Evolved psychological mechanisms as constraints on optimization

Abstract

Behavior and its underpinning mechanisms are the product of evolution by natural selection just as many other biological traits. This does not imply that all behavior should be optimal. The biological optimization agent is natural selection, not the behaving organism. Behavior may or may not be close to optimal depending on the degree to which the current circumstances match the organism's typical ecology. Evolved mechanisms impose constraints, and situations generating suboptimal preferences are singular opportunities to study the particulars of such mechanisms.