An evolution-biological perspective on the child's early development

Abstract

The author presents an evolution-biological perspective on the course of human life. The central argument ist that the organization of individual life phases contributes in each case to the maximization of an individual's `'overall fitness''. The early development during the first months of a child's life in the context of bonding is discussed with regard to the differentiation of diverse strategies of reproduction. The author thus tries to achieve an integration of developmental-psychological knowledge and socio-biological assumptions. This approach seems to allow for reformulations of the concept of learning in educational psychology.