generated a variety of instructional procedures not had instructional consequences but this designed to reduce working memory load and scheme has profound consequences. Biologically facilitate the acquisition of information held in primary knowledge can be learned but not long-term memory.

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Taming the Autonomous Learner

By David F. Lancy

This paper addresses a broad and fundamental inevitably out-weigh the benefits, that adults question: Is culture transmitted to or acquired or parents are, generally, neither willing nor by the rising generation primarily by teaching gifted teachers, that children prefer to learn or by the self-initiated and autonomous efforts autonomously, and even that traditional of the young? Most parents, educators, and “educational” institutions such as rites of scholars whose world-view has been shaped passage and apprenticeship exhibit relatively by membership in a Western, Educated, little evidence of “good” teaching practices. Industrialized, Rich, Democracy (WEIRD) would identify teaching. From this ethnocentric Teaching is common in contemporary view, recent scholars have gone further societies that I have characterized as and claim teaching as an evolved, universal, Neontocracies – where children are elevated and fitness enhancing trait unique (among to a very high status and afforded generous primates) to humans. Drawing on a broader resources by their families and the society at cross-cultural and historical perspective, this large with little expectation of a later return. paper argues that teaching is rarely employed It is uncommon in the far more widespread in cultural transmission, that the costs almost Geronotocracy, where children remain largely

evolution-institute.org Education Through an Evolutionary Lens 15 invisible or disregarded until they are old The thesis that teaching is unlikely, enough to be useful. unnecessary, and uncomfortable is also borne out by a cross-cultural and historical Infanticide, chronic illness, high infant mortality, analysis of the more formal pedagogical inter-familial strife, and the mother’s important institutions designed to transmit pieces of role as a provider mean that infants are the culture. These include the rite of passage secluded or otherwise kept in a quiescent state and apprenticeship. Puberty rites are quite – for their own well-being. Teaching and other common and, not surprisingly, they adhere to means to stimulate the infant’s cognitive and a general pattern. This includes the removal linguistic development would not be compatible of the child from the natal home, isolation with this model. and hardship shared with others in the same age cohort, painful body modification – often In both the ethnographic and historic records, circumcision or clitorodectomy – and a steady we have ample evidence of children learning stream of threats of dire consequences for the their culture through observation, emulation, youth’s failure to demonstrate obeisance and and make-believe play and practice with toy respect for older, more senior members of the tools in their own garden patches. Children community. The apprenticeship may be quite learn through their assistance to the mother similar involving hardship, physical punishment, in child-care, gardening, and household and menial, exhausting labor. This ordeal maintenance. They learn from emulating their insures the apprentice will uncomplainingly slightly older and more competent sibling comply with the requirements imposed by the caretakers. Furthermore, when anthropologists master. The master does little more, by way of query children and adults regarding culture teaching, than demonstrate correct practice transmission, there is a clear consensus that and then harangue and abuse the student for independent, self-paced learning is the default inadequate performance. The earliest schools mechanism, and teaching is dis-preferred. were based on the apprenticeship, and the Numerous studies show that – absent punitive and unsympathetic pedagogy of these teaching – children become competent in the institutions continued to be the norm until well characteristic skill set (hunting, finding tubers, into the modern era in the West and are still the collecting marine resources, herding, planting) norm in most village schools. at relatively young ages.

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The Evolved Mind in the Modern School

By David Geary

Essentially, the child’s mind comes with built-in Essentially, the child’s mind comes with built-in scaffolding that prepares them to learn about scaffolding that prepares them to learn about other people, plants and animals in their local other people, plants and animals in their local ecology […] There are, however, no built-in ecology, how to navigate from one place to scaffolds for learning how to read, write, and another, and how to use tools. The scaffolding do arithmetic, much less algebra, calculus, is fleshed out as children engage in self- science or many other complex topics children initiated play, exploration, and social activities. will encounter in school and in the modern There are, however, no built-in scaffolds for world outside of school. learning how to read, write, and do arithmetic, much less algebra, calculus, science, or many Schools are the interface between culture other complex topics children will encounter and evolution. They are the primary contexts in school and in the modern world outside of within which children learn the knowledge and school. Nor are children inherently motivated skills necessary to be successful in the modern to learn to read or to solve arithmetic world, but this is a world that differs in many problems in the same way they are motivated ways from the world in which the mind evolved. to play with their friends. Evolutionary

evolution-institute.org Education Through an Evolutionary Lens 17 educational psychology is the study of how the Children easily learn the difference between evolved mind is adapted through schooling to bat and pat when expressed in natural speech, meet the demands of the modern world, and but associating these sounds with strings how children’s evolved motivations (e.g., to of arbitrary symbols (letters and words) play with peers) influence their engagement when learning how to read does not come as with this schooling. naturally nor as easily.

