The purpose of this paper is to present, in a didactic manner an evolutionary perspective concerning the study of human behavior. In order to do this, an ethological perspective is given, indicating a number of variations in the study of the subject. Ethology first arose as the scientific study of innate behavior of different species that occurs in a natural environment. Currently we consider that there are two tendencies: a traditional ethology and a behavior ecology addressing immediate and evolutionary causes of behavior, respectively. Beyond the dualist concepts, innate-learned and nature-culture, ethology has contributed to the understanding of human behavior. In this paper, we have included the examples of the development of attachment and its relation with selective pressures, neoteny, parental care and the emergence of the family institution.
Human ethology; Behavioral ecology; Attachment theory