Nature and Nurture: Genetic and Environmental Influences on Behavior

Abstract

The appropriate conjunction between the words nature and nurture is not versus but and. There is increasing acceptance of the evidence for substantial genetic influence on many behavioral traits, but the same research also provides the best available evidence for the importance of environmental influence and important clues about how the environment works. Because much developmental action is at the interface between genes and environment, genetic research needs to incorporate measures of the environment, and environmental research will be enhanced by collecting DNA.