On Making Behavioral Genetics Truly Developmental

Abstract

What will it take to make behavioral genetics truly developmental? In my opinion, the purely statistical population view will have to be abandoned in favor of the study of individuals: An analysis of the bi-directional relations from gene action to the external environment over the life course, including the prenatal period. I critically examine the somewhat vexed concept of ‘gene-environment interaction’, a crucial first step in correctly understanding the relational view of causality at the organism-environment level of analysis. I conclude by presenting a highly detailed psychobiological model for analyzing behavioral development, with special attention to the genetic level of analysis.