Language, for instance, is an evolved and From a motivational perspective, it is not universal cognitive ability. Children are surprising that children like to play with their prepared to learn the language to which friends. These activities automatically and they are exposed and do so implicitly and effortlessly flesh out their social-cognitive automatically, that is, without conscious scaffolds; these activities help them to learn thought or effort, as they engage in social about themselves and other people and how activities. But, learning the evolutionarily- to negotiate relationships. There is no reason novel competencies of reading and writing to believe that children have a corresponding does not come as easily to the vast majority inherent motivation to write or to solve of children. It is known that the same brain algebra problems, for instance. For many and cognitive systems that support language children, the motivation to learn these skills (e.g., that allow one to discriminate the will require social and cultural supports (e.g., sounds ba and pa) are engaged during the highlighting accomplishments of engineers) act of reading, suggesting that schooling and encouragement (e.g., focus on the payoffs modifies built-in scaffolds, at least to some to effort and hard work). Evolutionarily- extent, in ways that allow children to acquire novel learning requires, to some extent, skills and knowledge that were not common disengagement from natural ways of learning during our evolutionary history. Building (e.g., play). onto evolved scaffolds in these novel ways, however, requires effortful attentional focus and explicit, conscious problem solving.

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Fairness: What It Is, What It Isn’t, And What It Might Be For

By Alex Shaw

People want others to be rewarded equally recipient more than another recipient. for equal work, that is, they value fairness. However, previous research tends to In our next set of studies, we investigated conflate a desire for equality with a desire if children’s behavior in our previous to be generous and increase welfare overall. experiments was driven by them wanting Generosity is often directed toward those to be fair or merely appear fair to others. who have less, which often has the side effect We found that, when children knew that of reducing inequality but is not necessarily an experimenter would be aware of their motivated by a concern with equality. Would choice, they preferred to do the fair thing, people still value fairness if it conflicted with discarding a resource in the trash rather than generosity? We investigated this question create inequality by taking it for themselves. in 6- to 8-year-old children and found that However, when children believed that the children value fairness even when doing so experimenter would not be aware of their meant being ungenerous; children preferred choice, they were considerably more likely to throw a resource away, even their own, to unfairly take the resource for themselves. rather than to share unequally by giving one These results demonstrate that children’s

evolution-institute.org Education Through an Evolutionary Lens 19 concern with fairness is at least partially contrary to many theories in the literature, driven by a motivation to appear fair to others. fairness did not evolve to increase reciprocity because fairness can often interfere with Knowing that children are motivated to reciprocity when three or more people are signal their fairness to others leaves open the involved in an interaction; fairness (avoiding question of why fairness behavior is seen as the appearance of partiality) can lead people socially desirable and worthy of signaling in to not reciprocate previous generosity. the first place. Although many researchers suggest that the goal of fairness is to avoid Understanding the different psychologies that inequity, unequal pay for equal work, this underlie resource sharing is quite important answer is not the only possibility. We suggest as conflicts over resources are ubiquitous in that fairness concerns are rooted in an the classroom and on the playground. If people aversion to appearing partial to others. That do indeed have these different psychologies, is, inequity is acceptable if it does not entail then certain instructions from adults may partiality. To examine this, we investigated have counterproductive effects on children’s whether 5- to 8-year-old children endorse behavior. If you insist that children share, this inequitable outcomes determined by an may reduce their selfishness and make them impartial procedure. We found that children more likely to think about being generous were quite willing to use an impartial (but and fostering reciprocity with others but can not a partial) procedure to create inequitable also lead to insular groups of friends who outcomes. This suggests that children’s exclude others while sharing with each other. fairness concerns are driven by an aversion Similarly, if you want to promote generosity in to partiality, not inequity, because children the classroom, telling children to be fair may thought creating inequity was fair if it was often achieve this but can lead children toward determined by an impartial procedure. inefficient decisions to waste resources.

In discussion, I speculated on why a desire Understanding these psychologies is essential to avoid partiality may have evolved. On the if teachers and parents want to make sure that surface, impartiality appears to be a bad children are internalizing the desired lesson strategy; it seems an individual would do from their messages. best by delivering benefits only to his or her allies and expecting the same preferential treatment from them. However, open displays of favoritism could cause conflict with non- allies or less highly ranked allies who may see new alliances as a threat. It may therefore be a good strategy to conceal open displays of favoritism and instead make efforts to strengthen or initiate alliances primarily in private. This leads to a possible explanation for why fairness might have evolved: for people to avoid being condemned by third parties for demonstrating or initiating alliances through preferential sharing. I further suggested that,

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Adaptive Memory: How Evolution Shapes What We Learn and Remember

