Question: |
What is behavioral genetics? |
Category: |
Science > Biology |
Keywords: |
intelligence, behavior, heredity, behavioral genetics |
Type: |
what |
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Answer:
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Sir Francis Galton (1822-1911) was the first scientist to study heredity and human behavior systematically. The term "genetics" did not even appear until 1909, only 2 years before Galton's death. With or without a formal name, the study of heredity always has been, at its core, the study of biological variation. Human behavioral genetics, a relatively new field, seeks to understand both the genetic and environmental contributions to individual variations in human behavior. This is not an easy task, for the following reasons.
- It often is difficult to define the behavior in question. Intelligence is a classic example. Is intelligence the ability to solve a certain type of problem? The ability to make one's way successfully in the world? The ability to score well on an IQ test? During the late summer of 1999, a Princeton molecular biologist published the results of impressive research in which he enhanced the ability of mice to learn by inserting a gene that codes for a protein in brain cells known to be associated with memory. Because the experimental animals performed better than controls on a series of traditional tests of learning, the press dubbed this gene "the smart gene" and the "IQ gene," as if improved memory were the central, or even sole, criterion for defining intelligence. In reality, there is no universal agreement on the definition of intelligence, even among those who study it for a living.
- Having established a definition for research purposes, the investigator still must measure the behavior with acceptable degrees of validity and reliability. That is especially difficult for basic personality traits such as shyness or assertiveness, which are the subject of much current research. Sometimes there is an interesting conflation of definition and measurement, as in the case of IQ tests, where the test score itself has come to define the trait it measures. This is a bit like using batting averages to define hitting prowess in baseball. A high average may indicate ability, but it does not define the essence of the trait.
- Behaviors, like all complex traits, involve multiple genes, a reality that complicates the search for genetic contributions.
- As with much other research in genetics, studies of genes and behavior require analysis of families and populations for comparison of those who have the trait in question with those who do not. The result often is a statement of "heritability," a statistical construct that estimates the amount of variation in a population that is attributable to genetic factors. The explanatory power of heritability figures is limited, however, applying only to the population studied and only to the environment in place at the time the study was conducted. If the population or the environment changes, the heritability most likely will change as well. Most important, heritability statements provide no basis for predictions about the expression of the trait in question in any given individual.
Source: Human Genome Program
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