Hi Rod, John Kulig has already provided a good summary of Buss' response to this criticism. You might also be interested in John Alcock's response. He addresses this criticism in the 4th chapter of his book The Triumph of Sociobiology (2001, Oxford University Press). The nice thing about that chapter is that he explores different levels of this criticism. His answer is much the same as Buss' in that he presents specific examples of how the theory is used to generate hypotheses and then how those hypotheses are in fact tested. (By the way, Alcock sees Evolutionary Psychology as the application of Sociobiology to explaining human behaviors.) I recommend Alcock's book to anyone who is interested in the cultural and scientific debates surrounding the topic of Sociobiology.
Dennis Dennis M. Goff Dept. of Psychology Randolph-Macon Woman's College Lynchburg VA -----Original Message----- From: Rod Hetzel [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, May 29, 2002 8:51 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences Subject: evolutionary psychology Hi TIPSters: I heard someone say today that evolutionary psychology is not a science because it does not allow for the development of testable or falsifiable hypotheses. I'm curious how the evolutionary psychologists on our list would respond to this statement. Rod [EMAIL PROTECTED] b.\ &v㵈-(}㐽LX!Q:.˛ m ᯝzf㢖%y蹫*lǾ ,wˢ[ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