By James Nairne

Human memory is adaptive. Our capacity to selection pressures conferred selection remember and forget helps us solve problems, advantages to organisms capable of using everything from remembering where the the past in the service of the present. car is parked to recognizing the person Nature’s main criterion, as embodied through who owes us money. Understanding the the process of natural selection, is the architecture of human memory, including its enhancement of inclusive fitness. At some evolutionary and cultural origins, has obvious point in our ancestral past, memory developed relevance to educational practices. Creating because it helped solve problems related to informed education curricula benefits from survival and ultimately, reproduction. An understanding the natural constraints that organism with the capacity to remember the shape the way people learn and remember. location of food, or categories of potential predators, was more likely to survive than an To understand those constraints, the first organism lacking this capacity. step is to acknowledge that memory evolved – having been shaped and sculpted by the For much of the past decade, our laboratory processes of natural selection. Specific has been investigating whether human memory

evolution-institute.org Education Through an Evolutionary Lens 21 is biased or tuned to solve fitness-relevant of information to this imagined scenario adaptive problems. Such problems include (e.g., “How relevant is the word wagon to remembering threats to survival, sources surviving in this context?”). Later surprise of nourishment, sources of contamination, retention tests revealed very strong retention potential mating partners, cheaters and free- advantages for items processed with respect riders, and so on. This idea that memory is to this survival scenario – even better than problem-oriented – and specialized to retain the “best of the best” of known encoding certain kinds of information – is controversial strategies such as forming a visual image or and novel in the memory field. Most memory relating information to the self. We have also researchers assume that memory is controlled found strong retention advantages for animate by a few domain-general processes, such as the (living) versus inanimate (nonliving) things. “richness of encoding,” that apply to any kind of Even attributing animacy to a non-word, such information content. We have argued instead as imagining “plave” to be a living thing, boosts that memory evolved to solve specific adaptive memory for that item compared to standard problems, such as remembering the locations controls. We have also shown that it is easier of predators, and that general remembering is to learn foreign language words when the largely derivative of these specialized functions. definitions refer to animate as opposed to Then to maximize retention, one needs to inanimate things. develop learning strategies that piggyback on these natural tendencies. Recognizing these inherent mnemonic tunings, such as a bias to remember information when For example, our laboratory has shown that it is processed for its fitness consequences, memory is strikingly good when information is a vital step in the development of effective is processed with respect to its fitness learning strategies: ones that facilitate consequences. We asked people to imagine learning and lead to long-lasting retention. being stranded in the grasslands of a foreign Application of these strategies to applied land, one in which they would need to find educational contexts is an ongoing concern of steady supplies of food and water and avoid the lab. predators, and then to rate the relevance

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Is The Ability to Learn Language Different from the Ability to Learn Math?

By James Nairne

David Geary has outlined an evolutionary novel. Thus, according to Geary (Educational perspective on education that assumes a Psychologist, 2008), “If our goal is universal rather clear distinction between “primary” education that accompanies a variety of and “secondary” abilities. He contends evolutionarily novel academic domains (e.g. that children acquire primary abilities (e.g. mathematics) and abilities (e.g. phonetic native language and ability to make social decoding as related to reading), then we attributions) through their natural play and cannot assume that an inherent curiosity or exploration but do not acquire secondary motivation to learn will be sufficient for most abilities (e.g. reading and mathematics) in children and adolescents.” these ways. According to Geary, primary abilities are those that have been crucial to My views on education are also informed by human survival and reproduction throughout evolutionary theory but are very different our evolutionary history, and secondary from Geary’s. Through analysis of the abilities are those that are evolutionarily literature on hunter-gatherer cultures and a

evolution-institute.org Education Through an Evolutionary Lens 23 survey of anthropologists, I have found that Research indicates that these children do not children in these cultures acquire, through necessarily have higher IQs than others, but their self-motivated play and exploration, skills instead are children who – for one reason or that are cognitively complex and evolutionary another – became engaged with reading at an novel. For example, hunter-gatherer groups early age. in different climates and terrains have very different ways of tracking game, and these What would happen if we didn’t force-teach change over time. Learning these tracking reading, writing, and arithmetic to young skills requires enormous effort and focus, children in schools but instead provided an yet essentially all boys learn them through environment in which children would regularly their self-directed play and exploration. In see these skills used around them and would our culture, today, children and adolescents have ample opportunity to play and explore similarly acquire complex computer abilities with peers (some older than themselves) that amaze the adults around them and are who have already acquired these skills and certainly evolutionary novel. use them in their play? I have been studying children’s learning in precisely such contexts, In a nutshell, my evolution-based education both at a radically alternative school and theory is this: We have been cultural animals among homeschooling families that adopt throughout our evolutionary history. The the philosophy of natural learning referred to key adaptation, which distinguishes us from as unschooling. I have found that essentially other apes, is our ability to acquire the unique all children in these conditions learn to read, skills, beliefs, and values of the culture into write, and perform whatever numerical which we are born. Until very recently, the calculations are useful to them through their responsibility for this always lay with children. own initiative and motivation with minimal, Natural selection led children to attend to the if any, formal instruction. I described these activities around them, to be curious about observations in my talk and have summarized those activities, and to incorporate the skills them in online articles (here, here, and here). that seem crucial to success in the culture into their play so as to develop expertise in them.

One observation that runs counter to Geary’s view, concerning reading, is that some children learn to read fluently well before they start school – without any explicit instruction.

