Behavioral Genetics Essay examples -- Psychology

Is behavior learned? It is inborn? What of aggression, intelligence, and madness? There is a crucial relationship between the behavior of humans toward their own kind and the view of life they hold. Interest in behavioral genetics depends on wanting to know why people differ. According to Jack R. Vale, in Genes, Environment, and Behavior, recognition of the importance of hereditary influence on behavior represents one of the most dramatic changes in the social and behavioral sciences during the past two decades. A shift began toward the more balanced contemporary view that recognizes genetic as well as environmental influences on behavior. Behavioral genetics lies in its theory and methods, which consider both genetic and environmental sources of behavioral differences among individuals. Behavioral genetics is simply the intersection between genetics and the behavioral sciences. Behavior is a phenotype that is, an observable characteristic we can measure. On the other hand, behavior is not just another phenotype. According to Robert Plomin in Behavioral Genetics, â€Å"Because behavior involves the action of the whole organism rather than the action of a single molecule, a single cell, or a single organ, behavior is the most complex phenomenon that can be studied genetically. Unlike some physical characteristics, behavior is dynamic, changing in response to the environment indeed, behavior is at the cutting edge of evolution text, because its focus is on the complexity of behavioral phenotypes†(2). Obviously, there can be no behavior without both an organism and an environment. For a particular behavior, what causes differences among individuals? For example, what causes individual differences in c... ...al; Human Studies. Boston: Little, Brown, 1970. Print. Eaves, Lindon J., Judy L. Silberg, Joanne M. Meyer, Hermine H. Maes, Emily Simonoff, Andrew Pickles, Michael Rutter, Chandra A. Reynolds, Andrew C. Heath, Kimberly R. Truett, Michael C. Neale, Marilyn T. Erikson, Rolf Loeber, and John K. Hewitt. "Genetics and Developmental Psychopathology: 2. The Main Effects of Genes and Environment on Behavioral Problems in the Virginia Twin Study of Adolescent Behavioral Development." Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 38.8 (1997): 965-80. Print. Plomin, Robert, J. C. DeFries, and G. E. McClearn. Behavioral Genetics: a Primer. New York: W.H. Freeman, 1990. Print. Rothstein, Carson. Behavioral Genetics. Baltimore: John Hopkins UP, 1999. Print. Vale, Jack R. Genes, Environment, and Behavior: an Interactionist Approach. New York: Harper & Row, 1980. Print.