Baldwinian evolution
From Free net encyclopedia
Baldwinian evolution is a theory proposed by United States psychologist James Mark Baldwin which states that organisms can pass on learned abilities to their offspring. It can be said to be an intermediate form of evolution between natural selection and social adaptation. Sometimes called ontogenic evolution, the proposed mechanism does not involve direct transfer of learned abilities from generation to generation — that would require invoking discredited Lamarckian evolution. Instead, Baldwin proposes a mechanism for non-specific selection for learning ability. Selected offspring would then tend to be more "phenotypically plastic". That is, they would have an increased capacity for learning new skills (including skills previously learned by their ancestors) rather than being confined to genetically coded, relatively fixed abilities.