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Evolutionary Theory Can Inform the Intelligent Design of Educational Policy and Practice

By Daniel B. Berch

In 2011, a science commentary by David Sloan role to play in education as a theory that can Wilson appeared in the newspaper, Education inform the design of more effective school Week, entitled “Teaching Evolution and Using programs and improve the teaching of all Evolution to Teach”. Although the meaning subjects.” The objective of the present article of the first phrase of this title is immediately is to describe the evolutionary precepts that obvious, how evolution can be used for can guide research and theorizing in this teaching is much less apparent. To clarify rapidly developing area. this idea, Wilson begins his piece by stating “Whenever evolution and education are One might initially respond to the idea of mentioned together in my circles, it is usually using evolution to teach by asking precisely to discuss teaching evolution and keeping how a perspective based on the way our creationism out of public school classrooms. ancestors learned can inform the design of But evolution has an even more important contemporary educational programs. After all,

evolution-institute.org Education Through an Evolutionary Lens 25 is it not true that the academic competencies Despite the commendable methodological which today’s youth have to acquire to prosper advances that have been achieved in this field, in modern-day economies differ appreciably by far the vast majority of contemporary from the types of skills that youngsters in educational research is designed to hunter-gatherer societies had to learn in explain “how” economic, organizational, order to successfully adapt as adults during school leadership, curricular, pedagogical, the late Pleistocene period? Furthermore, as psychological, social, and other situational the latter abilities were probably acquired factors influence the academic learning predominantly through observation, imitation, and achievement of students. Evolutionary and apprenticeship, how could these modes scientists refer to these kinds of causes as of learning have any practical implications “proximate” explanations in that they focus for the design of instructional strategies on the manner in which such immediate needed to facilitate the learning of abstract factors operate. Correspondingly, efforts concepts and reasoning skills demanded to improve academic outcomes increasingly by present-day educational requirements? make use of research approaches that are In this essay, I will attempt to answer such designed to develop and test educational questions by describing some of the leading interventions based on theories of change theoretical perspectives concerning the which incorporate potentially modifiable implications of evolutionary science in general mediators. From an evolutionary perspective, and evolutionary psychology in particular for such mediators constitute the proximate or improving educational policy and practice. temporally contiguous mechanisms through which an educational intervention may exert In order to properly frame both the its effects. However, what has received much educational and evolutionary contexts for this less consideration is the potential value piece, I first need to provide some relevant of designing instructional interventions background information. For those unfamiliar informed by “ultimate” explanations, which with the current status of research in the field focus on the “functionally adaptive origins” of of education, it should be recognized that children’s learning. This type of framing can education science has matured significantly provide insights into “why” natural selection during the past decade, developing a may have favored specific modes of learning generally higher degree of methodological over the course of our species’ phylogenetic rigor than had previously characterized this history (Scott-Phillips, Dickins, & West, 2011). discipline (e.g., the interested reader might Such a perspective could assuredly foster wish to browse the standards of evidence innovative studies about the goodness of fit, for evaluating the efficacy of interventions or lack thereof, between evolved learning designed to enhance educational outcomes, and motivational biases and the modern-day established by the Institute of Education demands of formal schooling. Sciences’ What Works Clearinghouse. A variety of comparatively sophisticated Although proximate and ultimate causes research designs and data-analytic approaches frequently have been characterized as are currently being employed to provide contrasting approaches, in actuality they a solid, evidenced-based foundation for constitute complementary explanations, with implementing effective educational policies both being required for achieving a complete and practices. understanding (Scott-Phillips et al., 2011). Indeed, as Confer and colleagues (2010)

evolution-institute.org Education Through an Evolutionary Lens 26 point out, these explanations mutually inform children’s abilities to educate themselves. one another in that “Knowledge of ultimate The most comprehensive and well-developed functions is invaluable in guiding the search for evolutionary perspective on education to the proximate causes, just as understanding date is that of evolutionary psychologist proximate implementation informs the search David Geary (2007), who has formulated for ultimate function” (p. 112). the conceptual foundations for an emerging discipline known as “evolutionary educational Evolutionary Perspectives psychology.” This field is concerned with the study of how children’s inherent motivational on Formal Schooling biases influence their ability and need to engage in activities that will lead to acquiring Evolutionary developmental psychologist the evolutionarily novel academic knowledge David Bjorklund and his colleague Jesse and skills demanded by formal schooling. Bering (2002) maintain that evolutionary More specifically, this theorist has put forth psychological theory should be regarded as an a series of principles for this comparatively overarching framework for studying the ways new domain, suggesting that these should be in which youngsters’ developing cognitive and viewed as a “blueprint” a) for conceptualizing social skills may be adaptive or maladaptive in the development of academic skills, and b) school environments. Most scholars working that can guide instructional research and in this emerging area would probably agree theorizing. with the following claim by Bjorklund (2007): “Children did not evolve to sit quietly at desks in age-segregated classrooms being instructed Essentially, Geary argues that the evolved by unrelated and unfamiliar adults” (p.120). cognitive systems and inferential biases that Of course, as he has acknowledged, this view define folk knowledge (i.e., beliefs used to should not be taken to imply that schools reason about everyday physical, social, and ought to adopt a “back-to-nature” approach to psychological entities and events) are not instruction (Bjorklund & Bering, 2002). This sufficient for learning the kinds of complex being said, an evolutionary psychologist who abstract knowledge required to succeed probably comes closest to espousing such in contemporary society. Furthermore, he a position is Peter Gray of Boston College. contends that children possess inherent Gray (2011) contends that an examination of motivational and behavioral biases to engage education in hunter-gatherer groups suggests in activities that will adapt these folk abilities— that through natural selection, children have what Geary calls “biologically primary evolved to acquire their culture through self- knowledge”— to their local surroundings, directed play and exploration. In addition, such as socializing with peers and exploring based on our phylogenetic history and data their own physical environment. However, from extant traditional societies, he argues that according to Geary, these motivational an ideal educational environment would, among dispositions will often be incompatible with other things, permit age-mixed interactions, the need to engage in activities that will provide access to culturally relevant tools and result in learning culturally-specific, novel equipment, and allow freedom of expression information. Geary refers to these kinds of and debate. Gray suggests that a future abilities as “biologically secondary knowledge,” direction for research would be to study which developed only quite recently in our the environmental features that maximize species’ intellectual history (i.e., over the past

