Using Tinbergen’s Four Questions (Plus One) to Facilitate Evolution Education for Human-Oriented Disciplines

Abstract

Nikolaas Tinbergen provided an elegantly comprehensive guide to behavioral research with his Four Questions. Unsurprisingly, these questions summarize the different aspects that are vital to an evolutionary perspective. In this article, the authors describe how they use these Four Questions (plus one they have added regarding the role of culture) to facilitate evolution education in the human-oriented disciplines. The use of evolutionary theory in these fields is young, and educating new members of these fields in evolutionary theory is an even newer idea. Tinbergen’s Four Questions (Plus One) make the goals of an evolutionary perspective clear and the application of the mechanisms of evolution apparent. It can effectively dispel myths that surround evolutionary theory, like genetic determinism and hyperadaptationism, and can help ameliorate other ideological concerns. Finally, it is suggested that it is a heuristic that encourages students to make the transition from understanding the mechanisms of evolution in biology to applying this knowledge in cross-disciplinary research.

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