ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author addresses some of the biology that psychology uses to explain child development. She discusses some relevant points from evolutionary theory, genetics and epigenetics, neuroscience, and psychoneuroendocrinology. The author makes some Darwin-based points relevant to child development. She wants to emphasise two facts: humans have evolved to be social, and humans' reproductive strategy implies that they will invest in their offspring. The author mentions a couple more complexities, though she does not have space to illustrate the implications for child development. First, the DNA in the cell nucleus is not all the DNA that we have; there is functioning DNA in the mitochondria which are energy-producing structures in the body of the cell, inherited from the mother. Second, sometimes it matters which parent they got their damaging bit of DNA from. The basic genetic plan gets fiddled about with during development.