evolution-institute.org Education Through an Evolutionary Lens 27 several thousand years)—such as learning to students in the single modality condition can read or to solve math problems. rely on only the cognitive resources of the visual subsystem, those who are administered Finally, at least during the initial stages the information in an audiovisual format of acquiring such skills, he maintains that can draw on the independent cognitive students need to exert an effortful focusing resources of two separate subsystems. of their attention as well as to allocate limited As a consequence, their working memory working memory resources to the learning capacity is effectively increased. However, of such evolutionarily novel academic Paas and Sweller (2012) recently argued information. for an “evolutionary upgrade” of CLT based As it turns out, the concept of working on Geary’s evolutionary account of the memory limitations serves as a fundamental distinction between biologically primary tenet of another educational theory that and biologically secondary knowledge, draws on evolutionary science—Cognitive and the accompanying cognitive demands Load Theory (CLT)—which has had a major associated with the latter. In this paper, they impact on both educational researchers and explain how several cognitive load effects instructional designers. Formulated by Dr. can be interpreted as relying on the use of John Sweller of the University of New South biologically primary knowledge to assist in the Wales, this theory alleges that the evolution learning of biologically secondary information. of the structures and functions of human For example, with respect to the modality cognitive architecture is analogous to the ways effect, these scholars suggest that from an in which biological structures and functions evolutionary perspective, the use of both have evolved (Sweller, 2004). Building on an audio and a visual instructional format is the assumption that the learning of novel advantageous because “We may have evolved information can be hindered by the limited to listen to someone discussing an object while capacity and duration of working memory, looking at” (p. 39). Concomitantly, they note CLT has generated a series of principles for that “We certainly have not evolved to read designing strategies to reduce the load on about an object while looking at it because students’ working memory during instruction. reading itself requires biologically secondary One of these is the “modality effect,” where knowledge” (p. 39). using a visual presentation of pictorial material accompanied by auditory presentation Conflicting Instructional Practices (narration) of textual material yields learning that is superior to instruction using only one Informed by Evolutionary Theory modality, such as presenting the same material solely in visual form—pictures accompanied The theoretical positions of Gray and by written text. (It should be noted here that Geary, both derived from an evolutionary this effect is only found under conditions perspective, are relatively commensurate in which the two sources of information with respect to acquiring biologically primary are incomprehensible when isolated and knowledge, especially as it occurs in children must be mentally integrated in order to be prior to their introduction to formal schooling. understood.) As Bjorklund and Bering (2002) aptly describe it, this kind of knowledge consists Historically, the explanation for the modality of evolved abilities acquired universally effect as derived from CLT is that whereas in species-typical environments for which

