Heredity, the Environment, and Development Essay

The field of lookal inheritables strives to understand how and why we develop the way we do. Behavioral ingredienttics trys to find how not only heredity, but also surroundings, plays a role in the development of human beings. The field has evolved quite a bit in the last few years. Studying genics helps us to be able to predict futurity behaviors and also potentiall(a)y help us to use genetic engineering. Since the domain of behavioural genetics can potentially lead us down the road of genetic engineering it attracts a lot of controversy.As depart be examined here genetics shows some strong correlation coefficients between heredity and environment. The field has studied numerous examples to help explain what is caused by heredity, what is caused by environment, and how the dickens can be linked together to further understand why we be select the way that we do.Behavior GeneticsHuman behavioral genetics, a relatively new field, seeks to understand both the genetic and envi ronmental contributions to individual variations in human behavior. (McInerney, 2008) Human behavior genetics studies how an individuals genetics and environment influences their behavior. Behavior genetics focus is on the effect of heredity on differences between individuals. (Boyd & Bee, 2006) Heredity refers to genetic and traits being transmitted from one generation to the contiguous or from the pargonnt to the offspring. Traits or behaviors argon believed to be influenced by genes when those of related people, much(prenominal) as children and their parents, are more than similar than those of unrelated people. (Boyd & Bee, 2006)Behavior geneticists study behavior genetics and the way they can affect an individual. Behavior geneticists have shown in their studies that heredity can affect some traits and behaviors, like intelligence, shyness, and aggressiveness. The basic concepts of behavior genetics are phenotypes which are observable or measurable characteristics (hair and eye color) genotype which are genetic complement of an individual, like having a recessive gene for color blindness polygenic which is many genes influencing a trait but no one gene has a major effect (hundreds of genes influence IQ and personality).Correlations between Heredity and EnvironmentCorrelation between heredity and environment can be looked at through with(predicate) genotypes or a persons unique genetic blueprint (Boyd & Bee, 2006) and the environment which a child tends to experience. Active genotype environment correlation, evocative genotype environment correlation, and dormant genotype environment correlation are three casual mechanisms to describe the correlation between heredity and environment in relationship to human behavior (Scarr & McCartney, 1983, p.4). Genotype environment correlations affect phenotypes through the course of a persons development (p.4). A childs development stems directly from traits his or her parents pass along and environmental experien ces thence behavioral genetics has developed theories of the correlation between heredity and environment.Active genotype environment correlation is defined as a childs tendency actively to seek environments he or she finds to be compatible and stimulating (Santrock, 2002, 2). An example would be a child who is introverted tends to seek only(a) environments. A child who is extroverted tends to seek out social environments. Evocative genotype environment correlation is when the childs genotype elicits certain types of somatogenetic and social environments (19). The responses a child receives from his or her environment molds the childs development. A child who demonstrates a pleasant disposition evokes positive reactions in his or her social environment for example. (Scarr & McCartney, 1983, p.4)Passive genotype environment correlation describes correlation found on the rearing environment (Santrock, 2002, 31) supplied by the biological parents . The explanation the passive type of correlation is the parent passed the genes to the child and supplies the environment in which the child is raised. The environment a parent supplies is directly related to the parents genes which were passed to the child hence the correlation (Scarr & McCartney, 1983, p.4). The example given by Scarr and McCartney is one of a positive nature. A parent who is well versed and enjoys the activity of reading books reads often to the child. The child allow most likely be well versed at reading books and enjoy the activity based on the environment provided and the genotype inherited.The Ugly office of EugenicsAs mentioned previously, the ethical study of genetics is a concern. Galton and his American colleague, Charles Davenport, studied and promoted eugenics in an effort to improve the quality of valet de chambre and to create a better future for mankind. Galton and Davenport researched patterns for undesirable character traits such as alcoholism, insanity, the propensity for crimi nality. In time, certain behavioral tendencies were linked to particular races. Lehrman cited examples of Davenports characterizations of Italians as drawn toward crimes of personal violence, Greeks as slovenly, and Swedes as tidy (1998, 8).Society began to adopt laws and policies based on the principles of Galtons and Davenports findings with the purpose of correcting social and economic problems before they started. Although Nazi