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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Articles 1 - 3 of 3
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Integrating Development And Evolution In Psychology: Looking Back, Moving Forward, David S. Moore
Integrating Development And Evolution In Psychology: Looking Back, Moving Forward, David S. Moore
Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research
This work is the editorial for a special edition of New Ideas in Psychology titled Integrating Development and Evolution in Psychology.
Individuals And Populations: How Biology's Theory And Data Have Interfered With The Integration Of Development And Evolution, David S. Moore
Individuals And Populations: How Biology's Theory And Data Have Interfered With The Integration Of Development And Evolution, David S. Moore
Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research
Research programs in quantitative behavior genetics and evolutionary psychology have contributed to the widespread belief that some psychological characteristics can be “inherited” via genetic mechanisms. In fact, molecular and developmental biologists have concluded that while genetic factors contribute to the development of all of our traits, non-genetic factors always do too, and in ways that make them no less important than genetic factors. This insight demands a reworking of the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis, a theory that defined evolution as a process involving changes in the frequencies of genes in populations, and that envisioned no role for experiential factors now known …
Espousing Interactions And Fielding Reactions: Addressing Laypeople's Beliefs About Genetic Determinism, David S. Moore
Espousing Interactions And Fielding Reactions: Addressing Laypeople's Beliefs About Genetic Determinism, David S. Moore
Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research
Although biologists and philosophers of science generally agree that genes cannot determine the forms of biological and psychological traits, students, journalists, politicians, and other members of the general public nonetheless continue to embrace genetic determinism. This article identifies some of the concerns typically raised by individuals when they first encounter the systems perspective that biologists and philosophers of science now favor over genetic determinism, and uses arguments informed by that perspective to address those concerns. No definitive statements can yet be made about why genetic determinism has proven so resilient in the face of empirical evidence pointing up its deficiencies, …