evolution-institute.org Education Through an Evolutionary Lens 28 children are inherently motivated to learn and interactions permit children and adolescents practice, often spontaneously. And although to learn about their peer group as well as how the implications of Geary’s and Gray’s to organize and manipulate the dynamics views as they pertain to the optimization of of these groups, socializing with one’s educational settings and practices for young peers may not be beneficial for mastering children are generally similar, the instructional abstract, evolutionarily novel information practices advocated by these two scholars (Geary, 2007). I have argued elsewhere for the acquisition of evolutionarily novel (Berch, 2007) that it should be possible (biologically secondary) knowledge differ to co-opt students’ interest in socializing markedly. Namely, whereas Gray contends with their peers by having them engage in that self-directed learning will be sufficient for cooperative learning and problem-solving in acquiring even complex abstract knowledge, the service of acquiring biologically secondary Geary maintains that direct or explicit knowledge and skills. But the key to doing this instruction will be needed when students successfully appears to require orchestrating have to learn such information. According to the interactions among students and forming Gray, as long as students have the freedom a reward structure that regulates their to explore their academic environment and motivation in a way that directs it toward have free access to books, computers, and working cooperatively to reach a shared knowledgeable as well as caring adults (if they goal. In addition, as Dansereau, Johnson, request such assistance), they will be able and Druckman (1994) pointed out almost 20 to learn what they need to know to become years ago, improving individual achievement successful even in today’s modern economy. in cooperative learning situations can be In contrast, Geary argues that to acquire achieved if teachers supply explicit interaction evolutionarily novel concepts and skills, like scripts, train students in essential peer solving linear algebra problems or learning interaction skills, and guide as well as monitor basic Newtonian physics, students have to these interactions. execute complicated and effortful cognitive operations, such as inhibiting automatic and Consistent with the latter recommendations, implicit processing of folk-related knowledge. David Sloan Wilson and colleagues (2011) It is because of these kinds of challenges that recently carried out a study with at-risk high he strongly recommends the use of formal, school students (9th and 10th graders) in well-organized, and explicit instruction by Binghamton, NY who qualified for a program teachers. called the Regents Academy if they had failed at least three of five courses taken during At this point, one might ask whether Geary’s the previous year. This program was based evolutionary perspective has any implications on three bodies of knowledge: 1) the work of for using a cooperative learning or small the late Elinor Ostrom, a political economist group approach for acquiring biologically who won the Nobel Prize for economics in secondary knowledge. A major reason for 2009, by adapting the eight design features posing this question is that many teachers she developed for groups to cooperate in believe such methods to be effective—even order to manage common pool resources. though their actual use, as measured by These include, for example: consensus classroom observational studies, appears decision-making, monitoring to detect lapses to be quite rare (Pianta et al., 2007). From in cooperation, rapid conflict resolution that Geary’s point of view, although social is perceived by group members as fair, and

evolution-institute.org Education Through an Evolutionary Lens 29 relations among groups that correspond to the An Evolutionary Perspective same principles as relations among individuals on Bullying within groups; 2) providing a safe and secure school environment; and 3) giving short-term Although we have seen how evolutionary rewards for cooperating and for learning. theory can inform the design of educational Using a randomized-control design, these environments as well as effective instructional investigators demonstrated that the Regents strategies, the potential benefits of Academy students not only outperformed incorporating such a perspective when the comparison group, but also performed developing other kinds of school-related as well as the average high school student programs, practices, and activities are much in Binghamton on state-mandated exams in greater than most educators and policymakers all subjects. Importantly, Wilson et al. point might appreciate. One such example out that although none of the program’s concerns the escalating growth of bullying design features were unusual, the use of a in schools. According to Anthony Volk and theoretical framework based on evolutionary colleagues (2012), bullying is universal across science permitted them to be organized in a cultures with an estimated several hundred manner that yielded a remarkably successful million adolescents directly involved when set of outcomes. considered on a global scale. Although many researchers view that bullying behaviors In sum, it should be noted that the learning emerge as a consequence of maladaptive environment and some of the instructional development, evolutionary psychologists approaches (e.g., cooperative learning) consider bullying to be an evolved, facultative implemented by Wilson and colleagues adaptive strategy in that it is likely to develop seem more closely aligned with those and be manifested only under particular recommended by Gray than by Geary. environmental conditions (Ellis et al., 2012). That said, a detailed examination of their More specifically, even with a predisposition design features reveals the use of a more to engage in bullying, adolescents will do so structured set of approaches than Gray might only when its benefits outweigh its costs. The endorse, including behavior management benefits include greater access to somatic techniques (e.g., extrinsic rewards), specific (health and survival), sexual (e.g., increased curricula, learning progressions, and various dating or sexual opportunities), and/or assessment strategies. Consequently, one dominance (social status) resources (Volk et can view the methods used by Wilson et al. al., 2012). Furthermore, as Ellis and colleagues as representing a rapprochement between convincingly point out, many anti-bullying the more extreme positions advocated by interventions do not succeed because they are Geary and Gray. Furthermore, it should be based on an erroneous stereotype that bullies recognized that the conflicting instructional are socially incompetent. These researchers approaches advocated by these two theorists also contend that from an evolutionary constitute legitimate scientific differences perspective, for an intervention to be and also demonstrate that adopting effective in school settings it would need to an evolutionary perspective does not modify the cost–benefit ratio of engaging necessarily lead to a monolithic theoretical in bullying so that adopting such a strategic stance (Confer et al., 2010). approach for acquiring resources would cease to be adaptive.

