Genetic and environmental factors account for variability in a range of developmental outcomes, including socioeconomic status (SES). The challenge is to find ways to incorporate genetic information based on studies using biologically related family members (i.e., studies not involving twins). To address this issue, we computed polygenic scores…

According to models of differential susceptibility, the same neurobiological and temperamental traits that determine increased sensitivity to stress and adversity also confer enhanced responsivity to the positive aspects of the environment. Differential susceptibility models have expanded to include complex developmental processes in which genetic…

Psychobiological systems theory is a relational approach to development that challenges the longstanding views that (1) genetic and environmental influences on the phenotype can be meaningfully partitioned and that (2) genes are capable of directly specifying phenotypes. Gilbert Gottlieb's theoretical innovations including the notion of…

Molenaar's (2015) article concerns Developmental Systems Theory (DST) in relation to behavior genetics and he presents implications of DST for empirical research, especially the need for subject-specific studies. In this commentary, the article is discussed from a broader developmental science perspective, particularly regarded through the lens of…

Identification of gene x environment interactions (GxE) for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a crucial component to understanding the mechanisms underpinning the disorder, as prior work indicates large genetic influences and numerous environmental risk factors. Building on prior research, children's appraisals of self-blame were…

Research on the development of reading skills through the primary school years has pointed to the importance of individual differences in initial ability as well as the growth of those skills. Additionally, it has been theorized that reading skills develop incrementally. The present study examined the genetic and environmental influences on 2…

Evaluates the epigenetic landscape metaphor in light of behavioral development. Cites two common errors in integrated models of behavior and biology: (1) fixing behavior as structure, thereby robbing it of dynamics and plasticity; and (2) assuming that a single optimal trajectory applies to development of organisms or systems. (BC)

This article aims to illustrate some of the far-reaching theoretical impacts the research of Gilbert Gottlieb has made outside the fields of psychology, biology and sociology. Specifically, this theorist's "Developmental Point of View" has far reaching impacts as a potential model for investigating in the fields of health care.…

Major problems in the field are presented through a brief review of Burt's work and a critical account of the Hawaiian and British schools of biometrical genetics. The merits and demerits of Christopher Jencks' study are also discussed. There follows an account of the principle of genetic variation with age, a new concept to the…

Notes that psychologists' interest in behavioral development concerns individual differences in behavior. Explores complexities of genetic and environmental determination of development, and of canalization. Intelligence is considered as an example of the canalization of human behavior. (BC)

This paper offers a model of the nature and development of talents, which views genetic factors as determining potential strengths and setting limits and views abilities, aptitudes, and intelligences emerging as a result of experiences, motivations, and styles. Specific talents are characterized by precocity, creative insight, a functional…