Germany was the first rude to rationalize mass sterilization and then extermination of a race based on their perceived inferiority, the United States also contributed to the mindset of an inferior people. As many as 30 states had legislation concerning the sterilization of people regarded as genetically inferior. The horror and immorality of the holocaust discredited eugenics. Ethics are a guiding force for todays human behavior geneticists who seek to understand traits that enhance the human race and those that are harmful (Lehrman, 1998).Twin StudiesId entifying traits that are beneficial and those that are harmful is just the first of many steps. Behavior geneticists must also identify correlations between the genes humans inherit and the environment that humans are fostered in. Researchers have an exceedingly difficult task before them since experiences and environments are intricately influenced by genetic predispositions. For example, selfsame(a) twins both are natural taller than average. When they complete surveys for behavioral geneticists, they both score high for people who are extroverted and self-confident.Is this because they have a self-esteem gene, or is this a result of ships company reacting towards them in a manner with more respect and attention because they are tall (Piercy, nd.)?Likewise, a child who is predisposed towards shyness will not seek out social situations that are uncomfortable to her. She may not choose to participate in organized sports. Whatever athletic ability or genius she may possess will remain dormant. Due to her choices, she will not receive any instruction to develop athletic ability.Conclusions that outgoing individuals possess more athletic ability could be grossly inaccurate (Boyd & Bee, 2006).Due to the difficulty found in the previous two illustrations, most research involves fraternal and identical twin sets for the following reasonsFraternal twins raised together show a correlation with a shared environment but not agenetic sameness. identical twins raised apart as adoptees show correlations for non-shared environmentsbut a shared genetic foundation.One such study examined the influences of heredity and environment on the differences of childrens conversational nomenclature use among twins. The study measured language skills with two standardized tests among 380 twins. According to the study, more than half of the variance in conversational language skills can be attributed to genetics. Additionally, evidence was not found to support significant shared en vironmental influence. This study sheds new light on this issue. Previously, differences were attributed to environmental influences such as premature birth and low birth weight (DeThorne et al., 2008).ConclusionTo be born and die are common to all animals, but on that point are specifically diverse ways in which these phenomena occur. (Aristotle, trans. 1984). How humans grow and mature behaviorally is important in understanding the impact heredity, shared and non-shared environmental experiences have on humans. As humans age behavioral social-environmental and psychological changes emerge in a direct correlation with cultural and environmental influences. Environmental, heredity and behavioral genetics all give rise to obesity, pre-diabetes, atherosclerosis, cancer, immune-suppression, menopause, and osteoporosis(Biological, Social-Environmental, and Psychological Dialecticism An Integrated Model of Aging, 2000). As well with age innate biological changes impact our brain based o n both shared and non-shared environmental experiences. A keen understanding of morbidity, mortality and how genetics influence both health and behavior are all important factors in how biological changes in thebrain are associated with each stage of aging. Human behavior can be influenced by genetic pre-dispositions as well as shared and non shared environmental experiences each of these forces account for physical changes and/or declines throughout adulthood.ReferencesBlumenthal, H. T. & Von Dras, D. D. (2000). University of Phoenix e-Text.Biological, Social-Environmental, and Psychological Dialecticism An Integrated Model of Aging. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.Boyd, D., & Bee, H. (2006). life sentence Development (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ Allyn &Bacon, Inc. A Pearson Education Company.DeThorne, L., Petrill, S., Hart, S., Channell, R., Campbell, R., Deater-Deckard, K., Thompson, L. A., & Vandenbergh, D. (2008). Genetic effects on childrens conversational language use. Journal of Speech, Language & listening Research, 51 (Issue 2), Retrieved June 4, 2008, from EBSCOhost database.Lehrman S., (1998). DNA & behavior the topic in-depth. Retrieved June 6, 2008, fromhttp//www.dnafiles.org/archive/about/pgm2/topicMcInerney, J. (2008, September 16). Behavioral Genetics. Retrieved April 8, 2009, fromwww.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/behavior.shtm1Piercy J., (n.d.). Psychology 230. Retrieved May 20, 2008, fromhttp//courses.cvcc.vccs.edu/Psychology_Piercy/.Sandrock, J. (2002). Life-Span Development A topical approach. McGraw-Hill HigherEducation. Retrieved April 7, 2009, from http//highered.mcgrawhill.com/sites/0072435992/student_view0/glossary.htmlScarr, S. & McCartney, K. (1983, April). How people limit their own environments a theoryof genotype environment effects. Child Development. Vol. 54 Issue 2, p424, 12p.