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The Evolutionary Origins of explicit teaching in traditional society is of Teaching recurrently controversial. Take for example the position of anthropologist David Lancy, Although an evolutionary approach to the who after reviewing the ethnographic record design of instructional strategies has great and to some extent the historical record potential for improving academic learning asserts in an article provocatively titled and achievement, proper application of such “Learning from Nobody” that “Teaching has techniques of course constitutes only part been largely superfluous in the process of of the expansive toolkit that teachers must cultural transmission throughout human employ to be effective in their classroom history” (2010, p. 97). Rather, according practice. Among numerous other day-to- to Lancy, skills such as herding, foraging, day responsibilities, they have to create an gardening, and caring for infants in pre- optimal learning environment, implement modern society were acquired through the designated curriculum with fidelity, observation, imitation, replication, and monitor student progress, and make judicious practice in a stepwise sequence he refers to use of both formative and summative as “the chore curriculum.” He concludes that assessments. Although the study of pedagogy, children have traditionally acquired their the constellation of skills needed to teach culture through “self-guided learning” rather something to someone, is of great interest to than a dependence on “active” teaching by an contemporary educational researchers, it is adult who systematically intervenes with the primarily the role of proximate explanations objective of changing a learner’s behavior. of high quality teaching that are the focus of most such investigations. But it is the Alternatively, evolutionary anthropologist ultimate or functional origins of teaching skills Jamshid Tehrani and archaeologist Felix Riede that are of principal interest to evolutionary arrived at the following conclusion after scientists, including anthropologists, they reviewed ethnographic case studies archaeologists, zoologists, and psychologists. and the archaeological record pertaining These researchers and theorists use a variety to the learning of complex craft skills: “The of methods to investigate the phylogenetic evidence we present suggests that pedagogy history of pedagogy, including the analysis has played an essential role in securing of archaeological and ethnographic records the faithful transmission of skills across to assess how ancestral youth acquired generations, and should be regarded as the hunting, craft, and tool-making skills central mechanism through which long-term through observation, imitation, and formal and stable material culture traditions are apprenticeships. Although still a nascent propagated and maintained” (2008, p. 316). domain of inquiry, this research has begun Their review suggests that pedagogy in these to yield some exciting findings and novel contexts can be characterized as entailing theoretical developments that may eventually “the gradual scaffolding of skill in a novice have important practical implications for through demonstration, intervention and modern educational policy and practice. collaboration” (p. 316).

To begin with, Kim Sterelny (2012), a leading Yet another perspective on the evolution philosopher of biology acknowledges in his of pedagogy has been put forward by book The Evolved Apprentice that the role cognitive psychologists Gergely Csibra and

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György Gergely (2009). These scholars have whether it advances the learning of declarative hypothesized that what they call “natural information (i.e., “knowing that,” meaning pedagogy,” a type of human communication, content and facts) or procedural information arose during hominin evolution to enable the (i.e., “knowing how” to perform skills). rapid and efficient transmission of generic knowledge and skills between individuals. In At the very least, this brief review of contrast to Lancy’s perspective, Csibra and multidisciplinary research and theorizing Gergely argue that even craft and tool-making about the evolutionary origins of pedagogy skills include content, features, and action indicates that some important progress is sequences that are “cognitively opaque” to being made in uncovering the phylogenetic the naïve observer (i.e., both causally and history of explicit teaching skills and teleologically), thus making them difficult to behaviors. What we learn from this work may acquire solely through observational learning. well have important implications for how to best prepare and train not only teachers, After reviewing these different perspectives but also parents—with respect to their along with other findings, Strauss and Ziv pedagogical role in facilitating their children’s (2012) recently concluded that teaching is acquisition of cultural norms, practices, and not only species-typical, appearing to be knowledge. Importantly, however, for those ubiquitous across cultures, but also unique to who maintain that active teaching has been our species. They claim that this uniqueness relatively uncommon in our species’ history, is based on the requirement of a “theory of this does not preclude adults from trying to mind,” meaning that teaching consists of: a) construct children’s home, school, and after- an intentional activity that is b) undertaken school settings and surroundings so as to to increase a learner’s knowledge or maximize conditions that will enhance learning understanding (i.e., based on recognizing the and achievement. In other words, as Sterelny learner’s mental state). (2012) has cogently pointed out, “. . . while the role of teaching in traditional societies is often But precisely how can we account for the quite limited, adults can and do structure emergence of teaching in our evolutionary and engineer the learning environment, even history as well as the factors that led to the without explicit teaching” (p. 36). selection of the requisite behavioral traits that were adaptive with respect to their Conclusion fitness consequences? Although we still know very little about such ultimate causes, some Taken together, the research and theoretical headway has been made in characterizing frameworks I have described here clearly how these changes may have transpired. As demonstrate the promise that evolutionary Thornton and Raihani (2008) have pointed science holds for improving educational out, “Teaching will be favoured by selection research, practice, and policy. However, it is only where the costs to teachers of facilitating equally obvious that it will take a concerted learning are outweighed by the long-term effort on the part of not only researchers, fitness benefits they accrue once pupils have practitioners and school administrators, learned, and these benefits will be scaled but also parents and other education by the ease with which pupils could learn stakeholders before the full potential of without teaching” (p. 1823). Furthermore, they adopting an evolutionary perspective on suggest that natural selection probably favors schooling can be realized. different types of teaching, depending on

