?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Behavior+and+the+General+Evolutionary+Process&rft.creator=Baum%2C+William+M.&rft.subject=Behavioral+Analysis&rft.subject=Evolution&rft.subject=Evolutionary+Psychology&rft.description=Behavior+analysis+is+properly+part+of+evolutionary+biology%2C+because+only+evolutionary+theory+can+explain+the+origins+of+behavior+and+because+behavior+analysis+follows+the+same+mode+of+explanation+as+evolutionary+theory.++The+resemblance+among+operant+shaping%2C+cultural+evolution%2C+and+genetic+evolution+appears+clearly+only+in+the+light+of+a+general+concept+of+evolutionary+process.++Every+evolutionary+process+consists+of+three+elements%3A+variation%2C+recurrence%2C+and+selection.++Evolutionarily+significant+variation+occurs+among+substitutable+variants+within+a+pool.++These+variants+are+defined+by+differences+in+their+environmental+effects.++Although+the+metaphor+of+copying+characterizes+recurrence+in+genetic+evolution%2C+replication+is+only+one+type+of+recurrence.++In+cultural+and+operant+evolution%2C+mechanisms+like+stimulus+control+and+induction+cause+the+recurrence+of+the+variants.++Selection+occurs+when+recurrence+is+differential.++Differences+in+environmental+effects+produce+differences+in+recurrence%2C+and+those+differences+feed+back+to+affect+the+composition+of+the+pool+of+variants.++This+general+view+of+evolutionary+process+clarifies+the+distinction+between+proximate+and+ultimate+explanations+of+behavior.++Genetic%2C+cultural%2C+and+operant+evolution+all+admit+of+this+distinction%2C+because+they+all+distinguish+advantageous+mechanisms+from+a+history+of+advantage.++Proximate+explanations+deal+with+the+%3Fexpression%3F+of+variants%2C+whereas+ultimate+explanations+deal+with+the+feedback+from+environmental+effects+to+the+frequencies+of+variants+in+the+pool.++The+three+evolutionary+processes+may+be+seen+as+nested%3A+cultural+evolution+within+genetic+evolution%2C+and+operant+evolution+within+cultural+evolution.++A+complete+understanding+of+human+behavior+requires+constructing+six+types+of+explanation%3A+proximate+and+ultimate+explanations+in+all+three+processes.&rft.date=2000-10&rft.type=Preprint&rft.type=NonPeerReviewed&rft.format=text%2Fhtml&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F1051%2F1%2FBehavior_and_the_General_Evolutionary_Process.htm&rft.identifier=++Baum%2C+William+M.++(2000)+Behavior+and+the+General+Evolutionary+Process.++%5BPreprint%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F1051%2F