History of behavior genetics

Abstract

Hermann (1908) said of psychology that it had a long past, but only a short history. The same may be said of behavior genetics. One cannot specify an exact date at which behavior genetics came to be regarded as a distinct scientific discipline, but for convenience let us say 1960, the publication date of Fuller and Thompson's textbook of that title. This chapter considers both the long past and some aspects of the short history of behavior genetics. We begin with the long past: the recognition since antiquity that behavioral traits are in part inherited, and the controversy concerning the extent to which this is so, a discussion often going under the label of the nature-nurture controversy.