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Authors

Gabrielle Principe Gabrielle Principe is Professor and Chair the Ultimate Block Party movement to celebrate of the Department of Psychology at the the science of learning and play. College of Charleston. She received her Ph.D. in developmental psychology from the Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek is the Stanley and Debra and later completed a postdoctoral fellowship Lefkowitz Faculty Fellow in the Department of at Cornell University. She is the author of Psychology at Temple University and is a Senior Your Brain on Childhood: The Unexpected Fellow at the Brookings Institution. Kathryn Side Effects of Classrooms, Ballparks, Family is the Director of Temple University’s Infant Rooms, and the Minivan (Prometheus, 2011). Language Laboratory, a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the American David Bjorkund Psychological Society, and has served as the David Bjorklund is a Professor of Psychology at Associate Editor of Child Development. She is Florida Atlantic University. He currently serves the President and also served as treasurer of as Editor of the Journal of Experimental Child the International Association for Infant Studies. Psychology. His books include The Origins of Her book, Einstein Never used Flashcards: How Human Nature: Evolutionary Developmental children really learn and why they need to play Psychology (with Anthony Pellegrini), Origins more and memorize less (Rodale Books) won of the Social Mind: Evolutionary Psychology the prestigious Books for Better Life Award as and Child Development (edited with Bruce the best psychology book in 2003. Ellis), Why Youth is Not Wasted on the Young: Immaturity in Human Development, Child Gale M. Sinatra and Adolescent Development: An Integrative Dr. Gale M. Sinatra is a Professor of Education and Approach (with Carlos Hernández Blasi), and Psychology at the Rossier School of Education Children’s Thinking: Cognitive Development at the University of Southern California. She and Individual Differences, now in its fifth edition. received her B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Roberta Golinkoff She is a Fellow of both APA and AERA. She Roberta Golinkoff is Unidel H. Rodney Sharp heads the Motivated Change Research Lab, the Professor of Education, Psychology, and mission of which is understanding the cognitive, Linguistics, University of Delaware. Roberta motivational, and emotional processes that has received numerous awards, served as lead to attitude change, conceptual change, and associate editor of Child Development, and successful STEM learning. authored over 150 journal publications, book chapters, and 14 books and monographs. Her John Sweller latest book, with her long-term collaborator Professor John Sweller is an Australian Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, is called Becoming Brilliant: educational psychologist who is best known for What Science Tells Us about Raising Successful formulating an influential theory of cognitive load. Children (APA Press). Golinkoff also co-founded He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Adelaide’s

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Department of Psychology. He has authored and reputation and how these things develop over 80 academic publications, mainly reporting throughout childhood. Previously, Alex was a research on cognitive factors in instructional post-doctoral fellow at the University of Chicago’s design, with specific emphasis on the instructional Booth School of Business and received his Ph.D. implications of working memory limitations and in Developmental Psychology at Yale University. their consequences for instructional procedures. John is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social James Nairne Sciences in Australia, and is currently Professor James Nairne is the Reece McGee Distinguished Emeritus at the University of New South Wales. Professor at Purdue University. He is also the director of the Adaptive Memory Lab at Purdue. David Lancy He has served on the board of a number of David Lancy is Emeritus Professor of academic journals and has received a number of Anthropology at Utah State University. He awards. He received his PhD from Yale University. is author and editor of several books on childhood and culture, including Cross-Cultural Peter Gray Studies in Cognition and Mathematics (1983), Peter Gray is a Research Professor of Studying Children and Schools (2001), Playing Psychology at Boston College. He is the author on the Mother Ground: Cultural Routines for of a widely used introductory psychology Children’s Learning (1996) and Anthropological textbook, Psychology, and is also author of Perspectives on Learning in Childhood (2010). Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, David Geary More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for David Geary is a Curators’ Professor and Life (Basic Books, 2013), as well as writing a Thomas Jefferson Fellow in the Department popular blog for Psychology Today magazine of Psychological Sciences and Interdisciplinary entitled “Freedom to Learn”. Neuroscience Program at the University of Missouri. He has published more than 230 Daniel Berch articles and chapters across a wide range of Daniel Berch, Ph.D., is Professor of Educational topics, including three sole-authored books. Psychology and Applied Developmental David served as a member of the President’s Science at the University of Virginia’s Curry National (U.S.) Mathematics Advisory Panel and School of Education. He has authored a Chaired the Learning Processes subcommittee, number of articles and book chapters, and is a recipient of a MERIT award from the is senior editor of the book Why is Math So National Institutes of Health, and was appointed Hard for Some Children? The Nature and by President G. W. Bush to the National Board Origins of Mathematical Learning Difficulties of Directors for the Institute for Education and Disabilities. Among other honors, he Sciences, among other activities and distinctions. has received the NIH Award of Merit, was elected Fellow of the American Psychological Alex Shaw Association’s Division of Experimental Alex Shaw is an Assistant Professor of Psychology, and served as an ex officio member Psychology at the University of Chicago and of the U.S. Department of Education’s National directs the Developmental Investigations of Mathematics Advisory Panel. Behavior and Strategy (DIBS) Lab. His research interests include fairness, intellectual property,

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