DARWIN AND DEVELOPMENTAL-PSYCHOLOGY - PAST AND PRESENT

The historical question of what influence Darwin has had on the emergence of developmental psychology as a scientific discipline is addressed. Suggestions for possible synergistic connections between modern evolutionary theory and developmental psychology are offered. Darwin's distinctive contributions to evolutionary theory appear to have had less influence on developmental psychology than traditionally believed. Possible reasons for this include developmentalists' commitment to meliorism, conceptual issues characterizing differences between ontogenetic and phylogenetic change, and methodological differences in studying proximate and ultimate factors. It is suggested that developmentalists use evolutionary theory as a heuristic for structuring new research into human development. In return, evolutionary biologists can have hypotheses concerning the impact of phylogeny on human ontogeny tested by those best qualified to test them.