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Brain, Behavior, and Evolution

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Abstract

An examination of research on evolution, comparative anatomy, and behavior shows that there is no one-to-one relationship between brain characteristics and behavior. The brain is strictly a biological coordinating organ that functions in interdependence with other biological components. The more complex the brain the more complex the remainder of the organism with which it is integrated and in turn the more complex the behavior that is enabled to develop. Biological factors as necessary and enabling conditions must not be confused with sufficient or determining conditions. The brain or even the entire organism is but one factor in a field of interrelated objects and events that comprise a psychological event. Psychological and cultural development probably select for evolution of greater organismic complexity which enables further psychological and cultural development.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh, NY, 12901, USA

    Noel W. Smith

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  1. Noel W. Smith
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This paper is from a project supported in part by the Research Foundation of the State University of New York, Grant Number 329-7189A.

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Smith, N.W. Brain, Behavior, and Evolution. Psychol Rec 32, 483–490 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03394806

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